Produced by Colin O’Malley and Troels Folmann, the 8Dioboe VST is an evocative instrument based on the raw and emotional approaches to sampling that we’ve explored in our Adagio String series.

There are many woodwind instruments on the market today. Very few of them have the emotional realism to sit out in front of an orchestra and truly carry a composition forward. The 8Dioboe is exactly such an instrument. The recordings capture a world class player playing a word class instrument. The player is invested in every single note she plays. Oboes are notoriously hard to sample. A big part of this is due to the player’s tendency to overplay and “quack” the intervals in a relatively grueling session. In contrast, the legato of the 8Dioboe was sampled in a highly fluid manner with a natural flow into vibrato. The result is an instrument that is both nimble and lyrical.

With key switches C0-D#0 you can choose which articulations play both before AND after the legato intervals, allowing for great flexibility in phrasing. Staccatissimo can also be triggered without legato intervals simply by key switching to d#0 and playing in a disconnected fashion. Staccatissimo also works great with legato for faster grace note type of figures.

Expressive Articulations and Controls
The 8Dioboe is an incredibly expressive instrument with all the most common articulations needed. The articulations are built into the instrument and all pre-assigned to keyswitches. C0 activates legato with sustains, C#0 merges the legato with expressive marcatos, D0 activates short marcatos and D#0 triggers short and pointy staccatissimos. We also added additional controls for improved playability, including control over dynamics, expression and legato speed.

Microphones
The 8Dioboe contains three different microphone positions. First you have the close microphones – giving you a near-dry rendition of the Oboe, which is great for prominent solos or tighter studio productions. Secondly you have the room microphone, which is similar to a traditional DECCA setup. Thirdly you have a reverb/far microphone position of the Oboe. You can freely merge and mix all the microphones and dial in precisely the sound