Synful Orchestra for PC Released

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Synful has released a new VST/DXi Virtual instrument for Windows, Synful Orchestra, based on the company's Reconstructive Phrase Modeling (RPM) technology. Synful Orchestra is not a sampler or a sample library.

According to Synful CEO, Eric Lindemann, Synful Orchestra and RPM are the result of eight years of intensive research. "We have long felt the need for a new technology to model expressive instruments such as strings and winds," said Lindemann. "Sampling is just too stiff. You can't play an expressive violin phrase on a sampler, no matter how good the sample library is".

Models Natural Instrumental Phrasing -- Real instruments have many ways of moving from note to note: slurs with varying amounts of portamento, lightly tongued or bowed note transitions, fast runs, detached hard attacks, etc. These note transitions are the connective tissue of musical expression. Synful Orchestra models these transitions. Synful Orchestra models the way notes are sustained, the graceful onset of vibrato, breath sounds, the sound of the bow on the string, the change of tone color as a note becomes louder or softer.

RPM Phrase Database -- In Synful Orchestra the RPM Phrase Database is stored in memory and contains musical phrases for each instrument. These are not recordings of isolated notes but complete musical passages that represent all kinds of articulation and phrasing.

Searching and Splicing -- When Synful Orchestra receives MIDI input it looks at the pitch, velocity, amount of separation or overlap between notes, note duration, volume, pitch wheel, and mod wheel to determine what kind of phrase is being played. Synful Orchestra searches the RPM Phrase Database for fragments that can be spliced together to form this phrase. These fragments represent transitions between notes, slurs with portamento, lightly tongued transitions, aggressive fast bowing, rapid runs, long sustain regions with graceful vibrato, and noise elements like flute chiffs and bow scratches. Synful Orchestra stretches and shifts these fragments in time and pitch so that they combine to form the final output.

Synful RPM Additive Synthesis -- A single note in Synful Orchestra may be built from three or more rapidly spliced phrase fragments. Splicing ordinary PCM sampled sounds in this way would create unacceptable warbles and clicks. Synful Orchestra uses a patented form of additive synthesis in which sounds are generated from combinations of pure sine waves and noise elements. This gives Synful Orchestra the ability to rapidly stretch, shift, and splice phrase fragments while preserving phrase continuity. While additive synthesis can be computationally intensive, RPM allow Synful Orchestra to generate 100 to160 voices in real-time on a 1.5 GHz Pentium IV.

Audio examples of Synful Orchestra can be found on Synful's website. Suggested Retail Price: $479.00