Presents

The Virtual Trumpet

Operation Manual

  1. License
  2. System Requirements
  3. Installation
  4. Description
  5. Panel Controls
  6. About wind controllers

License

Miles'tone version 1.0, copyright Guido Scognamiglio - SoundFonts.it 2007

LICENSE TERMS FOR SoundFonts.it SOFTWARE

This is a license agreement between "SoundFonts.it" (hereinafter referred to as "the software supplier") and You (hereinafter referred to as "the user").

The software is provided to the user "as is". The software supplier makes no warranties, either express or implied, with respect to the software and associated materials provided to the user, including but not limited to any warranty of fitness for a particular purpose. The software supplier does not warrant that the functions contained in the software will meet your requirements, or that the operation of the software will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that defects in the software will be corrected.

The software supplier does not warrant or make any representations regarding the use or the results of the use of the software or any documentation provided therewith in terms of their correctness, accuracy, reliability, or otherwise. No information or advice given by the software supplier shall create a warranty or in any way increase the scope of this warranty.

The software supplier is not liable for any claims or damages whatsoever, including property damage, personal injury, intellectual property infringement, loss of profits, or interruption of business, or for any special, consequential or incidental damages, however caused.

The user is not allowed to distribute the program. Further, the user may not modify, the user may not decompile and the user may not debug the software. The user may use the program on any computer he or she personally own.

This product is a shareware. You may use the unregistered version at no charge for an evaluation period of 30 days only. To continue to use the software beyond the 30-day evaluation period, you must register it.

By using this software, you agree the above statements.



System Requirements

Minimum System Requirements:
  • Microsoft Windows 98se/ME/2000/XP
  • Intel Pentium 3 @ 500 MHz or AMD Athlon @ 500 MHz
  • 256 Mb of RAM
  • 10 Mb of free disk space
  • An ASIO compatible sound card
  • A MIDI keyboard
Recommended System Requirements:
  • Microsoft Windows XP
  • Intel Pentium 4 @ 1500 MHz or AMD Athlon @ 1500 MHz
  • 512 Mb of RAM
  • 10 Mb of free disk space
  • An ASIO compatible sound card with near-zero latency
  • A MIDI keyboard and a breath controller
Miles'tone is a VST plug-in, and needs a VST host application to run. We recommend EnergyXT, VSThost / SAVIhost or Maize Studio.

Installation

Copy the file MilesTone.dll (or whatever it may have been renamed to, in case of future updates) to your VSTplugins folder, usually
C:\Program Files\Steinberg\VSTplugin\

According to the VST host application you're using, you have to recall this plugin within your open project. For Example, if you're using EnergyXT simply right click in the middle of the main window and choose VST -> MilesTone from the menu. If you're running Cubase, press F11 and load MilesTone, then create an empty MIDI track and assign its output to MilesTone.

In the case you have bought a license, install it before running MilesTone to prevent it from running in Demo mode.
The DEMO version shows a reminder screen at start-up for 15 seconds, then it plays a white noise burst for 3 seconds every 30. No limitations are applied soundwise.
If you want to buy your license, please visit www.SoundFonts.it.

Description

Miles'tone is a simulation of a trumpet.
It is based on a mixed use of traditional synthesis (oscillators, filters) and physical modeling synthesis (tuned delay lines, resonators), but more importantly it reflects the behaviour of a real trumpet, reacts to pitch changes and air pressure in a very natural way, and has a nice and warm timbre.
It has been conceived to work with a Wind Controller but it can also be played with a traditional MIDI keyboard thanks to the built-in dedicated envelope generator.

Miles'tone doesn't use any samples.

Panel Controls

  • MIN. EXP. / MAX. EXP.
    • Set respectively the minimum and the maximum air pressure which can pass through the tube. You can also consider these as the minimum and the maximum volume levels, even though the EXPRESSION parameter doesn't affect just volume, it also reflects on the timbre and many other aspects of the instrument.

  • RESONANCE
    • Establishes the quantity of residual air that remains inside the tube before a new note is played. This also may increase or decrease the presence of certain articulations.

  • AIR NOISE
    • Adjusts the level of the air noise you hear along with the trumpet's sound. According to the playing style and the microphone positioning (in a real recording session), a trumpet may contain more or less air effect.

  • BEND RANGE
    • The total range of the pitch bender. An expert trumpet player may easily execute fast pitch changes (also known as "glissando") even wider than a full octave.

  • TYPE SELECTION
    • Click the icon to switch between a normal (unmuted trumpet) and a muted trumpet sound. The muted sound simulates the use of a "Harmon mute".

  • EXPRESSION
    • AT: Aftertouch. CC: Continuous Controller.
      Choose the type of controller you wish to use for the expression parameter. If you set it to CC, also choose the appropriate CC number.

  • VIBRATO
    • AT: Aftertouch. CC: Continuous Controller.
      Choose the type of controller you wish to use for the vibrato effect. If you set it to CC, also choose the appropriate CC number.

  • EXTERNAL CTRL / INTERNAL EG
    • If you want to use an external physical controller (eg.: a wind controller) for the expression parametter, set this to EXTERNAL. Otherwise, set it to INTERNAL and use the built-in envelope generator.

  • A / D1 / BP / D2 / AIR
    • A: Attack
      D1: Decay 1 - the first decay time, usually quite short.
      BP: Break Point - the halfway point between the first and the second decay.
      D2: Decay 2 - the final decay stage, usually quite long (depends on how much air remains in the players's lungs and mouth).

  • INSTRUMENT POSITION
    • Use this X/Y Pad to position your virtual trumpet in an imaginary room, close or distant from the two microphones.

  • ROOM SIZE
    • Set the size of the virtual room. Set this at minimum for an average studio size environment (about 80 square feet).

  • MID BOOST
    • Just like an equalizer, this gives more punch to the medium frequencies and slightly warms up the timbre.

  • AUTO VIBRATO
    • Sets the effect of automatic vibrato. The more loud you play, wider is the vibrato. Set here the maximum width.

  • VELOCITY LPF
    • A gentle low-pass filter is controlled by MIDI velocity, in order to soften notes when playing softly.
      When set to zero, this feature is completely switched off.



About Wind Controllers

A wind controller is basically an electronic wind instrument, some of them can produce sound on their own, having a full synthesizer built-in, others just send MIDI messages to an external module. Some are shaped like a real-life wind instrument (a sax, a trumpet) while others are just interfaces for a more complex system, mostly referred to as "breath controllers", like the Yamaha® BC-3. It is an accessory which can be connected to master keyboards and/or synthesizers like the CME® UF or VX series MIDI controllers, or Yamaha Motif / S90 series, Yamaha DX7, AKAI EWI and a few other models. Using such device, you can control whatever aspect of the sound with your breath, for example you can control the cut-off frequency of a filter blowing into this appliance, and according to the synthesizer's parameters, you could brighten the sound when you blow hard and viceversa.
The principle of breath controllers is also used for entertaining disabled people, with a new kind of musical instrument called the Magic Flute.

Miles'tone uses physical modeling syntesis in order to give you the most expressive sound with the use of a wind controller. You can use one of the BC marked presets to use your own wind controller or you can simply choose the appropriate MIDI CC number to control the expressiveness of the instrument.
Last Update: June 26, 2007 - www.SoundFonts.it

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