Fable Sounds’ Broadway Big Band is an unprecedented and innovative virtual instrument. Up to now, it has been relatively impossible to simulate non-orchestral brass and woodwind instruments with the degree of clarity and depth which the music they produce demands. But Broadway Big Band changes everything.
The instruments in this product perform with ease and comfort, allowing you to use them as centerpieces of your composition or as a delectable spice for saucy flavoring. For the very first time, you can even bring a sampled Saxophone to the forefront of your mix, knowing it's actually going to sound like the real thing.
And the best part is that Broadway Big Band is not limited to big band music. It delivers the most authentic woodwind, brass, and rhythm section instruments available with flexibility. So, whether you are writing Pop, Funk. Rock, Jazz, Latin, R&B, Hip-Hop, Blues, or in any idiom that calls for great sounding instruments, Broadway Big Band is an indispensable tool!
Realistic Note Transitions
Note transitions have always been one of the main obstacles in creating believable sounding sampled wind instruments. Early on it became evident that a large part of the task in creating Broadway Big Band would be to find ways to address this problem without sacrificing the playability of the instruments. Crafting a solution to this problem provided the technological foundation of the product, the Broadway Performer™ software.
Every note transition was recorded, up to a Major 9th in both directions, utilizing various playing techniques for the transitions, such as Legato, Rip Portamento, Chromatic Runs, etc. The Broadway Performer™ serves as a master connector for this massive pool of transitions, allowing you to play and select articulations without having to think about what is going on behind the scenes.
Multiple Microphone Setups
Artistic and technical flexibility when placing your instruments in an appropriate environment is a key factor in realizing your artistic vision. That's why the instruments in Broadway Big Band were sampled with multiple microphone positions, using different microphone types, pre-amps and recording styles. This allows you to mic the instrument according to the needs of your production, just as you would if you were recording a live musician. Ultimately, Broadway Big Band leaves you free to make music by taking most of the work out of the process.
Musical Performance
Perhaps one of the most important defining aspects of an instrument real or sampled is the performer playing it. Broadway Big Band’s instruments bring depth of character without being overbearing. This allows you the ability to fully control the “un-real” musicians, and enjoy their sampled character, without restricting your creative vision.
Audio engine & System compatibility:
The virtual instruments of the Broadway Big Band™ series enjoy great reliability, high-performance, and system compatibility (VST, DXi2, AU and any Rewire environment), being powered by the powerful audio engine of Steinberg's newest HALion Player.
Sonic integrity, Flexibility, Reliability, Technological Innovation, System Compatibility (VST, DXi2, AU and any Rewire environment), and just plain Character are great assets to the virtual instrument world!
The Broadway Performer™ Technology
The Broadway Performer™ technology is a *patent pending* MIDI Processing System developed especially for Broadway Big Band™. It enables the most comprehensive and intuitive access to the thousands of samples included in Broadway Big Band™. Granting both the creative freedom and the fullest control over the finest nuances of performance, the Broadway Performer™ allows real-time but still fully editable performance by automatically choosing pre-recorded note transitions based on context, thus providing instant access to a virtually limitless variety of articulations and playing techniques.
How does it work?
The Broadway Performer™ is a stand-alone application, standing between the MIDI keyboard or the MIDI sequencer and the Broadway Big Band virtual instrument. The Broadway Performer™ changes and manipulates the MIDI information, adding MIDI controller information and note events by analyzing MIDI input data in real-time. As it analyzes this data it accordingly chooses the appropriate samples among the thousands of possibilities available for each instrument, and communicates note on data to the virtual instrument.
In addition to the intelligent way the Broadway Performer™ interpolates MIDI data, it also allows for an intuitive new approach to switching between articulations and playing techniques, maximizing access to almost infinite performance options without being technologically overwhelming or overcomplicating the creative workflow. This is accomplished by giving you direct acess to all available articulations all the time via the Performer’s special way of creating “virtual key-switching”, and the capability to monitor your articulation choices via the “Virtual Key-Switch Monitor,”
Instruments
*The following are the lists of instruments and articulations included in the first edition of the Broadway Big Band™ series. Additional instruments and articulations will be available on future editions.
The Broadway Big Band™ instruments are divided into 2 groups:
Polyphonic instruments & Legato instruments (using the Broadway Performer™)
LEGATO INSTRUMENTS:
(including real prerecorded note-transitions using the Broadway Performer™)
TRUMPETS:
- (Bb) Trumpet
TROMBONES:
- Solo Tenor Trombone
SAXOPHONES & WOODWINDS:
- Soprano Saxophone
- Alto Saxophone
- Tenor Saxophone
- Baritone Saxophone
- Clarinet
RHYTHM SECTION:
- High Hat prerecorded legatos for perfect realism in transitions between the 5 levels of openness.
POLYPHONIC INSTRUMENTS:
TRUMPETS:
- Solo (Bb) Trumpet 1
- Solo (Bb) Trumpet 2
TROMBONES:
- Solo Tenor Trombone
SAXOPHONES & WOODWINDS:
- Soprano Saxophone
- Alto Saxophone 1
- Alto Saxophone 2
- Tenor Saxophone 1
- Tenor Saxophone 2
- Baritone Saxophone
- Clarinet
RHYTHM SECTION:
- Upright Bass
- Banjo
- Ukulele
- Drum-kits
- Xylophone
- Latin Percussion
ARTICULATIONS for Wind Instruments (Partial list) :
- Sustains (Various Dynamics) : >With Normal Vibrato > No Vibrato > Deep Vibrato > Progressive Vibrato
- Sforzando (Various Dynamics)
- Staccato (Various Dynamics) + 4 versions of each sample for better realism in case of repetition.
- Staccatissimo (Various Dynamics) + 4 versions of each sample for better realism in case of repetition.
- Falls (Up & Down) + Various speeds + 2 versions of each sample for better realism in case of repetition.
- Flutter Tonguing
- Growling
- Rip into note
- Smear / Glide into note
- Plunger (Wah-Wah effects) : Various patterns + Static positions
- Shakes
- Triplets
- Grace Notes
- Alternate Fingering
- Mutes (Trumpet & Trombone)* : > Straight Mute > Harmon Mute > Cup Mute > Bucket
NOTE TRANSITIONS (Partial list) :
- Legato
- Glissando
- Rip Portamento
- Chromatic Runs
- Smear Legato
- All the above note transitions were recorded both into sustained notes and into short notes, most in various dynamic layers.
- All wind instruments were recorded in at least 4 microphone positions, to provide various sound choices.
* Not all articulations available for all instruments.
ARTICULATIONS for Upright Bass:
Pizzicato Articulations:
- Sustains no vibrato
- Sustain with vibrato
- Short notes - half muted
- Muted
- Slap
- Slap FX
- Overtones
- Glissandos (various intervals)
- Band into note
- Legato
- Percussive FX
ARTICULATIONS for Banjo:
- Staccato (Down stoke) - Various dynamics
- Staccato (Up stoke) - Various dynamics
- Sustain (Down stroke) - Various dynamics
- Sustain (Up stroke) - Various dynamics
- Muted (Down stoke) - Various dynamics
- Muted (Up stoke) - Various dynamics
- Half Muted (Down stoke)
- String muting release samples
- Grace notes
- FX
ARTICULATIONS for Ukulele:
- Sustain (Down stroke) - Various dynamics
- Sustain (Up stroke) - Various dynamics
- Muted (Down stoke) - Various dynamics
- Muted (Up stoke) - Various dynamics
ARTICULATIONS for Drums:
- Kick drum
(normal + Gain up)
- Snare drum
(Center, off-center, rim-shot, rim, buzz-roll-components, double-hit, stick-click, roll-to-hit, cross-stick, various brush swishes)
- Tom x2
(Center, rim-shot, rim, muted)
- Floor drum
(center, rim, muted)
- HH
(Edge, tip, open, half-open, loose, closed, tightly-closed, splash, stomp, legato-stomp-from-open, legato-stomp-with-hit-from-open.)
- Cymbals X5
(16"Crash, 19"Crash, 20"K-Ride, Crash-Ride, Splash. Tip, Edge, Bell, Harmonics, Scrapes)
Up to 16 dynamic levels for each
Right & Left hand versions + Alternate samples
Sticks / Brushes
Various areas of the drums and cymbals (center, off-center, rim-shot, rim,
cross, edge, tip, bell...)
Component - loops (various brush-loops for easier workflow)
& more...
ARTICULATIONS for Xylophone :
- Wood Mallets - Single stokes - Right hand + Alternates in 4 dynamic layers (PP, MP, MF, FF)
- Wood Mallets - Single stokes - Left hand + Alternates in 4 dynamic layers (PP, MP, MF, FF)
- Wood Mallets - Single stokes - Muted - Right hand + Alternates in 4 dynamic layers
- Wood Mallets - Single stokes - Muted -Left hand + Alternates in 4 dynamic layers
- Wood Mallets - Single-note Tremolos
- Wood Mallets - Scrapes
- Wood Mallets - Glissando effects
- Plastic Mallets - single stokes + Alternates in 4 dynamic layers (PP, MP, MF, FF)
- Plastic Mallets - single stokes - Muted + Alternates in 4 dynamic layers (PP, MP, MF, FF)
- Plastic Mallets - Scrapes
- Plastic Mallets - Glissando effects
- Soft Rubber Mallets - single stokes + Alternates in 4 dynamic layers (PP, MP, MF, FF)
- Soft Rubber Mallets - single stokes - Muted + Alternates in 4 dynamic layers (PP, MP, MF, FF)
- Soft Rubber Mallets - Scrapes
- Soft Rubber Mallets - Glissando effects
ARTICULATIONS for Hand Percussions :
- Congas
- Bongos
- Timbalitos
- Cowbells
- Agogo
- Woodblocks
- Claves
- Castanets
- Tambourine
- Triangle
- Belltree
- Various Shakers
- and more...
Drums were recorded in drumset position, using 25 microphones onto hi-definition multi-track-channels at 192KHz and were down-converted to 44.1KHz and mixed-down to stereo to improve usability.
Xylophone was recorded using 3 stereophonic microphone setups (Top, Bottom & Room).
Hand Percussion was recorded separately using 3 stereophonic microphone setups (Close, Loose & Room).
No questions available - feel free to add yours below!
Have a question? Our tech specialists are here to help you and
usually respond on the same business day!
Want answers now? Try our on-line chat, or
call 1-800-510-4385. (Our average hold time is less than 15 seconds!)
Already own this product?
Get tech support.
|
PC
|
Mac
|
|
Windows XP
Pentium IV 2.0 GHz Processor or AMD 1500 XP
ASIO Compatible Audio Hardware
Minimum 1GB RAM 2GB Recommended
105GB Hard Drive Space
A VST, DXi, or ReWire compatible host application (not required for Stand-Alone Mode)
1 USB port for Syncrosoft License Key
|
OS X Version 10.4.4 or higher (Intel-MAC suppot coming soon),
Minimum G4 1.5 GHz G5 recommended
Minimum 1GB RAM 2GB Recommended
105GB Hard Drive Space
An AU or ReWire compatible host application (not required for Stand-Alone Mode)
1 USB port for Syncrosoft License Key
|
Software Samplers & Synths
