Guitar Rig 4 amp/cabinet inventory November 6, 2010
Posted by xenocidebot in Music.2 comments
It’s been bugging me that Guitar Rig 4, unlike, say, Amplitube, doesn’t actually list what its pedals/amps/cabinets/etc. are supposed to be modeling in the manual. So I put this together quick. Used a few different sources and checked them to make sure they sounded solid for the amps and pedals. The cabinets were mostly guesswork (and I’m still unsure on several, guitar gear isn’t really my thing) so they might be off. I’ll correct it if anyone can properly identify something I’m unsure of or just mislabeled.
Mics I didn’t bother with because they’re just too obvious, you can find those yourself just searching for “Guitar Rig mic models” or something.
Anyway!
Amp heads:
AC Box = Vox AC30
Citrus = Orange Overdrive OD120
High White = Hiwatt DR-130
Lead 800 = Marshall JCM800 Lead
Jump = Marshall JCM 900
Plex = Marshall 1959 SLP
Hot Plex = Not a real amp, a gain-spiked version of the Plexi (though it looks like a JMP with those colors)
Cool Plex = Not a real amp, a clean specialty version of the Plexi
Jazz Amp = Roland Jazz Chorus-120
Twang Reverb = Fender Twin Reverb
Tweed Delight = Fender Tweed Deluxe
Tweedman = Fender Bassman
Bass Pro = Some Ampeg head (maybe SVT-450H?)
Gratifier = Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier
RAMMFIRE = Kruppe’s Pre-500 (serial number) Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier
Ultrasonic = Bogner Uberschall
Distortion Pedals:
Distortion = Boss Distortion DS-1
Mezone = Boss Metal Zone MT-2
Cat = Pro Co Rat
Skreamer = Ibanez TS808 Tubescreamer
Big Fuzz = Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi
Fuzz = Dunlop Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face
TransAmp = Tech 21 SansAmp Classic
Demon = MXR Dime Distortion DD11
Sledge Hammer = Marshall Jackhammer JH-1
Cabinets:
-Cabinets and Mics:
1×12 Tweed Alnico = Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Tweed
1×12 Custom = Fender Blues Junior
2×12 Tweed = Fender 57 Twin? (Blue/Green/Cream = No idea)
2×12 Brit 60s = Vox AC30
2×12 Chief V-30 = PRS 2×12 Open Back or maybe a Bogner Custom Shop 2×12? Stretch on either.
2×12 Custom = No idea (Lopoline maybe?)
2×12 Jazz = Roland JC-120 Jazz
4×10 Tweed = Fender 59 Bassman
4×12 UK 60s Tall = Marshall 1960 JTM45 4×12 60W cabinet
4×12 UK 60s = Marshall 1960 JTM50 4×12 75W cabinet
4×12 UK 80s = Marshall 1982a
4×12 UK 70s = Orange PPC 412-C
4×12 High White = Hiwatt SE-4123
4×12 Gratifier = Mesa/Boogie 4×12 Rectifier Standard Slant
4×12 Ultrasonic = Bogner 4×12 Slant
1×15 Bass Pro = Ampeg SVT-15E or B-115E
1×15 Bass WR = SWR WorkingPro 1×15
4×10 Bass Pro = Ampeg SVT-410HE or B410-HE
4×10 Bass WR = SWR WorkingPro 4×10
8×10 Bass Pro = Ampeg SVT-810E
8×10 Bass WR = SWR Megoliath 8×10
Rotator Horns = Leslies in different cases
-Control Room:
American 2×12 = Something like a Fender Super-Sonic 60 212
British 2×12 = Vox AC30
British 2×12 v72 = Vox AC30 CC2
Vintage 4×12 V1 = Marshall1960 JTM45 4×12 60W cabinet
Vintage 4×12 V2 = Marshall 1960 JTM50 4×12 75W cabinet
Modern 4×12 = ENGL E412VG
Rammfire 4×12 = Either a Mesa/Boogie 4×12 Rectifier 2 Standard Slant or maybe a Marshall something
ALL SYSTEMS GO October 21, 2010
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Also, this again:
http://www.tindeck.com/listen/ofqb
So, yes, I’m finally fully operational, aside from some minor customization things. FL 9.6 is pretty much rocking my world, so I’m still taking my time with actually pounding material out.
There’s more coming up, it’s just that recently I got involved in a fakebit soundtrack that’s kinda under wraps temporarily. So, for now, I’m making tunes, but you can’t hear them. Alas and alack, right? Right.
Terabytes and Battlestations September 19, 2010
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I haven’t actually mentioned my recent hardware problems on here yet, at least as far as I can remember. So here’s an explanation:
My music VST plugins have, in the last four or so years, grown in number and become completely impossible to keep track of in their entirety. Or, rather, they had grown thus. It was like sifting through a Lego bin for that one piece and finding trees and yellow crap. Kralik freeware synths are the VSTi equivalent of those horribly colored derpy bricks you never used, even with the benefit of childhood whimsy. At the same time, forces appeared to be encroaching my fortress of musicsmithing on other fronts. My 1TB drive filled pretty close to the brim with samples over time- also serving as another place to install crap, it left little room to install more crap or get more samples. And the fact that I had FL Studio installed repeatedly on my smaller drive, once for each version that had been recently used, made it awkward to install it yet again when the 9.5 Beta came out, which would make it even moreso when the next stable build was released.
I have since culled my VSTs to a more manageable number, keeping only the essentials and letting the wind do as it will with the chaff. The chosen few are undergoing a systematic reinstallation upon a new 2TB drive and up-backing as I have time to do so, along with my project files. The samples have also made the migration to this new drive. So, as I reinstall and backup everything, I’ll post where I’m at so far.
CURRENTLY:
[X] FL Studio 9.5 and Fruity plugins installed
[X] Chiptune VSTs installed
[X] Bass VSTs installed
[X] Softsynth VSTs installed
[X] Misc VSTs installed
[X] All VSTs installed
[X] VSTs backed up
[X] Project files backed up
SampleTank 2 September 12, 2010
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Well, I said I was going to review it, but there isn’t much to review.
IK’s Sampletank 2 is a sample workstation, like several other sample workstations before it. You couldn’t import your own samples when I reviewed it, but you could use all IK’s other sample libraries with it, like Miroslav. Beyond the actual sampling, Sampletank offers all the features you expect for tweaking the samples, adjustable ADSR envelopes, detuning, compressing, your basic filters and effects, blah blah blah. You can also have it do normal resampling, give you options to alter pitch and tempo, or enable the…”Sampletank Time REsynthesis TeCHnology”, which has no noticable effects to me. They advertise it like it will remove the “‘chip-munk’ effect” that comes from pitch bending samples. I still noticed it quite painfully in several of them, so I’m not sure where that came from, as far as I can tell it just offers the ability to screw with the harmonics of a sample when it’s on.
Right off the bat, then, Sampletank isn’t looking too hot- samplers that can’t import samples are somewhat useless except for a couple things- playing live or on the go with minimal CPU load, and use for sketching if the sample library is large. I was looking into it for both. While it can import other samples now, the fact that is it still pales in comparison to a real sampler. Hell, your DAW probably came more fully-featured than this does as a sampler (I’m using FL Studio, and Direct Wave combined with the filters it came with beats this by a long shot.) So I’m going to assume you’re buying this for the samples and low CPU load, because buying it just to use as a sampler would be moronic. If that’s what you’re in the market for, get Kontakt.
Unfortunately, the samples in Sampletank just aren’t that good. I dismissed East West’s Quantum Leap Colossus back in the day for sounding like glorified general MIDI schlock, and Sampletank doesn’t do any better in my eyes. In a lot of instances, especially when trying to draft something guitar-led, I found myself looking at MIDI options just because they sounded better. The basses are alright, I guess, but that’s about all I can give it. And when a guy can get Broomstick Bass for $60, well, not such a highlight. It felt like I may as well have just loaded up some templates with solid VSTis on them, because I wasn’t saving any time digging for a sound I actually found tolerable.
So what if you’re too cheap to buy something beefier like East West’s Goliath or some solid instruments, or you’re on the go? Well, I’d say get Luxonix’s Purity if you just want a general-purpose portable instrument, and a copy of Broomstick Bass with the leftover scratch, and a copy of GPO4 if you were going to buy Miroslav too. If you wanted a cheap sampler, get Direct Wave. I can think of no good reason to get Sampletank 2 nor 2.5, unless you were already tied to IK’s sample libraries because you bought another product. And considering there’s not much reason to buy those compared to competing products, well, you get the picture.
By the Sword and the Cross August 25, 2010
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I’m not sure why I’m going to talk about this here, while I have a dedicated music review blog in the works, but whatever.
A bit old to be talking about by now, By the Sword and the Cross is something that passed by the radar of most (or was simply ignored, as is the case with me) back when it dropped in March. That doesn’t mean it should have. I mean, it’s Christopher Lee. Even if you don’t like symphonic metal, even if you’ve already read other negative reviews of it, you should give it a quick listen, if anything for the experience. Because this album is weird, even if for reasons that make it objectively terrible when judged just as music. Maybe not something to buy, but you can always stream it once and see how it leaves you.
I mean, it’s an experience to hear this, which is more than you can say for a lot of albums.
Judging it just as music…okay, it’s poorly executed. May as well call a spade a spade. The Overture doesn’t really do much to get you excited for what’s to come, nor does it really fail in any ways. It’s just some instrumental symphonic metal that falls very heavily on the symphonic side of the fence. Not an inherently bad thing! But the mostly uninspired feel of the music moving forward is. If you didn’t pick up a feeling of “meh” from the Overture, you’ll definitely get it before Act I finishes. The instruments are always somewhat bland, either playing generic orchestral fluff or samey not-really-metal riffs. I know, you’re expecting me to sat the vocals make up for it. They don’t. Some people don’t like the narrator…she seemed to me like one of those old PC game narrators, and didn’t really bore me at all, just did her job. But holy crap, are all the vocals not done by Lee or whoever is Kid Charley terrible. Every time a chorus or secondary character comes in, I wanted to cringe.
Then again, I wanted to cringe when I heard Lee singing his parts. He’s the focal point of this entire affair, and…his voice doesn’t disappoint, but he’s not singing anything interesting. Not that the story isn’t, the lyrics are just atrocious. May as well have recorded covers of those songs by Nice Pete, it’d have the same effect. You get all this wonderful voice and it’s not really singing anything meaningful, just kinda being a good voice and hanging out. It wouldn’t even be that bad if it had some schmuck singing, but instead we get a guy that it’s hard not to feel excited by (c’mon, think of the concept: Count freaking Dooku sings about a warrior king!), and then get let down hard by the actual substance of the lyrics and not particularly good music.
Okay, so I said you should listen to it, because there’s something of merit in here. If it were so bad it’s good and that sort of ironic appeal was all it had, I would have said as much straight up. The truth is, it’s the combination of a little of that cheese along with some other factors that vary by song. Specifically:
-Act II has some amazing instances of lyrical dissonance (like at 2:02) that actually feel purposefully and skillfully done. In an otherwise terrible track it kinda tickles to hear them just spring up.
-Act III’s chorus at 2:14-3:09 and 4:52-onward is straight up epic. The music is still tame, but less so, and the vocals actually make up for it for just a moment. You can hear hints of the power the rest of the album had the potential to achieve. Try going through it and not either wishing for more of that chorus or at least singing to yourself “I SHED BLOOD OF SAXON MEN” at least once.
-Act V is so bad it’s funny.
-Finale and Iberia reuse the Act III “riff”, which is lame, but it’s…well, it’s lame. But better than the rest of the music, and they mix it up a little.
Now, does any of that merit a purchase? No. This isn’t worth buying by any stretch in my mind, but appreciating once, certainly, because it has a few moments of decency, a few moments of cheese, and is just generally interesting. Especially when you consider this as Christopher Lee’s first time really doing anything of the sort (sure he’s sung before on better music, but never done his own concept album.) I’m certain a second album would be substantially better, and totally respect the attempt made here. So it’s kinda bad. Learning experience. If the dude decides to have another go at it, I’d be pretty stoked, if not, well, this doesn’t hurt you by existing, and you might actually like a track (or two.)
If you listen to nothing else, try Act III.
Keepers from a purchase of the full album would be the Overture, Act III, and the instrumental of the same.
LOONKAN PORK July 16, 2010
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ZOMG LOONKAN PORK IS HAVING A CONTEST
Did I mention I hate them and they suck?
http://www.tindeck.com/listen/gmri
Winter Caves July 7, 2010
Posted by xenocidebot in Music.2 comments
http://www.tindeck.com/listen/ynes
Random title. Hypothetical track for a Minecraft Adventure mode level. Probably not going to finish, made while sifting through drum samples.
I’ll say more later.
EPs and new stuff March 18, 2010
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Hey! Sorry I haven’t posted in a while (or even bothered to change the banner yet), I’ve been busy with school. To make up for the absence, I’m throwing a bit of stuff your way right now.
First- just some housekeeping stuff- the articles and stuff are going on temporary hiatus, because I’m busy actually making music right now. Don’t worry, though, more are coming, and I hope to do another long one in April about a few…touchy subjects.
Second- I’ve felt bad about not getting out a real release for a while now, so I’ve been working away at an EP. Listen to the premaster and tell me what you think, it’s not quite finished yet (though it will be by the end of the month.)
Third- I intending on dividing my projects after this into a few specific subgroups, one being soundtrack-style stuff (at least until I’ve got a demo one done), one for a full album, and one for a videogame/remix cover project. I know, I know, everybody’s doing that, but still, it’s fun, and I’m looking into ways to make it a bit more original than a rock cover of MM2 songs. I’ve done a bit of asking around regarding some of the less-loved tracks in the Megaman franchise and other video games, with kinda surprising results, and I intend on covering a lot of what was suggested over time. An example of the less-loved tracks I’m talking about would be Needle Man’s stage from the second gameboy Megaman game. I like redoing GB stuff in particular, because of how much room there is to rearrange the tracks.
That’s all for now.
Fakebit (faux-chiptunes w/ DAWs and VSTis) January 30, 2010
Posted by xenocidebot in Music.5 comments
Some people like to make purposefully “retro” music based on or inspired by old-school video game music. The majority of people do so with the actual hardware of the system in question, or a tracker and other software that emulates it. It’s the best way for getting an authentic sound for the system in question, no doubt, but a bit overkill for most people. The rest of us, who’d rather dabble in that “retro” sound without diving headfirst into the deep end of the pool, are better off using a number of VST instruments that allow one to approximate certain system’s sound chips, generally for free, and without the hassle of having to learn how to use additional hardware or software. Of course, this requires you have a DAW with VSTi support. If you don’t, you probably produce using Reason or some sort of tracker that isn’t Renoise. Reason users have alternatives. Tracker users, well, you’re already using the type of software used to make the more “authentic” fakebit music out there. I’ll mention trackers at the end anyway, but you could probably just google “system X tracker” and have something for whatever system you want.
I feel like I should mention this before I go any further- If you were expecting this to be a guide on making authentic chiptune music based on or emulating specific soundchips perfectly, it’s not. It’s a list of VSTi plugins I’ve found useful for getting “retro” sounds, a little talk on how one can approximate certain sound chips, and very brief mention of some trackers. I’ve got no tolerance for the debate over whether or not producing this sort of music using a tracker is inherently better or not. If what you make sounds good to you, the “authenticity” (or lack thereof) of the tune should be irrelevant.
Before we get system specific: Sampling
If you’re lazy, and just want some percussion that sounds vaguely chiptuneish without the hassle of worrying about what a specific system would have used (or want percussion that just sounds somewhat decent, considering what chiptune music lets pass for percussion in the first place, but still want it a bit lo-fi), all you need is something like Decimort to reduce the sample rates and bit rates of your existing samples. Also worth considering for people who are only trying to make NES-style stuff is Tweakbench’s Toad- a decent NES drumkit. You can find other sample sets out there for multiple systems as well, or you could lift some percussion samples directly from existing chiptunes. They’re not hard to find- Zophar’s Domain has a boatload. Pick up Chipamp, and you’re more or less set- most of those input plugins allow you to change what’s playing on each chip, letting you record specific parts for sampling purposes. It’s also nice for letting you figure out instrumentation and that sort of thing.
Just be careful using Decimort alone if you’re trying to make fakebit in the style of any particular system. It’ll inevitably sound a bit crunchier than you may care for (mainly because most consoles didn’t use only samples for percussion, and you are distorting the samples), and it’s nowhere near how any given console’s sampling would actually sound, much less the noise percussion a lot of chiptunes use. Making system-specific percussion samples might be your best bet if you’re going the lazy route.
On to individual systems: The NES
When most people think of the words “chiptune” or “fakebit”, they think of the good old NES/Famicom. For good reason, too- it’s not like Megaman 2 was on the Master System! The limitations of the NES’s soundchip are also fairly easy to approximate in a DAW- you just have to limit yourself to using 5 channels, with each channel assigned to either one of two pulse waves (at either, 12.5%, 25%, 50% or 75%), one triangle wave, one noise channel, and one for low-grade samples. The actual NES is subject to other limitations as well…volume can only be set to one of 16 levels, the samples on the fifth channel are extremely low quality, being short in length and compressed to ridiculous degrees, the triangle wave has only one volume level, each channel is monophonic- I can go on, but you probably won’t want to stay within those particular boundaries (I mean, I sure as hell don’t- I need polyphony!) As I’ve said before, this is about approximation, not emulation.
If you’re trying to get a NES-ish sound without leaving your DAW, some good options are:
-Famisynth (it’s on the right, under “VST LABO.”) I love this thing. It works great for primitive leads and basses, even in non-fakebit songs. I’m not all that keen on using it for the noise channel percussion, though. Which is not to say that it doesn’t work for that role- it’s just that I’d rather the following plugin for that. The interface is a bit funky (trying too hard to be creative, rather than functional) too, but it’s not a major complaint. Just remember you can click on the variables directly rather than use the buttons and you’ll be set.
-Magical 8-bit Plugin. I find it better suited to percussion, sound effects, and the generic triangle basses than leads (it has an automated bend that works great for sound effects and such), but you can easily use this for most roles in a Fakebit song well enough.
-Universe (under “Downloads.”) Another competent, albeit odd, softsynth based on the NES. Nothing to write home about compared to Famisynth and M8bp, but the simplicity of it might win you over. I don’t use it myself.
-Nintiny. Eh. It’s unfinished, but if for whatever reason you’re not content with Famisynth and M8bp, try it.
-Neochip. I’m not all that impressed with this one, but like Nintiny, you might want to give it a shot if you’re not happy with everything else.
Also worth mentioning are Tweakbench’s Peach and Triforce. Peach is okay- it’s just a bunch of samples (or, rather, they say it’s a synthesizer, but it may as well be a sample bank) that you may or may not have a use for. Triforce is a bit wonky, though. It only does triangle, pulse at 50%, and noise, and none of them sound all that good (at least, compared to what Famisynth or Magical8bit puts out.) Worth trying if you’ve gotten this far and still can’t find something you like, but that’s all.
Not leaving 8-bit quite yet: The MSX (and others)
Another option that can work with your DAW in attempting to make NES-ish chiptunes (though, as the header would suggest, they’re done using an emulator for a special Konami chip on certain MSX cartridges) but requires use of an additional program is GXSCC. With that, all you need to do is write a MIDI file and import it, and it’ll play it back with a set of instruments based on your choosing in the configuration menu. These include NES-style and MSX style instruments, along with sets of all one waveform. A great example of the NES-style kit can be heard here.
One more treat for MSX lovers (though I’m not sure any exist anymore, much less any that speak English) is SoftPSG, an AY-3-8910 emulator. That is, of course, a chip used in not just the MSX, but the Intellivision, Atari ST, Vectrex, and ZX Spectrum. Unfortunately, it’s a little hard to find a download of, and a little hard to use…and, really, not all that useful when you do have it (if you can’t find it and really want to try it, send me a message- just expect to be underwhelmed.) The good MSX chip (K051649, FYI) is emulated by GXSCCB236- the AY-3-8910 isn’t even all that special (hence Konami making a custom chip for their cartridges), and SoftPSG doesn’t handle it very well, with a terrible interface and extremely limited functionality. You could use YMVST instead, since it’s based on a variation of that chip in the Atari ST…but it sounds pretty different, and it’s not all that great of a chip to be approximating anyway. Who remembers any good tunes for the Atari ST, really?
While still on miscellany 8-bit systems- let me touch on something that does have English speaking fans, the C64. While I’m not particularly fond of it, quadraSID is a good softsynth in it’s own right, and goes above and beyond emulating the SID chip of the Commodore 64, making it the best option if that’s your chip of choice. I’ve only used it briefly, but it’s pretty solid in my experience. The only problem you might have is that “above and beyond” functionality, if you’re trying to stay semi-authentic and don’t remember off the top of your head what the SID is capable of. Other options include 38911 Bytes, and basic64, a pair of similarly competent softsynths. Both are worth a shot, if you’ve got the time to try ‘em out.
Lastly, the red-headed stepchildren of the 8-bit section- the Gameboy and the Sega Master System. For the former, you can use M8bp again, along with Chip32, or Poo Boy. After all, the Gameboy uses just two squares, one noise, and a terrible 4-bit programmable PCM wave. Not my thing, but it might be yours, and Chip32/Pooboy are decent lofi softsynths on their own. If you’re nostalgiabombing for the Sega Master System, you can use SN-EMU. Of course, the TI SN76489 which it emulates is pretty funky (in a bad way.) Four channels, three of which are square waves, one of which is noise. By itself, it’s pretty yucky. I wouldn’t ever try approximating the Master System, but maybe you have fond memories Zillion or something?
Twice the bits = Twice the fun: The Genesis/Sega Arcade cabinets
Ah, VOPM. While not an emulator of the exact chip used in the Genny (VOPM emulates the slightly superior YM2151 instead of the YM2612), it’s similar enough to make it work for faux-Genesis tracks. It’s also not a bad softsynth in it’s own right, working nicely as a quickie FM synthesizer. It is a bit of a pain in the ass to use compared to most of the other plugins listed here- thankfully, there’s an English manual out for it that’s pretty nice, and you ought to learn it pretty quickly.
Of course, part of what made Genesis music so rad was that it had two sound chips to use- the YM2612 and the TI SN76489. And while three plain squares and a noise channel by themselves are somewhat ugly, working in tandem with 6 channels of FM synthesis (or 5 channels and one 8-bit sampler)…it’s pretty rad. Remember when I mentioned Chipamp and the soundtracks on Zophar’s domain? Go listen to some of the Sonic 3 and Knuckles soundtrack. Turn off the individual chips in the VGM input plugin and listen to what they play and how they compliment each other for an idea of how to use VOPM and SN-EMU together.
I feel like I ought to give you a warning, though. We all remember a time when the Genesis and SNES were competing platforms, right? And the SNES handled a wide variety of musical styles excellently. The one problem you’re inevitably going to have trying to make music as the Genesis would is that it’s inherently good at certain styles of music, and very, very bad at others. It’s a quirk of the synthesis method- the YM2612 is better suited to sounds with twangs to them, percussive sounds, smoother sounds, and crazy warbly stuff than anything. That’s just how FM synthesis leans. You can still get a wide range of sounds out of it, mind you- hell, VOPM can do a lot of stuff you wouldn’t expect it to, and I’ve gotten not only the crazy leads and basses one would expect, but even a couple brass and organ patches out of it. But there are certain things it really can’t and shouldn’t do. Don’t assume that just because the Genesis and SNES shared a few titles, they can handle the same styles of music. Not to say that you can’t try converting certain things anyway.
The SNES and onward: Or, why SNES music is dead
Funny thing about the SNES…the reason it could handle so many more audio styles than the Genesis was because it used an onboard sampler for a sound chip. Where composing for another system was like composing for a specific set of instruments, composing for the SNES was basically what you do for production already, save having to loop samples like mad due to storage restrictions. That’s also why the SNES began to sound dated as quickly as it did. As soon as other consoles came out handling sampling better, it became apparent that the SNES’s SPC700 was obsolete.
As such, I’d advise against trying to make any “SNES-style” music (or music for any other sample-based but low-quality soundchip, like the GBA or NDS)- because there is no “SNES-style.” Most of the good soundtracks for the SNES are only good because of how excellently they are composed and how close they are to a “real” genre of music, not their instrumentation. You can listen to some pieces for the NES, C64, or Genesis, and never come up with a solid way to arrange them for anything other than the chip they’re already on, because the limitations of the hardware forced their composers to invent their own genres exclusive to those chips. Meanwhile, any piece on the SNES can be arranged quite easily- just replace the samples with higher quality equivalents. A bit silly to go through all the effort of composing a more or less normal piece, only to dramatically lessen the quality of it, don’t you think?
Going off the deep end: Trackers, hardware, and bears, oh my
So! You’ve read this article thus, and aren’t contented with what you’ve seen. Maybe you take another stance on chiptunes as a genre, and think only strict adherence to the limitations of specific hardware (or software that emulates said hardware, if you’re in-between) allows one to create music in that genre. Maybe you just want that extra degree of “authenticity.” Fair enough, either way. The following are some places to get started hopping off the “deep end” of fakebit (of course, I say that pejoratively, but even I’ll use Famitracker from time to time…):
-Famitracker: Want to write something an actual NES could play? This is your tool.
-Midines: If you’ve got a NES lying around somewhere, this is all you need to start using the real deal.
-Renoise, Milkytracker, MODplug: I mention these here because they’re excellent trackers, and you could, in theory, use any one of them to make SNES style music, presuming you looked up and adhered to the limitations of the SPC700 and the SNES cartridges storage restrictions. I still think it’s a bad idea, though.
-The 8bit Collective Wiki: Information on making chiptunes for a variety of systems.
Happy blipping, fools.
The Electric Guitar- sans Guitar August 9, 2009
Posted by xenocidebot in Music.2 comments
It has long been held as a sort of music-making maxim that any and all use of an electric guitar is best left in the hands of an actual guitarist with a real electric guitar. Where one can more easily approximate other instruments (like a variety of strings or horns) using sound banks and such, the electric guitar proves amazingly hard to emulate realistically using a synthesizer or sample set. The goal of this post is to look at multiple products one could use to get an electric guitar sound in their music- without the use of a real guitar. Each product’s effectiveness (realism, ease of use, etc.) and cost will be used as judging criteria. It is assumed that the reader already possesses a digital audio workstation capable of using virtual instruments, but, for whatever reason, is incapable of or does not desire to record a live electric guitar for their music.
Soundfonts and Free Stuff:
The first and most obvious way one could attempt to get a guitar sound in their music would be via free samples and soundfonts. Soundfont players can be obtained easily and on the cheap (or for free), and odds are you already have one. Soundfonts themselves can be found a number of places- Soundfonts.it, HammerSound, homemusician.net…heck, if you search for “free soundfonts”, you’ll find a KVR thread full of free goodies. As for free samples, you can sometimes find limited sample sets of commercial libraries. HumbuckerFree is a good example.
The problem with using free samples and soundfonts is that the quality ranges wildly, and you’re not guaranteed to find anything good or particularly useful. In some instances you may be better off trying to use a general MIDI guitar sound! Being free and all, it isn’t fair to judge them in the same way I would judge a plugin or sample set. Instead, I mention them as a sort of starting point. Even if your budget is nil, with enough time spent searching, free sounds can be found allowing you to use an electric guitar in your tracks- though it may sound like an electric guitar in the loosest sense.
Example 1: Soundfonts
Guitar soundfonts used: “Energized!”, “VL-1 Eguitar Clean”, “TubeGTR”, available on Soundfonts.it
reFX Slayer 2:
Now for a plugin we’re all well aware of, but I feel like mentioning anyway. Slayer 2. At $99, this presents itself as a steal, compared to other products you might want to buy. Guitar simulator, amp simulator, effect pedal simulator, all in one. What’s not to like?
Well…everything, really. It’s a pitiable amp and effects pedal simulator. That aspect of it would be a nice bonus, at least, if it weren’t outdone by freeware. The problem isn’t in that the effects are bad, per se, it’s that they aren’t anything special. The distortion could be worse, and the phaser/chorus/etc. are alright- but they don’t really contribute much to the plugin and are by no means a good reason to buy it. Oh, you can change the color of the guitar, though. If the ability to play dress-me-up-guitar is something you value…I’d question why you’re reading this, actually.
So how does the guitar simulation sound? Terrible, in my opinion. I’ve never been able to get it to sound anything resembling decent playing a lead part or rhythm part. It’s not that hard to use, thankfully, but that isn’t worth much when it sounds this bad.
Example 2: Slayer
Don’t just take my word for it, though, I’m not infallible. Give the official demo a listen! It’s barely more plausible than the free sounds I used or what you can probably find on your own.
I’m not saying Slayer 2 is entirely useless. It certainly has some applications, if you’re looking at it as a synth with some twang to it rather than a guitar simulator. Background stuff that isn’t trying to sound like an electric guitar works alright with Slayer 2.
Example 3: Slayer as background
But as a solution to the average joe’s guitar woes, I can’t recommend it.
Musiclab RealStrat:
Let’s jump up a class. Musiclab’s $250 RealStrat. No extra effects, no color changing garbage, no nonsense whatsoever- just a small sample library in a virtual instrument. Well, okay, the plugin has a cute fretboard interface. While it’s not that large of a library, nor incredibly versatile, it sounds great, is easy to use, and oughta satisfy your needs for basic rhythmic stuff and simpler leads. I’m a huge fan of how it handles. The Harmony, chord, and bass settings are really nice, and it’s cool that you can put different articulations and such on different notes in the “Solo” mode. With the proper effects, RealStrat is an awesome electric guitar substitute for those on a budget.
Example 4: RealStrat
The official demos also sound great. RealStrat still isn’t that realistic- if the demos are any indication you aren’t going to be fooling people into thinking you’re secretly collaborating with a real guitarist, but for the price, you wouldn’t expect to.
The Prominy LPC library:
If you’re wanting a bit more realism and the ability to do convincing lead work, you’ll want a bigger sample library. Something like the Prominy LPC library. Available in $600 and $350 flavors (distorted and clean or just one or the other), it reflects the price with it’s (60 GB!) size. The thing about the Prominy LPC library is that it’s basically an instrument in it’s own right. There’s a learning curve, to be sure, though it’s not as bad a learning how to play the actual guitar. It’s more time consuming, since you’re playing with multiple articulations which then vary based on the modwheel position, but the results are really nice. Just expect to sink some time into it and have the (huge) manual at the ready, even if all you’re doing is rhythm parts.
Example 5: Prominy rhythm
I’d throw in a piece of my own using Prominy LPC for a lead, but there are several good examples of what the library is capable of out there already. With this, you may actually convince people you’ve got a real guitarist in your studio.
A minor downside- it requires Kontakt, which not everybody has nor needs, meaning you’re looking at an extra $450 if you want to use it and don’t already have Kontakt. I say it’s minor because Prominy also offers a $400 guitar sample set that comes with it’s own sampler. Assuming it’s also good, (and listening to the demos I imagine it must be), that’s something you could buy if the Kontakt requirement was a hangup.
In Conclusion:
I’m not trying to say that free sounds scrounged from the internet, Slayer, RealStrat, or a Prominy sample library are your only options. I use them as examples for what can be obtained at what price ranges and how effective products in that range may be. There are other sample libraries out there that might suit your needs better…while I can’t speak for them, not having used them, I have to assume similarly priced products will offer similar results.
So: What do you opt for?
It all depends on what you need and how much money you’re willing to spend. In the <$100 price range, you’re not going to get any bang from your buck. My only advice to those of you incapable of buying a real sample library is to do the best you can with what you can find for free on the ‘net and save up. You’re better off with free samples and soundfonts than something like Slayer 2.
If you’re willing to spend >$100, consider what you want an electric guitar sound for. Is it going to be pretty far back in your mixes, like rhythm parts for electronica? Something like RealStrat may be just the thing for you. It also provides ease of use and requires hardly any time investment for familiarzation. Conversely, while they cost more and take longer to learn and use properly, larger sample libraries like those offered by Prominy offer greater realism and sound more convincing playing lead parts. If you’re trying to become a one-man metal ensemble, or just want some satisfying and plasuble electric guitar solos and rhythms in your music, Prominy will work wonders for you. If you don’t already own Kontakt, you may want to consider something cheaper, or another library that comes with it’s own sampler, like Prominy SC or EastWest’s Ministry of Rock.
You’ll never manage to perfectly approximate any instrument with just synthesizers or samples. But odds are there’s a product out there that’s realistic enough for applications in your genre and within your budget.
