Baroque brass via timbral shaping??
While reading about the addition of timbral shaping to version 3.0 of the SM brass instruments (Trumpet, Horn, Trombone), it occurred to me that perhaps tweaking these settings could give me a fairly close approximation to the Baroque (valveless) version of these instruments (natural trumpet, natural horn, and sackbutt, respectively). I've done some experimenting with the Trumpet, and now have a sound that, to my ear at least, sounds more like the mellower, less nasal Baroque trumpet sound. However, I'm no expert and have been trying to find some documentation (preferably visual) that shows the relative strength of the harmonics of these earlier instruments, especially as compared to the modern ones; but, I have not been able to find anything. Any suggestions for coaxing the SM brass instruments to sound more like their Baroque predecessors?
Comments
I'm actually interested in your idea, and I would love asking you some questions and sharing my experience:
- did you directly compare your version sound with real samples (e.g. from recordings or educational samples etc.)?
- are you familiar with spectrum analysis or did you everything just "by ears" according your taste?
I've quite a bit of experience with historical brass, being practicing live ancient music for years as a singer, conductor and cornetto player
I had the same need for my demos before timbral shaping was introduced, and what I did was matching spectrum with Voxengo CurveEq using as a reference samples of the real baroque and renaissance brass I was imitating (e.g. natural trumpet and sackbutt). It's an effective but a bit dirty and annoying process, so the timbral shaping solution would be brilliant saved as a preset.
May you share samples of the sound and/or preset?
thanks in advance, looking forward to it!
Fabio
http://la.trompette.free.fr/Benade/Trumpet73/Baroque_inside.htm
Thanks for replying!
- did you directly compare your version sound with real samples (e.g. from recordings or educational samples etc.)?
I used to play in a Renaissance wind band (I played shawms), so I'm used to the sound of sackbutt. I also listen to a lot of Baroque music, and pay particular attention to the sound of natural trumpet and horn. (Have also occasionally heard them live.) What I'm wanting is that really mellow early brass sound, not brash.
- are you familiar with spectrum analysis or did you everything just "by ears" according your taste?
I am not familiar with spectral analysis. I was hoping for a simple diagram, so thanks for the link; hopefully I can figure it out. What would be really nice is if somebody already had the timbral settings for those early instruments.
Yes, ultimately I must use my ear. But, somewhere (perhaps in the Trumpet 3.0 docs) I read a suggestion for timbral shaping to make the trumpet rounder, warmer, less nasal. So, I started with that. What I could do is add a link to one of my SoundCloud pieces, once I've done some more tinkering. Then, if you (or anybody else) likes that sound, I'd be happy to share. But, right now I'm in the middle of trying to get the Mercury Symphonic Boychoir to sing a Gabrieli piece on which I'll use Trombone —> "sackbutt" for the lower parts. I'll post a link when it's finished.
— Jason
… The third partial of the Baroque instrument is somewhat stronger relative to its brothers than is the case for its modern counterpart. Analysis of the higher tones played on the Baroque trumpet gives results that are quite reminiscent of those obtained for the modern instrument. However, the increased strength of the second and third partials relative to that of the fundamental component in the Baroque instrument becomes even more pronounced for the higher notes than it is for the lower one upon which we have already remarked.
I'll do some tinkering. Thanks again!
— Jason