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Cinematic Studio Brass?

NoamL said:
OK - but to make a fair comparison you'll probably have to spend some time with the MIDI adapting it to CS2/CB. Here you go!
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Thank's a ton. Yea, I'll tweak it. Do you know where exactly is that part in the score? So I can listen to the real performance.
 
I just received this and will review it for AskAudio.com

Just a teaser, if you are looking for a big, epic sounding brass library with serious cojones, this isn't it. Not as aggressive even as Hollywood Brass and of course there are more aggressive brass libraries than HB in the marketplace.

But the same is true of CSS vs some other string libraries but if like me if you really like the sound of CSS, I think you will be quite pleased with CSB as well.
 
Ashermusic said:
Not as aggressive even as Hollywood Brass
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Wow! I mostly disagree, so I'll look forward to your review and your POV. I haven't dived into the short & muted articulations much, but the legato/sustains and marcato patches have real, killer top end to them. The marcatos go up further than the sustains. Just listen to something like this -



You can get that with 95 or 100 on the modwheel with the Trumpet Solo + 2 Trumpets, playing the Marcato articulation.

I've whinged on this forum before about brass libraries needing real top and bottom ends for dynamics.... CSB has me very pleased and will likely be 80%+ of my brass template going forward. You're right that it's not Trailer Brass, Iceni, or anything like that.

If someone wants traditional-sized brass ensembles with real soaring top end, then CSB, Caspian and Hollywood Brass are all good choices (and stay away from Berlin Brass, as well as some others). Caspian is cool because of the rich hall sound and wide dynamic range. CSB is cool because of the incredibly consistent articulations and top notch legatos. Hollywood used to be one of the better options but IMO suffers from inconsistency within instruments and some real hit-and-miss between the instrument groups (seems like a widespread opinion that the horns kick ass and the trumpets are weaker). Sound, and workflow, are both important considerations, that's why I'm currently remaking my template to standardize around CS series.
 
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Knomes said:
Can I ask why have you chosen such values?
Do you think that this is the correct ratio between the two libraries?
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It's only my opinion, but yes I think the correct ratio is in that general area. I'm not sure what it should be exactly. This demo sounded fine with CSB at -7. I've done other tests comparing with real scores: I brought a bit of audio into Logic, changed the volume so that it sounded like CSS, then tried to figure out what volume CSB should be to match the score. Those tests gave values like -10 or -12 for the horns and even a bit more for the trumpets. All I'm really confident saying is that 0 is for sure incorrect. Most of the demos posted so far with CSS/CSB at par, sound to me like the brass is unnaturally overwhelming.

I think Alex mentioned somewhere that he's making a video about volumes. In any case you can see in his walkthrough video that he has the master volume in Kontakt turned down to -9!

 
NoamL said:
It's only my opinion, but yes I think the correct ratio is in that general area. I'm not sure what it should be exactly. This demo sounded fine with CSB at -7. I've done other tests comparing with real scores: I brought a bit of audio into Logic, changed the volume so that it sounded like CSS, then tried to figure out what volume CSB should be to match the score. Those tests gave values like -10 or -12 for the horns and even a bit more for the trumpets. All I'm really confident saying is that 0 is for sure incorrect. Most of the demos posted so far with CSS/CSB at par, sound to me like the brass is unnaturally overwhelming.

I think Alex mentioned somewhere that he's making a video about volumes. In any case you can see in his walkthrough video that he has the master volume in Kontakt turned down to -9!

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Noam, a few months ago you mentioned the idea of brass in terms of "gold", "silver", and "platinum", and I find that concept very useful. Do you think you'll be reaching for CSB for any of your "gold" needs? I'm currently looking at getting OT Ark 2 brass for that softer, rounder sound.
 
Land of Missing Parts said:
Noam, a few months ago you mentioned the idea of brass in terms of "gold", "silver", and "platinum", and I find that concept very useful. Do you think you'll be reaching for CSB for any of your "gold" needs? I'm currently looking at getting OT Ark 2 brass for that softer, rounder sound.
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CSB is definitely going to be my main brass library sprinkling others as needed. Just the dynamic range alone is wonderful. I'm with you though, I'm getting ark 2 for the really soft, rounder brass sound i really enjoy from ark 2 walkthroughs. I'm still on the fence on ark3 but i might just do it since the deal is great at the moment.
 
NoamL said:
I'm happy that CSB made that look easy to you, but I encourage you to compare CSB:



with Hollywood Brass:


[AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/hwb_gondortheme-mp3.17105/][/AUDIOPLUS]

or the Spitfire Studio Brass version which was deleted.

IMO what makes the CS series great is that the legato transitions work right alongside the rebow/retongue transitions and the "start of a new phrase" note attacks. Thus, you can have a phrase where some notes are slurred, repeated, or played straight, and it all works together creating a deceptively easy-looking performance. In effect, there are a lot more options under the hood than it looks like from the GUI... ;)
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wtf is going on with the hwb brass horn legato there? There are so many bumps and things? can´t remember that it was that bad..CSB sounds pretty good in that example!
 
Land of Missing Parts said:
Noam, a few months ago you mentioned the idea of brass in terms of "gold", "silver", and "platinum", and I find that concept very useful. Do you think you'll be reaching for CSB for any of your "gold" needs? I'm currently looking at getting OT Ark 2 brass for that softer, rounder sound.
Click to expand...

Check out the new soft demo on the CSB site (Christmas Morning)

It can't play quieter than that. if you really want piano/pianissimo indeed something like Ark 2 or Albion V seems like a good choice.
 
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