Miles'tone VST trumpet - Official Release

[pd]

There is something just not right about watching someone play a fake trumpet on stage. It can make even a great trumpet player look cheesy. As an example, watch James Morrison in these videos playing his electronic trumpet controller.
http://www.morrisondigitaltrumpet.com/
It's actually depressing to see him play that thing because he is such an awesome trumpet/trombone player.

I need to see some muscle power creating the actual sound to appreciate a trumpet player. That is one of the things that sets the trumpet apart from a lot of other instruments. You use your lip and body to make a sound -- no electronics involved. It is a very physical activity.

That said, I think it is great to see plugins that emulate trumpets because it allows everyone to add trumpet like sounds to their music without having to put in the many years it takes to build a good range and sound.

Phil.

[egbert]

There is something just not right about watching someone play a fake trumpet on stage. It can make even a great trumpet player look cheesy. As an example, watch James Morrison in these videos playing his electronic trumpet controller.
http://www.morrisondigitaltrumpet.com/
It's actually depressing to see him play that thing because he is such an awesome trumpet/trombone player.

I need to see some muscle power creating the actual sound to appreciate a trumpet player. That is one of the things that sets the trumpet apart from a lot of other instruments. You use your lip and body to make a sound -- no electronics involved. It is a very physical activity.

That said, I think it is great to see plugins that emulate trumpets because it allows everyone to add trumpet like sounds to their music without having to put in the many years it takes to build a good range and sound.

That's what I was feeling listening to that pinch from Jon Fadis (if that is who/what it was) - such an awesome, powerful sound, it seems like cheating to just "open up a can" of it

[Jafo]

I wasn't aware the 49e had aftertouch...

Ah well, it's not the first time I've been lied to...

[Tony Ostinato]

I have the other reaction where im just amazed by the midi trumpet.


but this isnt unusual among musicians , in fact they protested when dylan started using electric guitar which at that time was as blasphemous as midi trumpet is now.

I need to see some muscle power creating the actual sound to appreciate a trumpet player. That is one of the things that sets the trumpet apart from a lot of other instruments. You use your lip and body to make a sound -- no electronics involved. It is a very physical activity.

i get that for sure, but the sad thing is the audience doesnt, they dont know trumpet is harder than guitar or keyboard so its largely wasted effort, they basically just clap for whatever is loudest.


anyways for me its just as fascinating to see the midi trumpet because i apprecaite the nuance that goes into that as well. add to that its a fresher experience, i always like to see something new, and then top it off with the fact that i feel its a superior way to play lead synth than a regular keyboard.

[egbert]

I have the other reaction where im just amazed by the midi trumpet. ...
I feel its a superior way to play lead synth than a regular keyboard.

I'm wondering whether the trumpet fingering is as easy a way to get around the notes as the sax fingering which, on one hand, is more linear but, on the other, involves more finger movements for changes that cross the registers [eg C in the middle up to the second Eb involves depressing 6 fingers simultaneously on the sax but only one finger (2nd valve) on the trumpet].

Would you rather play Milestones on - the Morrison thing or your WX5?

[Tony Ostinato]

the mdt has that whole left hand buttons thing i dont think id ctach onto that quickly, and the price is kinda steep and yeah i too have irks about its looks, i think the lights are kinda cool heh.

the mdt has more simultaneous controllers goin on for the guy who can master it all, im kinda at the point of thinking itd be over my head for quite awhile. id probably do all sorts of inadvertant squeezing on those thumb controllers. theres gotta be a bit of a visceral feeling to that thing tho, and he seems to play it very fluidly, and im just like a kid mesmerized by it.

the wx5 is a kind of a keep it simple stupid appraoach, and i have to admit fumbling on that right hand control wheel a bit as it is. the pitch bend on the reed is obviously a thing im way into using and its pretty ingrained with me now.

in a perfect world with perfect chops id like to play trumpet all night long and not get tired, i envy those guys.

but like i say i enjoy bringin the wx5 onstage cause you get that "new instrument" fascination from the people and they all come up and ask what it is and i always fess up immediately and tell them that its really easy to play.

[onyxashanti]

i just got sent the link for this topic and for this plugin while here at the coffee shop, but from what i'm hearing, this might just be what i've been waiting for.

I was gonna get Brass, but i REFUSE to buy any vsti without a demo, and i already have a vl70 for club gigs, so wasnt that big of a deal. but i have been trying to leave that f**ker at home for at least a couple of years. most of the sounds i design for my house music gigs, are softsynth based, EXCEPT, for anything that needs to sound like a sax, flute or trumpet. once these are done well in software, the vl70 goes in the same drawer as my mackie mixer and hardware effects processor.

i will play with it when i get home, and try to post something tommorrow afternoon. thank you so much for creating this!!

onyx

[AndrewSimon]

Bump for the LOVE of this amazing plug.
As great as MrRay73 or almost there.
Zio keeps amazing.... BRAVO

[Tony Ostinato]

Yes, yes, i'm more than a little obsessed with this one.

[bernhardtjeff]

That said, I think it is great to see plugins that emulate trumpets because it allows everyone to add trumpet like sounds to their music without having to put in the many years it takes to build a good range and sound.

yeah, heaven forbid one have to learn to play a real instrument or at least make friends with someone who plays one and record him sometimes.

[bernhardtjeff]

but this isnt unusual among musicians , in fact they protested when dylan started using electric guitar which at that time was as blasphemous as midi trumpet is now.

well, that's a bit different, isn't it. first off, people protested dylan for using an electric instrument in a specific genre (folk music) that hitherto had been played on only acoustic instruments. when dylan used the electric guitar at the newport folk festival in 1965 and invoked the rage of many folk music fans and musicians, it wasn't as if the electric guitar was a completely new instrument that hadn't already cemented a reputation as being a legitimate musical instrument capable of creating sounds independent from the normal amplified acoustic guitar it was originally based on. if any of those same people were at woodstock a few years later, i doubt they were offended to see electric guitars on stage during rock performances. in short, it wasn't the instrument itself that upset most people (though surely that was the case for some); it was the context in which it was being used, and i think the reason most people who don't like physically modeled trumpets and such don't like them is that the instruments themselves are sometimes used in a gimmicky way.

further, the aim of electric guitar players isn't merely to use an instrument that can be controlled with a different set of parameters because they want the sound of an acoustic guitar with having to learn the techniques to play one; a kid with a garage band doesn't buy a cool fender strat and a tube screamer thinking he'll sound like andres segovia. however, the goal with physically modeled synths does seem to be at least in part "let's see if we can trick the ear into thinking this is a real trumpet," which, again, makes some people see it as a gimmick rather than an attempt to make a distinct musical instrument capable of new sounds.

for a more accurate analogy, it might be better to compare dylan's use of electric guitar in folk music to the use of electrified trumpets in a specific genre, like jazz, for instance. back in the day, miles davis, randy brecker and others put their trumpets' sounds through various electronic effects (most often auto-wah pedals), and presently, people like tim hagans and especially cuong vu are using normal trumpets with electronics. though i haven't heard or read any outright complaints about these musicians doing or having done this in a jazz setting, i'm sure there are some who feel that what they're doing is "blasphemous" in some way and shouldn't be labeled "jazz" at all.

now i know it's fun to make little clips of yourself trading smooth jazz licks with your real trumpet and fake trumpet over a smooth jazz groove, but to somehow compare people not liking that (or the morrison trumpet) to people not liking dylan playing an electric guitar in a specific genre that wants to exclude electronic instruments is just ridiculous and a little pretentious, i'd say. in any case, electronic wind controllers and such being used to control patches that model real instruments really isn't thought of as "blasphemous" in and of itself. look at the incredible success of a session musician like steve tavaglione, who is often called on to play ewi as a sideman or on movie soundtracks. the reason people like steve tavaglione are able to get away with doing this is that, well, first and foremost, they're incredibly well-trained studio musicians, but also surely because they don't treat what they're doing as a novelty; they don't say, "look at this; i can make a harmonic sound from this wind controller!"

so even if this physically modeled vst that guido is working on does end up sounding more like a trumpet than a real trumpet, it won't matter so long as people like you are still around saying, "hey, check this out! i made another clip of me trading fours with my real trumpet and fake trumpet! isn't that neat?"

[Tony Ostinato]

i wasnt comparing myself to dylan, why are you so angry?


maybe it wouldve been better to mention matheny's synth trumpet sound he uses from midi guitar.


anyways i also play things things live and make a living at it, i dont think everyone thats not who you like should just quit.

[michat]

Hey Guido,
I tried V1 and I like it!
Can´t wait to try v2 and v3!
Great Work!

What about a sax, please?

[pd]

That said, I think it is great to see plugins that emulate trumpets because it allows everyone to add trumpet like sounds to their music without having to put in the many years it takes to build a good range and sound.

yeah, heaven forbid one have to learn to play a real instrument or at least make friends with someone who plays one and record him sometimes.

Well, some of us already know how to play one or more instruments and also get out and play with others. That doesn't mean we can't enjoy making our own creations when others aren't around. I welcome the access to new sounds and new tools.
You can never replace the act of playing a real trumpet but using a VST that emulates one can add something to your music that you cannot do with a real trumpet. I see it as complementary.

[egbert]

Many of the most creative people in music couldn't give a jumping shit about categories or tradition. If you look at the great classical composers - Beethoven, Hadyn etc - they were all over the very latest technology. If someone made a new piano that had more notes and more power they were among the first to play it and the first to compose for it. Same with the innovations in the trumpet - Hadyn wrote for the new trumpet.

Miles Davis expressed contempt for the word Jazz in the later parts of his career - he wasn't interested in whether some "purists" thought his music was "legitimate".

If you saw "No Direction Home" - Scorcese's doco on Dylan's early career, you get a few different takes on the Newport FF thing and - on Pennebaker's footage of the English tours - many of the young english "fans" curse Dylan out for "selling out" and playing those confounded electric thingamybobs.

This is part of a larger social phenonmenon - the audience for "art" has a huge proportion of people whose interest in art in whatever form is not just a little tied up with their ideas about what their taste in art says about them. They use art to distinguish themselves from the poor benighted folk all around who they imagine wouldn't know [an operatic aria/an authentic folk song/ true jazz/ poetry/ expressionist art/acid house] if it came up and bit them on the arse.

It seemed to me that a lot of those young mid sixties brit Dylan fans had perhaps set themselves apart from the electric pop loving mass audience. The "authentic" nature of Dylan's music being bashed out on an acoustic guitar without any more accompaniment was part of what made them feel that that music and they themselves were special. By playing electric and with a band, Dylan had collapsed an important distinction (in these people's minds at least) between his "authentic" music - which they were proud to be associated with - and the "rubbishy" electric pop music of the day which any twat with a transistor radio knew all about. They felt betrayed. I suspect this had less to do with the music and more to do with their pretensions.

Funny thing about music - everything about it is liable to become fetishised. There is the music itself and then there is all this other stuff - whether it is is paying huge amounts of money for an electic guitar someone poured lighter fluid on and torched or a lot of focus on the feats of dexterity or strength involved in manipulating instruments.

If you see James Morrison live he likes to make jokes - once quite a few years ago I saw him at a bar and late in his last set the band was playing a standard and it was all headed for a big finale and he just stopped the band. He said - Look I know that you can all tell where this is going - its going to be a big finish and then I'll play this really loud high note - and it'll probably be a G. Look - high notes are easy - he gestures to the pianist and he obligingly taps away on a high note - see?

After a bit more banter he counts in the band and they build up to the finish and he powers out the high notes and plays a double G and then A and then B over the Gma finish with no sign of difficulty. This guy has been playing around with this stuff since he was a kid. He is on one level a one man freak show because of his extraordinary abilities. He does things like play standards with a trombone on his shoulder and a trumpet in his other hand - trading choruses on the two instruments. He can play St James Infirmary all in multiphonics on trombone. The digital trumpet is just another part of the show for him - wowing the audience is how he earns his living - but I think he is a guy who has given some thought to what all this means and he sees through some of the bullshit even while he pays the rent partly by catering to it.