Brass Sounds

Trumpet Voices

dnTrump(.1vc format)

This is a Version 2 single element VL trumpet voice provided in two versions: dnTrump -- a dry version that sounds like a trumpet in a small padded studio (but not anechoic), and dnTrumpR -- a wet version that sounds like a trumpet miked at about 30 feet in a large live (reflective) concert hall or church. They may be considered extremes of reverb, so feel free to go into EDIT/COM/EFFECT/REVERBERATION and dial in another reverb or tweak the wet/dry ratio, etc. The studio voice is suitable for a mix where you are using outboard reverb, but bear in mind that trumpet, especially solo trumpet, sounds richer and thicker with some reverb.

This voice owes much to Bill Busch, who provided the core element model and got a good timbre with his xTrump voices. This element makes use of the Version 2 Impulse Expander and Resonator capabilities, which give it a slightly metallic timbre. This means that it might not carry over perfectly to a VL70-m version, but it should be OK. This is primarily a trumpet voice, so it is not optimized for bone octaves.

The main changes that I made to Bill's voice include: I changed the Breath Pressure curve to allow low pressure playing. He had Scream controlled by Breath Attack,which gives a jangly attack artifact when you tongue a loud note in the lower two octaves, so I turned Scream off. I altered the vibrato substantially and played with the filtering, mostly taming the high freq sizzle which Bill had set very strong. If you want more or less high end, it's easy enough to go into the Band Equalizer of the Modifier section and tweak the EQ settings. I changed the reverb from Plate, as I never liked Plate reverbs much, and I changed the Amplitude Envelope Generator params to allow easier attack control. This is discussed below.

If you blow a swell with this voice, you will hear it acquire a substantial 'edge' at higher pressures, but maintain a softer timbre at mild pressures. This is important for trumpet dynamics, and also for giving the vibrato 'flavor', especially when using diaphragm vibrato. I left the Embouchure - Pitch control intact, but those of you using Wind Controllers -- beware! I recommend that you do not use it as you are accustomed to do, as it will make the voice quite difficult to play. If you want to do lip gliss tricks, you can do that, but beware of messing with Embouchure (mapped to Pitch Bend) in a brass VL voice! With a keyboard pitch bend causes no problems, because it is held at center. The timbre sounds about right to me. I gave it a slight peak at 1100 Hz, as I read that many trumpets have a peak there, and the brightness and upper partials give it about the right sound to my ears through all octaves of a trumpet. The Dynamic Filter was set up with a low pass filter that emasculates the highs and the sizzle at low pressures, but it is pulled off by Breath Pressure to give it full brilliance in the top two octaves. This is similar to a real trumpet, and you can sound like you have lips of steel by simply blowing a little harder on those high notes. The high sizzle in this element has a metalic smoothness (mostly designed by Bill Busch) that I like a lot.

Tongued notes have about the right attack. You can tongue very quickly and get good staccato attacks. I altered the Amplitude Envelope Generator (EDIT/E1/ENV/AMPLITUDE & FILTER) attacks (Attack 1 & 2 rates, and Attack1 level) to make it easier to create softer attacks. Try blowing at constant high pressure and finger some notes and you will see the characteristic of the EG. If you set all of the attacks to 127, the Note On will generate harsh attacks, which you have to be careful of during fast play. You can still play fast with sharp-tongued notes and get sharp attacks, and you can do fast trills pretty well. The current attack settings make it easier to play, say, quarter notes with mild attacks swelling quickly into the note without inadvertently getting a hard attack from the Note On occasionally. If you want the full sharpness, just set both attack rates to 127 and the first level to 127. If you want to experiment with slower EG attacks, adjust the Attack2 rate down maybe 20 units. This will make quite a difference, and your trill speed & volume will go down.

The vibrato has been adjusted to my taste. It makes a real difference in held notes and it sounds great if you bring the Mod Wheel (CC-1) up about half way then back it off near the end of a note while varying pressure as well. You can get variation by varying CC-1 back and forth, or combining it with breath pressure oscillation. Another option that can be used is to assign Breath Pressure to control Vibrato Depth. Pure diaphragm vibrato without using the Mod wheel doesn't sound as rich, although you can vary it precisely with practice, and you can use it for a milder vibrato effect. It is possible to control the vibrato speed by assigning, for example, CC-17 to it in the Quick Edit Assign area, but I don't recommend it. Vibrato speed needs to stay near 58 or so, and unless you can devise a controller to control narrowly around that point, you will just mess it all up. I also recommend against setting Dpth to Emb above 1 in the Vibrato Envelope params.

Have Fun!