A priceless Stradivarius at your fingertips, performed by world-renown violinist Joshua Bell himself.
We set out to create a new standard in virtual solo strings, offering plenty of inspiration without sacrificing flexibility… and with the unmistakable, iconic sound of internationally acclaimed violinist Joshua Bell.
Joshua Bell Violin offers a huge variety of standard articulations like sustains, pizzicatos, staccatos, spiccatos, etc, along with a number of sample sets you’re not likely to find anywhere else. We captured an incredible legato set of beautifully haunting harmonics, as well as “super-flautando”, a special technique Joshua Bell can harness from his 300+ year-old violin, and much more.
While this VI is incredibly powerful, featuring almost 20,000 individual samples, it’s designed to be simple to use. Play it straight out of the box and it will inspire and surprise you! This virtual violin utilizes intelligent and predictive programming using a diverse array of musical tendencies and rule sets. Complete with 12 distinct legato transition types, you can perform the Joshua Bell violin authentically across a range of tempos, dynamics, and styles, capturing the nuances of a true performance!
In addition to all of the modeling engines going on under-the-hood, access an extensive library of real performances by Joshua Bell on his infamous violin – intuitively sorted via an articulation browser.
Purge samples, adjust performance options, or compensate for transition delay. There’s always room for tweaking things, and this one’s no exception – every feature in Joshua Bell Violin is configurable.
Most of our instruments wield our innovative Adaptive Legato feature, which adjusts legato transition speed in response to your performance – offering responsive performative action like never before.
| Features | Essential | Full |
|---|---|---|
| True Legato Articulations | 10 | 25 |
| Beyond-Octave Legato | ||
| Polyphonic Legato | ||
| Intuition Engine Controls | ||
| Character Control (Tone & Space) | ||
| Control Presets | ||
| Control Preset Editor | ||
| Model-Assisted Dynamics & Vibrato | ||
| Vibrato Speed Control | ||
| Dynamic Range Sculpting | ||
| Mono/Poly Modes | ||
| Double-Stop Logic | ||
| Portamento Speed Control | ||
| Pizzicato Resonance Control | ||
| Made for Kontakt Player | ||
| Download Size | 4.6 GB | 8.9 GB |
| Articulations | Essential | Full | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legato Transitions | Normal: Slur (Vib, NonVib) - P, MF, FF | ||
| Normal: Bow (Vib, NonVib) - P, MF, FF | |||
| Normal: Portamento (Vib, NonVib) - P, MF, FF | |||
| Immediate: Slur (Vib, NonVib) - P, MF, FF | |||
| Immediate: Bow (Vib, NonVib) - P, MF, FF | |||
| Harmonic: Slur - MF | |||
| Harmonic: Bow - MF | |||
| Harmonic: Portamento - MF | |||
| Legato Rebows | Normal: Rebow (Vib, NonVib) - P, MF, FF | ||
| Immediate: Rebow (Vib, NonVib) - P, MF, FF | |||
| Emotional Rebow (Vib, NonVib) - P, MF, FF | |||
| Harmonic: Rebow - MF | |||
| Static Sustains | Normal (Vib, NonVib) - P, MF, F, FF (~3rr) | ||
| Con Sordino* (Vib, NonVib) - P, MF, F, FF (~3rr) | |||
| Sul Ponticello (Vib, NonVib) - P, MF, F, FF (~3rr) | |||
| Sul Tasto (Vib, NonVib) - P, MF, F, FF (~3rr) | |||
| Harmonic - MP | |||
| Contour Sustains | Crescendo: Short Long | ||
| Decrescendo: Short, Long | |||
| Swells: Short, Long | |||
| Tremolos | Normal - MP, F | ||
| Con Sordino - MP, F | |||
| Sul Ponticello - MP, F | |||
| Trills | Normal (Half, Whole) - MP, F | ||
| Con Sordino (Half, Whole) - MP, F | |||
| Shorts | Staccato - P, MF, FF (8rr) | ||
| Spiccato - P, MF, FF (8rr) | |||
| Ricochet: Separated (2-8rr) | |||
| Ricochet: Performances | |||
| Pizzicato - P, MF, FF, Bartók (Snap) | |||
| Releases | Natural - P, MF, F, FF | ||
| Soft Release Performance | |||
| Dramatic Release Performance | |||
Grammy® winner Joshua Bell is one of the most celebrated winning violinists of his era, and his restless curiosity, passion, and multi-faceted musical interests are unparalleled in the world of classical music. With more than 40 CDS recorded of classical repertoire as well as soundtracks including the Oscar® winning score for The Red Violin, Bell has been embraced by wide television audiences with appearances ranging from The Tonight Show, Tavis Smiley, Charlie Rose, to CBS Sunday Morning and Sesame Street. He was one of the first classical artists to have a music video on VH1 and he was the subject of a BBC Omnibus documentary.
Bell has appeared in publications ranging from The Strad and Gramophone to Time, The New York Times, People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, GQ, Vogue and Reader’s Digest among many. Bell performs on the world’s most precious stages from Carnegie Hall 33 times to the Hollywood Bowl with his 1713 Huberman Stradivarius violin and his late 18th century French bow by François Tourte.
Now owned by Joshua Bell, the 1713 ‘Huberman’ Stradivari violin has a thrilling history. Formerly known as the ‘Gibson’ Strad, the violin was twice stolen from the Polish violinist Bronislaw Huberman and for nearly 50 years remained undiscovered in plain sight, disguised by its thief – a café violinist named Julian Altman who made a deathbed confession to his wife.
After Altman’s death, his wife had the violin authenticated and reported to the proper authorities. The fiddle was then sold to Norbert Brainin, an acclaimed English violinist, who later decided to sell the violin to a dealer who had an investor eyeing it for a museum piece. Then Joshua stepped in, showing great empathy for its rightful owner, Bronislaw Huberman, who had passed away in 1947, and for the instrument which he felt must be played.
In Bell’s words, “The idea of the violin resting silently in a vault made me ill. This was an instrument meant to be played, not just admired.” He purchased the violin for nearly $4 million, selling his own $2 million 1732 Tom Taylor Strad in the process. The rest is history, and Joshua uses the instrument exclusively to this day!
Power Station at BerkleeNYC (formerly Avatar Studios) is a world-renowned recording studio located in the heart of Manhattan. Known for its exceptional acoustics and state-of-the-art equipment, the studio has been a premier destination for artists across all genres. With a rich history of iconic recordings and a commitment to excellence, Power Station at BerkleeNYC offers a unique blend of vintage charm and modern innovation, making it the perfect environment for creativity and collaboration.
The Joshua Bell Violin recording sessions were expertly engineered by Grammy award-winning recording engineer Richard King, whose extensive experience includes recording for world-renowned artists such as Joshua Bell, Yo-Yo Ma, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, among others.
If you’re a currently enrolled student or an educator at an accredited school – whether it’s a university, high school, conservatory, or a structured online program – we’d love to offer you 20% off our instruments.
To apply, just send us a message including your school or program name, your role (like student or teacher), and any other relevant info – along with a quick proof of your academic status (like a scanned student or faculty ID). Once we’ve had a chance to review your info, we’ll send you a custom discount code to use at checkout.
A few things to note: This discount can’t be combined with other discount codes, sale pricing, or upgrade offers. Short-term courses, non-accredited programs, or quick certificate workshops don’t qualify.
Customize your gift card details and add it to your cart.
After purchase, the gift card will be automatically emailed to the recipient.
We offer upgrades from a lower edition (e.g., Lite) to a higher edition (e.g., Full) by paying the price difference between what you originally paid and the current price of the higher edition of eligible product series. Promotional pricing will also be factored into the upgrade process during active sales. Additionally, you have the option to retain access to your current edition for a $10 license fee.
