ILIO has announced the worldwide distribution of the newly founded company Vital Arts and its first product, Plectrum. This 7.5 Gb virtual instrument library features 185 original acoustic instruments, powered by Tascam's GVI streaming sample playback engine. Plectrum is the brainchild of Geoffrey Gee, pianist, composer, and former Senior Soundware Engineer at Kurzweil Music Systems.

Much more than a tool or content library, Plectrum is a creative work of instrument design. Gee created his instruments from sounds made by plucking, strumming, tapping, scraping, and flicking a range of stringed instruments and found objects. Collecting thousands of full length high resolution samples, he voiced and tuned the sounds into full-range, expressive keyboard instruments. Plectrum's interface presents these instruments in nine categories based on these sound sources:

1. Strummed Strings
2. Struck Strings
3. Plucked Strings
4. String Harmonics
5. Glass
6. Ceramics
7. Metals
8. Found Objects
9. Habitats.

Each instrument features a round robin playback that enhances the organic feel and texture of an acoustic instrument. The instruments in Habitats use this feature to offer ever-evolving sound environments with names such as August Morning, Afternoon Rain, Forest Stream, and Crickets.

Plectrum retails for $299 and is initially available for Windows in VSTi, RTAS, stand-alone formats with Mac OS X Universal Binary support expected in September 2007. The package is 7.5 GB, with up to 96kHz, 24-bit samples, optimized using Tascam's wave acceleration feature.