Just wanted to see if any anyone here (horn players preferably) are using NI's Session Horns?

This is NOT for any "solo" work, just backing (Motown sort of stuff, maybe a little E.W.& F. or ToP lite-like backings)

Please, I already know about the bigger and more expensive Sample Modeling offerings, and EW stuff, and a few others - I am ONLY asking about input one this one product.

Thanks
Larry

I've got Session Horns. I haven't used it in anything yet.

Sorry, I'm not a horn player.

Do you have any specific questions about it?

Just wanted to see if it would do a reasonable job at filling in for non-horn players or more simply:

is it worth $73 for non-horn players to do backing/filling in for a usual combo of drums, bass, EP, and guitar for jazz (standards), blues, Motown, "lite" (pseudo) versions of older Chicago & BS&T rock, Earth, Wind and Fire, Tower of Power, etc. ??


Until tomorrow midnight I can get it for $73 (currently $99 with a $25 NI Christmas coupon)

I'll probably pull trigger on it (and action strings) for "Sxxx's & grins" but was looking for any useful - yea's and nay's

I've got mixed feelings about the library. The biggest issue is that you can't access the instruments individually. So you can only access the instruments in a group.

There's a "smart voice split", but it expect voices to be more or less simultaneous. That means it doesn't always work well if you want movement with the inner voices. It's not terrible... But it is less nice than accessing individual voices.

You can only use the provided combinations. This means only a combination of trombone/sax/trumpet/trumpet. Lack of solo instruments is... well, stupid.

It has got some nice articulations - doits and falls are a lot easier to get to than with JABB.

With a bit of effort, I'm sure you could get something usable. I don't know that you'd fool any horn player, though.

Well, a sober horn player, anyway.

But I think your money is probably better saving up and buying something like Vintage Horns, First Call Horns or Chris Hein Horns Compact.

For $50 (yearly Thanksgiving sale) it was a good price. For $75... It's up to you. (I'd probably buy it despite me saying otherwise).

If money's burning a hole in your pocket, might I suggest the Korg M1 Legacy? It's regularly $50, but $35 until January 1 (along with other Korg virtual synths).

Yea, I saw the "all or none" thing already and that is one of the biggest reasons I haven't jumped on it already.

I already have the Korg M1 LE (stripped down version I got with the Korg Nanopad) so might just do that instead (actually I might just buy whole COLLECTION for $69.99 as a M1 Le owner)

And I have Kontakt full, and SampleTank full, and JABB, GPO, and GIO, and Dim Pro (and and more than a few add-ons for it), and a few others - just nothing with an iLok.

I already have some, quite a few actually, good horns/woodwinds in external HW but was looking for some lively "stabs, falls" etc., in SW for "quickies." I'm lazy and I tend to be "grass is greener" and looking for quick fix sometimes when it comes to time spent playing with sounds instead of just making music with them.

I do NOT want to start down the path of buying best, or even second best, in class for horns, woodwinds, strings, sitars, pianos, drums, finger snaps, hand claps, coughs, sneezes <GRIN>. I have more GREAT sounds then a dummy guitar player like me should be allowed to have anyway.

Thanks for taking time to put your thoughts down and Happy New Year
Larry

Have you checked out New York Brass? There are a bunch of free brass samples on their site.

Copy them all, burn then to a CD, and pretend you paid $75 dollars for it.

Then be like me and get distracted, and never get around to using it.

Happy New Year!

what were we talking about ???? oh yea distractions or was it brass <GRIN>

Larry you already have your stabs and falls as well as doits and kisses in J&BB. You can also make falls with MIDI on any instrument. Between Kontakt, Garritan’s software and Dim Pro you probably have all you really need for backing horns. A MIDI tweak here and there will at realism to your horn sections.

I have all you have minus the GIO and they suit my backing horn needs but if you are looking for the most realistic solo and backing track horns check out Sample Modeling software. I have the saxes and they are super. I am saving for the trumpet next. They are quite expensive but well worth the money IMO.

Buy the whole Korg bundle, you will like it. I have the M1, Wavestation and the effects one (can’t think of the name of it right now-CRS!). For the price of two you will get everything.

I’m with you, no I-Lok or dongle of any kind!

Yea I know but for some reason me and JABB fight a lot, I don't know why!

I did pull trigger last night on whole Korg Legacy Collection (shouldn't drink double Scotch's while surfing with a Paypal account) - beside using acoustic instruments I do like mixing it up with synths, FM, and analog sounds. I'm re-likening some of the M1 brass/winds already - I had forgot what a Korg could do and sounded like!

A Korg M1 was one of my first boards but me and Korg had parting of the ways, way back when over a support issue, wish I had keep that board as well as about a dozen otehr thigns, stomp box's, my Japanese Stratocaster, my S&W .45 ACP double-action revolver, ...)

Now if Roland would only do the same thing with say a "Roland Legacy Collection" using the XV-5080 w/all SR-JV and SRX cards (sort of like they did with Integra 7 but in purely SW form).

And while we on drugs may as well ask for a "Yamaha Legacy Collection" with Motif (Original, ES, XS, or XF)

And believe it or not I'd like to see some 16-bit sounds from an "Alesis Legacy Collection" (QSR /QS8 and all their cards) with a lot of blood, sweat and tears (and the Alesis supplied Soundbridge SW, and some sample convertor SW packages I have a few Alesis QSR/8 things converted to Soundfonts- and moved over to my Fusion 8HD)


Larry

PS: Now I'm just posting to get to 500 posts. After more than almost 15+ years it's time, My "member since 2000" doesn't indicate the true amount of time I've been lurking here, not helping - just lurking. 2000 was when we all had to re-sign up to this NEW PG forum - from the old one, which I think I signed up for in ~'96?)

We might as well add a Kawai Legacy in there also! I used to love that Kawai K1m! I still have it but don’t use it as it does not respond to volume CCs.

Concur Kawai Legacy collection would also be welcome.

I have K-Sounds Kawai Piano on my Motif XS (I have all K-Sounds Pianos) it is very, very good - they all are.

Sadly that reminds me of a another item I WISH I had kept, my Emu PRO/Formance 1 Plus piano module. I think as pianos go, even as a 16 bit sample set, it would still hold its own in any mix or solo use. Forgot why it's gone - traded for the next high tech board??