Produced by Impact Soundworks in collaboration with Straight Ahead Samples

Version 2.00

Introduction
Welcome to version 2 of Straight Ahead Jazz Horns! This jazz, pop and big band horn library
was originally released by Straight Ahead Samples, who we have collaborated with to present
this newly revised virtual instrument. Though the sample pool is largely the same as version 1
(with some additional tweaks and clean-up), the script and interface has been totally redone.

The result is an even more playable, realistic, and customizable virtual instrument that offers
both excellent solo instruments and some of the most powerful ensemble writing tools ever
developed, powered by our new Smart Voicing technology. We’re sure this library will find a
place in your template and we can’t wait to hear what you do with it!

Installation
Straight Ahead Jazz Horns requires a copy of Kontakt Player or the full version of Kontakt
already installed on your computer. If you do not have Kontakt Player, you can download and
install it for free from here:

http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/samplers/kontakt-5-player/

STEP 1: Download all the RAR files for from your order email, or ISW account page. Check that
the file sizes are correct compared to the sizes listed on the download page.
STEP 2: Using an application like WinRAR (PC), 7-Zip (PC), UnRarX (Mac), or Keka (Mac),
extract the Straight Ahead Jazz Horns.part1.rar file. This will create a folder called Straight
Ahead Jazz Horns. You do not need to extract the other parts! They unpack automatically.

STEP 3: Move the Straight Ahead Jazz Horns folder to the desired location on your computer.
An internal hard drive is recommended; if you must use an external drive, we recommend
USB3.0 or Thunderbolt to ensure speedy load times.

STEP 4: Open Kontakt, and make sure the Browse panel is open on the left side. Click the
Libraries tab, and select “Add Library”. Navigate to the extracted Straight Ahead Jazz Horns
folder and select it. For more info on adding libraries, please see the following guide:

https://support.native-instruments.com/hc/en-us/articles/209584189-How-Can-I-Add-a-
Sample-Library-to-KONTAKT-

STEP 5: You will be prompted to Activate the library in Native Instruments Service Center. Use
the serial number provided via email.

STEP 6: You’re ready to use the instrument!

Solo Instruments
There are 13 instruments included with the library. Each of these is a fully-featured solo
instrument with thousands of samples! Unlike some other libraries, each is totally unique with
entirely different recordings. These are not simply re-pitched variations of existing samples,
but different instruments altogether.

Included in the library:

Lead Trumpet
Trumpet 2
Trumpet 3
Trumpet 4

Lead Trombone
Trombone 2
Trombone 3
Bass Trombone

Lead Alto Sax

Alto Sax 2
Lead Tenor Sax
Tenor Sax 2
Baritone Sax
Multi Instruments / Smart Voicing
The library includes an incredible multi-script we call Smart Voicing that can be used to
quickly create realistic, properly-voiced jazz and big band ensemble sounds. Before we get into
the script, here are the default multi ensemble combinations.

4 Trumpets
4 Trombones
5 Saxes
All Brass (4 trumpets + 4 trombones)
Full Ensemble (all instruments)
Pop Horns (trumpet, tenor sax, trombone, baritone sax)

The idea of Smart Voicing is simple. Play (no need to hold) a chord in your left hand to tell the
script what key + chord is being used. Then, play a melody with your right hand. Fully voiced
chords will be generated based on the melody you’re playing, and the chord that was input!

In a nutshell, the multi script creates harmonized ensemble voicings based on individual notes
that you play. These voicings are split intelligently between all instruments and allow for
normal articulation usage too!
Here’s how it works.

RED KEYS: This key range (C0-B0) switches articulations for ALL instruments in the ensemble.

BLUE KEYS: This key range (C1-B2) is where you will input chords using your left hand. The
played chord is what the engine will use to generate harmonies. The sheet music display will
update to show exactly what chord is played.

YELLOW KEYS: This key range (F6 up to B6) switches the Voicing type.

PURPLE KEYS: All other colored keys should be used to play a monophonic melody line. Each
note you play will then generate a fully voiced chord based on the chord input in the blue key
range.

RETRIGGER KEY: Pressing B-1 will retrigger all harmonized notes (but not the melody note).

The exact chord and voicing played depends on a few factors.

First, note the Voicing dropdown in the UI. This switches the type of chord voicings that will be
generated.

Triads: Straightforward chords built on triads.

Unisons: All instruments play the same note.

Octaves: Instruments play in octaves for a bigger sound.

4-Part Close: Tighter voicings.

The Approach dropdown then sets how to resolve chords for melody notes outside the key.
Chromatic, for example, will resolve chromatically to the next note. Generally, we recommend
using “Suggested” for this.

Humanization can be added with the Volume, Pitch, and Timing sliders to add more looseness
to the ensemble. Very useful for realism!
User Interface

Alt Dyn Mode: When enabled, the instrument uses dynamic filters and EQ instead of
crossfading samples to produce different dynamic levels. This may sound more realistic for
your productions, so try it out!

Sus Phase Align: When enabled, all Sustain samples are switched to “Phase Aligned” versions.
These versions will crossfade without phasing, and the timbre is slightly different (more
‘stable’).

Extra Dyn Filter: When enabled, a gentle lowpass filter (6 dB/oct) is applied to the output, linked
to the Dynamics slider. Use this to further emphasize dynamic transitions.

ADSR: A volume envelope that applies to all standard articulations.

Articulation Display (White Box): Shows what articulation is currently playing.

ADV Button: Toggles to the Advanced control page (see below).

Microphone Icons: Clicking these will enable or disable a microphone position entirely. If
“Purge Unused” is enabled on the Advanced page, unused positions will be unloaded from
RAM.

Mic Volume, Pan: Controls volume and panning for each microphone.
Dynamics: Controls the dynamic level of the instrument. As with all controls, this can be MIDI
learned by right-clicking.

Vibrato: Controls the amount of vibrato.

The Advanced tab offers more in-depth tweaks and special settings.

Leg Length: The length of legato (not glissando) transitions.

Leg Xfade Time: The post-transition crossfade time of legato (not gliss) transitions.

Vib Max Depth: The maximum possible depth of vibrato, in semitones. This value is reached if
the Vibrato slider is turned up all the way.

Vibrato Freq: The frequency (speed) of vibrato.

Mono Fade Time: The time it takes for a note to be faded out in the absence of a legato or
glissando transition.

Auto Legato: When enabled, legato transitions will only happen shortly before the beat, so the
transition is set to “arrive” at the beat. When playing off the beat, legato will not trigger.

Leap Accents: Adds an extra accent to the destination note when playing legato.

Rel Triggers: Toggles release samples on or off.

Purge Unused: When enabled, disabling a mic position also unloads that mic from memory.
Temp Attack KS: When enabled, if you latch an attack articulation (such as Scoops) via
keyswitch, the articulation will unlatch after playing a note.

Round Robins: Sets the round robin mode to Random (selects any random RR – never the
same one twice in a row), Seq (cycles through round robins sequentially), or None (no RRs will
be used).

FX Rack

EQ: A four-band, analog-modeled parametric EQ. All four bands have controls for gain (+/-
20dB) and frequency range. The low-mid frequency band (LMF) and high-mid (HMF) also have
controls for the width (or “Q”) of each band. A lower Q value means the band is narrower and
affects a smaller range of frequencies, while higher Q values can affect multiple octaves worth
of frequency content.

COMPRESSOR: An analog-modeled, SSL-style compressor that can be used for both subtle
and extreme processing. All controls are standard to compressors; the Mix knob can be used
for phase-accurate blending of the dry (uncompressed) and wet (compressed) signals.
DELAY: An all-purpose, tempo-synced delay unit. Damping, when turned up, dampens
(lowpasses) the high frequencies from the echoes. Pan increases the amount of ‘ping pong’
L/R in the echoes.

REVERB: A convolution reverb with a large collection of custom impulse responses (IR) created
by Impact Soundworks. HPF and LPF filter the reverb signal, while Size changes the length of
the IR. Note that this effect is somewhat CPU-intensive and, on some older computers, may
not be suitable for real-time use. Also note that the HPF, LPF, and Size knobs are not
processed in real-time and thus are not automatable.

Articulations Tab
TACT – Total Articulation Control Technology

TACT is a modular, scalable system designed to create a consistent plug-and-play

performance experience in Impact Soundworks virtual instrument products. It manages
articulations with up to 3 triggering types, volume and offset control, and independently
controlled legato toggles when applicable. Current supported trigger sources are note range,
velocity range, CC range (on any CC# from 1 to 127), keyswitches (latching or non-latching,
independently chosen per articulation), and sustain pedal up/down.

TACT is designed to manage user mapping schemes and facilitate experimentation to create
the best performance setups for users very quickly and easily. Extra features include:

 A conflict detection algorithm, which cross references articulations through their 3

rules and detects if the articulations will trigger under the same input. It will then
highlight the articulations in red to so the user can observe and resolve the conflict.

 A crown-jewel convenience feature called "Automap", which allows users to quickly lay
out, build, and audition structured mapping schemes.

 A utility to save and load mapping presets within a sample library. This allows them to
create schemes that suit them for different purposes, such as live performance or
efficient DAW sequencing. These presets can also be shared with other users, as they
are stored as .nka files.
The main screen of the interface shows a list of articulations. Each articulation shows its
name, a power button to purge it from memory, its first triggering rule, and an ADV button.

Pressing ADV will expand the articulation to show its 3 rules, as well as other controls like
volume, offset, and dynamic control. For legato-applicable articulations, they may allow
disabling legato. If expanded articulations make the list exceed the window height, scroll
buttons will appear on the top right. Holding shift while clicking these scroll buttons will scroll
3 rows at a time.

NOTE: The new No Key RT control in this library, when enabled, will play out the full duration of
the sample when the key is released – regardless of ADSR and note length.

The numbered squares to the left of each rule are toggle states for the rules. If turned off, a rule
is not factored into the system's evaluation logic. If all 3 are turned off, the articulation will
never play. Note that setting an articulation rule's trigger type to [None] is equivalent to turning
the rule off.

Each trigger type can only be used once per articulation. If a trigger type is used in a rule, it
can’t be used for other rules. This is not true of the [None] type, however. Each articulation will
preserve its parameters for each rule type, and even if that rule is set to [None]. For example, if
you set a keyswitch to B1, then set it to [None], then enable a keyswitch in another rule, it will
remember B1 automatically. This is convenient for re-ordering rules for visual organizational
purposes.

Each articulation can be selected/highlighted by clicking on its name. This is important for the
Automap feature.

Keyboard Shortcuts:

 Holding control, alt, or shift on the ADV will expand all articulations at once.
 Holding control, alt, or shift on the keyswitch rule "LATCHING" button will set all
keyswitch rules to the same latching designation (latching or non-latching).
 Holding alt while moving the volume or offset sliders will move them simultaneously
across all articulations to the same value.
 Holding shift or alt while scrolling will scroll by 3 rows (a full expanded articulation)
instead of 1.

Automap

Automap works by selecting a list of articulations by clicking their names (activating the blue
highlighting to the left), selecting a scheme, such as "CC Split Range", configuring any
parameters associated with that scheme (such as for CC Split, which CC# for it to work on),
setting the rule # to apply the new mapping on, and the "GO" which executes the automap.

Holding control, shift, or alt while selecting an articulation will select or deselect all
articulations.

When automap is executed by pressing GO, the previous mappings will be preserved in
memory. If the user wishes to undo the change, they can access the preset menu and hit
"Undo Automap". Note that this will only work 1 time, as there is only 1 level of history.

When a new mapping is applied to an articulation via Automap, the associated rule is
automatically turned on in every selected articulation. If an articulation already contained a
rule with the relevant trigger type, that pre-existing rule will be cleared out first.

For all mapping schemes, especially splits, they are done in order of selection, not visually
ascending or descending order. For instance, if velocity split mapping was engaged on
articulations ABCD that are selected in order CDBA, then articulation C will have the lowest
velocity range, D will have the next lowest, and so on. Here is the list of currently implemented
schemes:

Keyswitch (WT) - Will map selected articulations starting at the specified keyswitch, ascending
by whole tones (2 half-steps).

Keyswitch (ST) - Will map selected articulations starting at the specified keyswitch, ascending
by semi tones (1 half-step).
CC Split Range - Will map selected articulations on the specified CC# to ascending ranges that
are even divisions of 1 to 127. For example, on articulations AB will map A to 1-64 and B to 65-
127.

Velocity Split Range - Will map selected articulations to ascending velocitry trigger ranges that
are even divisions of 1 to 127. For example, on articulations AB will map A to 1-64 and B to 65-
127.

In addition to the spanning schemes listed above, TACT also features "shared" schemes that
apply the same rule to selected articulations:

Shared Keyswitch - Will map selected articulations to the specified keyswitch.

Shared CC Range - Will map selected articulations to the specified value range on the specified
CC#.

Shared Vel. Range - Will map selected articulations to the specified velocity range.

Shared Key Range - Will map selected articulations to the specified key range.

Pedal Position - Will map selected articulations to the specified pedal position.

Clear Rule - Will "delete" whatever mapping exists in the selected articulations on the chosen
rule (set them to [None]).

A combination of spanning schemes and shared schemes is the key to getting the most out of
TACT. For example, in a string library, a user could set all short articulations to a "shared
keyswitch" rule, and then have their second rule be a "CC Split Range". This way, they can
switch to a general "shorts" keyswitch, and use their mod wheel to select the specific one.
Another example is when the user has a satisfactory mapping scheme but would like to trigger
legato using the sustain pedal; they can quickly use automap on the non-legato articulations
to have them only trigger when the pedal is released.

Presets

TACT can save presets as .nka files. These files can even be shared with other users, provided
they are using it with the same sample library.

To save a preset, simply open the preset dropdown menu and click "Save Preset". A dialog box
will appear prompting you to name your scheme.

To load a preset, click "Load Preset". A dialog box will appear, and you can browse your
computer to select your saved schemes.

A preset will completely load all articulation purge states, triggering rule data, legato toggles,
offset values, and dynamic control mappings. A preset will not, however, save or load
articulation volume values. This is done so that the sound and general tone is not affected if
the user wishes to heavily experiment with performance mappings.
Hidden Tweaks – MIDI CCs
We have provided a number of extra-advanced editing controls that can be used to fine tune
certain parameters in the library.

CC17 – Turn Articulation Fall Length

Sets the wait time, after the ‘fall’ part of the Turn articulation, before the turn is faded out into a
standard articulation.

CC18 – Turn Articulation Doit Length

Sets the wait time, after the ‘doit’ (rise) of the Turn articulation begins playing, before the turn
switched to a fall.

CC19 – Reserved for future use

This control currently does nothing but is reserved for future use.

CC20 – Scoop Wait Time

Sets the wait time after a scoop is played before fading into a standard articulation.

CC21 – Scoop Fade Time

After a scoop ends (waiting the “Scoop Wait Time” amount), this is the time it takes to fade out
the scoop sample.

CC22 – Flops Length

Sets the wait time after a Flop is played before it begins fading out.

CC23 – Reserved for future use

This control currently does nothing but is reserved for future use.

CC24 – Fortepiano ‘Piano’ Volume

Adjusts the volume of the sustain (‘piano’) part of the fortepiano articulation

CC25 – Legato Crossfade In Time

Sets the time it takes to fade IN the legato transition from the previous note.

CC26 – Glissando Crossfade In Time

Sets the time it takes to fade IN the glissando transition from the previous note.

CC27 – Glissando Wait Time

Sets the standard wait time for glissando transitions. Longer = More glissando transition is
heard.

CC28 – Pre-Legato Fade Out Time

Sets the fade OUT time of the originating note when legato is triggered.

CC29 – Pre-Glissando Fade Out Time

Sets the fade OUT time of the originating note when glissando is triggered.
CC30 – Fortepiano Wait Time
Sets the length of the fortepiano sample before the second dynamic is triggered.

CC31 – Fortepiano Fade Time

Sets the fade out time of the first fortepiano dynamic.

Credits and Acknowledgements

INSTRUMENT PRODUCER: Trey Pollard
SCRIPTING: Nabeel Ansari & Andrew Aversa
ADDITIONAL EDITING: Anthony Mena & Christian Yoder
GRAPHIC DESIGN: Constructive Stumblings

Troubleshooting and Feedback

Have you used Straight Ahead Jazz Horns in a project recently? Got an awesome track you'd
like to share? Drop us a line ([email protected]) and we might post it on our
website! Or, tell the world at our Facebook page here:
http://www.facebook.com/ImpactSoundworks

We encourage all our users to share and promote their work. Word of mouth is the #1 way
people find our samples, so it also helps us to produce more great libraries for you!

For any technical support issues regarding the library, don’t hesitate to email
[email protected].

License Agreement
The following license is granted non-exclusively to all purchasers of our products. This version
(updated December 4, 2014) supersedes any prior printed or digital versions of our license.

Overview
All sound recordings, performances, scripting and/or code contained in this product is the
intellectual property of Impact Soundworks unless otherwise noted, and remain the property of
Impact Soundworks after the product is purchased. When purchasing an Impact Soundworks
product, you are purchasing a non-exclusive license to use, edit, perform, or otherwise utilize
these recordings, performances, scripting and/or code for commercial and non-commercial
purposes as defined below.

Authorized Users
Depending on the type of customer and usage scenario, authorized users of this license will
vary. ALL purchases fall into category A or B.
 A. Individual Purchase
This license is extended to customers who are purchasing as the primary user of the
product, OR are purchasing on the behalf of another primary user (i.e. as a gift).

The licensee (primary user) MAY install the product on as many computer systems as
he or she has access to. However, ONLY the licensee may use the product. No other
users are authorized.
B. Corporate, Academic, Institutional Purchase
This license is extended to customers who are purchasing for a multi-user setting, such
as a shared studio, networked workstation, computer lab, etc. In this case, the licensee
is the institution and not any one user.

In contrast with individual purchases, an institutional license applies to ONE computer /

workstation. All users of that workstation who belong to the purchasing institution
(licensee) shall be considered authorized users.

However, at no point may multiple authorized users access one license simultaneously.
Multiple licenses must be purchased if the product is to be used by multiple users
simultaneously.

Scope of License
The licensee is entitled to the use and unlimited editing of the product within the scope of
music production, performance, recording, and composition. This includes both non-
commercial and commercial usage of all types, including, but not limited to, film scores,
television scores, music libraries, video game soundtracks, digital and physical music releases,
albums, compilations, etc. Exceptions to this scope are listed below.

The licensee MAY NOT use the product in the production of any other sample library or virtual
instrument products.

The licensee MAY NOT sell individual sounds from a product in any context.

For clarity: The licensee MAY use sounds from the product to create individual sound effects
(SFX) for use in film, TV, advertising, and video games. However, the licensee cannot sell these
sounds individually via marketplace, stock music/stock audio site, etc.

Ownership, Resale, and Transfer

Redistributing, reselling, electronically transmitting, uploading, sharing, or renting the product

in any way, shape, or form is prohibited by law. The licensee may create a physical backup
copy of any digitally purchased and downloaded product. This backup copy is subject to the
same limitations as the original copy of the product, and may not be transferred to any other
individual for any reason.

Copyright © 2017 Impact Soundworks, LLC. All Rights Reserved.