For a couple years I‘ve been watching the progress of Realtime Instruments, a virtual orchestra being developed by Audio Impressions. The company has been demonstrating its impressive work-in-progress for several successive NAMM shows, and the first installment is on the cusp of shipping. Realtime Instruments Strings (aka DVZ Strings) will be available as a turnkey system that includes performance software, a sample library, microphone-bleed simulation, and three rackmount computers for $11,999. A software-only version is $3,499.

It had to happen, I suppose: Peavey is getting into the guitar-amp-modeling act. Onstage and in the studio, the MSDI (Microphone Simulated Direct Interface) gives you the sound of a miked speaker cabinet. For live use, you can plug your amp directly into the MSDI, and it has an XLR output to connect to your audio interface, recorder, or sound system. Peavey expects the MSDI to retail for $149.99 and ship before winter.

Open Labs had its NiKo and MiKo Windows-based keyboard workstations on display, replete with a new software bundle called V4. The upgrade features E-mu‘s Proteus X 2.5 soft synth with a huge collection of sampled instruments from E-mu, ARP, Moog, Oberheim, Roland, Hammond, Rhodes, and others–about 25 GB total. Unfortunately, when the Open Lab assistants tried to demo the new sounds for me, someone had forgotten to pack the key CD to disable copy protection.

Well, I think that wraps it up for my Summer NAMM coverage (it‘s about time I finished, eh?). It was a good one, and I look forward to next year. Very soon, you‘ll be able to see photos and video of the show‘s highlights on EM‘s Web site.