Arturia Releases Wurlitzer EP 200A
Arturia has released Wurlitzer V, a virtual recreation of the classic Wurlitzer EP 200A electric piano. The 1972-launched Wurlitzer EP 200A represented Wurlitzer’s top-of-the-range, reed-based piano line throughout its 10-year production lifespan. Unlike traditional sampling libraries, the Wurlitzer V’s embedded physical modelling engine claims to reproduce the acoustic properties of the Wurlitzer EP 200A’s musically distinctive reeds, key action, and amplification.
Wurlitzer V lets users choose between three output modes: Studio (Wurlitzer V and associated effects are connected to a virtual DI box with reverb thereafter); Stage (with guitar amp simulator, multiple mic and speaker options, and a satisfying-sounding spring reverb at the output stage); and Rotary (with a rotary speaker simulator to create musical movement).
As most producers are already aware, the beloved bright and overdriven Wurly sound so musically ingrained in popular music culture — thanks to artists as diverse as The Beatles, Supertramp, and Marvin Gaye — is actually a clever combination of admirable amplification — Fender Bassman and Twin Reverb guitar tube amps, et al; mic’ing par excellence; and precision processing, with multiple analogue chorus, phasing, and tape echo units often being used to fashion a deeper, luscious tone.
As such, Arturia’s Wurlitzer V effectively places its users in an authentic-sounding Seventies-style virtual recording studio, replete with classic tube amps (Fender Deluxe Reverb Blackface, Fender Twin Reverb Blackface, Fender Bassman, and Marshall Plexi guitar tube amp models; Leslie Speaker rotary simulator model); modelled mics (Shure SM57, Sennheiser MD 421, and Neumann U87); and vintage stompboxes (Wah-wah, Autowah, Overdrive, Flanger, Compressor, Phaser, Chorus, Delay, Pitch Shifter/Chorus, Vocal Filter, and Reverb models) — everything needed to achieve that classic ‘Wurly’ vibe or more adventurous sound design (thanks to advanced in-depth control parameters: 10-band Graphic Equaliser; Vibrator Rate; Pickup Distance; Pickup Axis; Impedance; Damper Position; Dynamics; Octave Stretch; Hammer Hardness; Hammer Noise; Note Off Noise; Sustain Pedal Noise; Velocity Curve).
Arturia’s Wurlitzer V is available to purchase from Arturia
