Glass Instruments Upgrade to Full Library Software Download

The Vienna Symphonic Library Glass Instruments software download upgrade gives you access to the entire suite of glass instruments samples. The glass harmonica was invented in 1761, with several pieces written for it by Mozart. The hemispherical glass bowls—which rotate around a horizontal axis driven by a pedal—were rediscovered only in the last decades of the 19th century. Sounds are produced by touching the rotating glasses with moistened fingertips. Today, the glass harmonica is an absolute rarity, with roughly ten professional players worldwide.

Another rarely encountered jewel is the verrophone (from the french word “la verre” for glass). This youngest of the glass instruments was developed only 20 years ago in Germany. Chromatically tuned glass tubes are rubbed with moistened fingers like musical glasses, but are also struck with mallets. The lingering, atmospheric sound is highly esteemed by modern composers due to its extraordinary intensity.

The musical glasses present one of the oldest forms of making music and sounds with glasses. The instrument consists of several custom-made wine glasses. In order to get different pitches, the musical glasses are filled with varying amounts of water. The musical glasses sampled by the Vienna Symphonic Library have a chromatic range from G3 to G6.

The flexibility, authenticity, musicality and sound quality of samples are just a few reasons why Oscar- and Emmy-winning composers, Grammy-winning artists and music producers all over the globe, including hobbyists and music educators, rely on Vienna Instruments. Every collection comes with both the Vienna Instruments player and Vienna Ensemble.