Strumming in Lead Mode

[jgale]

Greg - first off kudos on your excellent Steel Strings Library! I also own EEG - love it - and found that the acoustic version has the same "soul" that EEG has.

Now my question - I would like to play my own chords in Lead Mode but have EAG strum them as in the Rythym Mode (slow, fast, stops, etc.). The strum keys are nice but a bit limited. Is there any way to do this in Lead Mode - or - have a "Don't recognize chord" switch in Rhythm Mode so I can utilize the same strum keys?

John

[Gregjazz]

Hi John,

What type of strumming part are you trying to achieve? That might help me determine what the best way of accomplishing it is.

Other than that, there's always the possibility of creating your own chord voicings in the rhythm guitar engine. Sometimes I'll just use the chord voicings for the roots to create custom voicings that aren't already covered in the factory chord definitions, because I rarely use roots anyway--so I essentially consider it a single key macro for a specific chord voicing.

Kind regards,

Greg

[jgale]

Thanks for the response Greg.

I play keyboards and a (very) little guitar. For typical background track strumming - the strumming engine fits the bill.

For more exact control - I like to play different chord inversions, chords with only 2-3 notes, chords with leading voicing's, etc.. The lead engine has allowed me to achieve a lot of this. I tried your suggestion of setting up a custom chord using a single key and that helped somewhat. I am still playing around with all of this and will let you know how I make out.

I understand that you are coming out with a new engine. Here are some requests from my side:

- More recognized chords
- More custom chords
- Option to have the keyboard position dictate fretting position (in addition to the mod wheel)
- Option to allow keyboard chord inversion to dictate EAG chord inversion (C/G, etc.)
- More custom strum keys (maybe 2x's as many?)
- Ability to share custom chords between patches
- Option to allow chord to play when played on keyboard (as opposed to waiting for a strum key)

I would make these on/off options as people most likely have different approaches to EAG.

Thanks for listening - great product - just can't seem to stop playing this thing…

John

[josephlevie]

I'm using the lead engine for chords too. I have programming question. If playing all six strings, and let's assume that we have 15 ticks per string, would your first string typically be on the beat or the last string?:

1|1|000
1|1|015
1|1|030
1|1|045
1|1|060
1|1|075

or

0|4|405
0|4|420
0|4|435
0|4|450
0|4|465
1|1|000
?

[Gregjazz]

It depends on the speed of the strum. If it's a very slow, accented strum, it's going to be the latter, ending right on the downbeat. However, I usually find the strums go across the beat, like this:

0|4|450
0|4|465
1|1|000
1|1|015
1|1|030
1|1|045

The faster the strum, the more the staggering of notes "contracts" towards the central downbeat.

[josephlevie]

Thank you, Greg.