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Sample Modeling have released their clarinets bundle, covering standard Bb Soprano and Bb Bass models and inclusive of features that allow emulation of Turkish and other non-western playing styles:

http://www.samplemodeling.com/en/products_clarinets.php

I am still at work so haven't heard the audio samples yet, but as a clarinetist who doesn't find Turkish clarinet comfortable to play due to the stretched-out fingering and my rather short stubby fingers, I am most excited about that feature.

OTOH I don't like mixing real instruments with VI's as it makes the VI's stand out as artificial, so I may start using this on my Broadway/Big Band/Jazz recordings when mixing with Sample Modeling's saxes and brass, vs. using Vienna Symphonic Library (which has excellent clarinets).

There is no mention of whether they plan to add the Sopranino Eb Clarinet or any other models later on.

I re-rendered all of my Klezmer, Jazz, Broadway, and Big Band clarinet and bass clarinet tracks last night using this new library.

I had to use DP's tools to convert mono-pressure to CC21 (for Growl), and then change the CC values by 50% followed by 75% to get a more musical range. I couldn't find any better parameters to map the mono-pressure to.

It's clear I'll need to re-record all the parts though, as Note On Velocity doesn't affect dynamics; just the note attack itself. So all the notes are at the same volume. I think this might be the case with the Sax Brothers and Ms. S as well, but it's been awhile since I've done anything new with those libraries.

I don't recall the brass libraries behaving that way, but each Sample Modeling library has its own unique conventions. I like that though as the instruments being modeled are different and should be played differently.

I'm going to use my Yamaha WX5 wind controller to redo these parts, before making a final evaluation. In the Jazz and Big band context, I definitely feel the timbre and nuances articulations of the Sample Modeling clarinets works better with the other Sample Modeling instruments than VSL, in spite of VSL's clarinets being VERY good and one of the highlights of their library.

I didn't even bother with Orchestral or Bandstand projects as my past experiments with Sample Modeling libraries have shown me that I prefer the VSL timbre, even if it takes more work to get the articulations.

For Klezmer, the VSL Clarinet is great using Marcato as the main articulation, but I suspect Sample Modeling will be preferable once I re-record with dynamic variation using a wind controller.

In terms of Broadway settings, I am torn at the moment, as those tend to sit between Orchestral and Big Band in terms of musical sensibilities and playing styles. I am leaning towards retaining VSL for those Clarinet parts, but again, won't know until re-recording from scratch with my wind controller.

Word up on the Bass Clarinet: the presets are labeled Clarinet, but the Bass Clarinet patches are the ones actually getting loaded. I think it was a compromise made for GUI layout constraints and keeping the labels short. This instrument really gets into Bernie Maupin territory!

Wind controllers really are the sweet spot for all the SM libraries.

Well, I found my wind controller this morning and set it aside for later this week (I moved recently, and some of my stuff got buried after we took on a third person). I wasn't interested in redoing these tracks with keyboards. Some people are getting very good results that way though.

In case people didn't notice it from the blurb, there are three clarinets in each library, with two variations. The first two are warm/bright choices and the third is warm/smooth. So far I am ONLY liking the warm and smooth choices, but the bright ones might come into play. I like that each one is slightly different; just like the trumpets library. This helps to build sections.

Mark, this exciting news - sorry about the tepid response, we're all arguing about DP8...

There's a hint that oboes are up next...

I was going to get back to this last night, but lost three hours in MIDI snafuland (I posted a problem report but then deleted it when I concluded the actual problem was NOT the recent MusicLab RealGuitar update -- which also installs a four-port virtual MIDI driver for game consoles such as Guitar Hero -- but rather a MIDI cable that must have gone faulty during my recent move).

There isn't much discussion on vi-control.net or Sample Modeling's own forum yet, about best practices for this library, but people are definitely commenting on how the ways they use the other libraries are not carrying over to this one. Everyone seems confused about the decisions regarding note velocity and expression. I want to see how it behaves with the WX5 though, before I spend any time finessing its use with keyboard controllers.

I'm waiting for contrabass clarinet.

The really low, growly, sinister instrument.

One of my favorite sonic textures in the world.

- c

Believe it or not, I've never played one. Even while in music school! It seemed a distraction from my intense focus on orchestral clarinet, and at that age I was even too naive to understand the importance of learning bass clarinet (also is less important, but bassett horn gets used in Mahler and I think Bruckner). I had aimed to get an "A" clarinet as that was the main focus at the time vs. Bb, but times change and Bb seems more common today for some reason.

While I was in music school, everyone pitied the person who got saddled with the contrabass job. Sometimes it was a result of disciplinary action, but I remember well the guy who played it in my main ensemble and he chose it consciously, for tactical reasons regarding his degree.