GForce Software VSM IV

This updated VSM continues to prove that strings are very much the thing! Roland Schmidt swots up on his virtual string theory

- Roland Schmidt

£99.99

PC MAC

Good news for those of you who like the sound of vintage synthesisers: you no longer have to run the gauntlet of the Wild West that makes up the secondhand synth market. With so many companies reproducing the classics, you could plump for a brand-new hardware reissue, but what if you could purchase a piece of software that contained not just one classic machine, but 46 of them?

The thing with strings

GForce Software continues to pull off a feat of engineering through its latest update to the incredibly appealing VSM series. String Machines are a class of electronic instrument with roots planted in traditional subtractive synthesis. But this does beg the question, why do they require a category of their own?

Back in the ’70s, when subtractive synthesis was still finding its mojo, the few polyphonic synthesisers that were available provided an unhealthy mixture of unreliability and extortionate price tags. Many artists yearned for the electronic sound, but in a polyphonic form which was not, at the time, catered for by the monophonic stalwarts, such as the Minimoog or ARP 2600.

As a direct response, the type of instrument known as the string synthesiser, or string machine, was born. These machines were stripped-out affairs, offering up far more in terms of simplistic electronics and control, with reference to acoustic counterparts such as violin and cello. These sounds were often cast in electronic stone, being uneditable to any great degree, while also quite thin in texture. As a result, most of the machines would embrace audio thickeners, in the shape of chorus or ensemble effects.