EastWest Hollywood Fantasy Brass

EastWest Hollywood Fantasy Brass puts the grandeur of some of history’s most iconic brass instruments at your fingertips, complete with a broad articulation set and true legato for maximum realism and authenticity. It’s everything you’ve come to expect from the Hollywood series—multiple mic positions, custom effect chains, and lush ambiences. But now, with a collection of brass instruments used in some of the most famous fantasy scores in history. If you’ve tried to recreate the feel of your favorite scores countless times but something is still missing, the fix could be as simple as using the right instruments for the job.

Assemble Your Army
In the stead of trumpets, you’ll find flugelhorns; rather than French horns, Wagner tubas and alpenhorns take their place. Each of these core instruments is recorded in ensembles of three, giving you a far more cinematic quality than solo instruments can achieve alone. As with Hollywood Fantasy Strings, the entire brass collection was recorded in the same soundstage as EastWest’s acclaimed Hollywood Orchestra, providing a cohesive sound between all the elements together. Whether you need bold fanfares for distant kingdoms; sonorous melodies for heroes, villains, and magical creatures alike; or a rich, mellow tone to evoke the mystique of castles or scrolling landscapes—Hollywood Fantasy Brass has you covered.

Command the Mood
Every instrument in the Hollywood Fantasy Orchestra is programmed with three moods, on a scale from most authentic to most cinematic: Classic, Soft and Epic. You can rotate through these different qualities to suit your needs and fill in the exact fantasy orchestra sound you hear in your head. You have individual control over the level and pan of four separate mic positions: Close, Mid, Main, and Surround, giving you full control over the dimension of the sound.

3 Wagner Tubas
You can hear the Wagner tuba in the scores to Star Wars IV: A New Hope, the Lord of the Rings films, Jurassic Park, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, World of Warcraft, and several other expansive scores that have helped define the modern fantasy sound across movies and video games. Imagine a cross between a French horn and a trombone and you’ll get close, but this ensemble has something a little extra that effortlessly evokes fantastic and unexplored worlds.

3 Flugelhorns
This flugelhorn ensemble is an easy choice when you need majestic, mellow brass to carry a theme, especially for fanfares and “royal” settings. The soundtracks of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, the original Final Fantasy VII, and L.A. Noire all make use of this instrument’s regal and haunting quality, and you’ll find it’s an easy way to accomplish the same in your own scores. Try substituting this for a trumpet ensemble and you’ll plainly see the fantastical character that these flugelhorns add to your scores.

3 Alpenhorns
In addition to its role in German and Swiss folk music, this elongated horn was traditionally used primarily as a tool for communication and as an integral part of ceremonies and festivals. Its sound is uniquely mellow and hollow, owing to its wooden construction and straight rather than wound piping—it makes for a great mellow horn melody, especially in conjunction with the flugelhorns in this collection. Think of this as a group of extra-long hunting horns ready to lead the charge.

3 Brass Trombones, 2 Cimbassos, 1 Tuba
EastWest has included a powerhouse section of select low brass instruments to help fill out the low end and achieve the growling, dark intensity that even Hollywood Brass doesn’t quite match. Rather than making massive EQ and reverb changes to another brass ensemble, simply add in this collection and you’ll have the perfect complement. Make no mistake, though: This brass section packs the punch and warmth you need no matter the task even on its own, making it a powerful asset for all your fantasy needs.