Is the Virtual Instrument era over?

[Guenon]

The discussion has been pretty lively and interesting with input from some large devs. By the way, I presented my definition of synth eras several pages back. I have been involved in the industry as an insider since the mid 80s so I think I have a valid perspective and others have agreed.

This doesn't mean I can't be critical of your perspective and point out the premise being sketchy, in turn, based on my own decades of experience with both synths and the history of technology and culture and so forth; make of it what you will. A difference of opinion, clearly, and a preference of communicating things like this in a different manner, perhaps. As in, maybe view it as a suggestion; asking "a question", ending with "Your thoughts?" and then proceeding to defend one particular view (that actually in many ways tries to argue the answer is "yes", debating the views you asked to hear, and arguing that there are signs of a particular era being over, "prove me wrong", and so on) isn't that swell of a starting point.

Only in my personal professional opinion, of course

What will happen, regardless of how this particular era is portrayed here, and how the conversation continues, is that virtual instruments will be heard in many types of works for the foreseeable future. If they will not, I'm the first to say "wow, that was unexpected, and I was totally wrong on this, huh."

[vurt]

"...and we are finally getting past the idea that software is somehow inferior to hardware in sound.

Really?

yup. i don't speculate unless there is some chance of accumulation.

[vurt]

also, many of those dawless jam videos, seem to use the mpc, which i believe could be called a daw?
hostless jamming!

this is what happens when everyone starts calling hosts "daws"
i warned of this many years ago!

[whyterabbyt]

"...and we are finally getting past the idea that software is somehow inferior to hardware in sound.

Really? Many engineers and producers would disagree. That is why we still have studios full of rack mount gear and hardware synths.

Really? Many engineers and producers would disagree. That is why we still have studios full of unused rack mount gear and hardware synths.

[jamcat]

No, the virtual instrument era is not over.

Though I believe we are well past the peak...

Not likely. The reason why one era ends is because something new emerges that overtakes it, ushering in a new era.

There is nothing like that taking place today. Basic trigonometric oscillator based subtractive synthesis may be oversaturated in the market, but new machine learning physical models will be the next big thing in virtual instruments. It may be the dawn of a new era in virtual instruments, but the virtual instrument era itself is far from over.

We will continue to see iteration after iteration of improvement in modeling. I think we’re just at the beginning, not anywhere near the peak.

[whyterabbyt]

This link tells the story. A lot of new development on the audio processing end. Very little in the way of new instruments

Most new "instruments" I see these days are nothing but sample players. Easy and fast to create and there are a lot of platforms to make them. HISE, Decent Sampler, etc. You don't see that many synths these days

Smells of goalpost migration.

[Shabdahbriah]

No, the virtual instrument era is not over.

Though I believe we are well past the peak...

"Past its peak", and "over" are two different things. It is all and simply about personal application/functionality, adaptability and USE. [2c]

[Double Tap]

Smells of goalpost migration.

Yes - sample players *are* VIs.

I looked at that KVR page and there have been about 200 new synths alone released in the last two years. I can’t be bothered to go through them to do a comparison with previous years but perhaps like Frogs says it doesn’t matter anyway.

[tony10000]

What will happen, regardless of how this particular era is portrayed here, and how the conversation continues, is that virtual instruments will be heard in many types of works for the foreseeable future. If they will not, I'm the first to say "wow, that was unexpected, and I was totally wrong on this, huh."

Yeah, I guess you can make the argument that the Oldsmobile era isn't over because people still drive Oldsmobiles. LOL!

[whyterabbyt]

What will happen, regardless of how this particular era is portrayed here, and how the conversation continues, is that virtual instruments will be heard in many types of works for the foreseeable future. If they will not, I'm the first to say "wow, that was unexpected, and I was totally wrong on this, huh."

Yeah, I guess you can make the argument that the Oldsmobile era isn't over because people still drive Oldsmobiles. LOL!

Its about as cogent as the argument that the car era is over because not enough of the car companies introduced any brand new lines.

[Sinisterbr]

No, the virtual instrument era is not over.

Though I believe we are well past the peak...

again, this depends entirely on your own definition of the peak.
to me, we are just entering the peak, when computers are fast enough, coders have refined audio dsp, and we are finally getting past the idea that software is somehow inferior to hardware in sound.

The peak for me is when we, consumers, have plenty of offer of what you called refined audio dsp synths, and that happened just a few years ago, IMO. Before that, I personally wasn`t satisfied with the sound quality available. Now, not only that, but the interfaces have improved a lot (like better browsers and streamlined controls).
Of course time never stops, and soon we`ll see a new trend going on (like AI). But until then, this is for me a saturated market, yes, and a hard one to break through these days.

[idoru97214]

I read every post on this thread. Very lively discussion indeed. Also, as others have already stated very soberly and eloquently, absurd. OP is blindly and naively batting aside logical argument after logical argument after evidential fact and coming back with various forms of "PROVE IT." It's really frustrating to read, but I couldn't stop. Like a train wreck. But then, the era of trains is over.

Then, when feeling backed into a corner maybe (?), finally pulls out the "I am an expert and here are my credentials" statement and links.

I mean, U-He comes on and says - I paraphrase - "No it's not."

Tone 2 comes on and says, maybe with a little more give to the OP argument but still pretty clearly to my reading, "No it's not."

Evidence is clearly, "No it's not."

OP - really, with respect, and I don't mean to sound dismissive though it is hard to communicate tone and intent with typed word; the idea that VI times are over or really even in any remote danger of slowing down is not substantiated by anything you have presented. Also, Sample playing software is a VI.

The lack of new offerings is not - in and of itself - evidence of anything at all except that there are not currently lots of new offerings (which has - even that - been refuted with concrete arguments).

The term ERA - e·ra /ˈirə,ˈerə/noun: era; plural noun: eras. A long and distinct period of history with a particular feature or characteristic. "his death marked the end of an era"

The "era" of VI should be defined as when software VI are no longer used by a large enough population to make music to keep a business community supported around their use. This is not happening. Period. No matter how many youtubers say it is. With a valid implementation of the word era, we are still in the era of guitars. We are still in the era of real, wooden violins. We are still in the era of pianos, and horns and tine based electric pianos and harmonicas and hardware synthesizers and software synthesizers and microphones and large console recording desks. Proliferation of new technology (which you seem to mistake as defining an era) does not preclude the use of existing technology. But there are not a lot of new pianos being released this year! People are still making a good living selling pianos. People are still playing them and even enjoy listening to them - I guess. (NOT me. I'm way too cool to listen to pianos.) Is the era of pianos over? No.

I resisted so long and so well wasting my time responding to this thread. I am a failure.

[vurt]

No, the virtual instrument era is not over.

Though I believe we are well past the peak...

again, this depends entirely on your own definition of the peak.
to me, we are just entering the peak, when computers are fast enough, coders have refined audio dsp, and we are finally getting past the idea that software is somehow inferior to hardware in sound.

The peak for me is when we, consumers, have plenty of offer of what you called refined audio dsp synths, and that happened just a few years ago, IMO. Before that, I personally wasn`t satisfied with the sound quality available. Now, not only that, but the interfaces have improved a lot (like better browsers and streamlined controls).
Of course time never stops, and soon we`ll see a new trend going on (like AI). But until then, this is for me a saturated market, yes, and a hard one to break through these days.

i would agree with it being saturated, but that doesn't equate to over or past its peak imo.
it's only recent years we have got to the point when many of us, im sure, would agree that we reached the "sound quality barrier" to the point while yes, there are differences, that analogue modelling can stand beside analogue synths in comparison videos and not seem like a joke.
things like mpe are only just becoming more accessible with some reasonably priced controllers, this could lead to new instruments in the near future as more developers start making more use of what it offers.

and yes, id say sample based are instruments too, where there is some room for improvement in some acoustic instruments, guitar being one.
some are close but not close enough to a real performance.
(different discussion not directed at you )

[Chr!s]

I use physically modeled orchestral instruments, just because I like the sound of real strings in my music. Sometimes a quartet, or sometimes an entire string section. SWAM instruments need many parameters to be automated at all times.

I joked about close miking a whole orchestra, but actually with SWAM solo instruments, you need one instance for each virtual player (and you need to place them on a Virtual Sound Stage, too.)

Still, I’ve never come close to 100 tracks.

The "100 tracks" was hyperbole and also frankly a bit of strawman from another poster in response to what I said.

But yes, most of the people in this discussion seem to be more synth guys, which are much simpler to use than Virtual Instruments which replicate acoustic instruments.

I find, specifically with the orchestra, that most libraries require about two tracks since there is generally a total lack of context in sampling between short notes and long notes, and the longs rarely have adjustable attacks, so you more often than not are forced to layer.

[briefcasemanx]

So you think people are worried about money and credit, yet buying hardware synths instead?