ot articulation guide - orchestral...

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Articulation Guide

Berlin Percussion

www.orchestraltools.com

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© 2017 Orchestral Tools | Schwarzer & Mantik GmbHRev. 2 017-10-2 5

OT Articulation Guide

CONTENT

I About this Articulation Guide 2

II Introduction 3

III Recording and Concept 4

IV Berlin Series 5

1 Berlin Percussion ........................................................................................................... 6

Instruments .............................................................................................................. 8

Articulations ......................................................................................................... 12

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| About this Art iculat ion Guide |


I About this Articulation Guide

The number of Orchestral Tools is constantly growing and covers all instrumental families of the orchestra,

with some collections even branching out into non-orchestral instruments. This Articulation Guide describes

all contained articulations as well as their technical properties (velocity layers, Round Robins, and many

more).

This document is a special version of the Articulation Guide that only contains features applicable to thecollections listed below.You can download the full Articulation Guide that applies to all Orchestral Tools collections in our Helpdesk.

The following table lists all collections covered by this Articulation Guide with their current Capsule version

as well as the minimum Kontakt version.

Collection Name Collection Capsule KontaktBPC | Berlin Percussion 1.1 2.5 Player 5.5.1+

ImportantThis Articulation Guide does not cover the general installation, usage and features of Orchestral Tools

collections. These topics are explained step by step in the respective User Guides and Installation Guides,

which you can find in your collection's Documentation folder. You can also find them in our Helpdesk.

http://helpdesk.orchestraltools.com/hd_articulation_guides.html

http://helpdesk.orchestraltools.com/hd_documentation.html

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| Introduct ion |


© 2017 Orchestral Tools | Schwarzer & Mantik GmbH

II Introduction

Welcome to the Orchestral Tools Articulation Guide!

Orchestral Tools provides high-quality sampled instruments for composers. Thanks to our Capsule Scripting

Framework developed in-house, all Orchestral Tools collections look and work in a very similar way.

Articulation names, labeling and all technical terms are identical in every collections, so you will find it easy

to find your way around.

This Articulation Guide describes all articulations as well as their technical features and is organized as

follows:

- The general Ser ies Overv iew shows you all available Orchestral Tools Series', which group our

collections into broader categories.

- Following this is the respective Ser ies Overv iew Page of one particular Series, which lists all available

collections by name and gives suggestions for expansions options.

- Each individual collection then has its own Col lect ion Overv iew page, which describes the general

content of the collection as well as its most important features at a glance.

- This is followed by the Inst ruments Section, which lists all instruments (or sections) contained in the

collection with a short description of tone, scope or other pertinent information.

- The Ar t iculat ions Section finally lists all articulations in detail along with all their properties.

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| Recording and Concept |


III Recording and Concept

We are happy to have found a sonic home for our collections at the Teldex Scoring Stage in Berlin.

The large recording stage at Teldex looks back on a long tradition of many well known and Grammy®

award winning recordings. Famous orchestras, like the Berlin Philharmonics and great film composers from

the USA and Europe trust and love the wide and clear acoustics of this room. One of the best sounding

scoring stages in Europe, this room together with a fantastic complement of legendary microphones catapults

our work to a new level of orchestral sampling.

The quality of a sampled collection begins with the recording. Every Orchestral Tools collection is recorded

at 96khz with state of the art equipment. The full editing and post-production process uses these 96khz

recordings without downsampling. We very rarely denoise our recordings and never treat them in any other

automated way. If tuning is needed, it is done by ear without resorting to tuning algorithms. Only at the very

end, right before the samples are mapped into their instruments, the content is converted to 48khz for best

use of resources.

Our goal is to provide a set of tools that easily adapts to any workflow and creates a coherent sonic

representation of the orchestra. The main way we achieved this is by recording every instrument in its

orchestral position. All collections come pre-panned and pre-mixed with their respective volumes

balanced. If there are multiple types of the same instrument, they are recorded in slightly different positions,

yet still in their general section area. The different snare drums in Berlin Percussion, for example, have been

recorded slightly spread over the general "snare drum area" within the percussion section. This allows you to

have a very wide and full sound when combining multiple instruments.

We deliberately choose to also record non-traditional instruments as belonging to a symphonic setup, like

electric guitars and a drumset in our Metropolis Ark Series. Modern media scoring introduces a host of new

instruments into the established orchestral lineup and we feel these instruments deserve the same care and

precision in fitting them into the symphonic sound as their traditional counterparts.

All collections feature a number of microphone positions commonly used in orchestral recording. The

position of these microphones is identical in every collection, which means that for example the Tree is much

nearer to the string section that it is to the percussion section (because the percussion section is situated at

the back of the orchestra). This enabled lively acoustics that come pre-mixed for the respective stage

position. The choice of mic positions also depends greatly on the instrument. Some instruments, especially in

the percussion section, benefit greatly from a M/S position to enable accurately positioning the sound

source.

Wherever possible, similar instruments use the same mapping scheme so it is usually possible to transfer

MIDI data from one instrument to another easily. This is especially important and useful for percussion.

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| Berlin Series |



IV Berlin Series

The Berlin Series is Orchestral Tools' ongoing journey to harnessing the sound of the Teldex Scoring stage

in an all-purpose orchestral sample collection.

Every major section of the orchestra is represented by one Main Collection, which contains all essentials

instruments and articulations and forms the backbone of any symphonic piece. These collections are

expanded and continued by special expansion collections, which add additional instruments or playing

techniques.

The following table lists all Berlin Series Collections currently released - underlined names jump to a

description of its content and unique features. You can download a version of this Articulation Guide that

applies to all released Collections on our Helpdesk.

When you load any Berlin Series patch inside Kontakt, the instrument slot will show an icon representing the

orchestral section as shown below.

Berlin Orchestra Inspire Berlin Orchestra Inspire

Berlin Woodwinds Berlin Brass Berlin Percussion Berlin Strings

Main Collection Main Collection Main Collection Main Collection

Additional Instruments Additional Instruments The Timpani Special Bows I

Soloists I Muted Brass Special Bows II

Soloists II Horn SFX First Chairs

SFX SFX

http://helpdesk.orchestraltools.com/

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| Berlin Series | Berlin Percussion


4.1 Berlin Percussion

Berlin Percussion marks another major addition to the Berlin Series, well known for its flexibility, detail and

its extensive sets of articulations, recorded with first call musicians from world-famous Orchestras at the

Teldex Scoring Stage in Berlin.

All instruments are recorded in their natural positions within the beautiful acoustics of Teldex, famous for its

perfect proportions of reverb for samples and live recordings. A room that isn't too wet to stay flexible with

your productions and which also isn't too dry so that its natural acoustics help to blend all the orchestral

instruments together as one entity.

With Berlin Percussion we followed the Multiple Instrument Concept that allows you to create your own

unique percussion ensembles out of e.g. 7 different Snare Drums or 4 sizes of Gran Cassas. All of them are

sampled individually and rich in details and articulations. A uniform mapping structure and articulation set let

you easily stack instruments over each other. All articulations and instruments are preserved in their natural

volume balance. Switching e.g. from one snare drum to any other without changing notes in your

arrangement is now possible.

The Instruments in Berlin Percussion offer a range of dynamics never heared before and with Capsule we

were able to create absolutely smooth transition curves between all these dynamic layers to come as close

to the real instrument as possible. The propensity to detail, the extensive set of articulations and the different

mallets you can choose from make Berlin Percussion a superb Orchestral Composing Tool which is designed

to be used for many a year.

Instrumentation and Recording

Berlin Percussion contains all major orchestral percussion instruments excluding

timpani (which are covered by Berlin Percussion - The Timpani), which are

divided into patches containing a single articulation as well as multi

articulation patches. You will find all of these patches inside the Instruments

folder. The collection contains the following percussion sections, as they

appear in your instruments folder:

01. Drums

02. Mallets & Keys

03. Unpitched Metals

04. Misc. Percussion

05. Toys

Berlin Percussion features Multi Articulation Patches for selected instruments

where the number and kind of articulations made those patches sensible.

On all instruments, where it is possible to dampen the sound, we have recorded both regular samples as

well as damped samples. The TrueDamping feature allows you to create realistic percussion lines.

It is also possible to switch between recorded velocity layers instead of morphing between them, harnessing

the power of having a multitude of recorded layers and avoiding phasing.

You can choose between five microphone positions, Spot, Close, Tree, Surround and A/B as well as an

M/S setup for select instruments.

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These microphone positions are switchable in the GUI and can be controlled via MIDI CC. Additionally, all

core articulations have been recorded with multiple velocity layers for realistic dynamics.

All samples have their natural panning.

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4.1.1 Instruments

Berlin Percussion brings a plethora of extensively sampled orchestral percussion instruments to your

compositions.

This section briefly explains the individual instruments and points out usage scenarios and expansion

options.

Drums

The Drums section in Berlin Percussion provides a large array of different drums, ranging from orchestral

Bass and Snare Drums to smaller Bongos and Congas.

Almost all Drums instruments have Single & Rolls as well as Dynamics patches. These patches per instrument

are intended to be loaded on the same MIDI channel, because their ranges do not overlap.

Bass DrumsThe Bass Drums are provided in four sizes from 28'' to 40'' with Singles & Rolls and Dynamics patches for

all sizes.

Snare DrumsSix different Snare Drums with very different sound offer a large array of options. Ranging in size from 10'' to

16'', most of these instruments offer Singles & Rolls as well as Dynamics patches and have variations with or

without the snare strings or sometimes even just a single snare string active.

TomsA staple of orchestral percussion, the toms are again provided in four sizes from 13'' to 16'' with Singles &

Rolls and Dynamics.

Roto TomsThe Roto Toms consist of six individually samples Roto Toms from 6'' to 18''.

TimbalesTwo Timbales in 13'' and 14'' size provide the usual Singles & Rolls and Dynamics.

BongosBerlin Percussion has two full sets of Bongos with Singles & Rolls and Dynamics.

CongasA set of Congas with Singles & Rolls and Dynamics is also included.

Mallets & Keys

Berlin Percussion has a varied complement of Mallets & Keys, all samples with the best fitting microphone

positions.

CelestaThe Celesta provides Sustained and Staccato articulations with full pedal control.

VibraphoneOur Vibraphone has been extensively sampled with Normal and Soft mallets, recorded Tremolo, Glissandi

and Rotator Sustains.

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MarimbaThe Marimba is sampled with Normal, Soft and Hard mallets as well as two types of Tremolo.

XylophoneThe Xylophone in addition to regular Singles also features Tremolo and Glissando.

CrotalesWith Stopped, Muted and Bowed articulations in addition to Sustains the Crotales offer a broad variety of

sounds.

GlockenspielAdapted from our renowned "The Glock", the BPC Glockenspiel offers Normal, Soft and Hard mallets with

various articulations and full Pedal Control.

Tubular BellsThe Tubular Bells have Soft and Hard mallets with Sustains and Staccato.

Cow BellsThe Cow Bells are true chromatic Cow Bells, fully playable with Soft and Hard mallets.

Unpitched Metals

The Unpitched Metals offer a broad variety of sounds and with the usual mic positions are very adaptable to

any setting.

This section features Key Velocity patches, which map the velocity layers to different keys for easy access.

CymbalsFour Cymbals by Zildjian (14'', 16''), Meinl (16'') and Sabian (20'') with Singles & Rolls, Dynamics and

Brush Singles and Dynamics open the Metals section.

PiattiPiatti in sizes 15'', 19'' and 20''.

TamtamsThe concert Tamtams in four sizes (65cm to 130cm) with extensive mallet options including Timpani and

Vibraphone mallets come with the the usual assortment of patches.

Thunder SheetsTo sets of Thunder Sheets await your pieces.

Anvils and BreakdrumsThe Anvils and Breakdrums patch unites an assortment of concert anvils and carefully selected breakdrums.

Bell TreeThe Bell Tree comes with an assortment of Glissandi as an extra patch.

TrianglesThree Triangles are available seperately as well as in one patch combining all three.

ChimesLast but not least, BPC has two different Metal Chimes, Glass Chimes, Bamboo Chimes and an extensively

recorded Seashell Tree.

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Misc Percussion

Berlin Percussion contains a lot of smaller percussion, which is united under the Misc. Percussion section.

These instruments may be smaller and not as grandiose as some of the Drums and Metals - but the same

depth of sampling is present here and you will be pleasantly surprised by the wealth of content!

Body Percussion

Shakers

Castanets

Claves

TempleblocksFour Templeblocks were samples and also united in a special Multi.

Woodblocks

TambourineHere you find two Tambourines with Singles & Rolls and Dynamics patches as well as two Headless

Tembourines.

Guiro

Toys

The Toys section completes Berlin Percussion and has some of our favourite little gems. We dare you not to

develop some longing for the High Seas when playing the Ship Bells!

Sleigh Bells

Railroad Bell

Ship Bells

Finger Cymbals

Windmaker

Cab Horns

Drumsticks

Vibraslap

Bird Call

Cuckoo

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Duck Call

Fog Horn

E x p a n s i o n O p t i o n s :

Berlin Percussion - The Timpani adds a set of deep-sampled timpani to the percussion section and is the

perfect expansion to Berlin Percussion.

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4.1.2 Articulations

All Orchestral Tools collections focus on providing a versatile pallet of articulations to help you shape your

sound.

This section lists all articulations contained in Berlin Percussion.

All Berlin Percussion Patches have Spot, Close, Tree, AB and Surround microphone positions. As such

these positions are not listed in the tables below.

Articulations Legend

Symbol Name Description

R Range The playable range of the instrument.

L Layers Lists the number and musical dynamics of velocity layers the

instrument uses.

T Transition Range The interval range of recorded legato transitions.

S Transition Styles If multiple legato styles are present, these are listed here by

name

V Vibrato Layers The number and type of vibrato layers

M Microphone Positions Any special mic positions that deviate from the collection

standard.

TM Time Machine Denotes a patch that uses TimeMachine for tempo-sync.

+ TimeMachine Patches

All patches marked with a "+" (plus sign) also exist as a TimeMachine patch. These patches allow you to

adjust the length of the sample to your liking. For more Information refer to the User Guide.

# Key Ve locity Patches

All patches marked with a "#" ("hashtag") also exist as a Key Velolocity Patch. These patches have

individual dynamic layers mapped to keys instead of CC or Velocity control. For more Information refer to

the User Guide.

Berlin Percussion has a large number of Singles & Rolls as well as Dynamics patches. These have different

hits/rolls and recorded dynamics mapped across the keyboard and can be used on the same MIDI

channel because their ranges do not overlap. The content of these patches is the same across the whole

collection.

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Drums

Bass Drums

Articulation Properties

01. Bass Drum 28'' Singles & Rolls L: 7 (pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | RR: 8 for singles

02. Bass Drum 28'' Dynamics L: 6 (p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | +

03. Bass Drum 34'' Singles & Rolls L: 6 (pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff) | RR: 10 for singles |


05. Bass Drum 36'' Singles & Rolls L: 8 (ppp, pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | RR: 10 for singles

06. Bass Drum 36'' Dynamics L: 5 (p, mp, mf, f, fff) | +

07. Bass Drum 40'' Singles & Rolls L: 7 (pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | RR: 10 for singles


Snare Drums


00. Dresdner Snare 13'' Multi -

00. Field Drum 14'' Multi -

00. Firecracker 10'' Multi -

00. Majestic Pro 14'' Multi -

00. Piccolo 13'' Multi -

00. Tenor Drum 16'' Multi -

01. Firecracker 10'' Singles & Rolls L: 8 (ppp, pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | RR: 9 for singles

02. Firecracker 10'' Dynamics L: 4 (mp, mf, f, ff) | +

03. Firecracker 10'' wo Singles & Rolls L: 8 (ppp, pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | RR: 9 for singles

04. Firecracker 10'' wo Dynamics L: 6 (p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | +

05. Piccolo 13'' Singles & Rolls L: 8 (ppp, pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | RR: 9 for singles

06. Piccolo 13'' Dynamics L: 5 (mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | +

07. Piccolo 13'' Snare Drum wo Singles & Rolls L: 8 (ppp, pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | RR: 9 for singles

08. Piccolo 13'' Snare Drum wo Dynamics L: 3 (mf, f, ff) | +

09. Dresdner Snare 13'' Singles & Rolls L: 8 (ppp, pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | RR: 16 for singles

10. Dresdner Snare 13'' Dynamics L: 5 (mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | +

11. Dresdner Snare 13'' wo Singles & Rolls L: 8 (ppp, pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | RR: 16 for singles

12. Dresdner Snare 13'' wo Dynamics L: 5 (mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | +

13. Majestic Pro 14'' Singles & Rolls L: 8 (ppp, pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | RR: 9 for singles

14. Majestic Pro 14'' Dynamics L: 5 (mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | +

15. Majestic Pro 14'' wo Singles & Rolls L: 8 (ppp, pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | RR: 9 for singles

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16. Majestic Pro 14'' wo Dynamics L: 5 (mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | +

17. Majestic Pro 14'' Full Wire Singles & Rolls L: 8 (ppp, pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | RR: 9 for singles

18. Majestic Pro 14'' Full Wire Dynamics L: 5 (mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | +

19. Majestic Pro 14'' Wire 3 Singles & Rolls L: 8 (ppp, pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | RR: 9 for singles

20. Majestic Pro 14'' Wire 3 Dynamics L: 5 (mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | +

21. Field Drum 14'' Singles & Rolls L: 7 (ppp, pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff) | RR: 9 for singles

22. Field Drum 14'' Dynamics L: 6 (p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | +

23. Field Drum 14'' wo Singles & Rolls L: 7 (ppp, pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff) | RR: 9 for singles

24. Field Drum 14'' wo Dynamics L: 6 (p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | +

25. Basler Drum 16'' Singles & Rolls L: 8 (ppp, pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | RR: 9 for singles

26. Basler Drum 16'' Dynamics L: 3 (mp, f, fff) | +

27. Tenor Drum 16'' Singles & Rolls L: 7 (pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | RR: 20 for singles

28. Tenor Drum 16'' Dynamics L: 6 (p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | +

29. Tenor Drum 16'' wo Singles & Rolls L: 7 (pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | RR: 20 for singles

30. Tenor Drum 16'' wo Dynamics L: 6 (p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | +

Toms


00. Toms Multi Basic Set, Extended Set, Rolls and Dynamics

01. Tom 13'' Singles & Rolls L: 8 (ppp, pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | RR: 16 for singles

02. Tom 13'' Dynamics L: 3 (p, f, fff) | +







Roto Toms


00. Roto Toms Multi Basic Set, Extended Set, Rolls and Dynamics

01. Roto Tom 6'' Singles & Rolls L: 7 (pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | RR: 9 for singles

02. Roto Tom 6'' Dynamics L: 6 (p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | +

03. Roto Tom 8'' Singles & Rolls L: 6 (p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | RR: 10 for singles

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11. Roto Tom 18'' Singles & Rolls L: 5 (p, mp, mf, f, ff) | RR: 9 for singles

Timbales


00. Timbales Multi Basic Set, Extended Set, Rolls and Dynamics

01. Timbale 13'' Singles & Rolls L: 7 (pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | RR: 20 for singles

02. Timbale 13'' Dynamics L: 3 (mp, f, fff) | +

03. Timbale 14'' Singles & Rolls L: 6 (pp, p, mp, mf, f, fff) | RR: 20 for singles

04. Timbale 14'' Dynamics L: 3 (mp, f, fff) | +

Bongos


01. Bongo Set 1 Single & Rolls L: 3 (p, mf, ff) | RR: 8 for singles

02. Bongo Set 1 Dynamics L: 3 (p, mf, ff) | +

03. Bongo Set 2 Single & Rolls L: 4 (p, mp, mf, ff) | RR: 5 for singles

04. Bongo Set 2 Dynamics L: 3 (p, mf, ff) | +

Congas


01. Congas Singles & Rolls L: 3 (p, mf, ff) | RR: 5 for singles

02. Congas Dynamics L: 3 (p, mf, ff) | +

Mallets & Keys

Celesta


00. Celesta Multi -

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02. Thunder Sheet 2 L: 4 (p, mp, mf, f) | RR: 3 | +

Anvils and Breakdrums


01. Anvils and Breakdrums L: 3 (p, mf, ff) | RR: 5

Bell Tree


01. Bell Tree RR: 4

02. Bell Tree Glisses RR: 4 | +

Triangles


01. Triangle 1 L: 8 (ppp, pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | RR: 5



04. Triangles 1-3 L: 8 (ppp, pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff) | RR: 5

Chimes


01. Chimes All Glisses L: 4 (pp, p, mf, ff) | M: M/S | +

02. Metal Chimes 1 L: 2 (mf, ff) | M: M/S | +

03. Metal Chimes 2 L: 4 (pp, p, mf, ff) | M: M/S | +

04. Glass Chimes L: 4 (pp, p, mf, ff) | M: M/S | +

05. Bamboo Chimes L: 4 (pp, p, mf, ff) | RR: 2 | M: M/S | +

06. Seashell Tree Dynamics RR: 2 | M: M/S | +

07. Seashell Tree Singles & Rolls L: 5 (pp, p, mp, mf, ff) | RR: 2 | M: M/S

Misc Percussion


00. Templeblocks Multi -

01. Body Percussion L: 2 (mf, ff) | RR: 20

02. Shakers RR: 16 | +

03. Castanets L: 2 (mf, ff) | RR: 8 | +

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