B3 Emulator for VST 2.0 Announced

(Click for a close-up)

Native Instruments unveiled their latest product for the virtual studio at the international music show in Frankfurt (Germany). The B4 is a VST-based tonewheel organ combo, completely capturing the sound of the classic B3 organ and rotating speaker.

As with the successful Pro-Five VST virtual analog synthesizer, the Native Instruments B4 takes the popular tonewheel organ into new territory. Added flexibility in sound generation and seamless integration into the recording environment make this possibly the best organ since the original.

The Native Instruments Synthesis Research Lab carried out a painstaking analysis of the electro-mechanical sound generation and tube circuitry of the best organ and speaker cabinet combinations. The resulting software model, based on the same NSP-technology as NI's award-winning Reaktor modular system, produces sound virtually indistinguishable from the original hardware. The flexibility of advanced software modeling makes possible a new degree of realism. Unlike a sample-based instrument, the NI B4 accurately models such subtle details as harmonic foldback, drawbar crosstalk and loudness robbing. The result is a warm and powerful sound over the entire range of the keyboard, complete with the subtle tonal shades that improve both playability and musicality.

The B4 is capable of all the variations one expects from this type of organ, and is suitable for any flavor of music, be it Rock, Jazz, Trip Hop or House. A "rear panel" gives access to numerous adjustment parameters, which allow the sound to be tailored for particular applications.

Features:

• 91 tonewheels
• 9 drawbars per manual
• 2 manuals and pedal keyboard
• scanner vibrato/chorus
• percussion on any harmonic
• keyclick (adjustable)
• tube distortion sound
• rotary speaker
• many parameters for fine tuning the sound

For use with any VST 2.0 compatible sequencer on Macintosh or Windows.

With an attractive and easy-to-use graphical user interface, this promises to be another must-have for anybody producing music on the computer. Tonewheels have never been this portable or this affordable.