The parameters that appear there differ slightly between saxophone and trumpet/trombone models, as the main screenshot shows. You can choose descriptively named instrument presets for the four slots from pop‑up menus on the left of the window, and tweak them in the instrument slots. With no sample-loading time, it's ready to go as soon as you instantiate it, and it defaults to Live mode, ready to be played in real time. Presets are supplied, or you can roll your own in a dedicated editor.īefore we get bogged down in too much detail, let's look at Brass 2.0 in use. Onboard harmonisation makes it easy to generate harmonically rich horn sections and octave doubling by playing just single notes. Although Riffs can be triggered perfectly well by a single MIDI keypress, Riff mode will also respond to chordal input, analysing what you play and 'bending' the Riff's scale accordingly. In Riff mode, a built‑in sequencer is revealed, and now MIDI inputs trigger sequenced phrases, of which around 150 are supplied, categorised by style, and fully editable. In Live mode, you get to play your modelled instruments as you would any other synth or sampler, although there's built‑in harmonisation available for quick and easy 'section' recreations. Essentially, Brass 2.0 offers up to four instrument 'slots', which can be occupied by any combination of trumpet, trombone and sax. The user interface appears in a 900 x 640‑pixel window (beneath whatever title‑bar paraphernalia your particular host sequencer displays), and with several alternative modes and configuration displays on offer, it takes a few moments of clicking around to uncover exactly how the is configured. There's no essential difference between the stand‑alone and plug‑in versions, so for the purposes of this review I'll concentrate on the plug‑in. The idea is that at the end of the 15 days you choose your favourite instrument and assign the single permanent license to it.īrass 2.0 runs as a stand‑alone application on Mac and Windows, and as a VST, RTAS and Audio Units plug‑in. The authorisation process looks a little convoluted, but is actually really easy and well described in the manual, and a further advantage of the Syncrosoft approach is that you can swap a disk‑based authorisation onto a dongle - or vice‑versa - any time you choose.īrass is also available as part of Arturia's 'One' package, which consists of a DVD costing 229 Euros $249 and containing eight of their software instruments, with a license for 15 days use. Arturia use Syncrosoft copy protection, which means you can get your licence on a Syncrosoft USB dongle if you wish, or use a straightforward disk‑based method. For both platforms, 512MB RAM and a 2GHz dual‑core processor are minimum requirements. It's a universal binary, so both PowerPC and Intel users are supported. The MIDI Preset editor opens up in the central area of the main window, and lets you assign various MIDI controllers to instrument parameters.Īccording to Arturia, to run Brass 2.0 you need a PC with Windows 2000, XP or Vista, or a Mac with OS 10.4 or higher. Modelling acoustic instruments is a tricky business, though, so how have Arturia got on with this latest attempt? Brass Tacks Additionally, Brass 2.0 promises to be a friend to all laptop owners: its installation footprint is comparatively small, and there's absolutely no reliance on streaming samples. These include potentially greater levels of expressivity, especially for soloing, and a freedom from the arguably limiting, inflexible nature of lick- or phrase‑based sound libraries. Brass 2.0 was developed in conjunction with boffins at the IRCAM institute in Paris, and claims all sorts of benefits over its sample‑based competitors. But tucked away in their product range is a different kind of virtual instrument, one that uses physical and acoustic modelling techniques to generate a range of trumpet, trombone and saxophone sounds that span the stylistic spectrum. The French company Arturia are well known - and deservedly so - for their range of outstanding virtual synths. Here all four sound slots are loaded with instruments, and several take advantage of the in‑built automation system for some of their parameters. The main interface of Brass 2.0, in Live mode. The new version of Arturia's Brass instrument attempts to create realistic‑sounding trombones, trumpets and saxophones, so just how successful is it?
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