Rinascimento Brass

This is one of the easier categories to cover as there are only two instruments. I guess Brass was harder to come by than wood for your average medieval musician. Size aside the two instruments here are quite enjoyable when used with other instruments in the pack. By itself the upper register of the Soprano Cornett drives me nuts.

The Renaissance Trombone is an interesting instrument. Another reviewer commented that it sounded more like a trumpet in the top octave and I think he is correct. In Legato, the lower octave or so sounds like a rough bass trombone, the middle is smooth baritone and the top end like a trumpet.So depending on the range you use, it can really have different functions in a piece of music. The upper 'trumpet' portion works nicely as a lower lead instrument.

The Staccato is similar.  The bottom end has that trombone sound that when played poorly sounds like a rude human noise. Fortunately here it is played just fine. The upper end has more of a trumpet pop to it.

The Soprano Cornet reminds me of what I don't like about the vox humana organ stop and the piccolo oddly enough. Played by itself, the tone at the lower end sounds irritatingly inconsistent within the sustain of the note itself and at the upper end the sound is shrill and unpleasant. This is I believe the instrument itself and not a defect of workmanship on Fluffy Audio's part. In a sense it sounds like a lousy trumpet. This reminds me that while this instrument package is a blast to play with we really have improved instruments over time. A Trumpet is much better sounding than a Cornette and a Bosendorfer or Steinway concert level grand is a far better instrument than a Harpsichord. As I'm sure I'll have mentioned earlier it is the difference in sound and even the somewhat negative quirks of these instruments that make this an interesting package. This isn't intended to replace Berlin's Inspire or Spitfire's Albion.

The odd thing is when played as part of a larger set of these instruments, the Cornett blends nicely even when playing the lead and doesn't make me want to puncture my own eardrums. For instance that nice little picture and description of the Trombone mentions that it works well with the Cornett and Organ. I tried it in my own unique way and it is true. I used the Organ as a mild bass (C2-C3ish), Trombone as the middle instrument (C3-C4) and the Cornett as the lead (C4-A5) and it sounded quite pleasant. The other instruments sort of masked or took the edge off the Cornett in ways good composers would probably understand.

That also leads me to mentioning that the Trombone range is very important. I tried it too high at some points and the trumpet sound of the upper range really conflicted with the Cornett and sounded bad. At the mid to lower range however the Trombone made a nice support instrument.

Interesting instruments. Not good for every situation but a nice addition to the palette and they might just be a little surprise for a modern listener who is used to the more standard sounds of modern brass. Good mixers.

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