Hi, I want to be able to reproduce (live) the sound made by a rhythm guitarist in a jazz,/ swing band
I have downloaded the Ample Sound AGM Lite ll VST. Has anyone out there used the Strumming feature on this VST with Cantabile Solo?
For example, I play in real time a (ii,V,I) 4–chord sequence on my midi keyboard, lets say Am, D7, G,G.
The VST will reproduce these chords as strummed chords, I presume the strumming pattern will have to be pre-set for each piece of music.
This is simple for a single note instrument such as a bass guitar. Can anyone help if this is feasible for live strumming, I do have the AS manual but I’m starting out not knowing much about guitars.
Thanks folks,
Most definitely. I tried using this in a 3-piece band, but unless you are willing to play to a click, it will get away from you. There are videos of people making these types of VSTs work real well, but there is quite a challenging learning curve to it.
Quite honestly, if you are emulating any instrument on keyboard, it is best to really learn a lot about the particular instrument. Example: If you know nothing about a brass section, and how the instruments are played, the outcome will sound like a keyboard. Realism takes much research and practice. So, if you are looking for just the strumming background, it is possible with AGM, just pay attention to play legato, or it will be “choppy” at best. Usually, Piano or E. Piano will sound better than a poorly played guitar backing.
Dave Dore’s chord player will allow you to trigger a chord without having to manually play the chords, if you want to go that route. Get it here: Manual Chord Player Racks
This provides me a pad background, while playing a lead on guitar. I change the chords with a sustain pedal. The chords are preset. This would be a good alternative when using AGM.
However,if you are looking to improvise jazz movements, then manually played chords will be necessary.
Hi Corky, Thanks for a very comprehensive reply, and I take your points.
I had thought I could get stuck in while I have the time but I don’t want to spend a lot of time on something that’s not going to work, my band instrument is a sax, and I sometimes provide a back up for bass using my midi keyboard and Cantabile
Your comment on using the manual chord Rack to change chords looks interesting, I’ll take a look.
I’ll see if I get any other comments back, Regards and stay safe.
With Ample Guitar you don’t HAVE to use the patterns. You can strum manually, and that might be easier especially if your band is the kind that improvises a lot, and like Corky said, doesn’t play to a click. I think the strum SPEED (like, how fast on strum happens) may be set manually, so you would have to work out how to do faster and slower strums if you wanted that.