VSL Synchron Bells III

Synchron Bells III is a subset of the Synchron Percussion III Collection that includes cencerros, hand bells, rin bells, bell tree and jingle bells. What’s more, this collection also offers the unique Low Bells & Pianos ensemble setup as well as the High Bells ensemble of Big Bang Orchestra Fornax (Pitched Percussion Ensembles).

Solo Instruments

Cencerros or cowbells are (of course) mainly used in animal husbandry. The oldest proven use of such bells was dated to 5,000 years ago in China. Tuned sets of cowbells have been in use in orchestral music since the 20th century, e.g., in Richard Strauss' Alpine Symphony. Compared with other bells, cowbells have a rather short release.

Hand bells were originally intended and are still used today for signalling sounds. The first known uses took place over 3,000 years ago in China and India. Fine-tuned hand bells for playing melodies came up in England at the end of the 17th century.

Rin bells are sound bowls. The origin of this family of instruments lies in East Asia. Tuned sets of these sound bowls have only been in use since the 20th century. The set of rin bells sampled for this Collection has a very bright, bell-like sound with clear overtones. Its timbre is similar to that of crotales.

A bell tree consists of vertically nested, bright bells. It has been in use since the second half of the 20th century for creating bell-like glissando sounds.

Jingle bells (or sleigh bells) are traditionally attached to horse sleighs. In western orchestral music they can be found, e.g., in Leopold Mozart's "Musikalische Schlittenfahrt" (musical sleigh ride), Gustav Mahler's 4th symphony, and Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. Due to their history and their unique timbre, jingle bells are often associated with sleigh rides and Christmastime.

Ensembles

Synchron Bells III includes two very unique ensembles:

The Low Bells & Pianos ensemble features three grand pianos (Bösendorfer Imperial, Steinway D-274, Yamaha CFX), low plate bells, tubular bells, and Burma gongs, all performed and recorded at the same time to create epic, exceptional sounds.

The High Bells ensemble consists of three musicians playing high plate bells, tubular bells, and vibraphone, creating assertive, very colorful sounds.

12 Microphones

Every instrument was recorded using 12 microphones. You may select from four microphone positions (Standard Library) or seven different microphone positions (Full Library) and mix them to your liking, directly in the Vienna Synchron Player. Use the included and perfectly fine-tuned presets as a starting point for your own sonic creations. The performances in Stage A were captured in stereo using a Decca tree, and additional microphone arrays were utilized for 5.1 surround and Auro 3D 9.1.

Standard Library

• Close Mic – Mono
• Mid Layer Mic – Stereo (L/R)
• Main/Room Mic – Decca Tree Stereo (L/R)
• Main/Room Mic – Decca Tree Mono (Center)

Full Library

• Close Mic – Mono
• Mid Layer Mic – Stereo (L/R)
• Main/Room Mic – Decca Tree Stereo (L/R)
• Main/Room Mic – Decca Tree Mono (Center)
• Main Surround – Stereo (L/R)
• High Stereo (3D) – Stereo (L/R)
• High Surround (3D) – Stereo (L/R)

Articulations

Cencerros

• Played with hard and soft mallets, plastic beaters, rasping stick, and bowed
• Single notes ringing and stopped
• Rolls (mallets only)
• Rasping stick: fast and slow
• Bow: single notes

Hand bells

• Single hits open and muted
• Tremolo
• Shaken short and long
• Bowed

Rin bells

• Single hits open and muted
• Rolls static, dynamics 1/2/4 sec.
• Bowed

Bell tree

• Played with hard and soft beaters
• Up and down strokes, very slow with 2 sticks, slow, medium, fast, and very fast

Jingle bells

• Sleigh bells and mixed jingles
• Single shakes and rolls

Low bells and pianos

• Plate and tubular bells, burma gongs, and three grand pianos
• Single notes ringing and secco
• Rolls ringing and secco

High bells ensemble

• High plate and tubular bells, Vibraphone
• Single notes ringing and secco

Standard Library

Sample Amount: 29,904
Download File Size: 9.2 GB
Installed File Size: 24.4 GB

Full Library

Sample Amount: 49,404
Download File Size:  17.7 GB
Installed File Size:  45.3 GB