Hello Ray,
recording an instrument or an ensemble takes a minimum of 1 year. Thousands of samples are recorded in long sessions, every week, throughout the whole range. I know that´s easy to forget, but a Performance Legato patch has around 1.000 samples average available in the background.And the goal is that each sample fits perfectly to every other. You have to be able to switch from one articulations to another anytime.
That´s totally different from a score, where the brass players have to hit high notes ONCE, plus being "covered" by the rest of the orchestra.
Now, each sample is recorded several times, and we are picking only the best samples. All samples are also recorded at peak level, even the pianissimo ones - you hear much more than you would hear from any real life performance, both in our recording suite and our editing suites.
Michael Hula has been directing these performances for 10 years now. With hundreds of musicians. You wouldn´t believe how tough this work is, for both the musicians and the musical director, to get ultimate results. If you have the time, come and visit. You´ll understand after 1 hour what this is all about, especially when the high ranges are recorded. These musicians are heroes, seriously! And Michael knows very well where to set the limits to be able to finish these recordings.
Best,
Paul