DMb | Dance Music blog & Podcast

We recently tested out Sugarbytes’ Guitarist VST Instrument and this is what we found.

PROS:
Can sound very realistic
Great songwriting tool
Useful wah pedal
Nice GUI

CONS:
Not always realistic
Lack of solo mode to enable playing of individual notes

OVERVIEW:
Looking to create guitar tracks without spending the time and effort to learn guitar? SugarByte’s Guitarist might be worth a look. Available for Win/Mac as standalone, VST, AU, or PPC plugin, Guitarist is advertised as a total guitar solution.

What IS Guitarist exactly? It’s a rhythmic guitar track generator that combines guitar sounds, an amp module and three effects modules with a series of step sequencers and a special effects section. Patterns (and entire songs) can be recorded and played back. For live use, the built in keyboard can be made to trigger sequences or change the current chord a sequence is playing.
It’s worth noting here that the keyboard which allows access to chords and patterns doesn’t provide any easy way to play single notes. So if you just want to play a melody (and disengage the sequencer) you’re out of luck. But for quickly generating rhythmic grooves and progressions, fortunately there’s a lot Guitarist has to offer.

DETAILS:
Guitarist contains 4 guitar types, 2 amp models (+direct), and three effects modules run in a fixed configuration. Effects include modulation,dynamic effects,reverb, delay, reverse and a 3-mode wah pedal. To build progressions and grooves, a chord sequencer is run through a pattern step sequencer (and also an animation sequencer for extra variation). Entire songs can be constructed by chaining patterns together in the song sequencer.
The keyboard can be used to play 24 user defined chords, with some of the keys acting as triggers for the patterns. Pressing a chord key will override the chord sequencer, and play that chord instead through the selected pattern. Another handy feature for playing live is the Action Section, which allows you to alter the groove with real time effects such as looper, timestretch, force slow, dead or damped notes.
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Key new features include:

• 64 Bit plugin wrapper – FL Studio now hosts 64 Bit VST plugins for access to unlimited memory.
• Autosave / Autobackup – Don’t lose a project or data again.
• Revised Playlist – Individually resizable tracks. Lock tracks to Clips. Live performance time Marker options (Jump to, Loop, Pause & Skip)
• Revised Mixer – Fully Automatic Plugin Delay Compensation (A-PDC). New waveform meter view.
• Revised Piano roll – Export as sheet music option. Vertical zoom with not properties view. Magic lasso selection & note-handle stretch. Edit ghost notes by double Right-click. Waveform view.
• Pattern Picker – opens from the Playlist, Piano roll or Stepsequencer. Select Patterns & Channels.
• Patcher (free) – chain instruments & effects for easy saving of complete instrument & effect chains.
• ZGameEditor Visualizer (free) – visualization effect with movie render capability.
• Pitcher (demo) – real-time correction/harmonization plugin responds to Piano roll note control.
• Newtone (demo) – pitch correction editor for precise control, pristine quality stretching, re-pitching and correction.
• Keep on disk & 32 Bit Bridge – now give each Audio Clip / Sampler Channel / Plugin access to at least 2 GB memory and up to 4 for VST Plugins.
• Fruity Edition – gains access to Pattern Clips.
• Lifetime Free Updates – are extended to all FL Studio 10 box customers onward & as usual all download customers.
• …learn more by visiting the ‘FL Studio 10 What’s New?‘ page.

Get it HERE.

Image Line’s newest VST instrument has just been released which is basically a subtractive synth powered by an addititive synth engine. I’m already intrigued. To make things even better they are offering a special deal until the end of the year…Pay only what you think it is worth plus a few bucks to cover the fees and stuff. So go get the demo and they pick up this unique synth for a great price.

From the Press Release:

Image Line Software, the developer of FL Studio (formerly FruityLoops) has released its newest VSTi named Harmless. With a unique twist, Harmless is a subtractive synthesizer powered by an additive synthesis engine. Harmless has no tabs or hidden controls, with all features clearly visible in helpful color-coded groups. Over 100 parameters, most automatable, are available on the clear one-page GUI making Harmless perfect for live performance and sound-design experimentation. (more…)