This is an approximate guide to deciphering the meaning of the numbers and letters used to create the model numbers used on Yamaha Trumpets
The Trumpet 3 (KONTAKT) EUR 159,- (+ VAT if applicable (see below)) The Trombone 3 (KONTAKT) EUR 159,- (+ VAT if applicable (see below)) French Horn & Tuba 3 (KONTAKT) EUR 159,- (+ VAT if applicable (see below)) Bundles. Several larger bundles offering substantial discounts are also available.
1st Number - Range or Grade
The pre-1982 range of Yamaha Trumpets with three digit model numbers appear to have been marketed as such:
1xx : Standard / College
2xx : Standard / College
3xx : Standard / College
6xx : Professional
7xx : Professional
9xx : Custom
Does anyone have any old brochures or marketing material from this time that they are willing to sent to me or share as a .pdf?
Post-1982 with the change to the 4 digit model numbers, the marketing material suggests the following.
T-xxx : T Series (Student?)
xxx-Q : Q-Class (2005 only, Student?)
xxx-AD : Advantage (Student?)
1xxx : Standard
2xxx : Standard
3xxx : Intermediate
4xx : Intermediate (Rotary only)
4xxx : Intermediate
5xxx : Allegro (introduced 2010 - , intermediate?)
6xx : Professional (Flugel range only)
6xxx : Professional
6xxxH : Professional Heavywieght (introduced 1987, replaced by Xeno Range)
6xxxH : Maestro Range (UK Brass Band marketing, now marketed as NEO range except cornets)
6xxx : Professional Signature Series (Bob Shew, etc...)
8xx : Custom (Unique Japan only medium bore range)
8xxxH : Pre-Xeno (Custom?) (Japan only) 1986-1990
8xxxUS : Xeno I (Japan only, 1990-1994)
8xxxUSII: Xeno II (Japan only, 1994-2001
8xxx : Xeno (international model, 2001-)
8xxxZ : Custom Z (Bobby Shew)
9xx : Custom (Rotary only)
9xxx : Xeno Artist Series (Chicago, New York etc. introduced 2005-)
9xxx : Custom
9xxx : Custom Artist (Allen Vizzutti, Bergeron, etc...)
As you can see there is quite a lot of varience in the way models are described, breaking away from the Range/Key/Bore/Model number structure.
2nd Number - Key or Pitch
I think this seems to be fairly well established, although the listed items in italics are more theoretical.
1 - Bb Bass (eg: YTR-916) (as only one set of custom made Bass Trumpets exist it is hard to say whether this was the intent of the the series number but it seems to make sense although doesn't fit into the 3 digit model numbers.)
2 - Eb Alto (no known Eb Alto trumpets exist but it would make sense that the number 2 was reserved for this pitch.)
3 - Bb (eg: YTR-6335)
4 - C (eg: YTR-8445)
5 - D (eg: YTR-651)
6 - Eb/D (eg: YTR-6610)
7 - G/F (eg: YTR-9710)
8 - Bb/A Piccolo (eg: YTR-6810)
9 - C Piccolo (eg: YTR-9910)
3rd Number - Bore Size
I think this was probably the intended system when the 4 digit model numbers were developed, but it just seems to dissappear in any organised form as more models have been introduced into the range. There simply isn't enough (appropriate) numbers to accomodate all the possible bores in a logical sequence. Also worth noting is the variance of measurements in the same bore sizes. I'd like to work out if this is a deliberate change of measurement made by Yamaha for speccific models or simply anj case of the original imperial measurements being changed to decimal and back again, each time changing slightly for the previous. Any thoughts or knowledge in this area? The measurements I have are as follows:
1 = Step Bore (YTR-6310Z)
2 = M (Medium) (YTR-6320)
3 = ML (Medium Large) (YTR-6335)
4 = L (Large) (eg: YTR-8445
But this doesn't have space for the S (Small) Bore or MS (Medium Small) bore, nor does it differentiate between same bore sizes, so I'll list the measurements in order and assume that the number system simply doesn't hold true anymore, other than maybe the 3 and 4 designation.
Step Bore
S = 10.50mm / xxx' (eg: YTR-6810)
MS = 11.00mm / 0.433' (eg: YFH-631)
M = 11.24mm / 0.442' (eg: YTR-946)
M = 11.25mm / 0.443' (eg: YTR-948FFMS)
M = 11.30mm / 0.445' (eg: YTR-6310)
ML = 11.65mm / 0.459' (eg: YTR-6335H)
ML = 11.68mm / xxx' (eg: YTR-4335G)
L = 11.73mm / 0.462' (eg: YCR-2310II)
L = 11.76mm / xxx' (eg: YTR-6340)
L = 11.90mm / 0.469' (eg: YCR-8335)
If anyone wants to supply me with the correct fractional imperial measurements it would be appreciated.
4th Number - Model, Version or Design Series
I'm assuming the 4th number was originally intended to designate the model or design within a particular set up. Ie: a 6335 and 6330B are both Proffesional Level, Bb, and ML bore, but the final number differentiates between the actual design of the trumpet. for example, one may or may not have a 2 piece bell vs a 1 piece bell, a gold brass vs yellow brass or even the same but with slightly different brace positions. I think that this system worked initially until model models and artists developed and this system simply ceased to work as intended. The addition of letters as described below has been introduced to help over come the limited combinations of numbers only. As far as I can tell there is no specific meaning to each number other than to differentiate one from others.
EDIT: I have realized that this description is not actually correct for the last number. It basically alternates between a '0' or a '5' (with a few exceptions). The '0' represents trumpets with a reverse construction leadpipe, and the '5' represents a standard construction leadpipe. Of course this doesn't hold true for the higher pitched trumpets with tuning bells and adjustable receivers etc.
Letters
The use of letters is inconsistent so needs to be looked at individually for each model really.
S = Silver Plate. The letter 'S' is used to denote Silver Plating. It is not used to denote a Small Bore even though the 'Custom' range of Bb and C trumpets from 1982-85 started including the bore size in the model number similar to Bach's (eg: YTR-9330ML). Additionally, note that 'S' is NOT used for ALL silver plated instruments though. It would appear that the 'S' is only used when a particular model is offered in both a lacquered version and silver plate version. If a model is only available in a silver plate configuration it would appear that the 'S' is not used, eg: YTR-9610. This is made more confusing as Yamaha themselves market some particular trumpets with an 'S' in their marketing material but not actually stamped on the same instument, eg: the Xeno Artist Series trumpets, only available in silver plate but marketed by Yamaha as YTR-8445CHS in all of their published material. When you look at the actual instruments, they are stamped as YTR-8445CH. I guess if you are looking at purchasing a Yamaha trumpet 2nd hand you must know what configurations it was originally offered in before knowing if a particular instrument has been modified or not. Also note that there is NO denotation for a lacquered instrument. I deperately need more close up photos of model number to actually confirm what is actually being done by Yamaha.
GP = Gold Plate. The letters 'GP' have been used for a very few select models offered with gold plating as the only available finish or as an option. It would appear that gold plating is available as an option from the factory through their Custom Workshop or Alteliers. Genrally, I believe that gold plating is applied over silver plating or nickel as it does not adhere to raw brass very well, and as such most gold plated Yamaha trumpets will have started life as a lacquered or silver plate version of the trumpet.
GL = Gold Lacquer. I have found one instance of this being used to denote a tinted Gold Lacquer in a range available with standard clear lacquer also. Not used anywhere else even when Gold Lacquer is used.
W = Raw Brass. The only instances of the letter W being used are on a particular range of rotary trumpets and flugel horns designed in conjunction with the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra, based on the Heckel model trumpets.
B = Black Lacquer. A few models have been released in 2010/11 as limited editions finished in Black coloured Lacquer. Used in the Yamaha saxophone range for a while but new to the trumpet range.
G = Gold Brass Bell. The letter 'G' is used to denote a bell made from Gold Brass. Again, it was originally only used when a model was available in two different versions, a Gold Brass belled version and a Yellow Brass version. If the model was only available with a gold brass bell it was not used. In more recent models it appears to be used even if the model is only available with a gold brass bell, I would presume as a marketing tool by Yamaha. In the earlier 3 digit models, it appears that there is the occasional use of rose brass, a higher copper content again, but ther is no letter used to indicate this. I have not found any material to classify the percentage of copper in each of the bell materials yet, in a fashion simialr to those used by Vincent Bach on each of the individual shop cards he kept for every single trumpet. Note that this does not have any bearing on the material used in the leadpipe.
R = Reverse Construction Leadpipe. Again, this letter is only used when a model is available with both a standard or a reverse construction leadpipe. It is not used when it is only available with one or the other. There is no letter used to denote the material used to construct the leadpipe.
T = Trigger. Used to denote a mechanical trigger for either the 1st valve slide or the 3rd valve slide. It is model dependent as to which slide it is. Again, only use where the trigger is an option within a particular model range, although i think there are instances where it is used just as a marketing tool on models where it is the oonly set-up.
DT = Double Trigger. Denotes a trigger on BOTH the 1st and 3rd valve slides. It appears this has only been used once on a 6000 series of cornets before the introduction of the Maestro and Xeno range. Whilst the later cornets are supplied with double triggers the 'DT' are not used.
RH = Ring and Hook. Only seen on the YCR-8335SRH, it is used to denote a 3rd valve slide fixed ring and 1st valve slide thumb hook (saddle). Different from the standard models supplied with both 1st and 3rd slide triggers.
H = Heavyweight. Denotes a heavyweight constructin of the overall trumpet. It appears the 'H' designation appeared in the mide 1980's in Japan and then became international with the introduction of the 'Heavyweight' 6000 range, and subsequent series II of the same range. Up until this point the Yamaha trumpet range was all medium to lightweight in a similar fashion to the Schilke range of instruments. Since the introduction of the heavyweight Xeno range the 'H' designation has ceased to be used. Note that there is no letter to denote Lightweight or Medium-weight.
II = 2nd Series. The 'II' indicates the 2nd development of the same model. One might descride it as an 'improved' version of the same model. It is sometimes hard to pin point what the actual change / improvement is. It might be anytrhing from a change in thickness of bell material, a change of brace design to the addition of a water key.
U = ???. The letter U appears on a select few of the Japanese only models of the Xeno I and Xeno II range before it was made internationally available. I have no idea what it actually indicates or means. 'Udon noodles?'
Virtual Orchestral Instruments
A European company's solo instruments blur the boundaries between virtual and real.
Most of Sample Modeling's solo instruments run on Kontakt 4 and up, and a free Kontakt player is included with each library. The user interface contains multiple pages showing the MIDI CC-controlled performance parameters.
Virtual instruments' have been with us since 1993, and the phrase is now applied routinely (and rather indiscriminately) to sample collections as well as individual software instruments. While samples can produce amazingly realistic results, they have marked limitations, succinctly described by Giorgio Tommasini and Peter Siedlaczek of European company Sample Modeling thus: 'Samplers, while preserving the basic timbre of the real instrument, result in a static sound, which cannot properly morph across dynamics, vibrato, portamento, and so on. This is particularly true for solo instruments. Synthesizers allow for greater expressiveness, but at the expense of the realism of sound.”
To tackle this issue, Tommasini and his colleagues developed proprietary techniques for replicating authentic instrumental timbre in real time. This led to a commercial partnership with orchestral sampling maestro Siedlaczek, and the subsequent release of a virtual instrument called 'The Trumpet' in 2008. (You can read the review at /sos/feb09/articles/samplemodellingtrumpet.htm — or I can sum it up for you in two words: stunningly realistic.) Since The Trumpet first sounded its clarion call, Sample Modeling have released a range of solo wind and brass instruments which aim to take the 'virtual' out of virtual reality. In this review, we'll cast an ear over them all.
The Trombone
The trombone has always been a tough nut to crack for samplists, not merely because of its ability to glide smoothly between pitches, but because its tone varies so dramatically at different dynamics. On most sampled specimens, you'll hear obvious tonal 'stepping' between the instrument's soft, quiet notes and its brassy, loud deliveries, and that can make programming a haphazard business. Happily, Sample Modeling's The Trombone virtual instrument circumvents this problem completely.
As with The Trumpet, dynamics are controlled by MIDI CC11 expression. On receiving this data, the sound opens up into the familiar warm, easy-going tone of the noble instrument amusingly described as 'a slide whistle with delusions of grandeur'. Push the pedal down, and you hear a loud, super-bright tone with an authentically 'splatty' attack; pull it back and the timbre subsides into ripe mellowness, with a correspondingly soft, tender embouchure. The fact that you can morph seamlessly between these two extremes on a sustained note in real time without a trace of 'stepping' or glitching is a testament to Tommasini's game-changing 'Harmonic Alignment' technology.
Vibrato of a truly lifelike variety may be added with the mod wheel; overdo it, and the vib turns into a leery big-band shake. Subtle portamento slides between overlapped notes occur naturally via the built-in legato and can extend with remarkable accuracy over large intervals. However, the trombone's trademark, semi-comic glissando slide (which in real life spans up to six semitones) is limited to three semitones, in order not to overload the CPU. (The processing involved in creating a realistic, tonally accurate slide, as opposed to the bogus effect of merely changing the sample's playback speed, is apparently intense.)
A gobsmacking variety of articulations can be instantly accessed by keyswitches: styles I particularly liked include a vibrato-on-release delivery (an elegant way of ending a note), velocity-controlled falls (the harder you hit the keyswitch, the faster the fall) and the iconic 'doit' (or 'upward fall') beloved of big-band jazz arrangers. In addition, there are excellent growl, flutter-tongue and wah effects and five kinds of mute, thereby covering trombone sound from the 1920s right up to the present day.
Despite its emphatically single name, The Trombone also features a second, warmer-toned tenor trombone based on the same sample set, a valve trombone of similar tone (but no slides), and — a very welcome addition — a big, fat, fruity bass trombone with a four-octave range and an insanely low bottom note of Bb-1.
The Sax Brothers
Is the saxophone an intrinsically masculine instrument? Barbara Thompson, Candy Dulfer and, er, Lisa Simpson would say not, but Wikipedia's list of 432 saxophonists includes only nine female players. Perhaps for this reason, Sample Modeling have christened their trio of solo saxophones (created by Stefano Lucato in collaboration with Messrs Tommasini and Siedlaczek) Mr Sax A, Mr Sax T and Mr Sax B. The abbreviations stand for alto, tenor and baritone, three instruments which, along with the trumpet and trombone, form the backbone of most jazz big-band arrangements.
An immediately striking feature of the tenor sax is the liquid quality of its melody lines: streams of notes flow in an unbroken continuum, rather than the series of bumpy, disjointed attacks we used to have to put up with. In contrast to the smooth legatos, the sharp snap of its staccato notes exactly replicates the real-life instrument's biting delivery. Add dynamics ranging from breathy, seductive murmurings to the raspy, angry tone that has enlivened countless soul and pop records, and you have a tremendously expressive 'virtual saxophone' at your fingertips.
The nominally female soprano sax is the first Sample Modeling instrument formatted for the SWAM sound engine. The player groups the most important controls on its main page, along with a bar-graph displaying incoming MIDI expression data and the current vibrato rate.When it comes to sultry melody lines, the alto sax is the equal of the tenor. I loved the way you can play ultra-real-sounding trills by holding down a note and rapidly reiterating another. This technique is also great for playing grace notes and Arabic melismas. As ever, the baritone sax works superbly for booting bass lines and punchy, honking rhythm stabs, but can also handle a reflective, after-midnight tune with distinction.
As with the trombone, the degree of control is astounding: you can use a CC command to vary the volume of the note-off key-clicks (their default level can be a little obtrusive), and even assign keyboard aftertouch to alter vibrato rate on the fly. If you find yourself thinking that these fine instruments would sound even better with a dash of reverb, a 'reverb set-up' multi introduces a concert-hall ambience; the effect is inserted on a Kontakt aux bus, making it easy to adjust the reverb level.
Ms Sax S
The SWAM engine's Options page opens a MIDI CC remapper and advanced parameter settings: paradise for tweakers!
After giving birth to three boys, Mrs Saxophone must have breathed a sigh of relief when baby daughter Soprano came along. Fondly christened Ms Sax S, this virtual instrument differs from its male siblings in more than one respect: she/it doesn't run on Kontakt, but on a proprietary sound engine named SWAM developed by Stefano Lucato and IT wiz Emanuele Parravicini.
My initial thought was that I needed a new sound engine like a hole in the head, but such reservations proved unjustified. Installation and online activation of SWAM and the library went without a hitch, leaving me looking at a posh new interface on which all controls are clearly labelled and largely self-explanatory. Musically, the soprano sax behaves more or less exactly like its brothers: the sound is mellow, full and clear, legato notes flow in an unbroken stream, and its lilting, lyrical vibrato and dynamic tonal changes are utterly convincing. A quick push on the expression pedal launches you into the soprano's naturally bright, loud deliveries, which are strong, soaring and penetrating without being shrill.
SWAM introduces a few technical refinements: the soprano loads with a nice, naturalistic room ambience in place, pitch-bend up and down amount can now be set independently on the GUI, and there's a cool master-tuning twin readout displaying both cents and Hz. Tweakheads will enjoy the stylish 'advanced parameters options' page, where you can do all sorts of subtle but musically effective stuff.
French Horn & Tuba
In the interests of completeness, Sample Modeling sent me a beta version of their new French Horn & Tuba package. Orchestral mock-up artists and media composers are going to love this: as with the other instruments, the horn's legato performances are first class, and it effortlessly tracks fast lines and 32nd-note runs. As well as being convincingly 'joined up' as a phrase, these fast notes also maintain a subtly distinct attack and sound amazingly like a real player.
Vibrato and shakes are available for using the horn in a jazz context, and its fast, smooth legato is ideal for nimble, flugelhorn-like improvising. Articulations such as sforzato attacks, short crescendo attacks, falls and doits can be triggered by keyswitches, and there's even a microtuning system for creating user-defined, non-Western scales. For more traditional orchestral work, the instrument's large dynamic range is faithfully represented, all the way from a softly-played, warm, velvety hum up to a brassy blare. My only criticism is that the tone of its ff deliveries is arguably a little thin in the uppermost, Eb4 to G4 range.
I have never tried to play a tuba, fearing that if I did the results would be catastrophic (both musically and physically). Happily, using Sample Modeling's instrument I can now perform the manically fast, staccato tuba part from the Third Movement of John Williams' Concerto for Tuba and Orchestra without danger of hospitalisation. The difficult-to-play pedal notes of the tuba are steady and strong down to the bottom C0, and you can perform graceful, languorous keyed portamento slides simply by overlapping two notes.
The French Horn & Tuba package includes five solo instruments: French horn, three alternative horns with slightly different timbres, and the above-mentioned bass tuba. A 'Unison Horns' multi loads all four horns along with a convolution reverb. Though the reverb isn't the classiest I've heard (no biggie — you can always turn it off and add your own), the four-horn unisons sound very strong indeed.
Conclusion
I'm glad to see that the enormous potential evident in The Trumpet four years ago has been developed and expanded by the Sample Modeling team. Their superbly realistic solo wind and brass instruments deserve to take their place in the premier league of orchestral sampling, and have closed the ever-narrowing gap between virtual and real. Perhaps the best news is that a new line of products based on the SWAM engine is planned in response to customers' requests for 'an entire Sample Modeling orchestra'. Sounds good to me, and I look forward to hearing what this technology can do when applied to orchestral solo woodwinds!
Alternatives
As their name suggests, Sample Modeling create their ultra-realistic wind and brass instruments with a unique, proprietary combination of sampling and adaptive sound-modelling. No other company does it the same way, but judging by the online demos, similar musical results may be obtained from Wallander Instruments' entirely modelled solo instruments. The tried-and-tested Vienna Symphonic Library's sample-based solo wind and brass download instruments are also highly playable, if a little more pricey.
System Requirements
With the exception of Ms Sax S, Sample Modeling's solo wind and brass instruments run on the Kontakt 4 Player (supplied with the library) and also on the full version of Kontakt 4 and upwards. Kontakt runs stand-alone and as a plug-in on PC and Mac machines. The SWAM sound engine used for the soprano sax runs as a VST or AU plug-in on PC (Windows 7 or XP, 32/64 bit) and Intel Mac (OS 10.5 or higher). It will work in Cubase, Logic, Garage Band, and so on, but a VST host is required to run it outside a sequencer. (The makers recommend the free SaviHost.) Apart from the 720MB trombone, the instruments' samples require less than 500MB of free disk space each.
The makers report good results using an IntelCore2 Quad Q9400 2.66GHz PC with 3GB RAM and a Mac Pro quad-core 3GHz machine with 8GB of RAM. More modest setups (such as a modern PC or Mac with at least 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo CPU) will also work, although you may have to increase buffer sizes and bounce to audio as you go along. A five‑octave MIDI keyboard with pitch and mod wheels, and an expression pedal (or breath controller), or a wind controller is required for real time playing.
Pros
- Staggeringly accurate and lifelike emulations of solo wind and brass instruments.
- All instruments offer a huge degree of control over performance nuances.
Cons
- Strictly monophonic — just like the real thing!
Summary
If realism is your Holy Grail, you should give serious consideration to Sample Modeling's solo wind and brass range. A combination of fiendishly clever adaptive modelling and a keen musical sensibility has made these instruments supremely lifelike and playable. Simply put, they sound real, and with a bit of practice they will deliver highly expressive and emotive real-time performances.
information
The Trombone, Mr Sax A, Mr Sax B, French Horn & Tuba, £153.53 each; Mr Sax T, Ms Sax S, £124.97 each; The Sax Brothers (Tenor, Alto & Baritone sax) £241.59. Prices include VAT.
The Trombone, Mr Sax A, Mr Sax B, French Horn & Tuba €149; Mr Sax T, Ms Sax S €119; The Sax Brothers (Tenor, Alto & Baritone sax) €239.