Guitar sample libraries production tips?

[Alyctro]

Hi, I'm mainly using electric guitar libraries, and I'm looking for some tips. Mainly about the re-amping and mixing part, so it can be in regard to any sample library. What I mostly use are Shreddage, MusicLab and Ample products. And for the amps i either use the NeauralDSP stuff like Gohira, or AmpKnob. I noticed all of my tones sound really weak. I'm not having an issue with programming and humanizing the midi notes. More specifically, it seems to me that my guitars lack the attack and strum velocity which might just be that the libraries aren't so advanced yet.

Some examples of what i'm trying to achieve. It is definitely possible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYgTmCoMnoo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aq98v0F4Pw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocNAG8T5Gok
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWpIqt2hsdU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6H1oDc4GEQ

I could really use some mixed IR samples too, preferably free.

[Dormant]

It would be helpful if you could provide some sound examples of your tones.

Btw, the beauty of ITB reamping is an ability to shape the tone before an amp. If you want to simulate hard hitting strings you can use compression and transient shaping. Also you can try to play with "pick attack" knob on Shreddage products (just don't overdo it as it can get unnatural).

Other than that I could think of using too much gain in ampsimps, it washes away punch and definition. The tones that you like most likely use way less gain than you might think.

And lastly, do not forget, in this kind of music like on the first two vids the huge part of the rhythm guitar tone and power is actually comes from a bass guitar.

[wasi]

As a guitarist even some of those tones make me shudder but you could mix some clean signal in to add punch.

Also, like Dormant said, gain is usually a lot lower than you'd think. "Less is often more", as Peter Diezel says in his Manuals.

[Alyctro]

It would be helpful if you could provide some sound examples of your tones.

Btw, the beauty of ITB reamping is an ability to shape the tone before an amp. If you want to simulate hard hitting strings you can use compression and transient shaping. Also you can try to play with "pick attack" knob on Shreddage products (just don't overdo it as it can get unnatural).

Other than that I could think of using too much gain in ampsimps, it washes away punch and definition. The tones that you like most likely use way less gain than you might think.

And lastly, do not forget, in this kind of music like on the first two vids the huge part of the rhythm guitar tone and power is actually comes from a bass guitar.

https://we.tl/t-FkjIntHhh0 Example mix
https://we.tl/t-UIlN7ocA0r only guitar

[Alyctro]

As a guitarist even some of those tones make me shudder but you could mix some clean signal in to add punch.

Also, like Dormant said, gain is usually a lot lower than you'd think. "Less is often more", as Peter Diezel says in his Manuals.

did he men transient shaping and compression at the same time?

[Dormant]

https://we.tl/t-FkjIntHhh0 Example mix
https://we.tl/t-UIlN7ocA0r only guitar

My apologies, I can't open these links. Can you please share it some other way?

[Alyctro]

https://we.tl/t-FkjIntHhh0 Example mix
https://we.tl/t-UIlN7ocA0r only guitar

My apologies, I can't open these links. Can you please share it some other way?

https://www.filemail.com/d/zltjjdkrebzfhdv
https://filetransfer.io/data-package/YbYDpfkI#link

can you access these?

[Danilo Villanova]

Are you doing anything to the eq? It does sound kind of shrill... be sure to keep it flat.

How's the input level going in? Try adding more gain before the amp. A lot of amp sims need some extra volume to get in the sweet spot.

Are you using a pedal emulation? Like a tube screamer type pedal. Not only it helps drive the 'tubes' harder, but it shapes the tone too, it cuts some lows and highs. The tone knob can add or subtract high frequencies. Pay attention to your tone and make sure it's not too bright, or too dark. Compare to recordings you like.

With amp sims it's kind of necessary to use an eq before the amp to shape the tone going in, and another after it to remove more nasty frequencies. So essentially, it's a subtractive process. Sometimes you can use the eq instead of the tube screamer, or you can use both.

Once you get a decent tone doing that, you can add a subtle saturation/distortion to the guitar bus to add a bit of extra bite and excitement. That's an old school trick that really makes it "sound like a record".

So, it's a rather involved process to get it right, but once you wrap your head around it you can save track presets and whatnot.

[Dormant]

https://www.filemail.com/d/zltjjdkrebzfhdv
https://filetransfer.io/data-package/YbYDpfkI#link

can you access these?

Yeah, thanks. Well, all I can say - it's definitely not a Shreddage guitars. The problem is, if you want your midi-guitars to sound like real and good ones, first of all you want to make sure your clean tone sounds like an actual properly recorded DI. With your examples I can clearly hear problems at a source. Shreddage is your best option here.

[MuratGloris]

It is worth paying attention to the settings of the library itself. Sometimes, even when you have great MIDI programming and work on humanizing the notes, the sound can still leave much to be desired due to incorrect attack settings and other parameters. Also experiment with signal processing.

[Alyctro]

Are you doing anything to the eq? It does sound kind of shrill... be sure to keep it flat.

How's the input level going in? Try adding more gain before the amp. A lot of amp sims need some extra volume to get in the sweet spot.

Are you using a pedal emulation? Like a tube screamer type pedal. Not only it helps drive the 'tubes' harder, but it shapes the tone too, it cuts some lows and highs. The tone knob can add or subtract high frequencies. Pay attention to your tone and make sure it's not too bright, or too dark. Compare to recordings you like.

With amp sims it's kind of necessary to use an eq before the amp to shape the tone going in, and another after it to remove more nasty frequencies. So essentially, it's a subtractive process. Sometimes you can use the eq instead of the tube screamer, or you can use both.

Once you get a decent tone doing that, you can add a subtle saturation/distortion to the guitar bus to add a bit of extra bite and excitement. That's an old school trick that really makes it "sound like a record".

So, it's a rather involved process to get it right, but once you wrap your head around it you can save track presets and whatnot.

I don't even start building without a tube screamer haha. level and tone on max, distortion on the lowest. Always makes it easier to get a metal tone. And yes i do play around with the gain settings. As well as di matching plugins. Back to the screamer, i thought it's an iron rule to be set like that. I do use an eq after the whole chain, to remove resonancies and add lp and hp cuts. But i rarely use it before, unless the specific guitar emulation requires it. About the bite, just recently i found that "Fresh Air by slate" and "Satturn by fabfilter" give me that liveliness at the end. And i've been trying to wrap my head around this for years, even trying to learn a real guitar which only set me in debt lol.

[Alyctro]

https://www.filemail.com/d/zltjjdkrebzfhdv
https://filetransfer.io/data-package/YbYDpfkI#link

can you access these?

Yeah, thanks. Well, all I can say - it's definitely not a Shreddage guitars. The problem is, if you want your midi-guitars to sound like real and good ones, first of all you want to make sure your clean tone sounds like an actual properly recorded DI. With your examples I can clearly hear problems at a source. Shreddage is your best option here.

I won't disagree, i will higly support this idea and always have been. That's why i mentioned DI matching and emulation to another person here. Other eople have said that sampled guitars sound too clinic to be realistic. And i have thought so too. I have spent a good time on trying to add some dirt and variation into them. And while shreddage was a good companion for most of those years, i got really annoyed by a few problems that the competitors have fixed long ago. Right now i'm trying my luck with MusicLab lpc and eight. Just for the amount of humanization and ease of use. Whilst others may condemn it as the worst because it's modeled, not sampled.

[Alyctro]

It is worth paying attention to the settings of the library itself. Sometimes, even when you have great MIDI programming and work on humanizing the notes, the sound can still leave much to be desired due to incorrect attack settings and other parameters. Also experiment with signal processing.

Yes i totally agree on this. I tried finding actual stems from bands which have DI recordings in the rawest quality possible, to match them with AI or by hand. Either stealing the EQ curve before or after the chain. But, have sadly lost the links since and it's almost impossible for me to find a good DI recording without prepaid sites.

[Alyctro]

https://we.tl/t-W8fgI46w1y

What about this riff tone? But that's a lot of processing to be practical. I was looking for a more practical solution, and i used a different sampled guitar altogether.

https://we.tl/t-0FW31YhcIU

I used the same tone and guitar here although without any DI wizzardry.