LilyM Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 I am looking for a vst that can give me a great lead guitar sound. I was in the music store playing around with a Yamaha Montage recently and came across this crunchy lead guitar patch that I really enjoyed. It just seemed very playable with a lot of dynamics in the sound, and the way the distortion and feedback fed into the sound was great. I realize some of that probably had to do with the effects, but it was a sound I am unable to get with anything I have now... Arturia V Collection, u-he Diva, NI Pro53, Sylenth Synth 1. I was wondering if anyone could recommend a particular vst that might be able to give me lead sounds like that... or any advice on how to achieve that. I did look a bit into some actual dedicated guitar software like Electri6ity, but it seems like maybe overkill for what I need... and not sure if it is more geared for strumming than lead. Any help and advice is greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksoper Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 I think sample-based sounds are the direction you want to go. Check out Orange Tree Samples's Evolution Infinity for Kontakt for $169 or Pettinhouse's Humbucker Guitar for a comfortable $69. That one requires a full version of Kontakt. Lots of great stuff out there that doesn't cost $400. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Simons Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 [video:youtube] Yamaha P515 & CK88, Pianoteq, Mainstage, iOS, assorted other stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LilyM Posted March 20, 2018 Author Share Posted March 20, 2018 Thanks I will check those out. I am starting to think that maybe that sound in the Montage is more a function of the FX/amp simulator. I don't know, none of my vsts (and they are quality vsts I would think and even with FX, but no amp sim) quite get that kind of motion and variety in the sound just by how you play, from your fingers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LilyM Posted March 20, 2018 Author Share Posted March 20, 2018 I should probably make clear, I'm not really out to imitate a guitar necessarily... I just want a killer lead sound that will cut and have some of the grunge and dynamics I found in that Montage patch. If I need to go to guitar software to get it that's fine as well. Just curious why I can't get it from my synths. Ok I am now seeing that the Montage has AWM2 engine as well, whereas I was thinking it was just a synth..so maybe sample based is indeed the answer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimkost2002 Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 jan hammer fromm 1977-82 "I have constantly tried to deliver only products which withstand the closest scrutiny � products which prove themselves superior in every respect.� Robert Bosch, 1919 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doerfler Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 I am starting to think that maybe that sound in the Montage is more a function of the FX/amp simulator. Yes. Yes it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardware Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 I use a few. Prominy Orange Tree and Scope Modular for the controlled feedback and distortion. Also use Wavelore Pedal Steel through Blue3 Leslie. Its always fun emulating Instruments on a keyboard. Nice to have a good ribbon Controller too. Magnus C350 + FMR RNP + Realistic Unisphere Mic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksoper Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 I should probably make clear, I'm not really out to imitate a guitar necessarily... I just want a killer lead sound that will cut and have some of the grunge and dynamics I found in that Montage patch. Diva through an amp sim is big. I just ran it through Amplitube and without spending too much time got some pretty nasty lead sounds. Sync oscillators 1 and 2 and sweep the pitch of 2 with the mod wheel or a pedal for feedback-ish effects. Very Jan Hammer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuckW Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 I would think amps and effects would encapsulate most of the sound. Think about the difference between clean and distorted electric guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoodyBluesKeys Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 A bit OT, but the Kurzweil PC3 series has a patch named "Falgor's Lament" that really does a job of emulating a screaming guitar into an overdriven amp. Especially if one also uses the Ribbon Controller accessory. Used it very rarely - mostly when guitarist gets too big for his britches. Howard Grand|Hamm SK1-73|Kurz PC2|PC2X|PC3|PC3X|PC361; QSC K10's HP DAW|Epi Les Paul & LP 5-str bass|iPad mini2 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Threadslayer Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 Used it very rarely - mostly when guitarist gets too big for his britches. LOL. I've been guilty of that on occasion myself. Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. -Mark Twain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomKittel Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 I am looking for a vst that can give me a great lead guitar sound. Check this out: http://www.xhun-audio.com/site/xhun.php?page=ironaxe LIFE IS SHORT, GO GET THE GEAR YOU WANT ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LilyM Posted March 21, 2018 Author Share Posted March 21, 2018 Thanks so much to everyone for your help. I have been able to make some real progress on this and it is really appreciated. Kind of a novice with this sort of thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seanl Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 Oldie but goodie....my fave Ronald Jenkins... 11 m views....LOL studio version here.... Dude cracks me up.... he took piano lessons for a few months, didn't like them.... 2 Korg M3-73's, Korg WS AD, Radias, , Kurz PC3LE7, Alesis QS6 + QS7.1 used for MIDI controllers. Omnisphere, Alchemy, Painoteq, Spacestation Amp and Berringer 14" sub Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axe2Grind Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 This is also something that has interested me for many years, getting a good guitar like lead sound. I can recommend Vir2 Electri6ity but you need to use the D.I clean samples and put it through an Amp Sim & Cab simulator, the built in effect are not convincing and also I like to use the legato sustain mode to get those guitar like trills, tapping etc. Had they put velocity activated harmonics in there, it would be perfect. Here's a demo of it that I did the other day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7zV-SLXVZQ It still has that synth quality to it but it works well and most importantly plays well. Ultimately I decided to take up real electric guitar some years ago. Had something like this been around in the 90s, I would have never learnt guitar. Also, check out Orange Tree Infinity, From the demo's it sounds more convincing as you can get guitar like feedback and harmonics with velocity which will make things a lot more expressive, tempted by this myself for a bit of fun. Good thread and important topic for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 Yeah, it's pretty easy to get a lead guitar kind of sound using a keyboard and good samples. Real guitarists will cringe, but what do they know? :-) OTS would be a good bet. If you need low overhead on memory etc. then look into NuSofting's modeled electric guitar (it's also quite cheap). At work, I have to depend on memory, but I think it's called MicroRock (I own it, and it's fun and musical). AAS has their guitar emulations that are meant to be more realistic. I own them, but don't find them convincing (even the newer versions). I'd take MicroRock any day, for raunchy leads. If you want to sound more convincing rather than just take on a similar role and timbre to a lead guitar, make sure you make judicious use of pitch bend, as stringed instruments rarely maintain a static pitch. I can also add an endorsement of OTS Infinity, as mentioned above. I own everything from OTS and their stuff just keeps getting better and better. But you may run into resource issues, depending on your live setup. Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfD Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 jan hammer fromm 1977-82 Yep. I respected his skill and effort but never had a desire to go down that path. PD "The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 Yep, I was going to bring up Hammer, except that I detest his tone (though I respect his musicianship). I have retained very little in my collection, that features his playing. That's why I hesitated to mention him. He's an obvious reference, but I would hope that there are other references from more recent times that evoke more musical inspiration. I think Jan was mostly about the stage presence, and the keytar. :-) Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Real MC Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 That's why I hesitated to mention him. He's an obvious reference, but I would hope that there are other references from more recent times that evoke more musical inspiration. I think Jan was mostly about the stage presence, and the keytar. :-) About the only Jan Hammer work I cared for was his work with Al DiMeola. This is a pretty cool track from DiMeola's firey latin period of the 70s-early 80s - Jan's solo comes in at ~2:20 [video:youtube]6yBMkNL30xg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piktor Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 Jan's solo comes in at ~2:20 Um, Jan's synth solo (trades, actually) come in at 4:13, 4:40, etc. You can hear the MXR flanger that he used frequently. I always liked Jan's sounds from that era. I prefer a synth sound played with guitar-like expressions far more than any sampled guitar sounds. My feelings about sampled lead guitar patches are similar to the sentiments that people expressed about synthesized horns in an earlier thread. It seems silly to play a fake guitar when I can just play a real synthesizer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timwat Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 My feelings about sampled lead guitar patches are similar to the sentiments that people expressed about synthesized horns in an earlier thread. It seems silly to play a fake guitar when I can just play a real synthesizer. +1 Couldn't have said it better myself. And I've learned a lot from this guy's vids, whom I count as a master on this topic: [video:youtube] .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marzzz Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 [video:youtube] I don't mean to be too critical, but that just sounds, uh....not good to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Real MC Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 Jan's solo comes in at ~2:20 Um, Jan's synth solo (trades, actually) come in at 4:13, 4:40, etc. You can hear the MXR flanger that he used frequently. Um, the song is 3:52 long... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seanl Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 Nice demo... sometimes I find layering sounds really uses the best of all programming.... one of my recent "faves" is the Pianoteq Rauch CP-80 layered with Korg Wavestation VST KLC 7 "piano-portrait. Then I tweak the EQ to clear things up and get a nice crisp booming base. I'm running that through a Strymon "Big Sky" set to Cloud.... Cool as hell piano sound with so much happening... 2 Korg M3-73's, Korg WS AD, Radias, , Kurz PC3LE7, Alesis QS6 + QS7.1 used for MIDI controllers. Omnisphere, Alchemy, Painoteq, Spacestation Amp and Berringer 14" sub Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LilyM Posted March 22, 2018 Author Share Posted March 22, 2018 Yeah, I'm not really trying to emulate a guitar so much as just trying to get a killer lead sound. It just so happened that the lead guitar patch in the Montage was so much more expressive than anything my synths were doing for me. I'm understanding now, as axe2grind mentioned above, it probably had to do with velocity activated harmonics, as well as the amp/cabinet sim for the way the crunch and feedback fed into the sound. I understand how important some of the other guitar techniques, bends etc are also to expressiveness..but the Montage patch had so much happening just all in the fingers... really fun. So that's what I'm after, whatever it takes, whether guitar emulation software or just synth through amp sim. I've had pretty good results running Diva through the VKFX amp and preamp etc so looking forward to trying some of the guitar stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Williams Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 Jan's solo comes in at ~2:20 Um, Jan's synth solo (trades, actually) come in at 4:13, 4:40, etc. You can hear the MXR flanger that he used frequently. Um, the song is 3:52 long... Perhaps the minutes are in Metric. -Tom Williams {First Name} {at} AirNetworking {dot} com PC4-7, PX-5S, AX-Edge, PC361 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piktor Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 Jan's solo comes in at ~2:20 Um, Jan's synth solo (trades, actually) come in at 4:13, 4:40, etc. You can hear the MXR flanger that he used frequently. Um, the song is 3:52 long... Perhaps the minutes are in Metric. Tom, TRMC, that's funny...really. I don't know if it is possible that we would be hearing two sifferent tracks, but I'm seeing and hearing 7:49. Whatever. Still, Jan's lead sound is the flanged thing that alternates lead breaks with the actual guitar. Maybe we are actually referencing the same thing??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axe2Grind Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 Generally I much prefer a synth sound, a saw wave usually into an amp+cab sim plugin. Best sound I got was with the Apple Logic ES2 with a basic patch I made and into Amplitube amp sim. I've always loathed guitar samples, especially that early Jordan Rudess lead sound he had on his RPM debut album but I find myself using a guitar sample library albeit I use it like a mono lead synth really and put it through an auto filter as well to give it a bit of movement. I did always love Jan Hammer's lead guitar sound he had on Crockett's theme, a fairlight no doubt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piktor Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 I've always loathed guitar samples, especially that early Jordan Rudess lead sound he had on his RPM debut album but I find myself using a guitar sample library albeit I use it like a mono lead synth really and put it through an auto filter as well to give it a bit of movement. I did always love Jan Hammer's lead guitar sound he had on Crockett's theme, a fairlight no doubt. I realize that I'm outing myself as a onetime JH geek by chiming in again, but in the 1980s he did include the DX7 and a Scholz Rockman for overdrive in much of his lead work. Eventually, Jan moved on to a guitar sample set. As far as one's choice of sound goes, there are many choices available and people can look for whatever sound makes them happy and effective. I do think that it is important to personalize your sound. If the goal is to express yourself like a guitar player, then it is probably more important to listen to some master guitar players (yes, I said that) to learn how they express themselves - e.g. where to bend pitch, how wide the pitch bends are, vibrato speed, muting, etc. I can't imagine any of them pulling an instrument out of a box, hitting patch #67 Snakefinger, bending a perfectly in tune wholetone up, a perfectly in tune octave divebomb down and thinking that they are done. ... Of course, there are some amazing players who do none of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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