SteveNathan Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 Have I missed a thread on this already? https://cherryaudio.com/products/wurlybird140b?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3F39escjOssBLDgnM41zygMSOq34-YdiEcFCgeIwjWbvViHqGZvWZ4PQk_aem_QILO3b6T5XYHV9q10OGw5A 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Martin Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 You didn't miss anything, it was just released today. Something that I started years ago that Cherry Audio helped turn into reality. 15 4 Quote -Mike Martin Casio Mike Martin Photography Instagram Facebook The Big Picture Photography Forum on Music Player Network The opinions I post here are my own and do not represent the company I work for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerrythek Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 They asked me to do a demo for it, and I really love how earthy, and full of attitude this instrument is. It has not been polished to some antiseptic sheen - it feels alive and has attitude for days. As a good Wurly should! Hats off to Mike and the team at Cherry Audio! Demos 6 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxcvbnm098 Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 Damn...that sounds awesome!! Mike, can you share the story on how it came to be?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analogika Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 There's a Hughes & Kettner Tube Rotosphere as an option in there? Is that a thing? Do people actually want that exact sound? Quote "The Angels of Libra are in the European vanguard of the [retro soul] movement" (Bill Buckley, Soul and Jazz and Funk) The Drawbars | off jazz organ trio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obxa Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 Looking forward to demoing. As owner of real '58 120 and a '75 200a, happy to see something other than the 200 series. Adore older early tube Wurlis, but those actions are downright primitive and a chore to play. Quote Chris Corso www.chriscorso.org Lots of stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveNathan Posted July 9 Author Share Posted July 9 5 minutes ago, obxa said: but those actions are downright primitive and a chore to play. That’s why I let my 126 go. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drawback Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 I broke so many reeds on my 140b in performance it became a liability. I sold it in about ‘75. But I sure wish I still had it. 1 Quote ____________________________________ Rod Here for the gear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Nathan Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 Hats WAY off to Mike and the CA Team. This one sounds awesome! Full of character and realism. Feels like I'm back at Fame & Muscle Shoals Sound! 6 1 1 Quote Don't rush me. I'm playing as slowly as I can! http://www.stevenathanmusic.com/stevenathanmusic.com/HOME.html https://apple.co/2EGpYXK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Nathan Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 Full disclosure, moments after listening to a few online demos, I paid full price for my copy. I know a couple of folks question my recommendations from time to time. 😛 2 Quote Don't rush me. I'm playing as slowly as I can! http://www.stevenathanmusic.com/stevenathanmusic.com/HOME.html https://apple.co/2EGpYXK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Nathan Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 2 hours ago, analogika said: There's a Hughes & Kettner Tube Rotosphere as an option in there? Is that a thing? Do people actually want that exact sound? IDK, but as someone who has run his 200 through a 122 more than a couple of times, I suppose there might be some interest. 1 Quote Don't rush me. I'm playing as slowly as I can! http://www.stevenathanmusic.com/stevenathanmusic.com/HOME.html https://apple.co/2EGpYXK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Martin Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 2 hours ago, zxcvbnm098 said: Damn...that sounds awesome!! Mike, can you share the story on how it came to be?? Short story, it was a Covid project. I don't play in bands any more, one day I'll release some music but I do a lot of sound design in my spare time. The 140B belongs to Tom Hammer. He's a long time friend, Casio artist and unbelievably accomplished musician. You've seen him play in countless Casio Privia demo videos. He's been at the Casio booth during NAMM for the last 15+ years. He has some crazy credits - he co-wrote Kinky Boots with Cindy Lauper, he's an accompanist for one of the singers in the movie 20 feet from Stardom so technically he was 25 feet from Stardom. This 140B was a salvage project. I believe he said he found it by a dumpster and over the years has fixed it up. Some of the work was done by the Vintage Vibe team. So back in 2019 or so we started talking about it and when we were all locked down in early 2020 we recorded it. We actually sampled both this 140B and a 200A. The reality is his 200A was in better, almost perfect condition. We sampled it first and it sounded really good, but then we sampled the 140B. It was very clear that the character of this instrument was shining through. I approached Cherry Audio in 2021 or 2022. I had worked on presets and a demo for the GX-80. They weren't initially interested - I think because they had a road map for other projects at the time. Then out of the blue, Dan at Cherry Audio contacted me and wanted to discuss it again which was good because apparently I'm terrible at making NKI scripts. They built a really great engine for me to work with and almost every feature / playback request I had was answered almost immediately with a new developer build. There are all kinds of things happening behind the scenes, release randomizations, pedal noises and more. We had to go back and re-record a number of things - some things were improved other things were just the nature of instrument of this age so we had to work around them. It was in this second recording session that we really figured out the secret sauce - The preamp. Individual notes one at a time a pretty clean on this instrument - start putting notes together and playing chords and there is a wonderful natural overdrive that occurs. They replicated the response of this very nicely. Up until the final days we were tweaking velocity curves and finding what we could do with some of the quirky or inconsistent notes. Bottom line its a great instrument. It's still a little quirky, imperfect it is full of character and just super fun to play. I had nothing to do with the effects pedals or the user interface. I was so pleasantly surprised when I saw it. The hum and noise elements are great too. Unlike Tom's original, this is so beautiful. They really knocked it out of the park and the price is just bonkers. 2 hours ago, analogika said: There's a Hughes & Kettner Tube Rotosphere as an option in there? Is that a thing? Do people actually want that exact sound? I use it a lot in my "Flight of the Whirlybird" demo: 9 1 1 Quote -Mike Martin Casio Mike Martin Photography Instagram Facebook The Big Picture Photography Forum on Music Player Network The opinions I post here are my own and do not represent the company I work for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 Wait, it's sample-based? Is that a first for Cherry Audio? I've been using Purgatory Creek and like the 140b the best in that set, so this should be right up my alley, but the official demo at CA's page left me cold. This however is true of ALL of their single-demo examples on their site. Where do I go to find the other demos? Quote Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 Mike, your own demo sounds WAY better. I think maybe the one on CA's site has the note velocities maxed out. 1 Quote Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Martin Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 18 minutes ago, Mark Schmieder said: Wait, it's sample-based? Is that a first for Cherry Audio? Yes, their first sampled instrument. Modeling in the effects - the magic part being the pre-amp. 1 Quote -Mike Martin Casio Mike Martin Photography Instagram Facebook The Big Picture Photography Forum on Music Player Network The opinions I post here are my own and do not represent the company I work for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 Interesting. This was one of the Wurly models with built-in pre-amp, correct? I'm not as familiar with Wurly details as with Rhodes, but I have come to prefer the former, late in life! Quote Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 Ah, now I see Jerry's link for a longer list of demos, which do a great job of showing off this instrument. For some reason that link was tiny in my browser and escaped my aging eyes. There does appear to be more "spank" in this VI than most other Wurlies on the market. I'll continue to consider it; other recent Wurlies fell short in the customization department so I have higher hopes for this one as I never use stock presets for stuff like this as I have specific sounds in my head and know how to get them. 1 Quote Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 The Sound of Merlin's "Wurly Bluebird" demo is my favorite tonally, and it sounds very close to Steely Dan's early sound. 1 Quote Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Gauss Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 Cool! Maybe 20 years ago, i bought a real 140 from a junk store for $30 bucks. It had been repainted in Vegas approved gold glitter spray paint (even the knobs), but still worked great with original tubes, despite a mushy action. Sadly, lack of space and NYC rent concerns forced a sale. Gonna give this software version a spin... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerrythek Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 7 hours ago, analogika said: There's a Hughes & Kettner Tube Rotosphere as an option in there? Is that a thing? Do people actually want that exact sound? Why not? I turned it on near the end of my demo (Homage To Duke), for the final pass of the C7sus, Bb7sus, F#m11 to B7 altered chords, and then speed it up for the ending. I think it sounds great. Jerry 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doerfler Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 I downloaded the demo last evening, will spend more time with it this weekend. First impression, it's big and bold. Very different than the other 3 Wurlitzer VST's I already own. Certainly that was intentional. Thanks to everyone involved in the creation of this virtual instrument and the accompanying demo's. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analogika Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 21 hours ago, Steve Nathan said: IDK, but as someone who has run his 200 through a 122 more than a couple of times, I suppose there might be some interest. That's why I asked: The Leslie sim of choice is the Vent. There's a bunch of others, as well as the GREAT Waterfall Leslie Plugin from UAD. Is the specific Rotosphere sim so desirable to people that they've included that particular model, rather than a "Leslie" mode? I ask because I still have my old Mk1 Rotosphere relegated to emergence backup in case the Leslie dies live, but I've been considering replacing it with a Vent. Quote "The Angels of Libra are in the European vanguard of the [retro soul] movement" (Bill Buckley, Soul and Jazz and Funk) The Drawbars | off jazz organ trio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obxa Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 1 hour ago, analogika said: I ask because I still have my old Mk1 Rotosphere relegated to emergence backup in case the Leslie dies live, but I've been considering replacing it with a Vent. Sold my Rotp Mk2 to get the more compact Vent strictly for organ use. Good news is they are fairly sought after by guitar players, and sold really quick. Didn't miss the tube, and welcomed Mini Vent's smaller size and better sound. On topic: Had a play with Wurlybird in hotel room- Loved this. My usuals are Acoustic Samples , Scarbee 200, and occasionally Modart's Wurli or the Waves. The test is how well they sit in a track or work live. Bit purist , so prefer dry, no fx, natural with a tad of vibrato and a little top end bump. Was really impressed! . Instant buy. Great job and thanks Mike!! 1 Quote Chris Corso www.chriscorso.org Lots of stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Martin Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 1 hour ago, Doerfler said: First impression, it's big and bold. Very different than the other 3 Wurlitzer VST's I already own. Certainly that was intentional. To clarify, in the sampling process we kept everything very natural - a very simple clean signal path. No EQ and no compression with only a couple of exceptions like pedal noise where there was some rumble that needed to be tamed. Even noise reduction was very minimal as this tends to make things sound and feel quite sterile. The magic ingredient having done so many side by side comparisons is the pre-amp modeling by the Cherry Audio team. This is the icing on the cake in my opinion. I think some people from the Cherry Audio team will be online on Friday to discuss the product. 3 1 Quote -Mike Martin Casio Mike Martin Photography Instagram Facebook The Big Picture Photography Forum on Music Player Network The opinions I post here are my own and do not represent the company I work for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Nathan Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 2 hours ago, analogika said: That's why I asked: The Leslie sim of choice is the Vent. There's a bunch of others, as well as the GREAT Waterfall Leslie Plugin from UAD. Is the specific Rotosphere sim so desirable to people that they've included that particular model, rather than a "Leslie" mode? I ask because I still have my old Mk1 Rotosphere relegated to emergence backup in case the Leslie dies live, but I've been considering replacing it with a Vent. It's pretty typical with Wurlies to run them through Guitar Pedals. I often ran mine through a Menatone "Top Boost in a Can" for example, and I remember using MXRs and similar over the years. Though I get your point, FWIW, some of us don't care for the Vent. It was never my first choice for a Leslie Sim pedal. 3 Quote Don't rush me. I'm playing as slowly as I can! http://www.stevenathanmusic.com/stevenathanmusic.com/HOME.html https://apple.co/2EGpYXK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElmerJFudd Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 How glad am I to have passed on many Wurly specific sampled instruments for just this day to arrive. 👍 3 Quote Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cherryDan Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 2 hours ago, analogika said: That's why I asked: The Leslie sim of choice is the Vent. There's a bunch of others, as well as the GREAT Waterfall Leslie Plugin from UAD. Is the specific Rotosphere sim so desirable to people that they've included that particular model, rather than a "Leslie" mode? Hi guys, I just wanted to chime in and say that the Leslie simulation in Wurlybird is a full-blown Leslie emulation, and is not an attempt in any way to recreate the Rotosphere. The pedal artwork was just an attempt to put the Leslie simulation into a familiar-ish housing. Artistic license, if you will. I hope that helps clear things up! Dan 4 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Emm Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 I had a 200a for a time, so this one is both semi-new and welcome to me. The roundness and unique purity of the sound make it a serious keeper. I'm very happy with Logic's EPs, but this is on the short list. The effects compliment deserves a separate award of its own. I sit and noodle away at my various instruments like anyone else, but this little gem is seductive. The intimacy is going to make it a superior rainy day choice. Beautifully done across the board! 1 1 Quote "Let there be dancing in the streets, drinking in the saloons and necking in the parlors! Play, Don!" ~ Groucho Marx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Alfredson Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 Sounds fantastic! Great job, @Mike Martin and crew! 1 1 Quote Keep it greazy! B3tles - Soul Jazz THEO - Prog Rock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outkaster Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 Sounds great 1 Quote "Danny, ci manchi a tutti. La E-Street Band non e' la stessa senza di te. Riposa in pace, fratello" noblevibes.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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