Main Features:

• Peerless recordings of the impeccable sound and technique of famed sho performer Ko Ishikawa
• Single tones of all 15 pipes* and 11 chords sampled separately in every articulation, making the library applicable to all musical styles from gagaku to contemporary music
• A detailed analysis of sho playing techniques led to an instrument model that allows playing any combination of the sho’s distinctive tone clusters (chords) and single tones
• Two key modes, including a traditional fingering mode that replicates actual sho fingering with one key per pipe
• Pipe Indicator lets the performer see the pipe arrangement of the sho and monitor the current pipes being played
• Comes with traditional sho Pythagorean tuning, equal temperament tuning, and fully customizable tunings, for seamless coverage of both classical and contemporary scale tones
• Unique Key Trigger Connection function lets the performer move through a colorful assortment of articulations without ever interrupting the sound
• Expression control adjusts tone color naturally and continuously without gradations
• Ensemble selector simulates gagaku ensemble performances with up to three performers
• The library’s lively yet subtle sounds sampled in full 24 bit 96 kHz fidelity (the library itself contains 24 bit 44.1 kHz samples)
• Create your own mixes with the multi-microphone samples and a dedicated mixer with individual controls for Direct, Overhead, Room, and Stereo Mix
*Although the sho has 17 pipes, only 15 pipes actually produce sound

Articulation List

Chord Tone articulations
• Straight (exhaled tone)
• Straight (inhaled tone)
• Flutter (exhaled tone)
• Flutter (inhaled tone)
• Sforzando
• Crescendo
• Tremolo Slow (exhaled tone)
• Tremolo Slow (inhaled tone)
• Tremolo Fast (exhaled tone)
• Tremolo Fast (inhaled tone)

Single Tone articulations

• Straight (exhaled tone)
• Straight (inhaled tone)
• Flutter (exhaled tone)
• Flutter (inhaled tone)
• Sforzando
• Slide-Up

Audio Mixer

Samples were recorded in three stereo microphone positions - Direct, Overhead, and Room - plus a Stereo Mix. Full mixing control is available, with individual Volume, Stereo Width, Pan, Reverb Send, and EQ adjustments for each channel. Sho also comes with a quality convolution reverb for excellent in-instrument sound creation. The parallel output bus sends the microphone channels to individual DAW tracks for finer mixing sessions.