Acoustic guitar VST?

[kazaraki]

Hi,

Can anyone recommend a good acoustic guitar vst with a realistic sound? I was thinking of looking into Kontakt. Also what's your experience with submitting tracks using vst versus real acoustic guitar? I definitely prefer the sound of a real acoustic guitar but I find it's a lot more work to record clean and edit. It seems that more and more tracks that I've been hearing in libraries, feature the vst acoustic guitar.

Thanks!!

[superkons]

I like the acoustic guitars from Ample Sounds and Orange Tree Samples.

Ample Sounds have a free, light version of their Acoustic Guitar M II.

[gregorym]

Kontakt has a instrument called Session Strummer 2. I like it, and I use it in with real guitar. Fun stuff.

[kazaraki]

I like the acoustic guitars from Ample Sounds and Orange Tree Samples.

Ample Sounds have a free, light version of their Acoustic Guitar M II.

Hi superkons, Thanks for the recommendation. I actually just downloaded the amplelite vst and am excited to try it out. From what I can tell after listening to demos online, this plugin sounds great.

[kazaraki]

Kontakt has a instrument called Session Strummer 2. I like it, and I use it in with real guitar. Fun stuff.

Hi gregorym, Thanks for the recommendation. I haven't heard of that one but will definitely check it out.

[superkons]

I like the acoustic guitars from Ample Sounds and Orange Tree Samples.

Ample Sounds have a free, light version of their Acoustic Guitar M II.

Hi superkons, Thanks for the recommendation. I actually just downloaded the amplelite vst and am excited to try it out. From what I can tell after listening to demos online, this plugin sounds great.

My pleasure!
Truly hope you can fit it into your workflow!

[RPaul]

Can anyone recommend a good acoustic guitar vst with a realistic sound? I was thinking of looking into Kontakt. Also what's your experience with submitting tracks using vst versus real acoustic guitar? I definitely prefer the sound of a real acoustic guitar but I find it's a lot more work to record clean and edit. It seems that more and more tracks that I've been hearing in libraries, feature the vst acoustic guitar.

Since I'm a keyboard player, not a guitarist (I can play a few chords, but can't change between them well, and I don't even have access to a guitar at this point), I use VST instruments extensively for guitars. If you want a more comprehensive list of products I use on this front, you can check the Guitars and Basses section on http://rickpaulmusic.com/equipment-and-software/, but I'll mention a few here.

I've really liked the Native Instruments Session Guitarist series, including both of the Strummed Acoustic packages and the Picked Acoustic package (also the Electric Sunburst, but that is Les Paul, not an acoustic). If I'm looking for finger-picked or melodic acoustic guitar parts, though, I tend to use MusicLabs' RealGuitar more frequently than anything as it tends to do a good job in interpreting what I do on a keyboard into "guitaristic" characteristics. If I'm looking for strummed parts, in addition to the NI stuff mentioned already, the UJAM products (e.g. Virtual Guitarist AMBER) are also worth a look (they are developed by some of the same people as the old Steinberg Virtual Guitarist products, which I've used quite a bit over time). I've also used the MusicLab stuff for strumming occasionally, but it's tougher to make believable. On balance, though, there is more flexibility.

Another developer whose products look like they might be interesting, but which I haven't tried for acoustic guitars yet (only for Ukulele) is Indiginus. I think they might possibly have a good compromise between the actual real playing in the UJAM and NI types of products and the flexibility of MusicLab's stuff.

If you'd like to hear some examples, if you go to my TAXI page (see the signature block below), here are a few specific examples:

• Dream a Mighty Dream: Uses Indiginus "The Ukulele"

• Love Holds On (AC Ballad Remix): Uses NI Session Guitarist - Picked Acoustic

• Les mots que l'on ne sait pas dire: Uses MusicLab RealGuitar Classic (nylon string in this case)

• Steel: Uses two instances of NI Session Guitarist Picked Acoustic, one being one playing their built in patterns and another played manually (i.e. in Melody mode)

• Go Tell It On the Mountain: This is using MusicLab RealGuitar again, but for strumming this time (It's also using their RealRick, through Line6 PodFarm for the electric guitar)

• I Didn't Think: Uses ujam Virtual Guitarist Amber for the strummed acoustic. It's also using three other virtual guitars including ujam Virtual Guitarist Sparkle for the electric rhythm guitar, MusicLab RealStrat through IK Multimedia AmpliTube 4 for another electric guitar, and MusicLab RealLPC through IK Multimedia AmpliTube 4 for the lead guitar solo

There can be a real tradeoff between realism and flexibility (which also bears on intuitiveness for coming up with parts). As a general rule, the stuff that uses loop-based stuff (e.g. Session Guitarist if you're not using the melody mode of Picked Acoustic and all the ujam stuff) will sound the most realistic without a lot of work, but finding something that suits your particular song is more challenging. Whereas the stuff you play yourself (e.g. the MusicLab stuff and Picked Acoustic in its melody mode) is way more flexible, but harder to get to sound realistic.

Rick

[kazaraki]

Can anyone recommend a good acoustic guitar vst with a realistic sound? I was thinking of looking into Kontakt. Also what's your experience with submitting tracks using vst versus real acoustic guitar? I definitely prefer the sound of a real acoustic guitar but I find it's a lot more work to record clean and edit. It seems that more and more tracks that I've been hearing in libraries, feature the vst acoustic guitar.

Since I'm a keyboard player, not a guitarist (I can play a few chords, but can't change between them well, and I don't even have access to a guitar at this point), I use VST instruments extensively for guitars. If you want a more comprehensive list of products I use on this front, you can check the Guitars and Basses section on http://rickpaulmusic.com/equipment-and-software/, but I'll mention a few here.

I've really liked the Native Instruments Session Guitarist series, including both of the Strummed Acoustic packages and the Picked Acoustic package (also the Electric Sunburst, but that is Les Paul, not an acoustic). If I'm looking for finger-picked or melodic acoustic guitar parts, though, I tend to use MusicLabs' RealGuitar more frequently than anything as it tends to do a good job in interpreting what I do on a keyboard into "guitaristic" characteristics. If I'm looking for strummed parts, in addition to the NI stuff mentioned already, the UJAM products (e.g. Virtual Guitarist AMBER) are also worth a look (they are developed by some of the same people as the old Steinberg Virtual Guitarist products, which I've used quite a bit over time). I've also used the MusicLab stuff for strumming occasionally, but it's tougher to make believable. On balance, though, there is more flexibility.

Another developer whose products look like they might be interesting, but which I haven't tried for acoustic guitars yet (only for Ukulele) is Indiginus. I think they might possibly have a good compromise between the actual real playing in the UJAM and NI types of products and the flexibility of MusicLab's stuff.

If you'd like to hear some examples, if you go to my TAXI page (see the signature block below), here are a few specific examples:

• Dream a Mighty Dream: Uses Indiginus "The Ukulele"

• Love Holds On (AC Ballad Remix): Uses NI Session Guitarist - Picked Acoustic

• Les mots que l'on ne sait pas dire: Uses MusicLab RealGuitar Classic (nylon string in this case)

• Steel: Uses two instances of NI Session Guitarist Picked Acoustic, one being one playing their built in patterns and another played manually (i.e. in Melody mode)

• Go Tell It On the Mountain: This is using MusicLab RealGuitar again, but for strumming this time (It's also using their RealRick, through Line6 PodFarm for the electric guitar)

• I Didn't Think: Uses ujam Virtual Guitarist Amber for the strummed acoustic. It's also using three other virtual guitars including ujam Virtual Guitarist Sparkle for the electric rhythm guitar, MusicLab RealStrat through IK Multimedia AmpliTube 4 for another electric guitar, and MusicLab RealLPC through IK Multimedia AmpliTube 4 for the lead guitar solo

There can be a real tradeoff between realism and flexibility (which also bears on intuitiveness for coming up with parts). As a general rule, the stuff that uses loop-based stuff (e.g. Session Guitarist if you're not using the melody mode of Picked Acoustic and all the ujam stuff) will sound the most realistic without a lot of work, but finding something that suits your particular song is more challenging. Whereas the stuff you play yourself (e.g. the MusicLab stuff and Picked Acoustic in its melody mode) is way more flexible, but harder to get to sound realistic.

Rick

Hi Rick,

Thank you so much for the thorough explanation!! Based on what everyone has reccommended, I decided to go with the Kontakt strumming and picking libraries which I'm pretty satisfied with at the moment. I realize that every library has it's strenths and weaknesses so when I save up some more money, I'll probably invest in Ujam and music lab libraries for the flexibility like you mentionend.

Much appreciated! The examples you listed are especially helpful.

Best,

Kaz

[billw22]

Can anyone recommend a good acoustic guitar vst with a realistic sound? I was thinking of looking into Kontakt. Also what's your experience with submitting tracks using vst versus real acoustic guitar? I definitely prefer the sound of a real acoustic guitar but I find it's a lot more work to record clean and edit. It seems that more and more tracks that I've been hearing in libraries, feature the vst acoustic guitar.

Since I'm a keyboard player, not a guitarist (I can play a few chords, but can't change between them well, and I don't even have access to a guitar at this point), I use VST instruments extensively for guitars. If you want a more comprehensive list of products I use on this front, you can check the Guitars and Basses section on http://rickpaulmusic.com/equipment-and-software/, but I'll mention a few here.

I've really liked the Native Instruments Session Guitarist series, including both of the Strummed Acoustic packages and the Picked Acoustic package (also the Electric Sunburst, but that is Les Paul, not an acoustic). If I'm looking for finger-picked or melodic acoustic guitar parts, though, I tend to use MusicLabs' RealGuitar more frequently than anything as it tends to do a good job in interpreting what I do on a keyboard into "guitaristic" characteristics. If I'm looking for strummed parts, in addition to the NI stuff mentioned already, the UJAM products (e.g. Virtual Guitarist AMBER) are also worth a look (they are developed by some of the same people as the old Steinberg Virtual Guitarist products, which I've used quite a bit over time). I've also used the MusicLab stuff for strumming occasionally, but it's tougher to make believable. On balance, though, there is more flexibility.

Another developer whose products look like they might be interesting, but which I haven't tried for acoustic guitars yet (only for Ukulele) is Indiginus. I think they might possibly have a good compromise between the actual real playing in the UJAM and NI types of products and the flexibility of MusicLab's stuff.

If you'd like to hear some examples, if you go to my TAXI page (see the signature block below), here are a few specific examples:

• Dream a Mighty Dream: Uses Indiginus "The Ukulele"

• Love Holds On (AC Ballad Remix): Uses NI Session Guitarist - Picked Acoustic

• Les mots que l'on ne sait pas dire: Uses MusicLab RealGuitar Classic (nylon string in this case)

• Steel: Uses two instances of NI Session Guitarist Picked Acoustic, one being one playing their built in patterns and another played manually (i.e. in Melody mode)

• Go Tell It On the Mountain: This is using MusicLab RealGuitar again, but for strumming this time (It's also using their RealRick, through Line6 PodFarm for the electric guitar)

• I Didn't Think: Uses ujam Virtual Guitarist Amber for the strummed acoustic. It's also using three other virtual guitars including ujam Virtual Guitarist Sparkle for the electric rhythm guitar, MusicLab RealStrat through IK Multimedia AmpliTube 4 for another electric guitar, and MusicLab RealLPC through IK Multimedia AmpliTube 4 for the lead guitar solo

There can be a real tradeoff between realism and flexibility (which also bears on intuitiveness for coming up with parts). As a general rule, the stuff that uses loop-based stuff (e.g. Session Guitarist if you're not using the melody mode of Picked Acoustic and all the ujam stuff) will sound the most realistic without a lot of work, but finding something that suits your particular song is more challenging. Whereas the stuff you play yourself (e.g. the MusicLab stuff and Picked Acoustic in its melody mode) is way more flexible, but harder to get to sound realistic.

Rick

Hi Rick,

Thank you so much for the thorough explanation!! Based on what everyone has reccommended, I decided to go with the Kontakt strumming and picking libraries which I'm pretty satisfied with at the moment. I realize that every library has it's strenths and weaknesses so when I save up some more money, I'll probably invest in Ujam and music lab libraries for the flexibility like you mentionend.

Much appreciated! The examples you listed are especially helpful.

Best,

Kaz

care t share your expiriance so far
really interested in feedback

[RPaul]

Since my "round up" response on virtual acoustic guitars from last year, I also added a bundle of 4 guitars -- 2 acoustic and 2 electric -- from Acousticsamples that had been on sale on a third party site at one point (it is no longer available there, so no use mentioning the site, and Acousticsamples doesn't currently offer the collection as a bundle, though the individual products are available at https://www.acousticsamples.net/guitars). They have since become some of my favorite virtual guitars for both the acoustics and the electrics. In particular, when playing them manually, they do one of the best jobs of translating keyboard-based virtual guitar playing to "guitaristic" results. They also have strumming and pattern-based possibilities, though I've used them more in the "solo" mode. They run under the UVI workstation player (which was provided with the products).

I'd actually bought the bundle mainly for the Telecaster (Telematic V3) because I needed a good Tele from some country projects and that was one big missing piece in my overall set of virtual guitars (and the bundle sale price available at the time was less than the Tele would have cost on its own), but I've used both acoustics quite a bit since then and have also leaned toward the Strat (Strategy) over RealStrat on some recent projects. The acoustic guitars are the GD-6 Acoustic Guitar (https://www.acousticsamples.net/guitars/gd6), which is a Guild D-40 custom edition electro-acoustic guitar, and Sunbird (https://www.acousticsamples.net/guitars/sunbird), which is based on a 1962 Gibson Hummingbird acoustic guitar (you can hear that one in action on "Ghosts" on my TAXI member page -- it is the steel string guitar, with the nylon-stringed one being MusicLab's RealGuitar 5). I'd rank them up there with the NI Session Guitarist - Picked Acoustic in terms of how well they respond to playing. I haven't used their pattern mode to compare on that front. Of course, they are different flavors (NI Picked Acoustic is a Martin 00-21).

Rick