OT Articulation Guide - Orchestral...

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Articulation Guide

Berlin Brass

www.orchestraltools.com

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© 2017 Orchestral Tools | Schwarzer & Mantik GmbHRev. 2 017-10-2 5

OT Articulation Guide

CONTENT

I About this Articulation Guide 2

II Introduction 3

III Recording and Concept 4

IV Berlin Series 5

1 Berlin Brass .................................................................................................................... 6

Instruments .............................................................................................................. 8

Articulations ......................................................................................................... 10

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| About this Art iculat ion Guide |


I About this Articulation Guide

The number of Orchestral Tools is constantly growing and covers all instrumental families of the orchestra,

with some collections even branching out into non-orchestral instruments. This Articulation Guide describes

all contained articulations as well as their technical properties (velocity layers, Round Robins, and many

more).

This document is a special version of the Articulation Guide that only contains features applicable to thecollections listed below.You can download the full Articulation Guide that applies to all Orchestral Tools collections in our Helpdesk.

The following table lists all collections covered by this Articulation Guide with their current Capsule version

as well as the minimum Kontakt version.

Collection Name Collection Capsule KontaktBBR | Berlin Brass 1.1 2.5.2 Player 5.5.1+

ImportantThis Articulation Guide does not cover the general installation, usage and features of Orchestral Tools

collections. These topics are explained step by step in the respective User Guides and Installation Guides,

which you can find in your collection's Documentation folder. You can also find them in our Helpdesk.

http://helpdesk.orchestraltools.com/hd_articulation_guides.html

http://helpdesk.orchestraltools.com/hd_documentation.html

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| Introduct ion |


© 2017 Orchestral Tools | Schwarzer & Mantik GmbH

II Introduction

Welcome to the Orchestral Tools Articulation Guide!

Orchestral Tools provides high-quality sampled instruments for composers. Thanks to our Capsule Scripting

Framework developed in-house, all Orchestral Tools collections look and work in a very similar way.

Articulation names, labeling and all technical terms are identical in every collections, so you will find it easy

to find your way around.

This Articulation Guide describes all articulations as well as their technical features and is organized as

follows:

- The general Ser ies Overv iew shows you all available Orchestral Tools Series', which group our

collections into broader categories.

- Following this is the respective Ser ies Overv iew Page of one particular Series, which lists all available

collections by name and gives suggestions for expansions options.

- Each individual collection then has its own Col lect ion Overv iew page, which describes the general

content of the collection as well as its most important features at a glance.

- This is followed by the Inst ruments Section, which lists all instruments (or sections) contained in the

collection with a short description of tone, scope or other pertinent information.

- The Ar t iculat ions Section finally lists all articulations in detail along with all their properties.

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| Recording and Concept |


III Recording and Concept

We are happy to have found a sonic home for our collections at the Teldex Scoring Stage in Berlin.

The large recording stage at Teldex looks back on a long tradition of many well known and Grammy®

award winning recordings. Famous orchestras, like the Berlin Philharmonics and great film composers from

the USA and Europe trust and love the wide and clear acoustics of this room. One of the best sounding

scoring stages in Europe, this room together with a fantastic complement of legendary microphones catapults

our work to a new level of orchestral sampling.

The quality of a sampled collection begins with the recording. Every Orchestral Tools collection is recorded

at 96khz with state of the art equipment. The full editing and post-production process uses these 96khz

recordings without downsampling. We very rarely denoise our recordings and never treat them in any other

automated way. If tuning is needed, it is done by ear without resorting to tuning algorithms. Only at the very

end, right before the samples are mapped into their instruments, the content is converted to 48khz for best

use of resources.

Our goal is to provide a set of tools that easily adapts to any workflow and creates a coherent sonic

representation of the orchestra. The main way we achieved this is by recording every instrument in its

orchestral position. All collections come pre-panned and pre-mixed with their respective volumes

balanced. If there are multiple types of the same instrument, they are recorded in slightly different positions,

yet still in their general section area. The different snare drums in Berlin Percussion, for example, have been

recorded slightly spread over the general "snare drum area" within the percussion section. This allows you to

have a very wide and full sound when combining multiple instruments.

We deliberately choose to also record non-traditional instruments as belonging to a symphonic setup, like

electric guitars and a drumset in our Metropolis Ark Series. Modern media scoring introduces a host of new

instruments into the established orchestral lineup and we feel these instruments deserve the same care and

precision in fitting them into the symphonic sound as their traditional counterparts.

All collections feature a number of microphone positions commonly used in orchestral recording. The

position of these microphones is identical in every collection, which means that for example the Tree is much

nearer to the string section that it is to the percussion section (because the percussion section is situated at

the back of the orchestra). This enabled lively acoustics that come pre-mixed for the respective stage

position. The choice of mic positions also depends greatly on the instrument. Some instruments, especially in

the percussion section, benefit greatly from a M/S position to enable accurately positioning the sound

source.

Wherever possible, similar instruments use the same mapping scheme so it is usually possible to transfer

MIDI data from one instrument to another easily. This is especially important and useful for percussion.

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| Berlin Series |



IV Berlin Series

The Berlin Series is Orchestral Tools' ongoing journey to harnessing the sound of the Teldex Scoring stage

in an all-purpose orchestral sample collection.

Every major section of the orchestra is represented by one Main Collection, which contains all essentials

instruments and articulations and forms the backbone of any symphonic piece. These collections are

expanded and continued by special expansion collections, which add additional instruments or playing

techniques.

The following table lists all Berlin Series Collections currently released - underlined names jump to a

description of its content and unique features. You can download a version of this Articulation Guide that

applies to all released Collections on our Helpdesk.

When you load any Berlin Series patch inside Kontakt, the instrument slot will show an icon representing the

orchestral section as shown below.

Berlin Orchestra Inspire Berlin Orchestra Inspire

Berlin Woodwinds Berlin Brass Berlin Percussion Berlin Strings

Main Collection Main Collection Main Collection Main Collection

Additional Instruments Additional Instruments The Timpani Special Bows I

Soloists I Muted Brass Special Bows II

Soloists II Horn SFX First Chairs

SFX SFX

http://helpdesk.orchestraltools.com/

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| Berlin Series | Berlin Brass


4.1 Berlin Brass

Berlin Brass unites a host of Berlin's finest brass players in the Teldex Scoring Stage to deliver flexible solo

brass and ensembles in one comprehensive package. Following in the footsteps of the award-winning

Berlin Woodwinds, Berlin Brass gives you individual solo brass instruments in addition to sections for

ultimate flexibility in voicings.

Since its first release, the Berlin Series has become the premium standard for major composers around the

world. Composers who believe in technology, an extraordinary room, the finest musicians and a variety of

many useful articulations.

With Berlin Brass, Orchestral Tools deliver the first class Brass Collection that completes the Berlin

Orchestra. Recorded at the famous Teldex Scoring Stage, this Collection combines definition with true

power. Berlin Brass follows a whole new approach, which was developed over years of experimentation

to achieve the next level of flexibility and realism for sophisticated brass arrangements.

Thanks to CAPSULE, the most flexible articulation management system on the market, all Berlin Series

instruments form a unity of sound for premium ambitions and a customizable workflow that will unleash all the

potential that lies in the original premium sample recordings.

Instrumentation and Recording

Berlin Brass contains fourteen instruments or instrumental sections, which are divided into patches containing

a single articulation as well as multi articulation patches. You will find all of these patches inside the

Instruments folder. The collection contains the following instruments or sections, as they appear in your

instruments folder:

01. Horn 1

02. Horn 2

03. Horn 3

04. Horn 4

05. Horn Ensemble a4

06. Trumpet 1

07. Trumpet 2

08. Trumpet 3

09. Trumpet Ensemble a3

10. Trombone 1

11. Trombone 2

12. Bass Trombone

13. Trombone Ensemble a3

14. Tuba

This structure is identical for Single Articulation, Multi Articulation and Time Machine-enabled patches.

All instruments within a section are different instruments played by different musicians, not just additional

recording passes.

You have free choice between six microphone positions, Close I and II, ORTF, AB, Tree and Surround.

These microphone positions are switchable in the GUI and can be controlled via MIDI CC. Additionally, all

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core articulations have been recorded with multiple velocity layers for realistic dynamics.

All samples have their natural panning.

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4.1.1 Instruments

The Brass instruments in Berlin Brass provide you with a broad set of essential orchestral brass instruments.

This section briefly explains the individual instruments and points out usage scenarios and expansion

options.

A b o u t t h e M i c r o p h o n e P o s i t i o n s :

The Tree, AB and Surround positions as in all OT Collections are placed in fixed positions and are never

moved. Their sound is identical to their counterparts in all other OT Collections.

The ORTF is always centered in front of the respective section. So for example the four horns are from left

to right, filling the whole spectrum. The same applies to the trumpets and trombones. This provides a

balanced position, not quite dry, but also not as wet as the other positions. Furthermore, this way it is

possible to "move around" the section on the stage.

Close I and II are different stereo pairs focused on the respective section. With the exception of the Horns

(see below), these are placed identically, but differ in sound.

Horns and Horn Ensemble a4

Berlin Brass contains four French Horns, which have been recorded both separately as well as in a section.

All Horns feature identical articulations and have tonal differences, making them individually suited for

specific tasks as well as working together in a lively section.

Roughly, the four horns can be described with the following characteristics:

Horn 1: High Horn

Horn 2: Balanced

Horn 3: Full Range

Horn 4: Low Horn, more volume

On all Horns, the Close I stereo pair is placed in front of the instruments; the Close II stereo pair is placed

behind the instrument pointing at the bell.

Trumpets and Trumpet Ensemble a3

Three individual trumpets are sampled individually as well as in a section. BBR uses C Trumpets throughout.

Trombones and Trombone Ensemble a3

Two Tenor Trombones and a Bass Trombone are sampled individually as well as together in a section.

Tuba

The BBR Tuba is a traditional Tuba in F.

N o t a b l e A r t i c u l a t i o n s :

Berlin Brass features a number of unique articulations in addition to the regular staples. These include:

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- Tempo-synced 16th and Triplets repetitions

- Several dynamics, including crescendi and swells

- Playable Runs

- Bells Up patches for the Horn Ensemble

- Trombone Glissando Legato

- Special Trumpet "Zampano" patches with various articulations

Most articulations are also available as Time Machine patches, which allow you to adjust the sample

length dynamically.

E x p a n s i o n O p t i o n s :

Berlin Brass is expanded by Berlin Brass - Additional Instruments, adding Piccolo and Bass Trumpet,

Euphonium and Contrabass Trombone, Berlin Brass - Muted Brass bringing various mutes to the brass line-

up, as well as Berlin Brass - French Horn SFX, with four additional French Horns recorded both separately

and individually with a host of highly controllable effects.

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4.1.2 Articulations

All Orchestral Tools collections focus on providing a versatile pallet of articulations to help you shape your

sound.

This section lists all articulations contained in Berlin Strings.

All Berlin Strings Patches have Close I and II, ORTF, Tree, AB and Surround microphone positions. As such

these positions are not listed in the tables below.

Articulations Legend

Symbol Name Description

R Range The playable range of the instrument.

L Layers Lists the number and musical dynamics of velocity layers the

instrument uses.

T Transition Range The interval range of recorded legato transitions.

S Transition Styles If multiple legato styles are present, these are listed here by

name

V Vibrato Layers The number and type of vibrato layers

M Microphone Positions Any special mic positions that deviate from the collection

standard.

TM Time Machine Denotes a patch that uses TimeMachine for tempo-sync.

+ TimeMachine Patches

All patches marked with a "+" (plus sign) also exist as a TimeMachine patch. These patches allow you to

adjust the length of the sample to your liking. For more Information refer to the User Guide.

About Instrument Ranges:

The ranges given below are recorded note ranges. You can stretch or limit the playable range for every

articulation within the UI.

Horn 1

Articulation Properties

01. Horn 1 LegatoR: Bb0-D4 | L: 4 (pp, mp, f, ff) | T: 1st-8th (Slow,

Runs; Slur, Re-Tongued)

02. Horn 1 Sustains Imm R: Bb0-D4 | L: 4 (pp, p, mf, ff)

03. Horn 1 Sustains Acc R: Bb0-D4 | L: 2 (mf, ff)

04. Horn 1 Sustains Soft R: Bb0-D4 | L: 4 (pp, p, mf, ff)

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