ClioStudios has announced the release of Armadillo - Virtual Charango, a new virtual instrument plug-in specifically designed to emulate the sound of a charango, a small South American stringed instrument.

The origin of the instrument dates back to the time when South American lands were colonies of European kingdoms. Back then, the natives quickly learnt how to play and build the musical instruments the Europeans had brought, and soon they were building their own versions of those instruments. Some researchers have found evidence of charangos being used during the XVII century, but no-one has ever been able to give a definitive answer to the question of when or where was that instrument created.

Today, it is possible to find charangos being used in Perú, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina, with many different sizes, number of strings and tunings available.

Armadillo - Virtual Charango employs a modern string-to-keyboard implementation that allows articulations such as "strums" to be achievable using a standard keyboard controller. This feature, combined with an intelligent chord recognition system which finds out what chord you are playing and translates it into a chord voiced specifically for a charango, makes this virtual instrument the perfect tool for those in need of a traditional South-American sound with all of the advantages associated with using a DAW for composing.

Features:

• Strum and arpeggio techniques supported.
• Recognizes and plays more than 80 different chords (including major, minor, seventh and diminished chords).
• EZ Chord mode for those who can't play chords on a keyboard.
• Full control of every parameter of the plug-in via MIDI.

Pricing & Availability

Armadillo - Virtual Charango is available for Windows as a VST Instrument plug-in. It has an MSRP of $150 but is currently available for the introductory price of $99.90 until November 1st, 2009.

ClioStudios is currently preparing a new sample-set and some enhancements for this instrument. These will be available as free downloads for all registered costumers.