Hello Mirabileand Michael,
I try to share my workaround for this issue.
First, it's important that you have individual control of all horn voices.
So if you are writing a piece with four solohorns using the sustains for example you should use four different miditracks.
Here you have the option to set different volume curves to each instrument, further you have the option to setup generell pannings and you could also add a modwheel controlled filter to give each horntrack individual expression.
This trick works really great, here is the workflow how you can apply a filter:
Applying a modwheel controlled lowpass flter,
easiest way is to use the filter setting which is already applied for example on the Horn_perf-leg instrument.
Load 20 HO_PERF-LEGATO.gig into the editor.
Select the "HO_perf-leg_f+filter" instrument (Bank 1) in the instrument list (top-left)
Than select the filter menu on the bottem right of the editor.
Each samples in this instrument has the same filter settings, so it doesn't matter which sample is selected.
You see, there is a Lowpass filter controlled by modwheel activated.
Save this filter settings with the Macro tool (below of these setting box)
Click on save, type a custome name in the "save as" field, and check that only the Filter settings are activated!
Click on save in this box.
Now you can load, the "LONG NOTE" gigfile of the solohorn into the editor, select the instrument, where you want to add this filter, propably the sustains with release samples.
Select all regions (they should be highlighted yellow), and select all dimensions with the "select lock" box (under the velocity window). All fields in the select lock box should be red.
Now you can apply all samples of this instrument the filter settings, using again the macro tool. This time you click on "apply" and if there are more macros already stored, you have to select the right one.
Voila, now you have to save the instrument.
This filter settings should work with most of all brass instruments.
With this filter control you can achieve now for each horn an individual timbre.
The next step is mixing related.
The problem is: If you don't alter the panning between the horns, and you don't make different (small) hall settings, you have the result, that you hear four different horns standing exactly at the same position in the concert hall. That's why an hornensemble always sound more attractive in the first moment, it has stereo wideness, and the players have individual alterations.
Another complete different aspect is, that the typical sustains of a sample library are very rare played in real live performances. There are always dynamic progressions, and solohorn is very sensible regarding this.
With volume fades and filter modulations you can go very far, but you should also try, if any of the dynamic samples are working for you.
Especially if you write sustained chords, it could help a lot, that, for example, two of the horns are programmed with sustains, and the other two with dynamic samples.
Hope this helps a little.
By the way, the blue danube introduction is programmed with four solohorns.
best wishes
Herb