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.

Rob's Best Of Summer NAMM: Audio Impressions DVZ Realtime Instruments

July 31, 2007

For some reason, Summer NAMM seems to have picked up a reputation as a snoozer show with not much going for it. This is not a fair impression, but it lingers, accurate or not. Summer NAMM itself as a trade event did its job and did it well. The problem in evaluating Summer NAMM is Winter NAMM -- Summer NAMM's bigger, louder, more boisterous brother. Compare any musical instrument trade show to that monstrous double-barreled extravaganza in Anaheim and you are bound to come up "lacking" in a few departments.

For one, I found the reduced pace at Summer NAMM to be more enjoyable than the enormous circus that is Winter NAMM. There just seemed to be more oxygen in the room: there was certainly less noise. And you can't have any semi-annual show in any high-technology industry without serious developments to report.

For my money, the best stuff at Summer NAMM were no less eye-popping than those at the Winter behemoth. If I had to point at one single standout, it would have to be...

Somehow, we bypassed this powerhouse of orchestral majesty at the Winter show. Bill Holland and I stood agape as composer Chris Stone put this standalone, works-best-with-OEM'd-rack-PC orchestral tool through its amazing paces. You never get a second chance to make a first impression, and the Audio Impressions user interface made the best of its opportunity to amaze.

One look at how the screen real estate is parceled up and you know that musicians -- composers, conductors, arrangers - not software developers -- made all the decisions about what nav and UI objects were available and what the readouts were. No software developer would make the decisions these guys made, and users can dance a jig of joy at the result.

Section seats are displayed in a normal, real-world manner relying on visual duplication of instrument icons. One of the best and best-integrated features was the space technology feature - allowing you to pick up the virtual orchestra players and arrange them around virtual microphone pickup points. Beyond cool! Using this feature, one may convincingly simulate any seating and microphone arrangement.

The product continues to amaze with its divisi features (the thing is named DVZ after all, divisi, DVZ, get it?). The term, which in orchestration means to "divide" the ranges of notes on the score and assign those ranges to specific seats in the orchestra. The flexibility means such a huge payoff in terms of timbre and color available.

And the sample set underneath results in a brilliant and full orchestral output, balanced with the fine precision afforded by the many playback features. DVZ not only makes a distinction between pizzicato notes and "Bartok pizzicato" notes, it has a sound engine hardcore enough to make the difference glaringly obvious, natural and colorful. Viva DVZ

Read Gearwire's story on Realtime Instruments.

Many thanks to Rob Warmowski @ Gearwire.com