In this video James takes a look at the new Session Horns Pro from e-Instruments. See and hear how you can get highly realistic brass tracks into your projects.
I do agree with you that real horn section is better than any horn sample library but,i am myself saxophone,keyboard player ,and music programmer too.In my humble experience I do not approach any virtual instruments as a keyboard player.unless if it is a piano,electric piano etc...You need to know the instrument,it's behavior,it's timbre.You have to almost feel it's vibration on your fingers. You have to play a while with it,with different velocities,try all the possibilities that the library offers. Listen to a lot of records(in this case with horns) like, Tower of Power,Steely dan,Big Bands ,Latin Music (salsa,mambo),instrumental music with horn players.Understand what a horn can and not do (same to any other instrument).I own this library and did a lot of instrumental music with it,and it's realy impressive.Once more,i'm a professional horn player,arranger , I did a lot of horn sections,and as a solo guest too all around.Obs.: try to avoid midi quantization.Peace to you all!!!
Another pretty cool plugin from Native Instruments...that's almost masterpiece (sounds close to live instrument) I love NI products for good quality sound, rich of layers and ability to precision tweaking and setup nearly all of theirs plugins, specially Komplete 9 Ultimate collection is magnificent..and represent high level of sound design on that particular field...no doubt that's a full monty:)Thanks for great review James
Nice sound. I'm just checking out videos on the different instruments as I am waiting for Komplete to download (will take a few days). Nice to see things like this for inspiration and some tips.
Thanks for this. I don't play keyboards, so how do Session Horns work with piano roll view assembly of notes? Do a lot of extra MIDI commands have to be input as well as velocity, for example?
canvoodoo I even mean in that narrow domain. The attack differences in the fast travelling Tower Of Power stuff. I guess the problem you had with the real musicians didn't have to do with the feeling of attack on each note ;)
danron The Problem had to do with everything from tuning to attack to not being tight they have all been for lack of a better word shit. I do agree that a good horn section has no substitute, But for me this is next best thing. But I see what you mean.
danron You can automate stuff so every hit is not that equal. I agree with you that the problem with samplers is that every hit sounds the same. So I automate everything. In which the only problem with that is how time consuming it is but you find your work flow through doing it so much. I make velocity changes - EQ/filter modulation - pitch modulation - timing changes - ADSR envelope modulation - filter envelope modulation etc. and it can sound very natural and gives it that "human touch" if you like - but it still can never be perfect. You cannot substitute a human for a computer - ever! But you can get really close with a lot of time and effort.
What I need to know is how do you get automation lanes to appear for Mod Wheel Depth and Mod Wheel Rate in Session Horns so you can add a vibrato to the notes you choose.
Thank you! I just started using Session Horns Pro and your tutorial is a HUGE help!! I’m going to redo a track I’m working on using the knowledge I just gained from you instructions! Are you still around?
@@stephenlennartz3466 Sorry Stephen, just now seeing your question. I think it could work for live, but you would need use performance controls to really make them sound convincing. Although, right out of the box I found this easy to navigate.
Excuse me, may I ask you a question? Is it possible somehow to "set and change" the articulation, through the key (note) editor. Perhaps wrong place to ask this question, since I am using a Cubase...
I personally like the fact midi always sounds slightly digitized ( I also like the convinience of having an entire virtual band at my fingertips ). I currently use Halion 7, Kontakt Factory plus free libraries and even midi sound modules for brass sounds especially if I want what many people describe as "what sounds like a Casio keyboard". But to say this sounds fake especially when someone has put in a lot of hard work to make it sound realistic is in my opinion quite rude especially as many producers spend their hard earned cash on these sample libraries. If and when I'm ready to upgrade to Kontakt 7 I would buy it as part of Komplete Ultimate or Komplete Collector's Edition is not bad for the price you pay at just under £2,000 especially considering that a Yamaha Tyros 5, Genos or Montage cost twice as much as Komplete. Also if you don't have the Pro version of Session Horns and need some solo parts the Kontakt Factory Band solo horns are still usable
I think it really sounds great. And I have recorded many horn sections. OK, so it's not as great as a real section arranged by a top arranger, but come on, this thing is cheaper than ONE real session with real horns.
i have a question. Can i play just one instrument? For example if i just want to play the saxophone can i do it? or just work with all the instruments.
For single horn stabs and long notes i think it's quite ok, but as soon as you try fast articulations, it sucks. Will have to wait for A.I. to come to the rescue!
niranjan javeri There are a literal fuck ton of orchestral/epic/cinematic brass section sample libraries. These are some of the only samples that can be effectively used for pop, ska, jazz, and big band. Look at literally any other horn library if you want horns for cinematic/epic pieces.
Always use EWQL for cinematic/film music. These horns are for jazz/blues/pop smooth type genres. EWQL doesnt work for jazz either..they just sound different.
In the Funk playback of your arrangement, the horns seem to be distractingly behind the beat. In this genre the horns should be on top of the beat. Perhaps shifting the entire brass section by 0.2 seconds earlier would help... otherwise, great demo. Thanks!
I see the prices range from $200 to $700... Which Kontakt vst do you have? What do you recommend? Any other VSTs that you suggest are worth purchase? I have quite a few already, and there are a lot more that I want.
its sad that i cannot use this live on stage (live band). im a key player in a latin band. this program takes 6gb minimum of CPU, so there is no way to get this on affordable tablet to run midi via midi keyboard without crashing .most tablets got a maximum of 2 or 3 gb workspace to process this high quality software. i want this so bad on stage! it would give me all kinds of erections. IF ANYONE GOT ADVICE for my situation, feel free to help me xd. There are tablets with 8gb ram, but it will cost 1200 euro, are there cheaper options?
+Orwell Official I bought an i7 laptop for like 800 and can barely make any music on it. I just hate laptops and tablets for music production. I know cinesamples has a product called cinesymphony lite that is supposed to have a small footprint processor and ram wise. But you should be able to use Session Horns if you add a little ram or get an interface to use as a soundcard like dude before me said. I use a scarlett - $100 - and it takes a lot of pressure off of my processor and memory .
To me this sounds really weird especially if you're going to feature it. But I have met so many engineers who have convinced themselves that people can't tell the difference-but if you 're going for any kind of award you've got to remember that a lot of people really can tell. It's like using stale butter in cookies: it wrecks the batch, unfortunately.
James Diamond I think meant though sound of keys that a microphone would pick up - like if you played the trill without blowing, on a sax - what that key sound would be of keys and pads.
Matthew - Just use something else until you can afford it. Someone sending you an installer will do you no good as you will not be able to license it. It's best to do the right thing by NI and the software community. For what it's worth, as an existing Arturia customer I asked for "Brass" and they let me have it for nothing. You could try that on perhaps... Again - they have to send you a license key.
