Arturia has announced the release of Wurlitzer V, a high-end software recreation of the classic Wurlitzer EP 200A electric piano. It's available for 32- and 64-bit Windows and Mac OS X in standalone and VST 2.4 & 3, AU and RTAS plug-in formats.

Think electric piano, and many musicians still think Wurlitzer or 'Wurly' — one of a series of electro- mechanical stringless pianos manufactured and marketed by the US-based Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, coining the trademarked Electronic Piano phrase in the process. The 1972-launched Wurlitzer EP 200A represented Wurlitzer's top-of-the-range, reed-based piano line throughout its impressive 10-year production lifespan; today Arturia's Wurlitzer V resurrects that still-sought-after sound — and more besides.

Arturia says that unlike traditional sampling libraries, the Wurlitzer V's embedded physical modelling engine readily reproduces the agreeable acoustic properties of the Wurlitzer EP 200A's musically distinctive reeds, key action, and amplification combo by 'constructing' played notes in real time, creating cost-effective and reliable realism in a computer-based, truly portable package fit for a 21st Century performer; moreover, maximising integral sonic flexibility to skilfully surpass its hardware namesake is also the virtual order of the day here, appealing to studio and stage users alike.

Wurlitzer V lets users choose between three output modes:

1. Studio: Wurlitzer V and associated effects are 'connected' to a virtual DI box with reverb thereafter.
2. Stage: with guitar amp simulator, multiple mic and speaker options, and a satisfying-sounding spring reverb at the output stage.
3. 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 amplification — Fender Bassman and Twin Reverb guitar tube amps, et al, mic'ing, 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).

Pricing & Availability

Wurlitzer V is available to purchase from Arturia's Online shop as Mac-compatible (OS X 10.5 or higher — Intel only) and PC-compatible (Windows XP, Vista, and 7 — 32- and 64-bit) boxed software for €119 / $129 or as a software download for €99 / $99. More info at: arturia.com/wurlitzer-v.

Watch Wurlitzer V in action on YouTube