This is incredibly well said. I've felt that way for a long time about instruments and more specifically analog vs digital. Technology changes everything and I get it, no one wants to feel like what they've invested their time in is somehow 'irrelevant' or 'not real enough'. I believe people should be able to enjoy using the instruments they want to without being judged on how close it is to being physical or digital - autotuned or not autotuned, etc.. Use what makes 'you' feel good because as an artist - that is where the music comes from.

Do you play guitar? If you have, IMO it is obvious really quickly when naked in arpeggiated sequences, but if you bury it in a mix it good enough for 99% of people.

Well said

From experience using high quality samplers, one of the things that can make the difference is the way the sound gets programmed. If you are using just standard sounds with no great variance in velocity, even a high quality sampled instrument can sound fake. But yes, if you know what you are doing with these instruments, the average person cannot tell the difference (people who have worked with an specific instrument can kind of tell from some quirks and sound signatures)

true..

100% agree. I don’t even think the two should be compared, but we all want VSTs to be as close as possible to the real thing. For supplementary, bread and butter parts, this is definitely next level. When I want something more raw, a real guitar can’t be beat. There’s so much beauty in the imperfections.

yess sir, that shit hit hard🙈🙈🙈

100% learn a physical guitar first. Even though it is a long term investment, it is one of the most satisfying investments you can invest in your future self. With a guitar VST, you’ll be learning the piano/keyboard, but thinking in guitar language. Very cool too! As someone who does both, it was very difficult doing double duty with both. But, fast forward to now and its one of the best decisions I’ve made for music. I’m so happy I did. Learn guitar first, and the rest will make more sense a long the way. Go do it! Have fun with it!

Glad it helped

Thank you!! ☺️

That's a great point! Using these with amp sims really take it that much farther. I've started running the guitars and bass through some new mixing plugins and effects I got over the holidays and it's wild how great they sound through them. Those electic guitars are next on my list! I've got a few Bass guitars coming up in the next video. Thanks for watching, Tim!

@@TobyRyan Look forward to seeing those as well!

Glad it was helpful!

I agree. Sometimes depending on play-style, it’s more than good enough. If it was a blind test, I would have trouble picking it out. And I’m picky.

@@TobyRyan haha true, i love the lushness of the sounds, very close to being real, if you put delay chorus and reverb, it actually sounds like a electric guitar

That's a very good question. Using 49 keys, while not a huge issue, does make it less convenient to access articulations, sounds, and additional controls. I use a Komplete Kontrol S49 that has dedicated octave buttons and those do help switch between octaves that have additional sounds and controls. So they're still useable, with a tap of a button. These guitars use around 6 full octaves of keys depending on the mode (between fingerpicking and strumming, it can reach up to 84 keys.). An 88 key keyboard would make it more convenient for uninterrupted playability but, not mandatory for writing and midi programming.

@@TobyRyan If you please How can I plug it in cubase 5?

If you have another 25 keyboard, for example, you can set the octaves where you can access the key switches outside of the range you have your 49 or 61 set to. It’s rather convenient because you can place your 25 keys closer to you or rack it like a double manual. Here are always multiple ways to get what you want in art.

I agree with you. Nothing can ‘replace’ a real live instrument, a performer with experience and the emotions an artist can conjure. I grew up playing guitar and encourage people to learn an instrument because that goes so much farther. Where this comes in handy, for me, is the ability to disconnect from my ‘guitar brain’ and dive into my ‘piano brain’ while maintaining as closely as possible the sound of the guitar. It opens up different worlds of songwriting for me that I wouldn’t have otherwise thought of had I picked up my guitar. This also allows me to keep it how a real guitarist would play it so later I can go back and read the music for it or share that with other friends that actually play it on guitar. I still love my guitar and I still love my piano and songwriters and engineers should absolutely learn an instrument because that is a powerful and beautiful experience that will last with them through life.

yeah but expensive microphone setups and good recording spaces are not available for anyone, also recording a guitar with such quality is not a easy task. a lot of engineers already work in brass and strings with amazing realism, like orchestral tools, spitfire, cinematic studio series, sample modeling if you need simulated instruments with a lot of control, and much more.

Yes! I would love that. That would honestly be a cash cow for them as there’s nothing even close to this quality on iOS.

@@TobyRyan so true. I would honestly pay $100 for that app.

That's interesting - It could possibly be a MIDI mapping issue and the samples aren't laid out in a similar fashion as in the plugin. I've had that happen when working with GM drums. Would be cool to see them add other compatible formats, however lately, I've come to love programming in or more recently playing in MIDI notes with my keyboard. :-D Thanks for watching!

functionally, I would imagine they would be similar. The KK is mostly designed for Native Instruments' line of products and third-party developers that include “NKS” compatibility. Ample Sound, at least at this point does not support NKS compatibility. It’s a feature I’d love to see come to these instruments. The mappable knobs do work in MIDI mode and the Komplete Kontrol software, however, the things they control aren’t necessarily as easy to understand what is what without NKS, unless you map the extra controls yourself in every session manually. Mostly, I haven’t needed to do that since the on-screen controls of the plugin to adjust effects are adequate to save presets, and work in a DAW. It comes down to what DAW you want to work in, if you plan on using Native Instruments products in the future, and how many keys you need. For something like Ample Sound guitars, I feel 49 keys is doable ( as seen in the video), but limiting as some of the key switches are on lower and higher octaves. For full control, I’d recommend 88 keys, but you can get by with a 61 key and jump octaves with octave buttons on a keyboard. Some things to consider. Hopefully that was helpful!

That’s a great question. They do include the ability to tune lower, for example, drop D is as low as I’ve tuned it (that may be the limit. I have not tested that fully.). The great news is it isn’t artificially tuning the sample, as it’s the naturally recorded string at that specific note. How that translates to the keyboard is it’s adding a few extra keys to the existing collection of playable keys. So when I create presets I drop all the notes so I can have access to them when writing. Some people want to preserve the standard authenticity of notes, so the instrument by default is set up with that in mind.

I have honestly wanted to do that. A keytar or even a MIDI guitar. It'd be so much fun!

Great question. And yes! You can write inside the instrument using the Riffer feature, which is like a simplified but powerful MIDI roll for the articulations and notes. You can also use what you’re comfortable with inside your DAW’s MIDI roll too. What I’ll often do is start with the Riffer, then drag and drop the MIDI out of that and straight into the MIDI roll of my DAW. Use the best of both worlds. While I enjoy using my keyboard, it’s often more efficient to draw it into a MIDI roll, especially for complex arpeggios and such.

tWist yao hi! That’s a great question. Select the main tab (keyboard icon top left.) then on the far right, middle, there’s a collection of four buttons. Select the top-left button of those. That will let you change the mode from typical guitar fingering logic (represented by a guitar head.) to a piano icon for multiple notes, which ignores logic and lets you play more notes. There is also a third choice for a single note only, represented by a number 1 on the button. Probably the least useful. I tend to use it more on the bass guitars and for soloing.

@@TobyRyan Great! thansk so much for your reply Toby Ryan!! :D

Hello! Glad to hear you enjoyed it! Sorry to hear about your sustain pedal. When you press your pedal down, does it light up the icon as gold in the plugin? If yes, the plugin is seeing your sustain pedal MIDI input, however, if it’s still not sustaining the notes, then check to see if you’re running version 3.0.1 or later and possibly try a re-install of the plugin. I checked both plugin and standalone versions and the sustain pedal is working as expected on mine and I’m on 3.0.1. - You can also right click on the parameters inside the plugin and that opens up customization of the whole plugin and the Foot Pedal is there. Worth a look to see if it’s been changed somehow. I do remember having an issue with my sustain pedal in the past with other plugins and found out I accidentally reversed the polarity of my sustain pedal (down was off and up became on. Essentially sustaining all the time until pressing down on the pedal.). Definitely look to see if your pedal is the culprit, or try unplugging and replugging in the pedal so your keyboard reestablishes the MIDI connection and sends that data to your DAW/ Plugin or Stand Alone host - whichever you prefer using. Hope that helps!

Hi Toby, thanks for getting back with me. I was using version 3.0 I had not realized they had gone up to 3.01 That definitely fixed the problem and it now works as it should. @@TobyRyan

That’s great! Enjoy! ♫

I very much love these guitars and they have been worth it to me. That said keep in mind, what’s more important outside of that are your needs and priorities. Something that helps me decide is, asking myself these questions: does my budget really allow this? Will I use this? How will I use this? In how much of my music will this be used? How much time do I want to spend learning this? (Because it’s a little bit of a learning curve if you’re a beginner.). Is this supplementing what I already have? Meaning, do you already have similar VST guitars that you like? Or are you doubling up? You answer those for yourself, and really get down to it, I think you’ll make the right decision. Don’t ever buy anything unless it truly benefits you and your music. That said, they do have the Acoustic M trial of the current version and an older style free version. www.amplesound.net/en/download.asp Hope that helps!

Did you check your email? Last night I bought Amplesound AMH and I got an email right after I paid and it contained links and all information on how to download it. If you did check your email, check your spam folder just in case

Just purchased the Martin acoustic. Within 5 minutes of my PayPal purchase I had an email that had download links and had created an account for me. This is from the US - your experience may be different depending on your email and where you're located. Worked great for me!

I would imagine any hardware MIDI controller can work. While not as intuitive, the midi note information can still trigger the notes in these types of software instruments. I’ve used my electric guitar with a midi adaptor to control a Brass horn library before - definitely fun, but difficult to play. I’m sure it’s possible, but it’d be a bit tricky. Does your lap steel guitar send MIDI out? I know Amplesound is pretty active on their Twitter, you might ask them to get a definitive answer.

Great question! At this point, that feature does not support any other format except .gp3, 4, 5 and X which is made in third-party tablature writing software. I don’t actually use this feature much since it’s easier to write in a DAW’s midi roll or import MIDI files.

That’s a good question! I’m not as familiar with FL Studio, but most likely you’ll first need to create an automation region/lane for the track, then automate the parameter you want. In this case, Sustain pedal is “MIDI CC 64”. Once you set the automation to CC 64, the drawing of the automation lane should focus on that parameter on that track. Sustain midi is often universal so if you search how to automate sustain, it’ll be the same for every plugin. Once you learn the workflow for FL Studio then you’ll be able to do it for Ample Guitars and everything else. For example, check this vid out: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fKifeaWmxMCxfHk.html

good catch! This is more important than people realize. Because these guitar VSTs span all 88 keys, including articulation triggers and modes, if you have a shorter keyboard (like my 49 key), you’ll likely need to use the octave buttons to move the key zone to where it’s easier to reach certain key triggers. To answer your question, yes. Yes it drives me crazy. Haha 😂

@TobyRyan That’s understandable 🎶 I did still enjoy the video.

Unfortunately not at this time. You might message them and request they make an iPad version. They’re really cool people who actually listen to their users. One of the reasons I recommend their products .

Great question! It depends. The electric guitar will need to be capable of sending MIDI either through an external pickup or it needs to be a MIDI guitar. With either of those options it’s possible to control these virtual guitar VST. Traditionally, it’s easier with a keyboard, however they’ve built in functionality to be able to use with a MIDI guitar which is cool.

@@TobyRyan I see. I appreciated the response, thanks!

Yes, it’s sometimes on sale for $89 (regular $149)

Whoa, hold on now, I vibe with some HGTV. 😂

@@TobyRyan im not throwing shade. Just sayin. Lol

I use fl studio and do it by using the channel pitch, you can use the jog wheel if you have a midi controller

Your comment is confusing, isn't the classical guitar nylon and the acoustic guitar steel ㄟ( ▔, ▔ )ㄏ

@@coolamericano You´re intelligent. You understood it...

Great question! Each guitar is it’s own separate product and plugin. The brown one is called the Ample Guitar L, which is an Alhambra Luthier Classic Guitar. What’s really cool about Ample Sound is when a guitar does get an update, you get that for free. They recently added extension packs like finger and pick to some of the acoustic guitars so you might check your account to see if you have that update available.

Try changing the attack speed

same

A bit late but in the settings > sample tab, there's a global envelope. By default the start point is set to 35ms as a compromise between real time playability and playback realism. Basically what it does is cut out the initial attack because in real life there's a delay between when you pick the strings and when it actually starts resonating. You can set it to 50ms for real time playing, or if you're programming the notes, set it to 0ms and in your DAW, set the latency of that track to -50ms so that it plays sooner. I don't know about every DAW but for FL Studio users, it's latency *compensation* so you actually enter a positive value of 50 to make it play sooner.

Hey! I, unfortunately don’t have the latest Cubase, so I’m not really sure as to where to look to enable plugins in that DAW. But I do know, most DAWs that use VST/AU might need a rescan of the plugin folder. To do that go to your plugin manager in Cubase, then the plugin manager settings and rescan the VST or AU folder you installed the plugin in. That should force Cubase to recognize that you installed the Ample Guitar plugin file. Hope that helps!

@@TobyRyan Ok I'll try it Many thanks 🙏

Alas , I tried it but cubase didn't recognize it Although I added many more plugins like addictive drums and EZ drummer and many things like that. I think the plugin isn't ok or corrupted..

It’s a Komplete Kontrol S49 (1st Gen or MKI).

@@TobyRyan Thank you

Hi! At www.amplesound.net they sometimes have sales too.

Evenios it does still work with the Komplete Kontrol keyboards in some ways, but I agree, I want it to be fully NKS. It’s one of those things like air conditioning - once you’ve experienced NKS, it’s rough without it.

@@Fuji_Investments - yeah, it does seem kind of weird. I have the picking version but haven't really used it all that much. My own picking is in a lot of ways better so I'm using it mostly to MIDI'fy what I've already done just to see what it'll sound like and gain a little more control..