Waldorf’s new small footprint string synthesizer, which was previewed at the Musicmesse 2014 in Germany, is now available and shipping to music instrument retailers. According to Waldorf, “the Streichfett String Synthesizer is successfully bringing back to life the extinct string synthesizer sounds of yesteryear with a modern-day musical twist.”

From the news announcement: Back in the Seventies and early-Eighties, keyboard players wishing to create (not necessarily authentic-sounding) string sections often turned to so-called string machines making use of top octave divider technology to produce polyphonic pitching for each key played. Popular in their heyday, these distinctive-sounding string synths can be heard all over classic recordings by both electronic music innovators, prog rockers, and pop acts of the time — think French synth showman Jean-Michel Jarre’s multi- million-copy-selling Oxygene, or even adult movies of a similar vintage — think German synthmeister Klaus Schulze’s soundtrack to Bodylove, but died a death when more authentic-sounding sampling technology took hold. However, now Waldorf has successfully brought back to life those extinct string synthesizer sounds of yesteryear with a modern-day musical twist thanks to the Streichfett String Synthesizer, a colourful desktop module that surely stands out far from the musical crowd!

According to Waldorf Music CTO Stefan Stenzel: “We had a string machine in our office, and, although it was malfunctioning, we enjoyed playing it. Everything sounded like it could serve as a soundtrack to an Eighties ‘sensual’ movie! We thought it would be fun to create something similar, so we listened to many different string machines to figure out the sweet spots of each individual machine. Quickly the name ‘Streichfett’ stuck, and we decided to revive the extinct species of string synthesizers.”

Streichfett brings the distinctive string synth sounds of those now-much-missed machines to today’s discerning musicians by cleverly combining the best of yesteryear’s classics with today’s technological advances — all neatly squeezed into an attractive compact and cost-effective package with everything to play for. Indeed, its dual sound engine features a 128-voice polyphonic STRINGS section (with Choir, Organ, Brass, Cello, Viola, and Violin presets) and an eight-voice polyphonic SOLO section (with shimmering-sounding, slightly percussive Bass, E-Piano, Clavi, Synth, and Pluto presets that blend well with the STRINGS section) — essential for creating those velvety smooth sounds with high-fat content! Essential, even, for creating ‘vintage’ adult movie soundtracks — Parental Advisory Explicit Lyrics optional! The Ensemble effect handles lubrication of the STRINGS section while the EFFECT section adds adjustable Phaser or Reverb. Alternatively, the EFFECT section can be used to Animate the STRINGS register, resulting in spectacular sound morphing effects.

Streichfett is available to purchase from Waldorf dealers worldwide with an SRP of €279.00 EUR (including tax). Check out the dedicated Streichfett webpage for more detailed info here: http://www.waldorf-music.info/streichfett-overview

Video (English): http://youtu.be/UfcQYfzqhrg .

Copr. © 2014 Neotrope®.