「今まで聞いたブラス・サンプルの中でも、もっとも納得のゆく一枚。トランペット、フルート、フリューゲル・ホルン、トロンボーン、そしてアルト／テノール／バリトン・サックスなどがライン・アップされており、これら楽器を色々に組み合わせたリフもたくさん入っている。とにかくコンテンポラリーなブラス・セクションが幅広く収められ、当然その使い用途も自然と広がってくる。タワー・オブ・パワー風、ジェームス・ブラウン風、アース・ウィンド＆ファイヤー風、ロックンロール、レゲエという５つをメイン・スタイルとしているあたりも、ブラスの構成としては妥当と言えよう。．．．このように、様々な種類のリフやフレーズがたっぷりと入っている。全くのお値打ち品！」 "If the demo on this CD is anything to go by, we're in for a treat. Phantom Horns is jam-packed with brass riffs, hits, tails, swells and multi samples. All the brass parts contained in the demo track are sampled from the CD, then sequenced against the rhythm bed; to my ears, this represents some of the most convincing use of brass samples I have yet heard. The Phantom Horns line-up consists of trumpet, flute, flugelhorn and trombone, as well as alto, tenor, and baritone saxes. The riffs are all performed by various combinations of these instruments, and this CD provides an in-depth study of the range and versatility of the contemporary brass section. Format is fairly logical, with five main stylistic sections, namely; Tower of Power, James Brown style, Earth Wind and Fire, Rock 'n' Roll, and Reggae. Each section comprises a vast number of short brass riffs and phrases, played at two different tempos and in four different key signatures. Each phrase is recorded four times, once in each key, and always at intervals a fourth apart. This gives you maximum flexibility when putting a track together, and also encourages you to explore some of the more unusual ranges for the instruments within the brass section. The next section of the CD is given over to multisamples of the solo brass instruments themselves; tenor sax, baritone sax, trumpet and, finally, the full horn section. Each one gives you loads of options for creating an accurate representation of the instrument, by sampling a wide variety of single notes over nearly three octaves. There are easily loopable long notes, swells slides, short and long falls, as well as crotchets, quavers, and semi-quaver short notes. As a bonus, a few minutes of excellent solo improvisation on flute, trumpet and sax are provided right at the end of the CD - I can envisage these cropping up in middle -eights all over the country within a matter of weeks. My only real complaint about this release is that in a couple of places I notice a little background hiss (despite the digital recording); this is especially noticeable on some of the otherwise excellent Reggae riffs. I think that the producers are aware of this, as nearly all of the phrases are edited (or possibly gated) quite close to the end of the note, leaving hardly any of the original ambience. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as it does leave you plenty of room for your own effects in a mix. Conclusion: Phantom Horns is great value for money - the sheer number and variety of usable riffs and phrases must be applauded. For those of you who like to combine accountancy with music production, you may also like to consider that even if you leave all the terrific solo instruments and brass section multisamples aside, Phantom Horns still works out at about 50p per riff - not something to be sniffed (or indeed, blown) at."