Is Bohemian Clarinet the Best Sampled Woodwind Ever? – Sounds and Presets
Bohemian Clarinet joins Virharmonic’s Bohemian string range, but does it deliver the same level and depth of feeling and expression as its bowed brethren?
Bohemian Clarinet and More…
Bohemian Clarinet by Virharmonic
I often lament the missed opportunities of physical modelling synthesis in the 90s. Whilst it certainly has come on leaps and bounds in recent years, the promise it delivered 30+ years ago was extinguished by its cost and scope relative to samples which, at that time, were really coming into their own.
And when companies like Virharmonic continue to produce libraries of the quality exhibited here, in the new Bohemian Clarinet instrument, physical modelling can continue to take a back seat, put its feet up and light a cigarette, because this new sample-based addition is simply stunning.
Virharmonic’s Bohemian range of instruments started out life as a UVI-compatible library that could be used with the UVI Workstation or UVI’s Falcon instrument. However, some while ago, they moved to their own player, based on the Gorilla Engine, and so, refreshingly, Bohemian Clarinet isn’t tied to any of the major sample instrument brands.
The beauty of the Bohemian range is in the so-called ‘Virtual Performer’. The incredibly clever scripting uses one of five moods, namely Improv, Emotive, Assertive, Classical and Sprightly. Based on the player’s choice, the scripting in Bohemian Clarinet then anticipates and predicts the articulations based on all the data being input by the player in their performance.
No key-switching is required in Bohemian Clarinet to move between articulations as it auto-selects breath types, legatos and other expressive elements based on the player’s style of play. The player simply focuses on playing the notes, and the Virtual Performer delivers the right articulation. The only key-switching necessary is when the player wants to switch moods.
There are numerous articulations within Bohemian Clarinet, each deeply sampled with multiple round-robins, dynamics and breath control. There’s also a Performer Mode that allows you to switch between solo, second, trio, chamber divisi trio and divisi chamber styles.
I’ve been using the Bohemian Violin for some time, and I’ve played it to people who found it incredibly hard to believe it was just me, playing a regular keyboard. Bohemian Clarinet is equally impressive and is due for release on June 26th. You can pre-order it now for the reduced price of £105, down from the full price of £176. There is extra loyalty discount for existing Virharmonic customers.
Galaxy Wave Vol.1 for Kodamo MASK1 EX Mk.2 by Cutting Edge
I don’t think the very small team at Kodamo realised what a hit they had on their hands with the first desktop version of their innovative MASK1 synthesizer. It sold out in less than a day, quite literally overnight, and left a lot of people very disappointed that they couldn’t grab one.
Rather sensibly, Kodamo immediately decided to address this but rather than churn out another batch of these limited edition units, they took a different approach and came up with a Mk.2 version that made some small improvements whilst remaining 100% compatible with both its predecessors.
One very refreshing thing about the Kodamo user community is its propensity to come up with new soundbanks and share them among users for free. One such user is Ludovic Ferrando, aka Cutting Edge, who has delivered another bank of sounds called ‘Galaxy Wave’.
It’s a small, but perfectly formed bank of sounds with 110 patches making use of the multitimbral capabilities of the MASK1, with each patch featuring two layers. Ludovic points out that the patches will work “out-of-the-box” with the MASK1 EX Mk.2, but you may need to move and install some layers manually on the other versions of the MASK1.
Check out the video description for the download link!
Various Free Banks for Various Synths by Synthoxicated Pafreak
I’ve mentioned the uniquely named Synthoxicated Pafreak in this column before, and here I am again because in recent weeks, they have released 48 new sounds for the PolyBrute 12. However, I wanted to draw your attention to his YouTube channel, which contains numerous demo videos of various synths, with most of them demonstrating his patches.
And those patches are both excellent and free! Yes, free as in gratis! And, of course, we all love free sounds for our synths, so I’m spreading the love with this one! The PolyBrute 12 sounds are excellent, as are some relatively new sounds for NI’s Massive and the fantastic Moog Muse!
There are also sounds for the Moog One, KORG Wavestation, Roland JD-800, Modal’s COBALT8 and the Oberheim OB-X8. The reason I ventured to their page this time was to hoover up their sounds for my ‘new-to-me’ Yamaha SY99!
So head on over to Synthoxicated Pafreak’s YouTube page, check out the excellent demos and grab yourself some excellent and free sounds! You won’t be disappointed!
Specter Scape for KORG wavestate by A.Kav
A.Kav has been very busy, it seems, as I find myself mentioning their work a lot in this column recently. And here they are again with a new bank for KORG’s marvellous wavestate, their modern-day take on the legendary Wavestation of the early 1990s.
Specter Scape, so I am told, is a collection of ambient soundscapes best suited to cinematic, ambient, electronic and experimental music production, and listening to the demo, they’re not wrong! This is a collection of slowly evolving, sometimes mildly rhythmic and ethereal pads and drones.
The pack contains 40 Performances, 90 Programs and requires no additional multisamples as it makes use of the factory voices and wavetables. It will work on all versions of the wavestate, be it the Mk.1, Mk. 2, SE, Module or the wavestate native plugin.
You can grab Specter Scape for a mere €15 from A.Kav’s online store now!
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