Review of the Zager Family of Guitars (JamPlay Reviews). Check out JamPlay to improve your guitar playing, guaranteed! Review: Positive Grid BIAS FX 2 is so good you may never want to go back to playing a 'real world' amp or pedalboard again. By Chris Gill. The latest version of the amp modeler includes jaw-dropping Guitar. Dec 14, 2019 The guitar looks good, sounds good, plays well and stays in tune - comes with a nice gigbag. I have found zero flaws in the workmanship and the setup from OW was great - I haven't felt the need to tweak a thing. On the DVD, you’ll find the RealStrat installer, a demo version of Real Guitar and Amplitube 2 Duo, an OEM version of the IK Multimedia amp simulation program, offering 2 amps, 2 preamps and EQ, 2 cabinets, 2 stomp boxes (Wah and overdrive) and other refinements, usable as a plug-in or in standalone mode; in short everything to fine tune the.
MusicLab impressed us with the playability and sound quality of their virtual acoustic guitar instrument, RealGuitar — and now they’ve gone electric…
«MusicLab RealStrat»by Nick Magnus, Sound On Sound magazine about RealStrat
Before the virtual instrument revolution, producing convincing keyboard-generated guitar parts was a rather hit-and-miss affair. Although it was possible to achieve some moderately passable acoustic and electric ‘lead guitar’ performances, given a decent source of sampled raw material and some appropriate outboard processing, it was usually at the expense of the finer details; those ‘guitaristic’ articulations and techniques that add an authentic feel of spontaneity and human interactivity. Altogether much harder to emulate were convincing strummed guitar parts.
Two hardware MIDI products from the 1990s, Oberheim’s Strummer and Charlie Labs’ strap-on Digitar, made a brave stab at the job by analysing any chord presented at their MIDI input and producing a ‘strummed’ MIDI output, in an appropriate guitar voicing, to drive a target sound source. Of these, the Digitar allowed for true real-time strumming and was the more successful of the two in terms of realism; nevertheless the dark circles under my eyes still remain, testifying to the many editing hours spent bullying Digitar parts into submission. Yet even after all that work, they ended up being buried in the mix to protect their patently artificial nature from detailed examination!
The wide, fat neck and beautiful balance make it an easy and comfortable electric guitar to play. For the real PRS enthusiast, the Studio model electric guitar is top-of-the-line. This guitar has a carved figured maple top with a V12 finish that adds to the feel, sound.
Steinberg provided a groundbreaking solution in 2002 with the release of Virtual Guitarist, a software instrument based on time-sliced, sampled loops of real strummed acoustic and electric guitar performances that could sit prominently in a mix. The greatly expanded and enhanced Virtual Guitarist 2 followed in 2006. Virtual Guitarist 2 is nevertheless based upon a supplied library of rhythm styles which, despite being editable and customisable in a DAW, do not allow for real-time strumming performances.
Russian company MusicLab, in collaboration with Best Service, then raised the bar in 2004 with the first release of RealGuitar, the brainchild of Sergey Egorov. (For a more detailed low-down, see the head-to-head reviews of RealGuitar 2L and Virtual Guitarist 2 in the September 2006 issue of SOS.) Taking a different approach to Virtual Guitarist, RealGuitar is exclusively devoted to acoustic guitars, using discrete single-note multisamples taken at multiple velocities, driven by a dedicated engine that employs MIDI processing not entirely dissimilar to that found on Charlie Labs’ Digitar. Chords played on a MIDI keyboard are re-interpreted to produce authentic guitar voicings which can then be ‘strummed’ in real time, using groups of trigger keys elsewhere on the keyboard. However, Real Guitar goes much further than that, offering a fully polyphonic Solo mode and four different Chordal modes, variously utilising numerous user-controllable ‘guitar performance’ tricks such as fret-slides, hammer-ons and tremolando effects, not to mention keyswitchable alternate articulations such as mutes, palm slaps and harmonics. At last, a highly convincing and playable ‘acoustic guitar’ that could be featured loudly and proudly in a mix without a hint of embarrassment or apology. Users fast became fans, and were almost immediately asking “will there be an electric guitar version?”
Enter RealStrat
It’s a reasonable assumption that in deciding to develop RealStrat, as opposed to ‘RealLesPaul’ or ‘RealTele’, Sergey Egorov settled upon that particular guitar as being a quintessentially iconic, versatile and ubiquitous example of the genre. Unlike Real Guitar, which provides eight different acoustic guitars, RealStrat currently offers only the one sample set, although we’ll have to see whether this is augmented in the future with RealStrat-hosted add-on guitar expansion packs (with alternative GUI ‘skins’ that match specific guitars?), or perhaps Real Strat is just the first of an ongoing series of ‘Real’ electric guitar virtual instruments.
RealStrat requires a VST/DXi host for PC, or a VST/AU host for Mac, and RTAS support is also available for Pro Tools users with FXpansion’s VST-to-RTAS Adaptor (which is available or both Mac and PC). A stand-alone version is also installed automatically. During installation, the RealStrat Bank Manager applet asks you to choose a sample rate for the core library appropriate to your usual working environment: six sample rates are offered, from 44.1kHz all the way up to 192kHz. I installed the 44.1kHz version, which occupies 892MB of disk space; if, however, you subsequently wish to change your DAW’s sample rate you will have to run the Bank Manager applet again to re-install the library of the corresponding sample rate. Once the core library is copied over to your hard drive of choice, RealStrat is ready to rock in time-limited demo mode; to fully activate the product, simply apply for an authorisation code via email, and this will be returned in the same way.
Pattern Manager
Featured on RealGuitar and carried over to RealStrat, Pattern Manager contains a sizeable library of pre-programmed rhythms and picking styles, 1250 in all, and is a derivation of MusicLab’s earlier Rhythm’n’Chords MIDI plug-in. These are categorised according to tempo range, meter and playing technique and cover everything from basic picking and strumming to blues, jazz, funk, reggae and world styles, amongst others.
The PM button opens the Pattern Manager window which is divided into three panes: the folder browser, the file browser and the currently selected Pattern display. Once a Pattern is chosen, simply play a chord on the keyboard and the Pattern plays in tempo sync with the host DAW. Incorporating these within a sequence is simplicity itself; just drag a Pattern from the lower display onto a MIDI track and it appears as one bar of MIDI trigger key data that can be copied as many times as required. Being MIDI data, it can also be edited, so applying different grooves and quantise settings is totally possible. The Pattern data does not include chord information, which you add on a separate MIDI track, making sure both tracks’ outputs are routed to RealStrat. It’s instant, ready-made accompaniment and a potential time saver. However, the pleasures of playing RealStrat are so great that I would opt to ‘roll my own’ every time!
Beneath The Scratchplate
Anyone familiar with RealGuitar will feel immediately comfortable with the RealStrat interface, as the two have much in common. RealStrat occupies around 15 percent more screen space than RealGuitar, due to the virtual keyboard and additional functions required by RealStrat’s Solo mode, which goes into considerably more detail than that of RealGuitar.
The GUI is divided into four areas of interest. Across the centre lies the fretboard, upon which green dots appear when RealStrat is played, to indicate which ’strings’ are ’sounding’. To the right is the pick-position selector, which can be placed in any of 15 positions between the neck and bridge, providing a useful range of tonal variation, and making up, in part, for the lack of a pickup selector.
This composite picture shows the performance control options of the various playing modes (Chords Mode is shown in the main plug-in screenshot).
Above the fretboard, on and adjacent to the guitar body, are a number of controls that are always visible, regardless of performance mode. Strum sets the base strum speed (of chords or any simultaneously played notes) for the whole instrument. This can be modified (as can most RealStrat parameters) with a MIDI controller, and also overridden by longer Slow Strums whenever certain definable conditions are met. Attack has the effect of time-stretching or shrinking the plectrum noise, which naturally affects the apparent latency of the instrument. The default setting of 20 percent seems most effective; a setting of zero, while producing the fastest response, seems to detract something from the sound’s ’physicality’. Release affects the rate at which the strings are damped, as you’d expect. The default of 100 percent is fine for most tasks although fast, über-metal-style passages or trills do benefit from shorter settings for cleaner, smudge-free results, especially when using high amplifier overdrive settings.
Part of the realism behind RealStrat’s sound is the Floating Fret Position, which imitates the way a guitarist changes playing position on the neck. This is indicated by a ’capo’ on the fretboard which automatically follows your movements up and down the keyboard. In Solo and Harmony modes, the button labelled ’Auto’ lets you enable or disable this feature. If disabled, you can ’lock’ the capo’s position by right-clicking on the fretboard, whereupon the top five strings will only play samples above the capo position. The three Chord modes address this differently, as explained later. Two Accent Hi/Lo sliders vary the velocity threshold at which the three velocity layers will trigger, effectively extending or reducing the velocity range over which a specific dynamic layer will play. Like RealGuitar, RealStrat also features a full-time round-robin system that alternates samples for repeated notes. The Alter box offers five choices, the minimum representing three alternating samples, and the maximum being 10. This totally eradicates any hint of the dreaded ’machine-gun’ effect, especially when playing tremolando or fast, Reservoir Dogs-style passages. In all modes but Solo mode, the Hold button substitutes the sustain pedal — in other words, all chords sound for their full duration until they either fade out naturally, or you play a new chord or one of the Mute trigger keys. In Solo mode, Hold works only while at least one key is kept held down, whereupon any subsequent notes will sustain until all keys are released.
At the top of the interface are two groups of drop-down menus. The left-hand group handles output level, EQ, tuning, modulation and general instrument setup parameters. Here you can also choose whether RealStrat will add pitch-bend and modulation to all notes, or only those keys that are currently pressed. The latter option is the default, and is the most naturalistic, as it allows you to bend specific held notes within a chord while the rest are ringing via the sustain pedal. In the right-hand group, the Mixer allows you to balance fret noise, release noise, pick noise, mutes, slow-strum and velocity-switched effects against the main body sound, while the FX Mixer offers further level control of bridge mutes, harmonics, pinch harmonics, slaps and scrapes. Also found here are settings for RealStrat’s own built-in wah-wah effect. This can either be set to respond automatically to your playing dynamics (like Electro-Harmonix’s Doctor Q stomp box) with a choice of positive or negative sweeps; to auto-wah according to the set modulation rate; or be controlled manually via a MIDI controller. If you have a continuous MIDI footpedal that can be assigned to this task, so much the better.
The lower part of the GUI has two areas: one that contains the various performance control options (these change depending on which playing mode is active) and the other a virtual keyboard that shows the range of playable notes in the Main zone (see below), as well as displaying which keys are currently being played. The performance control display is the ’nerve centre’ of Real Strat; an examination of its options for each of the various playing modes will follow shortly.
Basic Performance Technique
The MIDI keyboard connected to RealStrat is divided into three zones: the Main playing zone covers E1 to B4 and there are two Repeat zones above and below the Main zone covering C0 to D#1 and C5 to C7. The playing technique (particularly for the Chordal modes) essentially involves playing notes or chords in the Main zone, and repeating them (i.e Strumming) using the Repeat zone keys, although the exact technique differs somewhat depending on Real Strat’s playing mode. The Repeat keys are subdivided into two tasks: white keys repeat the full sound (in Chordal modes, neighbouring white keys alternate between up and down strums) while the black keys play muted versions of the same notes.
Amplitube 3 Custom Shop
RealStrat comes bundled with Amplitube 3 Custom Shop, a cut-down version of IK Multimedia’s Amplitube 3 Guitar Amplifier simulation plug-in. Judgements on the quality of guitar-amp sounds are bound to be subjective. While the two amp models supplied seem competent enough at the more bluesy or clean end of the scale, I struggled to obtain anything approaching the creamy-smooth leads that an (admittedly non-guitarist) ageing progger like me might gravitate towards. Having said that, the full list of amp simulations and other extras in the full version of Amplitube 3 may well contain the missing ingredients, and a reduced-price upgrade to the full version is available.
Those on a shoestring budget might like to check out the growing number of freeware amp simulators on the net. Two of my faves are Voxengo’s Boogex (www.voxengo.com) and BTE Juicy 77 (www.bteaudio.com), both quite different, but producing a range of tones between them that complement RealStrat very well. Solo ModeReal Guitars Sf
As its name suggests, Solo mode allows for fully polyphonic, freestyle playing of single lines, arpeggios, chords or whatever takes your fancy. This features the most detailed set of control options, enabling a vast array of different articulations, noises and guitaristic shenanigans to be activated in various ways. Of the four larger blue boxes shown in the top-left corner of the screen to the left, the left-hand pair govern velocity-switchable articulations and effects. These are selectable from drop-down menus, with independent velocity thresholds for low- and high-velocity effects. When the yellow LEDs are on, these are active; when off, their assigned functions are ignored.
The large box to the lower right offers a substantial list of effects that can be engaged using the sustain pedal; these can either be momentary or latchable, toggling on and off with alternate pedal presses. Sustain itself can be enabled or disabled along with these effects if desired. The upper right-hand box offers a selection of alternative articulations which engage permanently when the box is turned on, and which ignore any velocity-switching settings.
Hammer-ons and legatos are well catered for too; Legato offers smooth note transitions over a two-semitone range, and is very effective for ensuring that two adjacent notes played on the same ’string’ don’t run across each other. Hammer-ons also include automatic pull-offs, their operational range being between one an0d 12 semitones. A separately definable Bass Zone can be toggled on or off, allowing notes within that zone to ignore velocity-switched effects and mute trigger keys, enabling notes within the zone to continue sounding while notes outside the zone respond to all the set conditions.
In addition to these, various functions for the pitch-bender, mod wheel and aftertouch can be selected, with operational ranges for each. Solo mode allows different functions and ranges for upward and downward pitch-bend movements, so you could have, for example, smooth upward whole-tone pitch-bend and chromatic downward ’fret slides’ over five semitones — very cool. Included amongst the pitch-bend options is MonoBend; this bends only the lowest of two or more notes, an effect otherwise known as Unison bend. On discovering this option, I found that uncannily authentic renditions of ’Honky Tonk Women’ and ’Hocus Pocus’ slipped out before I could stop myself! Another nice touch is that the pitch-bend range can be set to half, quarter or even one eighth of a semitone, all especially useful for performing ultra-controllable real-time vibrato using a pitch-bend lever.
If, even after all this, you’re running out of ways to add more articulations, RealStrat keeps on throwing them at you. In Solo mode, the entire range of articulations is available to you via keyswitches. The KS button on the lower far left opens a separate window, listing 33 possible keyswitches (as shown in the screen below) operating across two ranges, C0 to D#1 and D#5 to D6. Each keyswitch has a drop-down menu to select an articulation or effect, and each one can be individually enabled or disabled. Three LED switches to the left of each keyswitch determine whether that particular effect will be momentary or togglable, have sustain (hold) added or simultaneously function as a normal Repeat key. Thoughtfully, RealStrat allows any keyswitch setup to be saved as a preset, so even the most involved setups can be easily recalled. By now you’re probably wondering what these various articulations are. The list is too long to detail in its entirety, but a glance at the keyswitch screenshot on the left shows the vast majority. Slaps, bridge mutes and harmonics are here of course, along with violining (swells), tempo-synced trills and tremolandos, pinch harmonics and chucka-wah noises. You can even add feedback, at any of six selectable pitches, at the press of a trigger key! The intriguingly named Sustainer extends the length of held notes by overlaying an additional swelled version of the same note each time the trigger key is pressed. The Scrapes articulation is actually a complete multisampled collection of one-shot effects including squeaks, squeals, wibbles, scribbles, divebombs, plectrum scrapes and general full-shred guitar mayhem that add a genuine sense of grunge and attitude — barking mad and brilliant! If there’s an articulation not included here, you probably don’t need it.
Chord Mode
Identical to the mode of the same name in RealGuitar, Chord Mode is the place to come when you want to strum. RealStrat can detect 26 different chord types, the name of the current chord being displayed just above the fretboard. As hinted at earlier, the Floating Fret (neck position) behaviour is slightly different to Solo mode: it can either be set at one of four fixed positions or set to track your keyboard position. The capo does not (visibly) track the keyboard as you play, but you can manually position it by right-clicking the fretboard on any fret to override the current chord position. The capo’s position can also be moved using a MIDI controller, making for a very flexible arrangement.
The two number boxes named ’Strings’ allow you to restrict the number of strings sounding, so, for example, an upper setting of one and a lower setting of four will only allow the upper four strings to play — invaluable for avoiding the muddiness of full, overdriven six-note chords in a busy mix. A switchable Chord/Bass option enables major- and minor-triad chords to be rooted by any bass note; for example, a chord of Bb-C-E-G sounds like a C chord over a Bb bass note, rather than being interpreted as a C7 with the Bb at the top. One velocity-switchable effect can be assigned from a choice of slow strums, slides up or slides down. Every setting here can be altered using MIDI controllers, so many subtle variations can be programmed with precision into a sequencer.
Other Modes
Bass & Chord Mode is similar to Chord Mode, but in this case the C5 and D5 trigger keys play the root and fifth (or occasionally the third) of the chord, while only the top four strings are strummed (or fewer, if you alter the Strings# value. The Bass Mono setting prevents the root and fifth bass notes from over-running each other, which lends itself to tidier results. This is the perfect mode for country and western stylings or that wedding party version of ’Mull Of Kintyre’.
Bass & Pick Mode has a performance control panel that’s nearly identical to that of Bass & Chord Mode, but requires a completely different playing technique to the other Chordal modes. Here, the six trigger keys C5 to A5 each trigger one of six ’virtual strings’. While holding a chord in the Main zone, the six trigger keys are played in a finger-picking style, just as if they were the actual guitar strings. The Add-on String Keys selector box determines the function of the black trigger keys from C#5 to A#5. These can play mutes, as in the other playing modes, or, alternatively, if you select Unison they can duplicate the ’full’ note that is one semitone above, facilitating easy performance of tremolando on one string. Even more interesting is the Chromatic setting, whereby the black notes C#5 to G#5 sound one semitone down from the next-highest white note (A#5 to C6 move progressively one semitone higher), leading to some very pleasing and often serendipitous chord voicings, without changing chord shape in the left hand. Dreamy, chorused Genesis-inspired arpeggios, anyone?
And finally, Harmony Mode. This is RealStrat’s simplest mode, and is essentially a one-finger power-chord generator. Six preset power-chord intervals are provided, together with the option of velocity switchable upward or downward slides with configurable velocity threshold, slide speed and range.
Conclusion
I unequivocally love this plug-in. The range of sounds obtainable using various amp simulators, effects and general guitar-oriented processes is seemingly endless. From sparkling, LA-style compressed and chorused arpeggios to full-on metal and down ’n’ dirty blues, RealStrat just works with them all. Techniques such as unison bends, legato fret-slides and hammer-ons, which were so difficult and time-consuming to contrive using my former methods, are a breeze and sound totally convincing now; so much so that I feel compelled to revisit a particular ongoing album project and replace all my previous guitar emulations with RealStrat — it really will make that much difference.
If any criticism at all could be levelled at RealStrat it’s that it sounds so unmistakeably like a Stratocaster that some may hanker for the earthiness of a Les Paul or the manicured tones of a Paul Reed Smith — but the label does say ’RealStrat’, and that’s just what it does.
So does this mean that I will no longer be needing to hire the services of real guitarists? Not at all! But when push comes to shove and budgets are non-existent, I can load up RealStrat and know that the results, although a mere caricature of what a good player would provide, will be far from embarrassing.
It was 2006 when we first reviewed MusicLab’s RealGuitar virtual instrument. It was then at version 2, and has since passed through versions 3 and 4 and now arrived at 5. In the meantime we’ve reviewed other instruments in the series — RealStrat, RealLPC, RealRick. RealGuitar developed in tandem with these, and by version 4 they all shared (by and large) the same set of features and functions. Version 4 improvements included simulated double tracking, customisable humanising (randomisation) of various parameters, and a built-in Song sequencer that enables the integral library of patterns and chords to be arranged as an entire song, constructed entirely within the plug-in and then dragged to the instrument’s DAW track as a MIDI file. The fifth guitar in the series, RealEight (currently at version 1.0) was reviewed in the August 2015 edition of SOS.
«MusicLab RealGuitar 5»by Nick Magnus about RealGuitar
Cut-mix-dissolve to RealGuitar 5, which expands on the original set of acoustic guitars with a brand-new Steel String model.
The Classic instrument in Solo mode. The ‘legacy’ Harmony, Chords, Bass’n’Chord and Bass’n’Pick modes are still here, along with all the original features. Direct input (no ‘intelligent’ scripting), so the Classic remains backwards compatible with older projects.
MusicLab’s latest update makes RealGuitar more real than ever.
It was 2006 when we first reviewed MusicLab’s RealGuitar virtual instrument. It was then at version 2, and has since passed through versions 3 and 4 and now arrived at 5. In the meantime we’ve reviewed other instruments in the series — RealStrat, RealLPC, RealRick. RealGuitar developed in tandem with these, and by version 4 they all shared (by and large) the same set of features and functions. Version 4 improvements included simulated double tracking, customisable humanising (randomisation) of various parameters, and a built-in Song sequencer that enables the integral library of patterns and chords to be arranged as an entire song, constructed entirely within the plug-in and then dragged to the instrument’s DAW track as a MIDI file. The fifth guitar in the series, RealEight (currently at version 1.0) was reviewed in the August 2015 edition of SOS. For those unfamiliar with MusicLab’s particular take on virtual guitars, the Basic Principles box provides a brief description.
Cut-mix-dissolve to RealGuitar 5, which expands on the original set of acoustic guitars with a brand-new Steel String model. Rather than adding this Steel String to the existing engine, RealGuitar is provided as two completely independent plug-ins: ‘Classic’ and ‘Steel String’. Additional features to both versions include a new ‘Multi’ playing mode, in itself a significant upgrade providing alternative and more versatile ways of accessing RealGuitar’s functions.
RealGuitar Classic & Multi Mode
The Classic version hosts the same eight acoustic guitar models as before, repackaged in an austere monochrome/orange GUI. All features and functions of previous versions have been retained to ensure backwards compatibility when revisiting older projects. As you’d expect with a new version, there are new features, the most significant being the aforementioned Multi mode, which joins the main tab strip in the centre of the GUI. Whilst you can still use the original Solo, Harmony, Chords, Bass’n’Chord and Bass’n’Pick modes of previous versions (found under the MIDI mode tab), Multi brings all keyboard performance aspects of RealGuitar under one roof via a multitude of methods including keyswitching, velocity, modwheel, aftertouch or sustain pedal, in whatever combination you choose. Given the almost infinite number of possible permutations, especially when keyswitch assignments are taken into account, RealGuitar helpfully allows you to save every setting and parameter value of Multi settings (except Humanize settings, which are global) as User presets. There appears to be no limit to the number of User Multi presets, so song-specific setups can be saved and easily recalled as needed.
Chordal playing in Multi mode expands on the ‘legacy’ Chord mode with options to customise the layout in numerous ways to bring greater mobility and additional playing techniques that were not possible in previous versions. Central to this are four Layout boxes that define strumming behaviour, melodic movement within chords, and the actions of finger-picking keys. The ‘Strum’ box determines what you hear when chords are played in the main playing area: the strummed chord, the leading bass note of the chord, or nothing (until trigger keys are pressed) if ‘silent’ is selected. Strumming realism is greatly improved here, with four different Dynamic options to control how velocity affects the number of ringing strings.
The Steel String in the new Multi mode. In this example, strummed chords are in the first position. Using Dyn = Velo Strum 2, only the lowest three strings sound at lower velocities; higher ones are progressively added with higher velocities. Velocities above 120 will trigger a hammer-on chord, velocities below 80 will trigger harmonics on the ‘picking’ keys. The black picking keys C# to A# will also trigger a hammer-on at whatever velocity they are played. Voice leading allows for movement of notes within a strummed chord. Keyswitches above and below the playing area are assigned to various actions and articulations.
The Steel String in the new Multi mode. In this example, strummed chords are in the first position. Using Dyn = Velo Strum 2, only the lowest three strings sound at lower velocities; higher ones are progressively added with higher velocities. Velocities above 120 will trigger a hammer-on chord, velocities below 80 will trigger harmonics on the ‘picking’ keys. The black picking keys C# to A# will also trigger a hammer-on at whatever velocity they are played. Voice leading allows for movement of notes within a strummed chord. Keyswitches above and below the playing area are assigned to various actions and articulations.
Realguitar 2
In the ‘Melody’ box you can choose whether or not to add melodic lines over sustained chords, have voice leading (movement within chords), or a combination of both. These particular chord/melody combos depend on accurate control of key velocity; higher velocities produce a chord, whilst lower velocities play the melody or leading voice, which may seem counter-intuitive as one’s inclination is to belt the melody notes out a bit harder. Fortunately you can add a positive velocity offset to melody notes if they’re too quiet relative to the chords. The velocity switching point can be set to any value — nevertheless it takes some practice to get the hang of it!
The ‘Strings’ box offers three different layouts for the finger-picking trigger keys: two variations above and one below the main playing keys. The ‘Black’ box assigns the function of the black keys in the picking zone, and becomes active only when the ‘string-picking’ trigger keys are also active. Options include harmonics, strums, mutes, hammer-ons and slides. Chords played in the main area now have both high- and low-velocity triggered effects (in MIDI Chord mode it’s either one or the other). New high-velocity effects include Hammer-on, a typically guitaristic gesture where between one and three notes of the chord fret-slide up to the target chord; Pre-Hammer, a similar gesture where the main playing zone keys sound the pre-hammer chord, the target chord is reached once a trigger key is played; and Slide, which is similar to Hammer-on but simulates a bottleneck slide rather than a fretted one. Both Hammer-on and Slide speeds can be adjusted freely, or tempo-sync’ed to specific note values to sit in with the feel of the track. The Multi section already presents a lot to take on board, and the features described above only scratch the surface. The manual, incidentally, runs to 138 pages! However, we haven’t yet taken keyswitching into account, and all the new tricks that brings to the table...
KeyswitchFest
Multi mode’s keyswitch assignment page. Any of these functions can be assigned to any key — layouts can be saved as presets and selected independently from Multi presets.Keyswitching of effects and articulations in previous versions was only applicable in MIDI Solo mode. In RealGuitar 5, Multi mode also has its own keyswitch functions, so now there are two keyswitch layouts to consider. The two layouts’ modes also ‘communicate’ with each other — you can assign keyswitches in both to jump back and forth between them. This might sound like a recipe for total confusion, but in fact it’s one of RealGuitar 5’s greatest strengths, opening the door to a huge range of articulations and guitaristic flourishes with a single keystroke. Multi mode’s keyswitches breathe new life into chordal playing, allowing you to freely change chord position, insert harmonics, pre-hammer pull-offs, slaps, slow up or down strums, smacks, palm mutes and more, with great precision.
There are a number of caveats to bear in mind, however. If, for example, a Multi keyswitch is assigned to take you to Solo mode, you must assign a corresponding one in the Solo KS list (preferably not using the same key) to take you back to Multi mode — otherwise it’s a one-way trip, rather like travelling through the Stargate only to find there’s no dial-home device on the other side. Similarly, the Chord Position keyswitches have a persisting action: if you assign one to shift position upwards, you’ll need a second one to go back downwards, otherwise you’re stuck in the new position. This amount of flexibility does mean having to remember two keyswitch layouts, which could well cause confusion if you’re performing live. It’s not such a problem when sequencing RealGuitar in a DAW, as there’s time to pause and take stock; however, there’s another important consideration in that scenario. Keyswitch functions that toggle back and forth need to be in their correct starting states at the top of the track, otherwise their actions risk becoming inverted.
Steel (St)ring The Changes
The ‘Steel String’ engine sports a monochrome/red GUI, slightly modified from the Classic engine. Firstly, the ‘legacy’ MIDI modes Chord, Harmony, Bass’n’Chord and Bass’n’Pick are gone, superseded by their equivalents found under the Multi tab as described above. Pattern mode has gone, its functions now contained entirely within Song mode. Gone, too, is Joystick mode that utilised MusicLab’s quirky Struminator technology, developed for those cute toy Guitar Hero controllers. I suspect the reason for this is incompatibility with version 5’s new features. Direct mode, which played the raw samples with no scripting, has also taken a dive (did anyone ever use it?), but Guitar mode (for MIDI guitar controllers) has survived, relegated to a tiny MIDI socket icon at the bottom of the GUI.
Real Guitar Registration CodeSteel Waters Run Deep
So how does the new Steel String compare to its siblings in the Classic version? Tonally, the upper mid-range is less pronounced than either of them, with slightly more subtlety at lower dynamics. Despite its warmer character, possibly due to having a larger body, it’s less boomy in the lower ranges, and sounds as if it was recorded slightly further away than the Classic steels. The pick attack and body thump noise are also less pronounced than the Classics, particularly compared to the original Steel Picked. Overall the sound seems cleaner; a spot of glossy high end EQ makes it shine very nicely.
There’s no mention in the documentation of which make or model of guitar was sampled — any incorrect, uninformed guess of mine would be as annoying as those who refer to The Pointy-eared One as ‘Dr Spock’. Perhaps a clue is in the three alternative tunings: Standard 6-string (theoretically E1 to C#6, though it stops at B5), 7-string (A0 to B5) and Baritone (theoretically A0 to Ab5, though it plays up to B5). The Baritone’s top E string is removed, so upper notes that would have been played on the top E string are now forced onto the B string. The tonal difference between the 7-string and the Baritone is subtle, but becomes more obvious when playing chords as some inversions inevitably play in different positions, depending on the chosen tuning.
Another Country
Six-string, 7-string and Baritone are not the only tunings available; Nashville tuning, a popular practice in country music, is also provided in two flavours: Nashville A and B. The ‘A’ variation tunes the low E, A, D and G strings up an octave, whilst the ‘B’ version leaves the G string at its normal pitch. These tunings are only applied in RealGuitar 5 when strumming. It’s a lovely, transparent effect, useful in any style of music for preventing the lower mid-frequencies from becoming too muddy. Additionally, there are two 12/14-string models, A and B, whose lower string ‘twins’ follow the same octave tuning rules as the two Nashvilles. It’s most likely a simulation rather than a separately sampled instrument — the slight delay between string pairs is nicely observed, although it would be nice if that delay time could be modulated, especially by key velocity. Also, the ability to detune the unison strings slightly would mollify the upper registers’ tendency to sound ‘glassy’. One can only wish for that in version 5.1...
New to both Classic and Steel String instruments, the Reverb offers plenty of scope for sculpting anything from tiny rooms to huge halls.Four different output options (Stereo, Mono 1, Mono 2 and Double) make use of two microphone positions. Mono 1 appears to be biased towards the neck, with Mono 2 towards the bridge. Stereo pans the two mics hard left and right, whilst Doubling simulates double-tracking by delaying one mic relative to the other (adjustable between 5ms and 50ms). There is one downside to this concept: our old friend, the Haas effect; the left channel (which you hear first) appears louder than the right, even though it’s not.
And The Cherries...
Further enhancements to both Classic and Steel versions include a well-specified reverb, with Hall, Room and Plate options, pre-delay, room size, HP and LP filters, damping and width — all these settings can be saved as presets. It’s not documented whether this is a convolution or an algorithmic reverb but, nevertheless, it has a pleasing, natural character.
The Steel String’s velocity response can be customised with X/Y offsets and variable response curves. The crossover points between the four dynamic layers can also be adjusted, with five different options for round-robin alternating samples. The Velocity settings also have their own preset system. The Classic instrument’s Velocity settings differ, having the crossover point of its upper two dynamic layers adjustable from the main screen.Velocity response can be tailored in fine detail; upper and lower dynamics can be offset on an X/Y axis, the response curve is fully adjustable from convex through linear to concave, and Steel String (which enjoys four dynamic layers as opposed to Classic’s three) allows the velocity switch points to be positioned freely. Velocity settings can also be saved as presets.
Conclusion
More than just being a guitar replacement, this is an inspiring, expressive musical instrument in its own right, that just happens to have a keyboard attached to the business end. Version 5 of RealGuitar is like a steroid shot in the arm — the new Steel String model and its various tunings would be worthy of an upgrade alone, but with the introduction of Multi mode, the bar is raised further, bringing new levels of detail and realism. Check out the video tutorial by the amazing Jeff ‘Keytar’ Abbott to see how well it can work. Even with its new-found depths of control, RealGuitar 5 retains the immediacy of its forebears — and I’d be surprised if Multi mode doesn’t find its way into the rest of the MusicLab range.
Alternatives
Vir2 Acou6tic offers six acoustic instruments: a steel-string, 12-string, nylon string, ukulele, mandolin and guitalele. AmpleSound have five separate instruments available: AG12 (12-string), AEU (Ukulele), AGL (Alhambra Luthier), AGT (Taylor) and AGM (Martin). Orange Tree Samples offer their various acoustics individually or as a bundle. Prominy Hummingbird uses a mix of sampled and emulated chords to achieve esoteric voicings. Whilst the GUIs of all the above differ (some radically) from each other and RealGuitar, they all offer a comparable set of features and operate on similar principles.
Basic Principles
Throughout the course of development, the conceptual approach to playing MusicLab’s guitars has remained the same; a similar approach has subsequently been adopted by several other virtual guitar manufacturers.
To recap briefly, RealGuitar’s Chordal modes employ variations on strumming and finger-picking techniques: hold a chord with one hand while ‘strumming’ or ‘picking’ it using dedicated trigger keys located elsewhere on the keyboard. RealGuitar analyses your chords and produces suitable guitar voicings. Voicings are dependent on several factors such as your position on the keyboard, the position of the virtual ‘capo’, and the facility to create custom User voicings.
Alternatively, Solo mode allows for freeform playing, giving access to a large number of articulations and guitaristic techniques triggered via keyswitches, key velocity, modwheel, sustain pedal, or any combination of these.
Guitar Models
Classic: Steel Picked, Steel Fingered, Nylon Picked, Nylon Fingered, Steel 2 Picked, Steel 2 Doubling, 12-String, Steel Stereo.
Steel String: Steel String, 12(14)-String A, 12(14)-String B, Nashville Strum A, Nashville Strum B, 6-string, 7-string and Baritone variations.
Pros
Cons
Summary
A worthy upgrade from previous versions, RealGuitar 5 brings more detailed control, new articulations, a good reverb, and a brand new Steel String with eight different tunings. Established fans will love it — the uninitiated should try it.
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$199. www.musiclab.com
Published by Sound on Sound on March 2018.
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