"If the demo on this CD is anything to...
by Sound On Sound Magazine (UK)
"If the demo on this CD is anything to go by, we're in for a treat. Phantom Horns is jam-packed with brass riffs, hits, tails, swells and multi samples. All the brass parts contained in the demo track are sampled from the CD, then sequenced against the rhythm bed; to my ears, this represents some of the most convincing use of brass samples I have yet heard.
The Phantom Horns line-up consists of trumpet, flute, flugelhorn and trombone, as well as alto, tenor, and baritone saxes. The riffs are all performed by various combinations of these instruments, and this CD provides an in-depth study of the range and versatility of the contemporary brass section. Format is fairly logical, with five main stylistic sections, namely; Tower of Power, James Brown style, Earth Wind and Fire, Rock 'n' Roll, and Reggae.
Each section comprises a vast number of short brass riffs and phrases, played at two different tempos and in four different key signatures. Each phrase is recorded four times, once in each key, and always at intervals a fourth apart. This gives you maximum flexibility when putting a track together, and also encourages you to explore some of the more unusual ranges for the instruments within the brass section. T
he next section of the CD is given over to multisamples of the solo brass instruments themselves; tenor sax, baritone sax, trumpet and, finally, the full horn section. Each one gives you loads of options for creating an accurate representation of the instrument, by sampling a wide variety of single notes over nearly three octaves. There are easily loopable long notes, swells slides, short and long falls, as well as crotchets, quavers, and semi-quaver short notes.
As a bonus, a few minutes of excellent solo improvisation on flute, trumpet and sax are provided right at the end of the CD - I can envisage these cropping up in middle -eights all over the country within a matter of weeks. My only real complaint about this release is that in a couple of places I notice a little background hiss (despite the digital recording); this is especially noticeable on some of the otherwise excellent Reggae riffs. I think that the producers are aware of this, as nearly all of the phrases are edited (or possibly gated) quite close to the end of the note, leaving hardly any of the original ambience. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as it does leave you plenty of room for your own effects in a mix.
Conclusion: Phantom Horns is great value for money - the sheer number and variety of usable riffs and phrases must be applauded. For those of you who like to combine accountancy with music production, you may also like to consider that even if you leave all the terrific solo instruments and brass section multisamples aside, Phantom Horns still works out at about 50p per riff - not something to be sniffed (or indeed, blown) at."
"Anyone who remembers the Yello feature...
by Future Music Magazine (UK)
"Anyone who remembers the Yello feature a few months back will know that having access to all manner of brass attacks, riffs, slides, blasts and runs is essential for recreating the human element on a sampler. Transposing just one sample simply won't cut it. Phantom Horns addresses this problem by providing well over 1,000 stabs, parps, drones and trills, covering sax, trumpet, duets and full brass-section sounds.
The samples are well organised on the whole, with easy reference to the instrument, style, key and tempo (of a riff). However, many tracks aren't sampled at C, so you may well need to do some quick tuning to keep things playing right. Despite this little niggle, Phantom Horns is a great collection of squeaky honks, subtle trills and mellow drones."
"Every music technology student knows...
by The Mix Magazine (UK)
"Every music technology student knows that brass sounds are the most difficult thing you can ask a synthesiser to mimick. What's not so widely appreciated is that, these days, it's not so much the sounds themselves that are the problem: digital multisampling techniques and advanced filtering can do wonders in creating a smart trumpet stab. But, if realistic- sounding brass is your goal, and you want to go beyond simple stabs, then the best bet is to sample from 'real' sources, like records and CD's. Of the latter, there have been a few attempts at producing the ultimate brass sample CD, but none with the unique appeal of Phantom Horns.
The CD is the brainchild of two session men who've worked together as a horn section on dozens of records: trumpeter John Thirkell and sax-man Gary Barnacle. Rather than set out to produce an all-dancing brass CD, they've opted to specialise in the work of yer typical brass section in pop, rock, and dance. The samples are divided along stylistic lines, with suitable homage being paid to three of the popular music's greatest brass sections, the James Brown horns, Earth Wind & Fire, and Tower of Power. Of these, the JB- inspired riffs are juicy-sweet and funky, while the EWF styles are suitably spectacular, if a little on the thin side.
Rock 'n' roll and reggae sections swiftly follow, but the most intriguing part of Phantom Horns comes near the end; some 30-odd tracks worth of solo sax and trumpet samples, which can sound a bit daft in isolation, but which act as building-blocks for the user to assemble custom riffs and solos. Long notes, short notes, swells and falls - they're all here waiting to be chopped up and hurled into the mincer. Like the longer blasts that precede them these solo snippets are all offered in a choice of pitches no more than a fourth apart, so no matter what kind of track you're trying to fit them into, you shouldn't have to do any radical detuning.
The longer riffs also come in a choice of Bpms, so 'artificial' stretching should be averted in most sessions. instrument -wise, there are alto-tenor, and baritone saxes for Mr Barnacle, and trumpet, flugelhorn, and trombone from Mr Thirkell. Flugelhorn is one of the great under-used brass voicings; it's nice to see it here. Recording-wise, everything is very clean - but there's some serious compression going on here (the engineers preference or simply a symptom of the CD mastering process?) which seems to choke off some of the best riffs just as the players are starting to open their shoulders.
Overall though, Phantom Horns is a clever and well executed package that should cure a lot of headaches in a lot of studios. To misquote a well-known advert, it does exactly what it says on the sleeve."
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340.07MB (Unzipped)
21 sec @ 85Mbps
1531 files / Royalty-Free
