EXS 24 Logic Sampler Users Group

16 different velocities?
this is impossible. i've a wurlitzer in front of me.
how did you? with a kind of robots?



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Thomas Hansen Skarbye" <thomas@...>
To: <exs-users@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2003 10:02 AM
Subject: [EXS] Scarbee W.E.P. is released!


Scarbee is proud to present the Scarbee W.E.P., the most accurately 
sampled Wurlitzer electric piano on planet earth!

The Scarbee W.E.P is a faithful reproduction of the classic 
Wurlitzer 200A Electric Piano, recreating not only its signature 
sound but also the unique dynamic response of the original 
instrument, hereby continuing the new Vintage Keyboard product line 
commenced with the recent release of the Scarbee R.S.P. '73 (the 
Rhodes Stage Piano MK 1 - 73)


Although the EP200A is a small piano, the project undertaken to 
reproduce it in software has been huge. Prior to the commencement of 
two months of recordings, a painstaking process of restoration 
lasting six months was undertaken. This involved a range of measures 
aimed at creating a `super' Wurlitzer piano which has perhaps the 
highest signal to noise ratio of any yet produced. Sources of noise 
and distortion, such as the power transformer, were made external to 
the piano and audio-critical components were updated with higher 
quality versions wherever possible.


The Scarbee W.E.P. was recorded at 24 bit resolution through a 
Mindprint En-Voice preamp (without any use of EQ, tube saturation or 
compression), and then digitally transferred to a Nuendo AudioLink 
96 audio card.

How much detail is there in the instrument?
In order to accurately reproduce the original EP200A's dynamics, 
both the sustained and release sounds of each of the 64 keys of the 
Wurlitzer has been sampled at 16 different velocities - resulting in 
a total pool of over 2000 24 bit wav files.

All samples are full length and unlooped. Just as we did with the 
Rhodes, release samples were recorded for each key. Not just one 
release sample per key, but one release sample to correspond with 
each sustain sample ( except those for the top 5 keys which have no 
damper, causing the keys to ring out to their end ). The release 
tone - the sound created when a damper bounces against the reed as a 
key is released, is an intrinsic element of what musicians recognise 
as the original `Wurlitzer Sound'.

During test recordings Thomas Hansen Skarbye determined that the 
dynamic response of the Wurlitzer was quite different to that of the 
Rhodes. The EP200A exhibits a high degree of `characterful' timbral 
variation in the forte area of its dynamics. Unlike the Rhodes, the 
Wurlitzer piano's action is very light, making it easy for a 
keyboardist to play continuously in this range of the piano's 
timbre. In order to capture such a defining element of the piano's 
personality, Thomas decided to increase the size of the Wurlitzer 
sampling project by 30%, with additional focus on the forte range of 
the instrument. Once this was accomplished, a proprietary system was 
employed to ensure that the sampler's response to velocity variation 
was identical to the original Wurlitzer's keyboard action.

To accommodate systems with RAM limitations, several `Lite' versions 
of the piano are included. Lite versions contain the samples of the 
white keys, which are stretched down a semitone to cover adjacent 
black keys. (3 black keys were kept as they were the last of a reed 
type). Lite versions come in: white keys only 16, 12, 8 and 4 
velocity layer flavours.

Why did we go to this much trouble?
Technology is moving at an increasing pace, with music companies 
releasing new (almost disposable) instruments every day, but still 
many of us find ourselves looking to the past for sounds which truly 
inspire us. Organic tones with inconsistencies and chameleon-like 
character flaws which are very difficult to programme into 
predictable digital instruments. However, the Wurlitzer is electro-
mechanical and infamously difficult to maintain. The light action 
often results in the piano being played quite hard, which leads to 
cracked reeds, electrical short circuits and tuning problems. 
Finding a source of Wurlitzer reeds is itself a monumental task in 
some countries, and using a soldering iron to tune your piano isn't 
anyone's idea of a fun break before the gig. It won't be long before 
it's simply not practical to maintain fragile instruments like the 
Wurlitzer, let alone tour with them. To date several sample 
libraries have included limited attempts to describe the EP200A in 
software, but only recently has the very technology which is making 
the beloved Wurli obsolete supplied the tools we require to `capture 
the soul of the beast'. 

With the Scarbee W.E.P musicians will have access to the 
inspirational sounds of the Wurlitzer Electric Piano for generations 
to come - vintage sonic lightning preserved in a cutting-edge 
software bottle.

SCARBEE W.E.P will ship in a multi format version containing 24 bit 
native Halion, EXS24 mk II and Kontakt versions on 4 CDs or DVD for 
$219 as well as a 1 CD 16 bit Giga version. Registered W.E.P users 
may purchase the alternate format for $49.00.

All Scarbee W.E.P. versions can be ordered NOW in our online web 
shop www.scarbee-shop.com.

For more information, online manual and demoes visit our web site at 
www.scarbee.com.

Best regards

and thanks for your support

Thomas Hansen Skarbye
Creative Director, SCARBEE
Phone: +45 5946 1676
Email: thomas@...
Website: www.scarbee.com
Web Shop: www.scarbee-shop.com




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