Is there a Guitar VST that can do actually decent rhythm guitar?

[VariKusBrainZ]

Here's a basic rythme from a real guitar player I find hard to get realistic with VST
https://soundcloud.com/kake-guri/guitartrak


then here's a few sample videos of guitar rhythms I'd like to do with a VST

Thats so basic youre better off spending a couple of weeks learning to play power chords, if you cant play guitar already.

It doesnt get much simpler than that example

[vurt]

if not yourself im sure theres guitarists local you could record?

it would probably be more difficult to learn to program or play the midi with a technique that makes it sound realistic.
take drums as an example, plenty of amazing samples but its rare to find a programmed beat that sounds totally realistic.

[braj]

Strum does right by me, not perfect, but it does sound good through an amp sim, and it is easy to deal with in the piano roll, not an internal sequencer.

[zzz00m]

To anybody suggesting that learning to play a guitar, or using a guitar player, congratulations for overstating the obvious!

That is a great suggestion, but completely missing the point of the OP's question.

There are dozens of reasons for desiring to use a VST plugin while writing a song, not the least of which is that the guitar strumming may wake the kids, wife, pets, neighbors, etc.

VST and headphones, and you are good to go at 3AM!

[Saukar30]

If you want to have guitar parts like that played electronically ... I think there are more than enpugh examples listed here. It comes down to how meticulous you program it. Note by note, velocity, midi ccs, aftertouch, modulation of parameters, etc

For that Soundcloud example... Im pretty sure with Shreddage, an Orange Tree Library, Real Guitar, an Amplespund library or anything else with a guitar amp sim can get you there sonically. All the other nuances have to... have to... have to be programmed in.

You can buy stuff till youre blue in the face, but the best libraries dont mean anything until you know how to use them with your daw & effects.

[Gamma-UT]

There are dozens of reasons for desiring to use a VST plugin while writing a song, not the least of which is that the guitar strumming may wake the kids, wife, pets, neighbors, etc.

None of which the OP mentioned.

The point being made when people suggest "pick up a guitar" is not necessarily to just use the guitar to play exclusively but to learn how the articulations work so that you can approach the sample libraries in a way that will get results. Understanding that the layout of the fretboard makes you want to play certain chords and runs in certain ways that are different to what you might do with a keyboard is important if your aim is realistic-sounding guitar. Mashing the chord keys in OTS isn't going to work, but coming at OTS with an understanding of how phrases often work on real guitar does. And, from the OP's description of what they think is wrong with a library like OTS, I'd say the problem is 80% technique, 20% samples.

The guitar has the advantage of having a fairly easy learning curve at the beginning, unlike something like violin where it's a challenge just getting a noise that isn't like a strangled cat. And you quickly learn how much small changes in playing technique and FX affect the sound.

[wagtunes]

There are dozens of reasons for desiring to use a VST plugin while writing a song, not the least of which is that the guitar strumming may wake the kids, wife, pets, neighbors, etc.

None of which the OP mentioned.

The point being made when people suggest "pick up a guitar" is not necessarily to just use the guitar to play exclusively but to learn how the articulations work so that you can approach the sample libraries in a way that will get results. Understanding that the layout of the fretboard makes you want to play certain chords and runs in certain ways that are different to what you might do with a keyboard is important if your aim is realistic-sounding guitar. Mashing the chord keys in OTS isn't going to work, but coming at OTS with an understanding of how phrases often work on real guitar does. And, from the OP's description of what they think is wrong with a library like OTS, I'd say the problem is 80% technique, 20% samples.

The guitar has the advantage of having a fairly easy learning curve at the beginning, unlike something like violin where it's a challenge just getting a noise that isn't like a strangled cat. And you quickly learn how much small changes in playing technique and FX affect the sound.

See, this I agree with. I do play guitar (not great) but I do understand how a guitar is played and thus, when I play my keyboard parts, try to emulate that technique. For bar chords, 5th are your friend. Don't even attempt to play more than 2 note chords, especially if you've got a lot of distortion going.

For strumming, you need to actually dive into the piano roll and program the hell out of that thing unless you have enough dexterity that you can play the chord and strum part (the articulations are separate) at the same time. I can't. So play the chords first and then go into the piano roll to enter in the strums. Mixing up the strum articulations also helps to get a more human feel as well as turning on the humanize feature on the sample library itself.

It is without a doubt one of the more difficult things to pull off when recording entirely ITB.

You need TONS of patience.

[zzz00m]

There are dozens of reasons for desiring to use a VST plugin while writing a song, not the least of which is that the guitar strumming may wake the kids, wife, pets, neighbors, etc.

None of which the OP mentioned.

The point being made when people suggest "pick up a guitar" is not necessarily to just use the guitar to play exclusively but to learn how the articulations work so that you can approach the sample libraries in a way that will get results. Understanding that the layout of the fretboard makes you want to play certain chords and runs in certain ways that are different to what you might do with a keyboard is important if your aim is realistic-sounding guitar. Mashing the chord keys in OTS isn't going to work, but coming at OTS with an understanding of how phrases often work on real guitar does. And, from the OP's description of what they think is wrong with a library like OTS, I'd say the problem is 80% technique, 20% samples.

The guitar has the advantage of having a fairly easy learning curve at the beginning, unlike something like violin where it's a challenge just getting a noise that isn't like a strangled cat. And you quickly learn how much small changes in playing technique and FX affect the sound.

You are completely correct as far as a live performance and or/recording of the virtual instrument as a final product. The same would apply to brass, woodwinds, drums, etc. You would have to learn to think like the actual player you are emulating. There are some great YouTubes floating around that demonstrate how to use this technique for various instruments.

But if you are only using the VST as a songwriting tool, or for mockups for creating charts for session musicians to use later, the detailed nuances may not be as critical, as long as the sounds are inspiring to the person creating the song.

So bottom line is that it matters only in how you intend to use it. But as you say, there is a lot to consider if you want to pass the VST off in a final product. YMMV.

My favorite guitar performance ever on a keyboard!

Marco Parisi shows a ROLI Seaboard Grand can almost perfectly mimic a guitar!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSko8vHOf8g

[shidostrife]

There are dozens of reasons for desiring to use a VST plugin while writing a song, not the least of which is that the guitar strumming may wake the kids, wife, pets, neighbors, etc.

None of which the OP mentioned.

The point being made when people suggest "pick up a guitar" is not necessarily to just use the guitar to play exclusively but to learn how the articulations work so that you can approach the sample libraries in a way that will get results. Understanding that the layout of the fretboard makes you want to play certain chords and runs in certain ways that are different to what you might do with a keyboard is important if your aim is realistic-sounding guitar. Mashing the chord keys in OTS isn't going to work, but coming at OTS with an understanding of how phrases often work on real guitar does. And, from the OP's description of what they think is wrong with a library like OTS, I'd say the problem is 80% technique, 20% samples.

The guitar has the advantage of having a fairly easy learning curve at the beginning, unlike something like violin where it's a challenge just getting a noise that isn't like a strangled cat. And you quickly learn how much small changes in playing technique and FX affect the sound.

Couldn't said it better. Indeed, I'm a guitarist and even though I am not fast enough to play certain phrases, knowing how exactly it should be played is essential to make it sounds realistic with VST.

[Valimesh]

https://soundcloud.com/anger-cage

This is my stuff, everything on here is vst. The trick is layering the guitars realistically. I've got the rickenbacker and les paul from electri6ity at 100% left and right...the metal guitar from ample sounds at 70% left and shreddage 2 at 70% right. Just play around with different vsts and see what you like. If they have a demo version, download it and try it out.

[Kinh]

The answer to Z question is no. You cant emulate rhythm guitar, especially clean guitar like doing anything resembling funk or southern rock etc. Take the latest one, NI sunburst. I've heard it and... it just aint right

The OP mentioned someting about buying a guitar instead and learn it. They're fairly affordable now, now fender, gibson and others aren't selling too many but the problem is a guitar takes a while to master if you're talking rhythm. Unless you're a drummer you'll find it takes a shit load of time before you get any decent takes down.

The alternative..guitar samples. Slice them and trigger different phrases. The problem there is tuning. Melodyne is the best on the market and the poly algorithm shaves off the attack and basically f#cks the samples up also you're restricted to tempo cause stretching does the same. Also (strangely enough) there aren't really many to choose from

[Kinh]

There are dozens of reasons for desiring to use a VST plugin while writing a song, not the least of which is that the guitar strumming may wake the kids, wife, pets, neighbors, etc.

None of which the OP mentioned.

The point being made when people suggest "pick up a guitar" is not necessarily to just use the guitar to play exclusively but to learn how the articulations work so that you can approach the sample libraries in a way that will get results. Understanding that the layout of the fretboard makes you want to play certain chords and runs in certain ways that are different to what you might do with a keyboard is important if your aim is realistic-sounding guitar. Mashing the chord keys in OTS isn't going to work, but coming at OTS with an understanding of how phrases often work on real guitar does. And, from the OP's description of what they think is wrong with a library like OTS, I'd say the problem is 80% technique, 20% samples.

The guitar has the advantage of having a fairly easy learning curve at the beginning, unlike something like violin where it's a challenge just getting a noise that isn't like a strangled cat. And you quickly learn how much small changes in playing technique and FX affect the sound.

You are completely correct as far as a live performance and or/recording of the virtual instrument as a final product. The same would apply to brass, woodwinds, drums, etc. You would have to learn to think like the actual player you are emulating. There are some great YouTubes floating around that demonstrate how to use this technique for various instruments.

But if you are only using the VST as a songwriting tool, or for mockups for creating charts for session musicians to use later, the detailed nuances may not be as critical, as long as the sounds are inspiring to the person creating the song.

So bottom line is that it matters only in how you intend to use it. But as you say, there is a lot to consider if you want to pass the VST off in a final product. YMMV.

My favorite guitar performance ever on a keyboard!

Marco Parisi shows a ROLI Seaboard Grand can almost perfectly mimic a guitar!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSko8vHOf8g

This is lead guitar, not rhythm. You dont even need a seaboard to do what this guys doing. The OP was asking about rhythm.
Maybe if the midi controller had some kind of strumming motion mechanism on it but that would take time to develop technique so you might as well pick up a guitar.

Another thing, playing a guitar is half the challenge, you also gotta get it to sound right. You'd think a good DI box would be enough, but most often not. So there's definitely a market imo for a midi controller that can get the same dynamics as a rhythm guitar, the seaboard obviously isn't it

[omac]

@OP, I believe that your musiclab RealGuitar (depending on the model you mean) can do what you ask assuming you have a good virtual amp and/or pedals. I have musiclab's RealEight and RealGuitar V. RealEight could do what you want successfully with quite a few amp sims. RealGuitar itself is only acoustic and wouldn't sound convincing trying to imitate what you've played. Which RealGuitar type do you own? Is it RealLPC, RealStrat, RealEight or RealGuitar? We could probably answer your question better with more input. Personally, I think you should kill this post and have one that asks for examples of what you've posted done with virtual amps and guitars. Right now you're not asking for specific vst advice regarding rhythm guitar, but rather if it is possible to be done by a vst. You've got enough replies saying that it is so why not see where that leads?

[Ah_Dziz]

Sugar Bytes guitarist is pretty good for some things and flexible. The later libraries from orange tree samples do very well for rhythm parts, but it generally works better to just use the strum up and down keys down at the bottom of the note range to trigger your chords. This makes controlling the articulation you want at the proper velocity much easier than using the built in sequencer. I like the way they have things setup in the accou6tics (?) library. I've asked them to implement these bits into electr6ity (?) but they have no plans to do so. I also like the Ilya efimov guitars' rhythm programming and the setup that they use in impact soundworks Django.

I haven't checked out any later incarnations of realguitar, but back when I bought it, I remember thinking that they had a fantastic engine for playing back rhythm parts, but just a pretty poorly implemented guitar.

For the most part there are more in depth libraries for acoustic guitars so by using this depth you can get a better (more realistic) rhythm part. For what I can tell, when making electric guitar libraries the extremely low end of dynamics across all articulations is left out making very realistic rhythm parts more difficult to get. The later libraries from orange tree samples have made the most progress along these lines.

All this is just my opinion, but I have had to do quite a bit of "fake" guitar bits throughout my career.

Good luck
JJ

[SparkySpark]

How about the Strum Session from AAS? https://www.applied-acoustics.com/session-bundle/

It was free recently with the Focusrite Plugin Collective. I haven't used it myself but it seems easy to use.