Ujam Virtual Guitarist Carbon
- GRRRRRRR!
- Topic Starter
- 15955 posts since 14 Jun, 2001 from Somewhere else, on principle
Anyone seen this yet? It's awesome! It's everything VG Iron isn't plus a whole lot more. I bought Iron last year (on sale) and while I love the concept, the workflow and the sounds it is capable of, I found it very hard to sit into a mix and I have only found a couple of uses for it. Carbon changes that - it sounds every bit as good as Iron but because of its different character, it fits into even the densest mixes easily.
VG Carbon takes all the best features from other instruments in the range and refines the workflow slightly to open up more possibilities than ever. Like VB-Rowdy, you can bypass the riffs and play the instrument normally from your sequencer or controller. But it also has the familiar preset riffs with a dozen or more variations, plus a "Shred" feature I've not seen before. You can find out for yourself what it does, I won't spoil the surprise. Unlike VG-Iron, you also get a much broader note range in Carbon, about three octaves, which is what really helps in getting it to work in your songs.
I reckon Ujam have nailed it with VG-Carbon and we've already integrated it into three of our songs, just over the last couple of days. It's overtaken Sugar Bytes' Guitarist as my favourite guitar, although I probably need to spend more time learning how to get the most out of Guitarist, it's a lot deeper than my other guitar VSTis.
https://www.ujam.com/product/carbon/
Last edited by BONES on Mon Nov 04, 2019 3:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
NOVAkILL : Asus RoG Flow Z13, Core i9, 16GB RAM, Win11 | EVO 16 | Studio One | bx_oberhausen, GR-8, JP6K, Union, Hexeract, Olga, TRK-01, SEM, BA-1, Thorn, Prestige, Spire, Legend-HZ, ANA-2, VG Iron 2 | Uno Pro, Rocket.
- KVRAF
- 5948 posts since 8 Jul, 2009
Yes, it's amazing, I think... anyway. I have their other VG products which I think are excellent tools. Carbon is like a synth that uses guitar sounds and riffs as the source. very cool.
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- KVRAF
- 21196 posts since 8 Oct, 2014
Does it have a strumming function and if so, how realistic is it? I find virtual guitar strumming to be dreadful and I have quite a few of them. They just can't get that realistic guitar feel when strumming. It always sounds like a keyboard playing.
- KVRAF
- 5948 posts since 8 Jul, 2009
Agreed. Unless you want that specific sound, a la Sugar Bytes Guitarist (which can sometimes sound real-ish) or Papen Sub-Boom-Bass 2. Typically I do my own strumming with those that support one-string-per-finger mode, chording with the other hand, such as Acoustic Samples.
Carbon doesn't have a strumming engine as far as I have seem. The patters are more picking patterns than strumming. Try the demo. its a 4.5G download.
Heres my cat playing it on my Seaboard...
https://youtu.be/UCBg5T1g0Mk
#NONFR Check out my music at Bandcamp Free Streaming!
Free music with your support on Patreon | Youtube: Music of Plexus Videos (music videos) | Youtube: Plexus Productions (audio related) Stop whining. Make music.
Free music with your support on Patreon | Youtube: Music of Plexus Videos (music videos) | Youtube: Plexus Productions (audio related) Stop whining. Make music.
- GRRRRRRR!
- Topic Starter
- 15955 posts since 14 Jun, 2001 from Somewhere else, on principle
No, it doesn't do strumming, it's not that kind of guitar. You might try one of their other VG products for that. The strumming in the VG-Silk and VG-Amber demos sound pretty convincing to me. As I recall, the strumming in Sugar Bytes guitarist is OK, too. Ujam give you a fully functional 30 day demo to try out so you can put them through their paces and see if one of them works for you or not.
NOVAkILL : Asus RoG Flow Z13, Core i9, 16GB RAM, Win11 | EVO 16 | Studio One | bx_oberhausen, GR-8, JP6K, Union, Hexeract, Olga, TRK-01, SEM, BA-1, Thorn, Prestige, Spire, Legend-HZ, ANA-2, VG Iron 2 | Uno Pro, Rocket.
- GRRRRRRR!
- Topic Starter
- 15955 posts since 14 Jun, 2001 from Somewhere else, on principle
Last night I got out VG-Iron, too, and started using them together. They complement each other quite well. I had three different guitars going in one song but it was a little too much so I pulled one of them out. I think this is the dawn of a whole new era for NOVAkILL.
NOVAkILL : Asus RoG Flow Z13, Core i9, 16GB RAM, Win11 | EVO 16 | Studio One | bx_oberhausen, GR-8, JP6K, Union, Hexeract, Olga, TRK-01, SEM, BA-1, Thorn, Prestige, Spire, Legend-HZ, ANA-2, VG Iron 2 | Uno Pro, Rocket.
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AdvancedFollower AdvancedFollower https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=418780
- KVRian
- 1234 posts since 8 May, 2018 from Sweden
The other VG products are better for strumming, as mentioned. You're actually playing back pre-set "phrases", which can either be strums or rhythmic parts etc. They aren't sample loops, but not quite MIDI either. That might seem a bit limiting, however there are so many different phrases, and you can change phrases using the lower notes on the keyboard to effectively create even more variations by stringing them together in different ways.
A real guitarist would also have a specific, personal repertoire of licks, phrases and styles, so it really is a bit like getting a session player in a plug-in.
- KVRAF
- 21196 posts since 8 Oct, 2014
My problem, and this keeps getting constantly hammered at me by guitarists, is that these VSTs don't sound like real guitars especially when strumming. It sounds like a keyboard playing. It's frustrating when your music gets torn apart because you don't have a real guitar.AdvancedFollower wrote: ↑Tue Nov 05, 2019 2:05 pmThe other VG products are better for strumming, as mentioned. You're actually playing back pre-set "phrases", which can either be strums or rhythmic parts etc. They aren't sample loops, but not quite MIDI either. That might seem a bit limiting, however there are so many different phrases, and you can change phrases using the lower notes on the keyboard to effectively create even more variations by stringing them together in different ways.
A real guitarist would also have a specific, personal repertoire of licks, phrases and styles, so it really is a bit like getting a session player in a plug-in.
Hopefully, the day will come where you can't tell a virtual guitar from the real thing. Nothing out now does the job.
- KVRAF
- 3338 posts since 6 Aug, 2009
so much better than the music so many of our peers make...plexuss wrote: ↑Mon Nov 04, 2019 4:42 am Heres my cat playing it on my Seaboard...
https://youtu.be/UCBg5T1g0Mk
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el-bo (formerly ebow) el-bo (formerly ebow) https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=208007
- KVRAF
- 16369 posts since 24 May, 2009 from A galaxy, far far away
I used to have a cat joining me on the keyboard. He'd generally sleep stretched out over 3-4 octaves. But if I'd had my Seaboard at the time, he'd never have been allowed anywhere near it. I reckon he'd have clawed himself through that squidgy surface within minutes of seeing itplexuss wrote: ↑Mon Nov 04, 2019 4:42 amHeres my cat playing it on my Seaboard...
https://youtu.be/UCBg5T1g0Mk
- KVRAF
- 1626 posts since 21 Sep, 2007 from USA
I have been playing with the 30-day trial of Carbon. I have a free copy of Sparkle that I got from PreSonus, but I have not tried it yet. Carbon certainly is a lot of fun to play around with and its picking-based patterns sound decent enough. All of the patterns seem to play repeatably on a single note, so you need to interactively press different keys while they are playing, or manually edit the notes of the dragged-out MIDI phrases.
Carbon performs one semi-tone pitch bends well enough, but you cannot alter the pitch bend range, which is a shame as it would be fun to hear it do whammy-bar dive-bombs. Also, there are no unison bend sounds built-in, as far as I can tell. The playing articulations are limited to levels of string muting (dead note, full mute, 1/2 mute, no-mute/sustain). There are no articulations like slides, harmonics (natural, artificial, or pinch) or any special effects like pick scrapes. Although the sounds are based on a 8-string guitar, the Carbon playable note range (MIDI F#3 – F#6) does not appear to cover the full playable range of a 24-fret 8-string guitar (for example the high E at 1318.510 Hz). There are about 49 different playable notes on a 24-fret six-string guitar.
The PDF manual is available here.
My impression is that Carbon is best utilized for heavy, crunchy leads and chord rhythms on the lower and mid registers. Because it lacks articulations found in other guitar VIs that I own, I am not sure I can justify the current asking price (best price I have found so far is $93 for owners of any UJAM product, such as the free Dope from PB a couple of months ago). I might be willing to pay $35 or so for this VI. Do the UJAM virtual instruments ever go on sale?
Carbon performs one semi-tone pitch bends well enough, but you cannot alter the pitch bend range, which is a shame as it would be fun to hear it do whammy-bar dive-bombs. Also, there are no unison bend sounds built-in, as far as I can tell. The playing articulations are limited to levels of string muting (dead note, full mute, 1/2 mute, no-mute/sustain). There are no articulations like slides, harmonics (natural, artificial, or pinch) or any special effects like pick scrapes. Although the sounds are based on a 8-string guitar, the Carbon playable note range (MIDI F#3 – F#6) does not appear to cover the full playable range of a 24-fret 8-string guitar (for example the high E at 1318.510 Hz). There are about 49 different playable notes on a 24-fret six-string guitar.
The PDF manual is available here.
My impression is that Carbon is best utilized for heavy, crunchy leads and chord rhythms on the lower and mid registers. Because it lacks articulations found in other guitar VIs that I own, I am not sure I can justify the current asking price (best price I have found so far is $93 for owners of any UJAM product, such as the free Dope from PB a couple of months ago). I might be willing to pay $35 or so for this VI. Do the UJAM virtual instruments ever go on sale?
Last edited by tonedef71 on Wed Nov 06, 2019 2:40 am, edited 2 times in total.
[Core i7 8700 | 32GB DDR4 | Win11 x64 | Studio One 6 Pro | FL Studio ASIO/WASAPI ]
- KVRAF
- 4784 posts since 2 Sep, 2005 from city of lights (nl)
Yes, they do. Quite often https://rekkerd.org/tag/ujam+sale/
Rekkerd.org the latest news on audio plugins, sample libraries & virtual instruments, synth presets & more.
Don't click here if you can't control yourself!
Don't click here if you can't control yourself!
- KVRAF
- 1626 posts since 21 Sep, 2007 from USA
Thanks for the link. It looks like the regular price of a Virtual Guitarist does not generally drop below $89, which could go as low as $84 at some retailers. It does not seem like it is worth holding off buying it now to wait for a better deal later.
[Core i7 8700 | 32GB DDR4 | Win11 x64 | Studio One 6 Pro | FL Studio ASIO/WASAPI ]
- KVRAF
- 1626 posts since 21 Sep, 2007 from USA
More or less. Listen to the music the cat was "playing" to get a sense of the guitar sound it produces. The guitar tone can be made to sound less realistic by tweaking the controls when you actually want something that sounds less like a guitar and more like a synth that sounds somewhat reminiscent of a guitar.
[Core i7 8700 | 32GB DDR4 | Win11 x64 | Studio One 6 Pro | FL Studio ASIO/WASAPI ]