Virtual guitar/bass?

  • Thread starter Thread starter jrhager84
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Firstly: I'm in a band. A band that I enjoy. This solo work is for enjoyment/entertainment ONLY.

Second, I don't feel the need to pick up a guitar to learn to play to write hobbyist music. I focus more on my drumming then anything else.

My question was for a plugin that would make it sound similar to a guitar, as I don't have time (from my priorities) to learn 2 other instruments. I'm not dissing people who play guitar, but on the same token I wouldn't expect them to practice drumming to write progressive metal parts (Mike Portnoy ring a bell)? I obviously know the answer now, much to my chagrin.

Point is, I don't want lame-ass guitars on my songs, which is what I'll get for the next X years while I practice. Even if I did practice, that would be skill I'm losing on my primary instrument, the drums.

I'm not trying to devalue real guitars/bass, but they DO have drum simulators, so my logic was telling me there HAD to be a guitar/bass simulator out there. Excuse me for assuming...
 
jrhager84 said:
Firstly: I'm in a band. A band that I enjoy. This solo work is for enjoyment/entertainment ONLY.

Second, I don't feel the need to pick up a guitar to learn to play to write hobbyist music. I focus more on my drumming then anything else.

My question was for a plugin that would make it sound similar to a guitar, as I don't have time (from my priorities) to learn 2 other instruments. I'm not dissing people who play guitar, but on the same token I wouldn't expect them to practice drumming to write progressive metal parts (Mike Portnoy ring a bell)? I obviously know the answer now, much to my chagrin.

Point is, I don't want lame-ass guitars on my songs, which is what I'll get for the next X years while I practice. Even if I did practice, that would be skill I'm losing on my primary instrument, the drums.

I'm not trying to devalue real guitars/bass, but they DO have drum simulators, so my logic was telling me there HAD to be a guitar/bass simulator out there. Excuse me for assuming...
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ahh. i guess i was under the impression that you are a keyboard player. that would make it a little easier for you anyway. flippy gave you the best advice then. use sound fonts and a midi program.

you may even be able to do it with samples and loops. that probably wouldn't give you the results you want though. i don't really know what to tell you other than take all the suggestions given here and spend some quality time with google to see what YOUR best options are.

good luck.
 
jrhager84 said:
Point is, I don't want lame-ass guitars on my songs....
Click to expand...

And because we think so much of you, we don't want lame-ass guitars on your music either. Which is specifically why nobody recommends a "good" virtual guitar. ;)

Session musicians, man. Session musicians. Buy somebody a case of beer.
 
There is no such thing as realistic guitar sims and the various sample loops etc. can be very limited.

For what it's worth, I spent many years trying various sims, samples, etc. (my main ax was the drum kit and I was a pretty decent keyboard player - with less than average guitar skills). I spent several thousand dollars and numerous hours buying synths, samplers, etc and trying to learn how to create guitar phrasing on a keyboard (sometimes with success, often without). While this actually improved my keyboard chops and improved my understanding of theory, it did not give me the guitar parts that I wanted, needed or heard in my head.

I finally decided to bite the bullet and improve my guitar skills. I wood shedded for a couple of years - and granted during those years the guitar parts that I was able to track were often less than inspired) - but little by little I was able to play what I heard.

Hindsight - I wish I would have worked on my guitar chops sooner. It would have saved me a lot of wasted time and cash (trying to create guitar parts with synths/samples).

One down side - once I started to play guitar better, I started to think like a guitar player (not a good thing). Worse than that, I started to search for the holy grail of tone - which at last count = 7 electric guitars, 5 accoustic guitars and 6 amps.

Hmmmm - maybe I didn't do myself a favor learning to play guitar:confused:
 
One follow-up thought.

Don't assume that time spent learing guitar chops will compromise your ability to improve as a drummer.

I have found that the more I learn on melodic instruments, the better I become as a drummer. Not meaning my actual drum chops improve (and I already have very good drums chops) - but my ability to anticipate what the other instruments improves.

This means, as a drummer, I can better serve the song and know when certain accents and dynamics will enhance the arrangement.

Many on the best drummers are accomplished on other instruments.
 
mikeh said:
One follow-up thought.

Don't assume that time spent learing guitar chops will compromise your ability to improve as a drummer.

I have found that the more I learn on melodic instruments, the better I become as a drummer. Not meaning my actual drum chops improve (and I already have very good drums chops) - but my ability to anticipate what the other instruments improves.
Click to expand...

Absolutely right. Music is mental; the instrument is merely the conduit from the musician's mind to the listener's ear. Development in any facet of it benefits the whole.

For example, I played trombone in junior high school, through the tenth grade. I was never very good, in fact I sucked. I got interested in guitar, and that was that for my horn playing. I started as a folk singer, moved to rock and roll, picked up the bass, learned some stuff on the keyboard, dabbled in MIDI, etc.

Anyway, thirty years after I put the trombone down, I was playing in a cover band that was learning a song that had some horn parts in it. Sort of as a joke, I went into the attic and dragged out my horn, and much to my surprise I found that I could play it much better than I could before, despite the fact that I hadn't touched it since 1966. I was no virtuoso, you understand, but my development as a musician in toto fed back into a skill that had lain dormant for many years.

Any new instrument you learn gives you perspective and will make you better at playing in general.
 
Hmmm.....
If I were you... I'd head to the mp3-clinic, and see what guitarist gets close to "your sound"... Then maybe a collaboration...

Done here on numerous accounts.

...and I'd do it before stepping on the toes of the "go-to" players here...:D

But I've never known shit....
 
I guess I'll have to just buy a guitar now......*sigh*

Appreciate the input guys... I'll also check out the mixing clinic to see if people have what I need at some point. :cool:
 
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