How do I get EAG to strum all strings including open ones?

[ph0bic]

I need to 'translate' a real guitar part via EAG steel strings, but there are a number of parts of the track where for example, a chord is played on the fifth fret but with all open strings playing. I can play the chord on the correct fret, but only the active strings sound which doesn't give the same feel. I can't seem to find a way to replicate this easily, and there isn't any instructions in the manual, so is there a way make sure all six strings are strummed no matter what chord is played?

[Gregjazz]

Turn the "Vel > Limit" control to 0%. You can find this control in the "Performance" / "Strumming" section. That will turn off the way velocity affects how many strings get strummed.

[ph0bic]

Turn the "Vel > Limit" control to 0%. You can find this control in the "Performance" / "Strumming" section. That will turn off the way velocity affects how many strings get strummed.

I've tried that Greg, and it doesn't seem to work unless I'm missing something? If I play three notes it strums 3, if I play two notes it just strums two etc. I want to be able to play as many notes from the keyboard as needed, and when I hit the strum key all six strings sound, the ones that I play and the rest open. Is this possible?

[Gregjazz]

It won't play open strings unless those notes are actually held. You must be in the "held notes" chord mode. Have you tried the auto detect mode already?

[ph0bic]

It won't play open strings unless those notes are actually held. You must be in the "held notes" chord mode. Have you tried the auto detect mode already?

Thanks for the replies Greg. I have tried the auto detect mode but it doesn't recognize the chord. I have tried to 'play' all six notes, the two that I need and the four open string positions, but they are so far apart on the keyboard, I can't physically reach them.
I don't really understand why it is this way tbh. If I play a simple triad chord on an acoustic guitar, I will more often than not play all six strings or at least five with a strum, so I'm a little confused why I can't select this as a standard option

[Gregjazz]

Well, if you're only playing a triad, you're only going to be strumming those three notes. In that situation, any open strings would be muted (to prevent resonation) and not strummed.

What happens when you use the auto-detect mode rather than the "held notes" mode? It should be able to detect any chord you throw at it.

[ph0bic]

Well, if you're only playing a triad, you're only going to be strumming those three notes. In that situation, any open strings would be muted (to prevent resonation) and not strummed.

What happens when you use the auto-detect mode rather than the "held notes" mode? It should be able to detect any chord you throw at it.

Hi Greg, I'm sorry if I am not making myself clear but I'm not playing a triad (I just used that as an example which has only confused the issue unfortunately). As I said before, I'm trying to play TWO notes of a C chord that aren't recognised as a chord by the auto-detect mode, so the chord detection doesn't work. I suppose I simply want it to act like a physical guitar would i.e. if I WANT to strum 6 strings I can, if I want to strum 5 I can, regardless of whether or not it is a recognised chord or if it creates extra resonance. Who's to say I don't want extra resonance, or a fuller sound for example when the guitar is the only instrument playing in a particular part of a track, or for a simple folk song?

It's obviously just me, not understanding how to 'play' this Kontakt instrument correctly, or how to translate real guitar playing to EAG SS to get it to sound how I want it to.
Could you maybe point me to a beginners tutorial "how to play this for dummies" type of tutorial, because I can't seem to find anything in the manual, on your site, or in your YT videos that fits the bill?

Failing that, if you tell me the exact steps needed to create one of my 'chords', then I can probably work out the rest from there and be able to stop hassling you and leave you alone!
So for example how do a play the following six note strum:
Bottom E (open), A (open), D string played on 5th fret (ie G), G string played on 5th fret (ie C), B (open), E (open).

I'm loving the sound of the guitar, and I'm willing to put the effort in to try to work with it, I hopefully just need a kick start to get me on my way

[J-Rokujuushi]

It looks like you'll have to use MIDI Guitar mode to get what you want, since the engine seems to want to play the C on the 2nd string instead of the 3rd, even with Mono Strings mode and the Legato Range turned off. The strumming engine doesn't seem to play nice with the MIDI Guitar mode, though, so you'll probably have to sequence the strumming manually.

I tried it myself in MIDI Guitar mode, with channels 1, 2, 5, and 6 on their open string notes, and channels 3 and 4 on their 5th fret notes. If I played one of the strum keys, it would strum the string for that channel, but it would try strumming every single note that had been put down. For example, channel 1 would only strum the first string, and it would only strum the high E since that's the only note the first string can play. Channel 2 would strum string 2 open, at the first fret, and at the 5th fret, all at once. Channel 6 would strum string 6 open, at the 5th fret, at the 15th fret, at the 19th fret, ad the 20th fret, and there is no 24th fret so the high E just doesn't play. Setting the Play Mode to Mono Strings has the same effect, it just cuts many of the notes off.

If I missed something, I'd love to know what it is. If not, maybe something could be incorporated in a future update to make strumming play nice with MIDI Guitar mode. For example, right now in MIDI Guitar mode, channels 7 and up simply trigger the lowest string like channel 6 does. Perhaps those could be repurposed to accept strum keys instead?

[KeithAdv]

So for example how do a play the following six note strum:
Bottom E (open), A (open), D string played on 5th fret (ie G), G string played on 5th fret (ie C), B (open), E (open).

I've newly purchased this set. I do love the quality of the samples but I would have to add +1 on the tutorials. I'm a pretty fair guitar player and I know what I want but I'm still struggling to figure out even the basics of accomplishing simple stuff on EAG. I've pulled "Pulse" into Sonar and I'm trying to learn from that but it shouldn't be this hard, even for a dumb guy.

Having said that, I'd also +1 on the OP's question. I'd categorize the inability to strum open-voiced chords up the neck as a Pretty Big Deal. It can be a lovely sound and I commonly use them in my writing.

[hyper.real]

I'd also +1 on the OP's question. I'd categorize the inability to strum open-voiced chords up the neck as a Pretty Big Deal. It can be a lovely sound and I commonly use them in my writing.

Hmmm. I was about to succumb to the offer on EAG, but this is making me think twice.

Greg, pretty please, can you do something for us? An alternative user-selectable algorithm perhaps? (And add it into EEG, which I already have?)

[Gregjazz]

It seems like I should tweak the handling of the "Open Strings" option to make these available with ALL the automatic chord detection modes.

[ph0bic]

Thanks everyone for the replies (especially J-Rokujuushi for your efforts). It may not be essential for everyone but like KeithAdv posted, I use open voiced chords extensively in my writing, and without a useable method of recreating them, EAG is of little use to me.
Thanks for the update Greg. Do you have an estimate as to when this could be implemented?

[Gregjazz]

I think the deal is, Evolution can already do open position voicings, but things get complicated when you want to play a voicing high on the fretboard that still uses open strings.

[ph0bic]

I think the deal is, Evolution can already do open position voicings, but things get complicated when you want to play a voicing high on the fretboard that still uses open strings.

If it can't be implemented easily within the automatic chord detection modes, is there a way to bypass them completely and play the voicings manually (eg via midi notes within a DAW)?

[Gregjazz]

Yeah, there's a "held notes" option, which lets you strum the notes as they are held exactly on the keyboard--but I need to make the "open strings" option apply to this mode in an update.