VSL Historic Winds II

VSL Historic Winds II

Nine rare Instruments of the Renaissance and Baroque Era

This Collection contains instrumental rarities that are not only perfectly suited to score appropriate film subjects but are a real source of inspiration if youre looking for all-new timbres and instrumental combinations in order to enrich your arrangements with new colors. Historic Winds II includes recordings of nine rare instruments of the Renaissance and Baroque era: Cornett, five crumhorns, and three natural trumpets.

The Cornett (or Zink – not to be confused with the trumpet-like Cornet included in Viennas Special Brass Collection) was a popular wind instrument of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Its conical wooden pipe is about 61 centimeters (24 inches) long and covered in leather. There are no valves but seven front finger holes as well as a thumb hole on the back, as on the recorder. The cup mouthpiece is usually made of horn, ivory or bone and it takes a lot of practice to achieve pure intonation. The zink (cornett) is a very agile instrument covering the soprano and sopranino registers with a key range of almost three octaves. Especially in the high register the timbre is reminiscent of a blend of a soft piccolo trumpet playing mezzoforte and a female voice. Famous composers who wrote for the zink (cornett) were Giovanni Gabrieli and his student Heinrich Schütz, whose sacral works for choirs usually feature an extensive instrumental accompaniment.

The Crumhorns name is derived from the German “Krummhorn”, which means “bent horn”. The lower part of the instrument is bent upwards in a curve like the letter “J” and the cylindrical shaped pipe has seven finger holes on the front and one on the back. Unlike recorders Crumhorns have a double-reed mouthpiece like the bassoon; it produces the typically bright and “nasal” timbre that music of the Renaissance period is often associated with. As a typical woodwind instrument of the Renaissance period the Crumhorn disappeared later in the Baroque era but was rediscovered in the 20th century in Folk, Medieval and contemporary music. As an example, composer Mauricio Kagel (1931–2008) used four Crumhorns in his “Music for Renaissance Instruments” (in memoriam Claudio Monteverdi). Crumhorns are available in various sizes, as the instruments range covers just one octave. Historic Winds II contains recordings of five different crumhorns, covering the soprano, alto, tenor, bass, and double bass register.

Natural trumpets were originally used as military instruments for acoustic signals. Although used in Venetian ceremonial music of the 16th century, the natural trumpets experienced their heyday in the Baroque period, when composers such as Bach, Handel, Vivaldi or Telemann created works for the instrument. Natural trumpets continued to be used throughout the Classical era and even into the early Romantic period. As they have no valves the instruments are characterized by their long tubing compared to modern trumpets. They can only produce notes of the natural harmonic series, from the 3rd to the 16th, of the corresponding key. Impure harmonics, such as the 7th, 11th, 13th and 14th note of the harmonic series, and even chromatic notes can be achieved with advanced “lipping” techniques (i.e., flattening or sharpening the tuning with changes in embouchure). Playing in the very high register is also known as the clarion technique (Latin: clarus = bright). The majority of Baroque trumpet parts were written for natural instruments pitched in Bb, C or D. The Vienna team has recorded three different instruments in these keys to provide you with utmost flexibility.

Requirements
Your purchase of any VSL library entitles you to download the free Vienna Instruments Player software that includes the Vienna Ensemble mixing host.

MINIMUM
• PC Windows 7 (latest Service Pack, 32/64-bit), Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon 64 X2
• Mac OS X 10.8 (latest update), Intel Core 2 Duo
• 2 GB RAM (4 GB recommended)
• ViennaKey (Vienna Symphonic Library USB protection device) or other USB eLicenser (e.g., from Steinberg or Arturia)
• eLicenser Control Center software (get the latest version from www.eLicenser.net)
• free hard drive space according to This Library Size Chart

Other configurations might work but are not actively supported.

RECOMMENDED
• PC Windows 7 (latest Service Pack, 64-bit), Intel i5/i7/Xeon
• Mac OS X 10.8 (latest update), i5/i7/Xeon
• Fast separate hard drive (7200 rpm or faster)
• AU/VST/AAX Native/RTAS compatible host (also works stand-alone)
• RTAS version requires Pro Tools 7.3 or higher
• 88 key master keyboard
 
    Please notice: To use the "Extended Library" you need to have the corresponding "Standard Library" already registred in your account."Standard Library" plus "Extended Library" result in a "Full Version"
    
Product activation:
Vienna Instruments require the ViennaKey!
This USB protection device by eLicenser (by Steinberg, formerly Syncrosoft) is not included in the box of any collection, it is a separate item you have to get additionally. So you’ll have to order at least one ViennaKey with your first purchase. It will be put inside the shopping basket automatically but can be deleted if not required. Customers who order the complete SYMPHONIC CUBE will get one ViennaKey for free (not shown in the basket). If you already own another eLicenser USB protection device (e.g., from Steinberg or Arturia), you can use it for the VIENNA INSTRUMENTS, too. Each dongle can store up to 100 product licenses.
Additionally an internet connection on any computer is required to authorize a VSL product.

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