Sonic Implants Releases Talk Box Guitar Sample Collection
 March 10, 2004
Sonic Network, maker of Sonic Implants sample
libaries, has released a new guitar library a little on the unusual side: I'd
Like to Buy a Vowel - Adventures in Talk Box Guitar.
Those unfamiliar with this curious device by name will almost certainly be
familiar with the litany of distinctive sounds it can produce, as popular
artists as diverse as Joe Walsh, Peter Frampton, and Bon Jovi have used the
Talk Box over the course of the last thirty years of
popular music. In short, the Talk Box is an apparatus that allows guitarists
to effectively 'talk' guitar notes by routing the guitar's amplified sound
through a piece of tubing the player holds in his mouth. Fluctuations in
mouth position relative to the tubing enable the player to evince all manner
of artificial 'speech' using the guitar as the players 'voice'.
Layout of the Talk Box CD-ROM includes a generous selection of multi-samples
carefully selected so as best to evoke the traditional characteristics of
the instrument. Sonic Implants engineer Peter Drawbridge explains: "Picking
the right articulations was important because we wanted users to get an
accurate overall feel for the instrument. This is why we made sure to mix in
some of the more 'static' tube sounds with the actual 'talking' syllables
since what makes the Talk Box so distinctive, apart from the actual
'speaking' part, is the elastic 'growl' the box imparts to the guitar
itself. It's a very unique timbre that you really can't duplicate with an
overdrive or
distortion pedal."
An entirely separate portion of the disk is devoted to sampled phrases which
have been programmed in four musical keys at three different tempos apiece,
affording users the opportunity to combine sampled licks, trills, and bends
with the aforementioned multi-samples to create extremely realistic
sequences.
The CD-ROM, comprising multi-sampled tones and chords in addition to the
sampled phrases is available in Gigasampler and Soundfont formats at Sonic
Implants website where those interested can also find
MP3 demos of the Talk Box in action. Downloadable files of the Talk Box
multi-samples are also available in the previously mentioned formats.
For more information, visit their web site at www.sonicimplants.com. | 
