Applied Acoustics Systems has announced the release of Strum Electric GS-1, a new guitar track production plug-in for music producers and composers.

Based on the latest AAS physical modeling technology, Strum Electric includes a collection of classic single coil- and humbucker-fitted guitars, a two-channel amplifier with spring reverb, a speaker cabinet, and effects all featured in a ready-made preset library. It also includes an elaborate voicing module which automatically voices chords played on the keyboard as a guitar player would on the fretboard. Techniques such as down- and up-strokes, slides and bends, hammer-ons and pull-offs, palm muting, muffled strings, and arpeggios are triggered by special strumming keys. Strum Electric also ships with a MIDI loops library which provides rhythmic figures, strumming patterns, and chord progressions in various musical styles.

"Strum's great strength lies in the fact that it combines the modeling of the complete chain of elements producing an electric guitar sound—the guitar itself, the amp, and the effect—with chord voicing and various playing techniques of a guitar player," said Marc-Pierre Verge, CEO of AAS, "This allows one to get guitar sounds in about any style and create great guitar tracks easily without an elaborate knowledge of guitar playing."

Pricing and Availability

Strum Electric GS-1 is available now at a retail price of $229. Strum Electric GS-1 runs on both Mac OS X and Windows, as a standalone application as well as in host sequencers supporting the VST, Audio Units, and RTAS plug-in formats.