Hi Peeps,

I think this is the first time I've posted in this area.

Anyway, I fancy trying my hand at producing a bit of Djent. Trouble is, although I've been playing guitar for over thirty years, I've never really put the effort in and as a consequence I am only good for a bit of lead and simple rhythm.

I therefore propose to turn to my A|A|S Strum Electric soft synth instead. And I will be routing this through either TH2 or GR5.

I have experimented with various presets in the soft synth and the effects and I am reasonably impressed with the sounds/tone I am getting. Not quite there but I'm sure I can get the sound I need.

My main problem, then, is the MIDI side of things. Strum Electric is not that bad when it comes to options for up/down stroke and palm mute, total mute etc. but I am struggling to get that "classic" Djent style.

I am wondering if anyone else has tried this, or something similar, in the general Metal genre, and can give me some pointers as to what I should be doing to improve my "soft guitar" playing techniques.


Many thanks :-)

andy

Sorry Andy, never heard of Djent, though I gather it's a sub genre of metal.

In which case, probably the first thing to consider is tuning - does the AAS allow you to select different tunings, drop D, drop C are both common

Another factor is gain - modern hi gain amps are more or less compulsory so does AAS allow for this?

Just thinking out loud here - you might want to pick Danny's brain if/when he chips in

Thanks for that Jonesey.

I'm not sure about some of the questions you've raised to be honest. The A|A|S software does allow you to model gain, as well as pick position and strength, stuff like that. It's based on physical modelling and not samples, so I need to full get my head around that.

I reckon there are some nifty MIDI programming tips I need to learn in order to crack this.

And yes, djent is a genre of metal, and the word djent is supposed to be the sound you get from palm muting. You could argue all day about this, and certainly, metal bands I've been listening too since the dawn of the genre have used the palm mute technique in there music. But someone, in their infinite wisdom decided to create a new genre... beats me, but I do like some of the bands that put themselves into this genre :-)

Do you have full Kontakt, by any chance? If so, there are a great many options available to you for creating believable palm mutes. 

Hi Dave,

No, I haven't got Kontakt I'm afraid. I have a handful of guitar sample stuff that comes with Dim Pro, but that's it, and when I came across Strum Electric and Acoustic I was quite impressed with the physical modelling method so I decided to give the sample based synths a miss. Was that a mistake do you think?

I have no experience with Strum Electric, only AAS String Studio. It might be just the ticket, I wouldn't know.

What I do know is that I've been pursuing the ultimate fake guitar for years, and I've not found any single solution that fills every need. Consequently, I have accumulated many guitar sources and use them all from time to time (including actually playing a real guitar), and many of the most convincing sources are Kontakt-based.

The downsides:
- Kontakt is a big expense up front
- sample libraries stress your system more than modeled synths
- samples take up a lot of disk space and RAM
- Kontakt very is slow to load compared to a modeled synth
- NI will find a way to coerce you into upgrading on a regular basis

The upside:
Kontakt opens up a whole world of possibilities, from fancy upscale libraries to cheap (or free) one-trick ponies. I collect them instead of snow globes.

bitflipper


I collect them instead of snow globes.

It's a disease and I think it's catching...
 
Regards,
Dan

 

Thanks for your advice Dave. Much appreciated :-)

I don't know if this will be possible with what you have, synkrotron. That style is something that cries for a good sounding amp, a detuned guitar that is set up right and the proper technique. I've yet to hear any sample come remotely close to capturing such a sound. There is one that would be the only thing I can think of, but to be honest, you're better off trying to physically play this yourself.

But, if you want to do something based on samples....nothing else in creation in my opinion and experience, comes as close as this.

http://www.prominy.com/SC.htm

Watch the vids without looking at them...listen to the mp3's, preferably "Another World". This thing is so powerful, it could be the end of guitar players and it sounds good enough to where guitar players wouldn't be missed really. There are a few things that are questionable within the sounds...but for the most part, this thing is as close as you can get.

-Danny

Hey, Andy... would you like me to record the parts for you? I'd be happy to.

Cheers.