# Performance Samples - Caspian Brass



## lucor (Nov 13, 2017)

A first listen to Jasper's new brass library (starting at 1:16):

Apparently it functions similiarly to Oceania. Jasper's libraries are among the few (apart from Cinematic Studio and Musical Sampling) that still get me genuinely excited, so I'm pretty hyped for this.


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## mac (Nov 13, 2017)

As someone who hasn't used oceania, what do you mean when you say it functions the same?


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## Joe_D (Nov 13, 2017)

lucor said:


> A first listen to Jasper's new brass library



Not much to go on, but they do "Tacet" really well!


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## NoamL (Nov 13, 2017)

The ensembles are 6 horns, 3 trumpets and 3 bass trombones, according to Jasper on FB.

Seems like it will be in the same category of brass libraries as Angry Brass and Adventure Brass. Unison ensembles with long+short scripting inside the same patch. Adventure Brass however was 4 horns 2 trumpets 2 trombones 1 tuba. So this library will possibly be a bit less flexible but with more brawn and badassery 

I really like the separation of trumpets & horns (assuming this demo is showcasing the recorded positions).


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## prodigalson (Nov 13, 2017)

no tenor trombones and 3 bass trombones instead? seems reasonable...


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## desert (Nov 13, 2017)

Will need some naked demos please


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## NoamL (Nov 13, 2017)

Actually with none of the bass triggers pressed down, the bass trombone _is_ a tenor trombone, just with a bigger bore and bell and a heavier sound. It can play as high as the tenor.


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## guydoingmusic (Nov 13, 2017)

It's a lot of fun to play!  Sounds amazing!


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## lucor (Nov 16, 2017)

Next demo!


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## NoamL (Nov 16, 2017)

Those bass bones!!


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## Lassi Tani (Nov 16, 2017)

lucor said:


> Next demo!




Sounds even better than the first demo!


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## dariusofwest (Nov 16, 2017)

Those trombones are rocking it! WOW!


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## stevenson-again (Nov 16, 2017)

Wow - they certainly are. The trumpets are getting the job done as well. So what's this lib?


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## ctsai89 (Nov 16, 2017)

Will there be a solo trumpet?


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## Lawson. (Nov 16, 2017)

ctsai89 said:


> Will there be a solo trumpet?





NoamL said:


> The ensembles are 6 horns, 3 trumpets and 3 bass trombones, according to Jasper on FB.


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## ctsai89 (Nov 16, 2017)

Lawson. said:


>


I saw that. But when he said " the ensembles are" I thought there was also a solo part to the library. Because I had thought he only needed to be clarified of the amount in ensembles since the solo is always going to be just 1.


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## Lawson. (Nov 16, 2017)

ctsai89 said:


> I saw that. But when he said " the ensembles are" I thought there was also a solo part to the library. Because I had thought he only needed to be clarified of the amount in ensembles since the solo is always going to be just 1.



Ahhh, gotcha.


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## fiestared (Nov 17, 2017)

lucor said:


> A first listen to Jasper's new brass library (starting at 1:16):
> 
> Apparently it functions similiarly to Oceania. Jasper's libraries are among the few (apart from Cinematic Studio and Musical Sampling) that still get me genuinely excited, so I'm pretty hyped for this.




"The Fleet" what a demo wow ! this guy is "really" talented... "Jasper j'adore..."


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## lucor (Nov 17, 2017)




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## dariusofwest (Nov 17, 2017)

Really sweet :D. Has a great sound and looks quite easy to use without having to shape every note as much.


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## Gzu (Nov 17, 2017)

Amazing !!


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## mac (Nov 17, 2017)

Looking forward to seeing this in use. Looks like adventure brass on steroids.


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## NoamL (Nov 17, 2017)

The dynamic range is really impressive.


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## wbacer (Nov 17, 2017)

May have to bypass Black Friday altogether and save up for Caspian Brass, Synchron Strings and Cinematic Studio Brass, that would say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year...any maybe throw in Spitfire Choir.


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## BL (Nov 27, 2017)

It's now available for $149 through December 6th (full price: $239)


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## LamaRose (Nov 27, 2017)

Logic users should take note, per the Caspian info page.


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## Paul Owen (Nov 27, 2017)

Thanks for this. Nearly bit the bullet without noticing the issue. I've noticed in the last year or two that Logic seems to be a problem for some developers, not sure why.



LamaRose said:


> Logic users should take note, per the Caspian info page.


.


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## conan (Nov 27, 2017)

Downloading now. I already have Oceania and this was a no-brainer.


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## calebfaith (Nov 28, 2017)

Purchased and had a bit of a play around. Seems wonderfully playable and I was surprised by the amount of articulation that came from how I naturally play the keyboard. Definitely more than worth it!

Nice and punchy on the attacks if you play hard as well


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## Andrajas (Nov 28, 2017)

someone that bought it which uses Logic? if so, how is it working for you?

How does the library do with softer passages? soft sustains ect. (not its main goal maybe, but I'm curious)


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## reutunes (Nov 28, 2017)

I actually am using it with Logic. Haven't noticed any issues. 

MINI REVIEW:

Lovely sound and simple to use interface. Don't get too excited about articulations as there is nothing more than sustains. You can play pretty short notes and the engine will account for this and turn them into staccato-like shorts so that's good. Crossfading between the (wide) dynamic range samples is excellent. Loop points are seamless although I haven't had the chance to check every note and dynamic. There are a few little noises on the releases but nothing to upset me. As far as I can tell there is no "legato" articulation as such. In conclusion, it's a great sounding workhorse library out of the box but articulations and functionality will be too limited for some, especially when considering how much cheaper some other brass libraries from the likes of Auddict have become recently.


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## AdamKmusic (Nov 28, 2017)

Please someone do a quick Gladiator battle mock-up!


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## Symfoniq (Nov 28, 2017)

Curious how this stacks up against Adventure Brass?


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## erica-grace (Nov 28, 2017)

reutunes said:


> there is nothing more than sustains.



Really? Are you sure? Because listening to the demos, it sounds as though there are shorts.


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## reutunes (Nov 28, 2017)

erica-grace said:


> Really? Are you sure? Because listening to the demos, it sounds as though there are shorts.



Well, there is no "shorts" articulation that you can select via interface / keyswitch. You have to rely on the engine figuring out your playing speed and adjusting the note samples / releases accordingly - presumably it goes for a different sample set when you play quickly. I'd have to spend some time analysing the scripting to see exactly what's going on. Can you clarify @Jasper Blunk ?


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## erica-grace (Nov 28, 2017)

reutunes said:


> ou have to rely on the engine figuring out your playing speed



No such thing - Kontakt does not "figure out" anything. I have already spoken to NI about this - there is no AI.

If you listen to the last demo - the three bass trombones naked - there are shorts in there. So, how are those achieved? Jasper?


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## Dirk Ehlert (Nov 28, 2017)

Goin live in 2 hrs at ww.twitch.tv/dirk_ehlert with Caspian for those interested.
Cheers


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## reutunes (Nov 28, 2017)

erica-grace said:


> No such thing - Kontakt does not "figure out" anything. I have already spoken to NI about this - there is no AI.
> 
> If you listen to the last demo - the three bass trombones naked - there are shorts in there. So, how are those achieved? Jasper?



Well, that's not quite true and perhaps I could have put it better. Kontakt can't look into the future and see what you're going to play. But it could adjust the release samples to alternative sets depending on how long notes are held down. This is the same concept as legato instruments that play different length legato transitions based on how quickly new notes are being played.


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## erica-grace (Nov 28, 2017)

Ok, when you put it that way, it makes more sense. Sure, different things/samples/events can be triggered based on how hard you play, and how many notes simultaneously you play (but not based on speed).

But what I said up there is indeed true


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## kurtvanzo (Nov 28, 2017)

erica-grace said:


> Ok, when you put it that way, it makes more sense. Sure, different things/samples/events can be triggered based on how hard you play, and how many notes simultaneously you play (but not based on speed).
> 
> But what I said up there is indeed true



Actually it can play different releases and legatoes (ending of notes) based on how short the note is, and if you're playing quickly you would naturally play shorter, quicker notes. Which is similar to "based on speed" (really duration), but yes, there s no way to know when you will play the next note live.

Now if DAW's started providing "look ahead" midi indicators for playback to plugins like Kontakt... 

Eventually, just like look ahead with audio, I believe this will be worked into future Midi standards (2.0?) as well.

Back OT, these sound great. I'd appreciate a video of the interface, even if it's basic. How it plays out of the box would be great to see (I'll checkout the live stream- thanks!). Also the website says "All in one patch" but I assume it's 3 .nki's, no?


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## vewilya (Nov 28, 2017)

Whatever the wizardry behind this amazing instrument, it surely needs its CPU to be running nicely. I host it in Kontakt in a DP session and it ranks number one on the effect performance meter!! BUT!! I adore it nonetheless. Will have to upgrade my CPU though... What a vicious cycle this has become....


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## constaneum (Nov 28, 2017)

vewilya said:


> Whatever the wizardry behind this amazing instrument, it surely needs its CPU to be running nicely. I host it in Kontakt in a DP session and it ranks number one on the effect performance meter!! BUT!! I adore it nonetheless. Will have to upgrade my CPU though... What a vicious cycle this has become....



same goes with the Ocenia. Love the sounds but encountered a few hiccups here and there during the composition journey which ended up reloading the composition projects a few times. Can be frustrating at times. I'm on 7th gen core i7-7700 kabby lake processor though which is personally think it's fairly powerful for my current composition workflow. But !!! One thing for sure. It does live up to its name as Performance Samples. It's really great ! It truly has an amazing playability performance and the sound quality is top notch ! that's something i can't deny !


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## clisma (Nov 28, 2017)

Latest version of Logic here, and playing around with Caspian I can see it requiring a lot in "live mode." In the trumpets, as I play fast chord repetitions, I do occasionally get a CPU overload for that core.

The way to deal with that for us Logic users would be to enable only one of the three mic position while writing/ recording, so as to keep the CPU usage to a minimum, then re-enable the remaining mics. Works well over here.

And yes, very playable. Great sound out of the gate. It's so good for what it is that I don't even mind the limited articulations. Well done, Jasper.


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## rvb (Nov 28, 2017)

Just bought this andd I realllly like it a lot so far. It's really quick and fun working with this library!


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## miguel88 (Nov 28, 2017)

do you guys recommend this library for first dedicate brass library even doesn't have all brass instruments? the initial prices is gorgeous


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## constaneum (Nov 28, 2017)

miguel88 said:


> do you guys recommend this library for first dedicate brass library even doesn't have all brass instruments? the initial prices is gorgeous



I personally will recommend to get it but i for now have no plan to get as i already have cinebrass core, projectsam's orchestral brass classic as well as east west's hollywood brass & the classic SO Gold. The recommendation reasons are as follow:-

The tone of the instruments is right
The playability performance which i couldn't highly recommend enough based on my experience with Ocenia. I'm sure you all might have experienced that where by there are times when you want that flexibility switching capability between staccato and sustain notes which won't sound like a hiccup or chocking transition between the two articulations. I personally find it works very well. Imagine you have that staccato overlay which can be done with Cinebrass and Hollywood Brass but somehow the result might not be that satisfactory or convincing. I'm pretty sure Caspian can nail that aspect based on what i've experienced with Ocenia.

Very good for sketching if you're on tight schedule. Quick and easy to use. This is what i like !
Even though the down size is that it has limited articulations and no true legato for solo lines, don't let that factor turn your heads away from this library. Don't be deceived by its limited articulations. It's indeed a very hand and a potentially powerful brass library if used correctly or appropriately.

Here's my experience with Ocenia which you may refer to the following audio demo.


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## Quasar (Nov 29, 2017)

calebfaith said:


> Purchased and had a bit of a play around. Seems wonderfully playable and I was surprised by the amount of articulation that came from how I naturally play the keyboard. Definitely more than worth it!
> 
> Nice and punchy on the attacks if you play hard as well


I too am always interested in much can be done dynamically from simply playing on a MIDI piano keybed... 

From your sig it looks as though you're a Reaper user. Can you verify that whatever CPU spike problem may exist for Logic users doesn't apply to Reaper?


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## AdamKmusic (Nov 29, 2017)

Ahh damn, fooled by the lack of VAT on the price again!

Bought anyway, one last early birthday present for me!


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## lucor (Nov 30, 2017)

I hope this is the future of sampling. Only 1Gb in size, 3 simple patches without a million keyswitches, yet way more playable and better sounding than most brass libraries out there. More please!!


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## Karl Feuerstake (Nov 30, 2017)

lucor said:


> I hope this is the future of sampling. Only 1Gb in size, 3 simple patches without a million keyswitches, yet way more playable and better sounding than most brass libraries out there. More please!!



Honestly, the play-ability of it does seriously point to the future.
I'm VERY impressed with the library. The ability to just play shorts and longs realistically without having key-switches is a true step towards to the future. Congrats Jasper.

I've produced a couple of private, self-tailored sample-libraries in the past - and so I see and appreciate how Jasper is truly showing a leading edge above even the AAA devs like Spitfire with how playable this. So easy to use, and sounds very good too. The intro-price is a steal. Don't get me wrong, in my honesty I will say I prefer the room-sound and microphones that Spitfire libraries offer, but this takes ease of playing powerful, realistic sounding lines to another level.


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## calebfaith (Nov 30, 2017)

Quasar said:


> I too am always interested in much can be done dynamically from simply playing on a MIDI piano keybed...
> 
> From your sig it looks as though you're a Reaper user. Can you verify that whatever CPU spike problem may exist for Logic users doesn't apply to Reaper?



From what I've seen it hovers around 10% CPU on an old AMD FX8350 with all three mics. Only 93MB RAM as well (FH)


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## Quasar (Dec 6, 2017)

Bought it, just under the intro price wire. The bass trombones most especially stand out to me, and the ability to play longs and shorts without key switches is cool. The CC1 dynamics are wonderful, the timbrel characteristics you associate with their various velocity levels seem perfect, and cover from p (PP?) to about fff really well. The modwheel in this regard seems much more sensitive than average.

Having no key-touch velocity control is different than what I'm used to, but I'm perfectly fine with this and can get used to it. Cool library.


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## rottoy (Feb 2, 2018)

Just picked up Caspian Brass. The only thing I regret is not getting this during the intro price.
Oh my lord, I've never loved a brass library as much as this one.

This is my first run with it.


@Jasper Blunk Will there ever be a companion product to this one?
If so, permit me to throw my wallet your way.


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## vosk (Feb 5, 2018)

rottoy said:


> This is my first run with it


where breath in part of horns?


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## rottoy (Feb 5, 2018)

vosk said:


> where breath in part of horns?


Rookie mistake; Of course you always hire ghouls to play brass. No breathing required!


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## Geocranium (Feb 5, 2018)

vosk said:


> where breath in part of horns?



He only hires circular breathers.


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## DeactivatedAcc (Feb 5, 2018)

rottoy said:


> @Jasper Blunk Will there ever be a companion product to this one?



Most of the core concepts behind Caspian do apply to other sections (strings/choir, etc). Oceania has a good bit in common with Caspian in that respect, although Oceania was far more in-depth with repetition sample assets. I'm editing & programming Con Moto (8-6-6-6 legato strings) at the moment, which is stylistically a different product than Caspian but has some similar aspects of flexibility.


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## Geocranium (Feb 5, 2018)

I understand that you're more than busy with Con Moto at the moment, but if there were ever a tuba addition to Caspian, well I don't think I could contain my excitement.


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## Symfoniq (Feb 6, 2018)

Jasper Blunk said:


> Most of the core concepts behind Caspian do apply to other sections (strings/choir, etc). Oceania has a good bit in common with Caspian in that respect, although Oceania was far more in-depth with repetition sample assets. I'm editing & programming Con Moto (8-6-6-6 legato strings) at the moment, which is stylistically a different product than Caspian but has some similar aspects of flexibility.




Looking forward to Con Moto. You might as well just keep my credit card number on file. Caspian and Oceania were two of the best libraries I acquired last year, so Con Moto is likely an insta-buy. Keep up the great work.


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