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How playable is V Horns Sax ?

José Herring

José Herring

Lost in Cyberspace
So, I did a demo where the filmmakers wanted a Catch me If You Can vibe for the score. They loved the demo and though nothing is ever certain in this business, I'm moving forward with the gig.

I ended up using a solo sax that was from the included Kotakt library. It worked out well enough but for the real gig I need something better. But......

The thing that I liked about the Kontakt sax was that it was very responsive to my playing and programming. Took me no time at all to vary articulations, ect... What I didn't like is that some of the usual slight bends and pitch bends I like to use in solo playing I couldn't do on this patch.

I need a sax that isn't 80's style pop but more classical in tone and very, very nimble with easy of programming. Ideally it would be the sax version of SampleModeling's The Trumpet. Like playable for the most part. I think I can get the sound I want from V Horns Sax but it doesn't seem like it's that nimble.

I need it to do something like the example below. Mind you this isn't something I would post for the discerning sample connoisseurs here on VI control. But, to get a gig it was good enough. I've long ago learned that the public doesn't hear the samples in the same way we do. :) But, they deserve the best that they can afford and short of hiring a pro and heading into studio (which isn't really out of the question) what's the best vst sax for this style?
View attachment Hide and Seek.mp3
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José Herring said:
So, I did a demo where the filmmakers wanted a Catch me If You Can vibe for the score. They loved the demo and though nothing is ever certain in this business, I'm moving forward with the gig.

I ended up using a solo sax that was from the included Kotakt library. It worked out well enough but for the real gig I need something better. But......

The thing that I liked about the Kontakt sax was that it was very responsive to my playing and programming. Took me no time at all to vary articulations, ect... What I didn't like is that some of the usual slight bends and pitch bends I like to use in solo playing I couldn't do on this patch.

I need a sax that isn't 80's style pop but more classical in tone and very, very nimble with easy of programming. Ideally it would be the sax version of SampleModeling's The Trumpet. Like playable for the most part. I think I can get the sound I want from V Horns Sax but it doesn't seem like it's that nimble.

I need it to do something like the example below. Mind you this isn't something I would post for the discerning sample connoisseurs here on VI control. But, to get a gig it was good enough. I've long ago learned that the public doesn't hear the samples in the same way we do. :) But, they deserve the best that they can afford and short of hiring a pro and heading into studio (which isn't really out of the question) what's the best vst sax for this style?
View attachment Hide and Seek.mp3
Click to expand...
I think V Horns Saxes will surely do better job there (and there are different saxes in the bundle with fast sound - shaping tools available).
 
José Herring said:
So, I did a demo where the filmmakers wanted a Catch me If You Can vibe for the score. They loved the demo and though nothing is ever certain in this business, I'm moving forward with the gig.

I ended up using a solo sax that was from the included Kotakt library. It worked out well enough but for the real gig I need something better. But......

The thing that I liked about the Kontakt sax was that it was very responsive to my playing and programming. Took me no time at all to vary articulations, ect... What I didn't like is that some of the usual slight bends and pitch bends I like to use in solo playing I couldn't do on this patch.

I need a sax that isn't 80's style pop but more classical in tone and very, very nimble with easy of programming. Ideally it would be the sax version of SampleModeling's The Trumpet. Like playable for the most part. I think I can get the sound I want from V Horns Sax but it doesn't seem like it's that nimble.

I need it to do something like the example below. Mind you this isn't something I would post for the discerning sample connoisseurs here on VI control. But, to get a gig it was good enough. I've long ago learned that the public doesn't hear the samples in the same way we do. :) But, they deserve the best that they can afford and short of hiring a pro and heading into studio (which isn't really out of the question) what's the best vst sax for this style?
View attachment Hide and Seek.mp3
Click to expand...
I don't even own the VHorn saxes but I'm 99% sure you'd get a much better output and that you'd be happy with it.

(Based on what I've heard in demos, and based on the other winds I do own ...)
 
José Herring said:
So, I did a demo where the filmmakers wanted a Catch me If You Can vibe for the score. They loved the demo and though nothing is ever certain in this business, I'm moving forward with the gig.

I ended up using a solo sax that was from the included Kotakt library. It worked out well enough but for the real gig I need something better. But......

The thing that I liked about the Kontakt sax was that it was very responsive to my playing and programming. Took me no time at all to vary articulations, ect... What I didn't like is that some of the usual slight bends and pitch bends I like to use in solo playing I couldn't do on this patch.

I need a sax that isn't 80's style pop but more classical in tone and very, very nimble with easy of programming. Ideally it would be the sax version of SampleModeling's The Trumpet. Like playable for the most part. I think I can get the sound I want from V Horns Sax but it doesn't seem like it's that nimble.

I need it to do something like the example below. Mind you this isn't something I would post for the discerning sample connoisseurs here on VI control. But, to get a gig it was good enough. I've long ago learned that the public doesn't hear the samples in the same way we do. :) But, they deserve the best that they can afford and short of hiring a pro and heading into studio (which isn't really out of the question) what's the best vst sax for this style?
View attachment Hide and Seek.mp3
Click to expand...
Here's a quick and dirty test using the Alto Sax from VHorns.
View attachment Herring Vhorns Sax.mp3
 
Jrides said:
In the sample world, you might want to check out VSL.
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I second this. The Synchronized Saxes may still be my favourite samples. I believe VSL currently run a sale on that particular productline too.

(Also, Soundpaint saxes are pretty good too - when you are able to stay within their bandwidth of sweetspots and sort of work your way around the weird legato behaviour - and are rather cheap)
 
Without having the product in question and just based on what I've heard so far, I think that AcoustiSample's saxes are the best to date.
But if you have Phaseplant, I would advise you to take a look at the baritone sax modeled by Joel Blanco Berg.
For just $25 you have an agile instrument that sounds amazing in my personal opinion and still without having the product in question and based on the demos.

 
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What a modeled instrument will give you that you can't get from samples is really good legato, and instantaneous control of dynamics that sounds believable. To do it right, though, you really need to use a breath controller (I use TecControl or Hornberg). The breath controller really turns it into an instrument, and if you have any experience playing a real wind instrument, all the better.

I have both the V-Horns and AudioModeling virtual saxophone libraries. I think V-Horns is smoother, but I do think that the AudioModeling instruments (all of them, really) are capable of an additional notch of dynamic expression on the high end. If you need things to hit hard, at times, the AudioModeling SWAM instrument might be a better choice.
 
here's an example with the AudioModeling Alto. I fully agree with Lee on the extra dynamic layer, and also find they are a bit more expressive, in the sense that they are able to produce more tone variations depending on the cc data. Plus they have a ppp breathy layer that I can't have in Vhorns. The other side of the coin is that Vhorns are slightly more true to the timbre of the original instruments


View attachment AMAlto.mp3
 
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