Simple-Media releases four new instruments: Striker, Voc-Two, Retro-gsx and Cathedral

Simple-Media has released four new products: two free instruments - striker and voc-two - and two new commercial instruments - retro-gsx and cathedral (£10 each, plus VAT). All are available for Windows as VST instrument plug-ins.

Striker is a physical modelling instrument created to reproduce the sounds of various types of tuned percussion such as marimbas, vibraphones and other instruments where a hammer or mallet strikes a block.

Voc-Two allows you to create realistic string ensemble and choir sounds without the use of samples. It includes a wide range of controls over the source sound generation and the morphable formant filter making it a surprisingly flexible instrument for creating rich and atmospheric pads and realistic ensemble sounds.

A new addition to the retro-gs series of instruments with a completely new build, retro-gsx offers even more SID-inspired chip sound goodness thanks to the built in 'advanced wave sequencer'. Capable of recreating an incredible range of authentic SID sounds, easy to use, versatile and powerful. If you liked retro-gs01 and want even more creativity or you are just looking for a VST instrument to recreate those classic 8-bit sounds then look know further than retro-gsx.

Cathedral is a new approach to the task of recreating the sound of a pipe organ. Rather than use a large sample library, Cathedral uses a hybrid analogue synthesis and physical modelling approach to create an ultra-flexible instrument without a huge file size and with reasonable CPU performance.

Cathedral offers up to 6 programmable, 4-level stops that can each be set to 1 of 3 pipe types and any 1 of 14 different footages. It also includes a built in reverberation unit, essential in recreating an authentic pipe organ sound, and additional filtering and modulation to enhance the sound even further.