This year's Summer NAMM seemed a little light, shall we say, on new material to cover. There were few grand premieres like we often see at Musikmesse or Winter NAMM. Instead, we often see products that we looked at not that long ago back in March. However, Rob and I did stumble upon Audio Impressions' DVZ Realtime Instruments: Strings, and were both blown away.

As someone who writes scores for short films and documentary projects, I often find myself struggling to harness an organic performance out of the software at hand. Right now, I run the Sonar Production bundle with a multitude of samplers containing hi-quality string samples. Of course, for each violin, viola, and cello, there has to be a new track. DVZ allows you to forego all of that, and looks at MIDI orchestration from a composer's point of view.

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Realtime Strings provides the composer with 18 Violins I, 16 Violins II, 14 Violas, 12 Celli and 10 Basses, like you would have in a standard orchestra. The software can run on one computer, but to really harness the realtime power, it is usually best to order the three computer turn-key system. This is not for the amateur, hobbyist, or even normal computer musician. The software was designed for hardcore professional composers who don't have time to build their own production computer.

The way you create your string sections is the same way in which you would audition chairs in an orchestra. The violins, violas, celli, and basses can all be arranged in the order you like, and labeled accordingly. Individual nuances can be applied to how each instrument is played. You can sync patterns to your sequencer clock , and automatically play Normale, Tremolando, Harmonics, Col Legno, Pizzicato, Bartók Pizz, and Trills. Simply the fact that you can create sync-able patterns is a lifesaver in and of itself. Automatic effects can also be applied to your strings, including Con Sordino, Sul Tasto, Sul Ponticello and automatic bowing or forced heel/mid/tip bow selections.

The key to this software is in the way it combines composer-friendly layout with ease of creation. Changing the position of the bow in relation to the bridge on a violin can be done in a simple click. Instead of having to wrestle with sequencers, separate vsts, and the normal sync problems that come along with DAWs, you can now create lush orchestral sounds-capes by playing a simple melody on a keyboard. The Audio Impressions' DVZ Realtime Strings was hands-down the most impressive thing I saw at NAMM this Summer, and I cannot wait to see what they do with brass.