Brass II from Vienna Symphonic is a sample-based virtual instrument, containing the instruments needed for large-scale orchestral arrangements, such as those required by a Wagnerian score for example. Oriented toward Wagner's Ring Cycle, the collection includes the bass trumpet, the contrabass trombone, Wagner tuba and contrabass tuba, all with the standard single note and Performance articulations like Interval Performances, Repetitions and Performance Trills, etc.
As an alternative to the Viennese horn, Brass II contains a new solo horn, the triple horn, Yamaha's master instrument in F/B♭/high F, recorded down to the lowest register (A1.) Also included are the piccolo trumpet, cimbasso, and the "Epic Horns" from the Horizon Series, an impressive sounding body of eight double horns that not only fulfills the sonic ideal of the theatrical late Romantic orchestra, but also meets the challenge of "larger than life" scores for modern cinema.
The Vienna Instruments user interface is clearly arranged and includes pre-configured patches for immediate playability with no learning curve. The interface uses a powerful proprietary streaming audio engine that can load up to 3,456 articulations (patches) on one MIDI channel.
Load times are extremely low and 64 stereo voices per instance can stream from the hard disc. A RAM optimizing utilities clears unused samples out of RAM. Users can easily create their own instruments, using "drag and drop" functionality, and the instrument provides the ability for velocity crossfades and release control to be switched on or off in real time.
