Modartt has released Xylo, a new Pianoteq add-on which includes a Xylophone and a Bass Marimba. Simultaneously, Modartt announces two new add-ons collections: Chromatic Percussions (Vibes, Celeste, Xylo) and Rock Collection (Electric Pianos, Clavinet, Rock Piano). Also, Pianoteq has been updated to v3.6.4.

Xylophone and Marimba are similar to the vibraphone but use wooden bars instead of aluminium. Each bar, that vibrates when hit with mallets, is paired with a metallic resonator which is tuned to amplify the sound. The origin of the xylophone dates back several thousand years in Africa and South East Asia. The marimba appeared at the same time and is today the symbol of Guatemalan music. Due to its huge size, the bass marimba sounds more than two octaves below the xylophone. Both very popular, they are used in various musical styles from classical to Latin and rock.

The Pianoteq virtual copies of these two instruments are respectively modelled after a modern 3½-octave French brand xylophone and a modern five-octave French brand bass marimba.

Thanks to the sophisticated Pianoteq physical model, they come in several variants and benefit from the recently developed humanization feature which allows varying the strike point, adding to the musician's interpretation a vivid and stunning realism.

Both instruments are part of the new Chromatic percussions collection (including add-ons Vibes, Celeste and Xylo) which is announced together with a Rock collection (including add-ons Electric Pianos, Clavinet and Rock Piano).

Listen & Download

The Xylo add-on is embedded in demo mode in Pianoteq's latest version 3.6.4 and can be activated for €49. The Chromatic percussions collection is sold for €99 (instead of €147) and the Rock collection for €89 (instead of €127).

Further details with audio demos are available on the website www.pianoteq.com.

Changes in Pianoteq v3.6.4:

• New Xylo add-on, featuring Xylophone & Bass Marimba.
• Added drag and drop for microtonal Scala files on the Pianoteq interface.