Before I get into computer related items, I just have to mention some string instruments that peaked my curiosity. Made of carbon fiber and made by Luis & Clark (luisandclark.com), they offer a violin, viola and cello for very reasonable prices compared to wood instruments – as you know they can get very expensive. Luis Leguia designs the instruments and they are fabricated by a boat manufacturer in Rhode Island. They are endorsed by Yo Yo Ma among others, and I suspect we will see more manufactures getting into this new arena. I know there are also various violin and other string bows also made of carbon fiber. There are also drum sticks and I’ve also seen some new applications for acoustic guitar, so it appears that technology is making it’s mark on acoustic instruments as well.
On the computer front, I was recently looking through a catalog from Sweetwater Music, a leading mail order music retailer, and it is simply astounding to look at the pages upon pages of various software instruments that are now available. I have seen this market grow from the first few innovators in this field to the plethora of products available today. There are also many freeware and completely free instruments available online for those of you interested in playing around with some interesting sounds.
There are a number of virtual orchestras costing anywhere from a $200 to $12,000. At the top of the heap is the Vienna Instruments Orchestral Cube consisting of virtually every orchestral instrument, weighing in at a ridiculous 550 Gigabytes with over 800,000 individual samples for $12,000. It is a remarkable sounding library with an incredible list of articulations and control, but also requires some very serious computing power. At the low end is the Garritan Personal Orchestra for $200, which is amazing for it’s price.
As far as actual synthesizers go, there are virtual mockups of many famous analog synthesizers such as the groundbreaking MiniMoog and the Arp 2600. There are also various incarnations of the legendary B3 organ. And then there is the seemingly endless list of guitar, bass and drum simulators and all sorts of new and exciting synthesizers. There are also some very very good sampled pianos – Steinways, Yamahas and Bosendorfers are all available.
To use these various plug-in instruments you will need a host program. As is the case with all this software they vary widely in price and functions. The most popular PC programs are Cubase and Sonar – for the Mac it would be Apple’s Logic and Digital Performer. Some of these also contain very good notation modules and come in a few different versions depending on your needs and budget.
One of the newest musical items are USB microphones that plug directly into your USB port on your computer – avoiding the need for mic pre-amps – just plug ‘em in and start recording. So for all of those singers and instrumentalists out there it just became a lot easier to do some recording into your computer.
For those interested in looking at some of these products online let me suggest a few websites. Sweetwater.com (that I mentioned earlier), Zzounds.com, MusiciansFriend.com and GuitarCenter.com are some of the biggest. I also like AudioMidi.com which specializes in computer related products. If anyone has questions about this stuff please feel free to email me and I’ll try to help.