Vivid scoring brass
Harness the magic of air rushing through tubes with Beaufort—an agile, expressive, and majestic brass collection. It's a heroic celebration of brass-driven adventure themes, performed by England's very finest players. Beaufort opens up unique avenues of expression where the start of every single note plays a very special role.
From the power and glory of the classic movie themes to the pomp and circumstance of fanfares and reveilles, Beaufort is a wellspring of celebratory expression.
Highlights
When it comes to many of the most memorable movie themes, the brass often has a very special attack. It’s a confident sound where the onset of the note is raspy, and slightly overblown—think of the opening to John Williams’ Raiders of the Lost Ark. Due to England’s brass band tradition, brass players there tend toward this playing style. We recorded multiple options, from the snap of the 'accented sharp' notes to the rounded, bell-like tone of the maestosos. And these articulation options are consistent across the instruments.
Beaufort offers a great legato, but the focus here is on creating a compelling sound for brass fanfares. We recorded notes in a musical context, with the pace and mood of the passage providing the right level of bite vs. tone. We also recorded a number of note repeats—this 'adventure' style often has fast notes in series—and you can select these articulations to create highly realistic patterns. We also experimented with some advanced dynamics modeling, giving you a high-level of dynamics control and expression for all instruments.
We hand-picked the players for this collection—a veritable who’s who of British brass superstars. For the solo trumpet, we brought in James Fountain, the principal trumpet of the London Symphony Orchestra and Professor of Trumpet at the Royal College of Music. On solo horn, we have Richard Watkins, a concerto soloist and chamber music player also known for playing on Inception, several Marvel films, Maleficent, and Fantastic Mr. Fox. Filling out the ensembles, we brought in noteworthy musicians with myriad credits and accolades: Corinne Bailey, Mark Nightingale, Helen Vollam, Alan Thomas, and Nigel Black.
