• Synchron Stage Vienna’s famous low brass section

• Ensemble of four bass trombones, one bass tuba, one contrabass tuba

• Half-tone clusters in a wide variety of articulations

• Extra fortississimo layers for an extremely brassy and dramatic sound

• Multiple microphone positions, additional close mic positions

• From ominous pianissimos to breathtaking fortississimos

Dramatic Dissonance

Clusters have become a fixture in modern film scores. Especially low brass instruments are frequently deployed to create this sonic effect, so we decided to dedicate an entire volume of our Big Bang Orchestra series to exploring this technique.

BBO: Izar includes all of the articulations of the Low Brass prequel Hercules, sans legatos, played as clusters. You get short notes, marcatos, several dynamic articulations (sfz, sffz, various crescendos and decrescendos), flutter tonguing, trills, glissandos and fast repetitions, all played as half-tone clusters consisting of three adjacent semitones. It’s easy to figure out which notes you hear when you press a key: The played note is at the center of three clustered notes, with one a semitone higher and the third a semitone lower.