Ujam Virtual Guitarist Carbon

[Aloysius]

[BONES]

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.

Except these things do sound like real guitars because they are real, sampled guitars. It's possibly how you use them that makes them sound off to a guitarist, who might approach the music differently.

It's frustrating when your music gets torn apart because you don't have a real guitar.

That's your fault for thinking other people know what's best for your music. Have a little more confidence in what you're doing.

Hopefully, the day will come where you can't tell a virtual guitar from the real thing. Nothing out now does the job.

Stephen Lipson, a very successful producer who is also a guitarist, has this to say about Ujam's Virtual Guitarist Plugins - "I have it, am using it and love it." So unless your critics are better credentialed than this guy, I wouldn't worry too much about what they have to say.

... 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 it

Yeah, my ferrets would have been the same. They could never resist rubber. (Who can, eh?)

My impression is that Carbon is best utilized for heavy, crunchy leads and chord rhythms on the lower and mid registers.

Which is very clearly what it's designed for. They have a range of other VG instruments to cover other needs. That's what I like about their stuff - none of them try to be jacks-of-all-trades, they have different instruments targeted at different styles/genres.

I might be willing to pay $35 or so for this VI. Do the UJAM virtual instruments ever go on sale?

I got VG-Iron last year for 50% off during a sale, you just need to keep an eye out for it. For what we're looking for , this is just about perfect. If I wanted lead guitar, I'd feel stupid not using an actual guitarist but for rhythm work a VSTi is fine.

[plexuss]

On the topic of realistic virtual guitars, I put this together with Acoustic Samples instruments, except for the fretted bass which is modo bass and drums which are BFD3.

I was surprised at how close these instruments can get to the real thing. Sure you can tell its not real but I think to the average listener they would think it was real guitars. A couple guitar playing friends of mine were also astounded. Close. Very close...

https://soundcloud.com/musicofplexus/kkryhztalizzed

[BONES]

I don't see why it matters. I don't necessarily want a guitar, I just want something to do the job of a guitar. If it does the job well, I don't care if people think it's a real guitar or not. I am more interested in the big picture - producing great songs - than I am in the individual ingredients that go into making a great song.

[tonedef71]

I might be willing to pay $35 or so for this VI. Do the UJAM virtual instruments ever go on sale?

I got VG-Iron last year for 50% off during a sale, you just need to keep an eye out for it.

Ah yes, the Virtual Guitarist VI was included as part of last summer's 50% sale; somehow I did not notice that when I first saw it listed at Rekkerd.

A 50% off discount would bring the price down to around $65. That is much better, but I would still prefer if it could be had for a significantly cheaper price than that.

[BONES]

Mate, I'd prefer that they gave me a new Ferrari just for downloading it but for what it has to offer, $65 is a great price. VG-Carbon is way more useful than VG-Iron. It covers three octaves instead of just one and it has Instrument mode so you can play your own licks/riffs/whatever. I can get it for $99 and I am more than happy to pay that price for it.

[wagtunes]

I don't see why it matters. I don't necessarily want a guitar, I just want something to do the job of a guitar. If it does the job well, I don't care if people think it's a real guitar or not. I am more interested in the big picture - producing great songs - than I am in the individual ingredients that go into making a great song.

FWIW, it doesn't really matter to me personally. I'm fine with how close virtual guitars are, especially when you put them through some of these really great amps and FX. But then you get all these elitists that just have to put you down with "That guitar sounds fake" and tell you it ruins the whole song.

I know it shouldn't bother me, but it does. Well, it did. I've decided today the hell with it. They don't like my fake guitar they don't have to listen to it. I've had other people who aren't so snobby tell me "Nice guitar work" thinking it's an actual real guitar.

So screw the elitists.

[BONES]

I remember a gig I played in the 90s with a sampled guitar on my ASR-10 and the guitarist from the support band stood open-mouthed as I shredded out a solo with my Roland Axis-1 (keytar). It was just a single repeated note but it did the job. I also remember when I saw The Young Gods, I was standing near a couple of guys from local punk thrashers The Hard-Ons who were similarly gob-smacked by TYG's sampled guitar stuff. So I think you'll find the people who are really into music will love it if it's any good and it's only wankers and snobs who care about it being real or not.

[tonedef71]

Just got notification of the first update for Carbon. You are forced to download the entire 4.1 GB again just for the update. Reminds me of the update process for UVI libraries. Ugh!

UPDATE: The VG-CARBON Downloader.exe program seems to have downloaded the same version 1.0 as I have installed already.

[Aloysius]

The Hard-Ons were gob-smacked. Good one.

[tonedef71]

Here is UJAM Virtual Guitarist Carbon "performing" a rendition of the opening riff to XYZ's "Inside Out": https://hearthis.at/tonedef/inside-out- ... ff-carbon/

For reference and comparison, here is the original artist recording:

[AdvancedFollower]

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.

Hopefully, the day will come where you can't tell a virtual guitar from the real thing. Nothing out now does the job.

I think the ujam stuff comes really close, at the cost of slightly less flexibility due to the preset phrases system. Some other virtual guitarists sound more like glorified arpeggiators, but give you more flexibility when selecting the notes and patterns.

I'm no guitarist, but some of these sound pretty much like a real guitar to me:
https://soundcloud.com/ujam-instruments ... demo-songs

Besides, if your music is getting torn apart because it doesn't have real guitars, I think you need to get some different listeners

[tonedef71]

I accept the reality that any attempt by me to play and record an impressive rock riff myself on my Fender strat would still not sound as good what most of these rock guitar virtual instruments can achieve with a little programming effort; which is why I depend on them so heavily for my musical works.

Carbon is fun to use, and I imagine using the plug-in for synthy-sounding guitar lines, much like I would use Indiginus's Solid State Symphony Kontakt library for synthy-sounding orchestra lines. I think that kind of sound is great for use in scores, such as those heard in video games.

[BONES]

I just formalised the arrangement, taking advantage of the cross-grade price. It feels good.

[tonedef71]

It feels good.

That is how I like to feel after a purchase.

I encourage you to share with us something you create with it. It may be helpful to others who are still on the fence to hear a practical example of how someone from these forums is using the plug-in.