french horn instrument patch

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french horn instrument patch

2006-05-20 06:46 am

the french horn instrument patch always comes out sounding like a trombone. its very irritating. does anyone know why this is happening? thanks for your help.

Re: french horn instrument patch

Reply #1 – 2006-05-20 07:23 am

Consider yourself lucky. It could sound like a french horn.

Re: french horn instrument patch

Reply #2 – 2006-05-20 08:25 am

G'day wangchung,
welcome to the world of inadequate synthesizers...

If you have a sound card that supports sound fonts like the more recent SoundBlaster series then you're in luck.

Search the net for soundfonts and you'll be surprised at the variety around. You could also look for softsynths if you cannot use soundfonts.

If you search this forum there are many discussions about getting better sound with lots of links, but probably the best soundfont source out there is Hammersound: http://www.hammersound.net

If you have access to a Yamaha S-YXG50 softsynth it has a very good Horn patch.

However be prepared to be somewhat disappointed as far as brass patches in general are concerned. I have searched gigabytes of soundfonts and have never found what I consider to be a good brass sound, although this is very much a subjective matter and you may find something you like.

Re: french horn instrument patch

Reply #3 – 2006-05-21 07:12 am

thanks for the advice lawrie.

very funny rick. that actually made me laugh. however, i think the horn makes a beautiful sound. at least when played well.

Re: french horn instrument patch

Reply #4 – 2006-05-25 09:04 pm

If you are a horn player, record your own. I have recorded several using different instruments, mouthpieces, and mutes. I have even the sounds of 17th and early 18th century horns.

Re: french horn instrument patch

Reply #5 – 2006-05-26 01:28 am

This is a fascinating idea, Carl.

How do you record a sound font? Can you just play into a recording device and import it as a wav file?

If so, can you make a single recording of a slow chromatic scale over the range of the instrument or must you capture each note in a separate recording?

If you want several types of tone or articulation from the instrument, would you play the chromatic scale several times, using the different tones or attacks or fades, in the same recording, or would you have to use each style as a separate sound font?

Re: french horn instrument patch

Reply #6 – 2006-05-26 10:11 pm

I simply recorded a single note representing the sound I wanted for each sound font directly to the hard drive of my computer as a wav file. If needed you can adjust the tuning of the note in processing. You can even cut out a broken attack. I have done the same thing for other instruments that I thought could be improved.

Re: french horn instrument patch

Reply #7 – 2006-05-27 05:19 pm

Thanks, Carl. I think I'll give it a shot.

Re: french horn instrument patch

Reply #8 – 2006-05-28 02:04 am

David:

You will get better results if you sample at about every 4th in the range.
Then adjust the splits in your soundfont editor.
Some instruments (baritone sax, clarinet - for example) have a diffferent sound as you pass through the octave break.
In my Chaos sf the trombone has 1 sample covering the MIDI note range 0-54.
Then the sample splits are:-
55-59
60-64
65-69
70-

Re: french horn instrument patch

Reply #9 – 2006-05-28 06:52 am

Thanks for the tip, Barry.

I'm beginning to get an idea of how much I don't know. I gather I need a sound font editor, so I'm going to surf a bit to learn more before thinking about making my SF.

Am I right to assume that each of the instruments in the various NWC instrument trees represents a particular soundfont?

Re: french horn instrument patch

Reply #10 – 2006-05-28 03:04 pm

David,
You can download - for free - Vienna soundfont studio from the Creative Labs site.

Re: french horn instrument patch

Reply #11 – 2006-05-30 02:20 am

Thanks, Tina.