Hi all,
At first I would like to express all my congratulations to VSL for Clarinet 2 (Bb) with Extended techniques.
My question is adressed to Andreas Olszewsk, and/or anyone qualified on this topic at the VSL team :
Hi Andreas ! Can you confirm that other extended techniques will be added to VSL Virtual instruments in the future ?
No doubt, for lots of us, that extended techniques applied to nearly all instruments is the next frontier or challenge for professionnal Virtual instruments developpers such as VSL.
Given that a majority of instruments articulations available are of “classical music” idioms, the drawback and dead-end for contemporary composers is creating works that finally sound just like classical, neo-classical or post romantic musical idioms (let's say from Renaissance, Baroque up to Debussy, Holst, Stravinsky and Berg).
Yet, for today composers, is there any point of always creating (or reproducing ) music which, more or less, sounds like masterworks of the past, or sounds like the same movies soundtracks, all this with costly virtual instruments ? There is not so much scope either for orginality and innovation using virtual tools if they cannot integrate modern techniques.
Consequently, don’t you agree that expanding the range of expressions of virtual instruments is now a urgent and imperative task ? Tons of contemporary composers (say from the modern classical - “contemporary music” world) are still hesitating buying and using virtual instruments because of this limited range of articulations - (these lacking extended techniques).
You mentionned that the Clarinet Multiphonics are from the book “Muliphonics für Klarinette mit deutschem System" by Gerhard Krassnitzer
Concerning other Woodwinds, there are techniques still lacking in VSL but mentionned in the following professionnal manuals :
For Flute multiphonics, let's mention The Other Flute – (A performance manual of Contemporary Techniques) by the talented contemporary flutist Robert DICK
Peter VEALE and Clauss-Steffen MAHNKOPF : Die Spieltecknik der Oboe, foreword by Heinz HOLLIGER.
Extended Techniques for Harp as documented by the excellent Carlos SALZEDO in his Modern Study of the Harp, and of course used in his works. Or “Writing for the pedal Harp” by Ruth INGLEFIELD and Lou Anne NEILL.
Concerning modern Violin techniques, a very wide range of modern techniques are described in Patricia and Allen STRANGE “The Contemporary Violin”
At last let's mention, as a reference Helmut LACHENMANN, a composer who uses widely extended techniques.
Last but not least, a big wish to VSL from the composers community : Brass extended techniques and mute types other than the "Harmon" mute.
Eric
