Strumming 6 string

A place to talk about whatever Scope music/gear related stuff you want.

Moderators: valis, garyb

Post Reply
Kymeia
Posts: 492
Joined: Sun May 02, 2004 4:00 pm

Strumming 6 string

Post by Kymeia »

I've been trying out Mamba with 6 string and it can make some excellent strummed chords but ideally I would like to be able to use the mouse to strum so i have more control - i.e. I set up the pattern in advance and then play using the mouse. Anyone know a midi or Scope plugin that can let me do that (I tried Arpeg but not really)
dawman
Posts: 14368
Joined: Sun Jul 24, 2005 4:00 pm
Location: PROJECT WINDOW

Post by dawman »

Six String is a great hybrid model.
I find it is most realistic when I do acoustic and electric finger picking styles, i.e. John McLaughlin, Leo Kotke.

Strumming should also be fairly realistic especially if you know which strings are open, capoed, and basic guitar chord structure. Nothing sounds more cornier than guitar emu played with un natural voicings.

If you have no luck w/ a device, a good alternative is the Oberheim strummer, or if you want to be exotic and add many more tricks including a ribbon controller, the Kurzweil Expressionmate.

I had a friend with limited keyboard skills pull off a rather good Flamenco guitar duet by using this on a decent Kurzweil sample, then playing the real instrument over the top. It sounded very good as the real guitar was the kind.

Good Luck, the Oberheim on ebay goes for about 10 - 35 USD.
LHong
Posts: 350
Joined: Sun Mar 25, 2001 4:00 pm
Location: San Jose, Ca. USA

Re: Strumming 6 string

Post by LHong »

Kymeia wrote:I've been trying out Mamba with 6 string and it can make some excellent strummed chords but ideally I would like to be able to use the mouse to strum so i have more control - i.e. I set up the pattern in advance and then play using the mouse. Anyone know a midi or Scope plugin that can let me do that (I tried Arpeg but not really)
For the MIDI:
1> If you have Cakewalk/Sonar, something's called MIDI enhancer tool (3rd party - it allows realtime plugins with MIDI track ) or the StrumKey Cal program (offline process).
2> Other standalone tool is the Jammer-Pro accompaniment MIDI Sequencer (about $125.00) from soundtrek.com. It has the various styles and lets you export to MIDI file.

However, I would do live guitar (record tracks) sometimes as I can
http://www.planetz.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=22672

Good luck,

LongStudio
Last edited by LHong on Thu Jul 12, 2007 7:04 pm, edited 3 times in total.
dawman
Posts: 14368
Joined: Sun Jul 24, 2005 4:00 pm
Location: PROJECT WINDOW

Post by dawman »

Brotha' Man LHong,
Wanna hear Scope played live @ the Greek Theatre in Berkeley ?


PM Me.
LHong
Posts: 350
Joined: Sun Mar 25, 2001 4:00 pm
Location: San Jose, Ca. USA

Post by LHong »

scope4live wrote:Brotha' Man LHong,
Wanna hear Scope played live @ the Greek Theatre in Berkeley ?


PM Me.
You meant the Live Concert?
Wow! Sound great to me, but I'm not sure I can make it because I travel a lot, most of time in other town or country!
Thanks Jimmy

LongStudios
Kymeia
Posts: 492
Joined: Sun May 02, 2004 4:00 pm

Post by Kymeia »

scope4live wrote:Six String is a great hybrid model.
I find it is most realistic when I do acoustic and electric finger picking styles, i.e. John McLaughlin, Leo Kotke.

Strumming should also be fairly realistic especially if you know which strings are open, capoed, and basic guitar chord structure. Nothing sounds more cornier than guitar emu played with un natural voicings.

If you have no luck w/ a device, a good alternative is the Oberheim strummer, or if you want to be exotic and add many more tricks including a ribbon controller, the Kurzweil Expressionmate.

I had a friend with limited keyboard skills pull off a rather good Flamenco guitar duet by using this on a decent Kurzweil sample, then playing the real instrument over the top. It sounded very good as the real guitar was the kind.

Good Luck, the Oberheim on ebay goes for about 10 - 35 USD.
Yeah I can do my own picking but a real strum is more like an arpeggio with a variable time element and direction so I thought an arpeggiator might do it (but it doesn't). Ideally I would like to see a visual representation of the strings and frets and just strum up or down with the mouse - that way I could also choose which strings to leave out and could play dynamically rather than in a pre programmmed way. AFAIK Mamba is pretty much like a software Oberheim Strummer and very nice but it just lacks that manual control to give it a more human factor (I suppose its a bit like needing a breath controller to give horn sounds that human touch)


Maybe I need a midi guitar :)
User avatar
Polarity
Posts: 147
Joined: Sat Jun 02, 2007 8:36 am
Location: Milano (Italy)
Contact:

Post by Polarity »

or you could find a Digitar!!
It was a special MIDI controller made by italian Charlie Lab.
It works very well.
Practically it has six metal bars on which its software put the notes exactly like would be on a real guitar if you were playing a chord:
you use one hand on keyboard to play a chord and with other hand (and a plectrum if you want) plays notes on metal bars (that has velocity too) of the controller you bind to your hip.
it's perfect for strumming or doing arpeggios.
Of course you can send chords from a previously recorded track in sequencer.

Try a search on ebay...
New was about 250 Euro (we are talking of almost 10 years ago), but you can't find one new anymore. Out of production since years....
Kymeia
Posts: 492
Joined: Sun May 02, 2004 4:00 pm

Post by Kymeia »

Anyone remember the Atari programme called Midi Mouse? - that had a strum mode. That's the sort of thing I'm looking for but for Windows (or ideally a Scope device
slammah2012
Posts: 191
Joined: Sat Jun 02, 2007 9:48 am
Contact:

Post by slammah2012 »

Kymeia wrote:Anyone remember the Atari programme called Midi Mouse? - that had a strum mode. That's the sort of thing I'm looking for but for Windows (or ideally a Scope device
"Creative" used to have one on the Soundblaster live Card

It was called Creative Keytar...
Time has No Master.
*NOW* is the Password.
Just *ASK* and *INVITE* every-
thing you are after..........
Kymeia
Posts: 492
Joined: Sun May 02, 2004 4:00 pm

Post by Kymeia »

Thanks - I have an old SBLive card but forgot about that as I never installed all the crap that came with it. Now if only I can find a copy separate from the SBLive installer.
Post Reply