smallstonefan

Thanks Simeon - your video convinced me to purchase the everything bundle.

I picked this up and will add Sugarbytes Thesys to it. Looks REALLY interesting...

good stuff here!

I have the XL and it was a fantastic purchase. I have icons for normal use, and an entire set for Ableton. Ableton lets you save presets as files and the Streamdeck can launch a file. So I created presets and icons for all the effects I want to use. Now I can tap a button on the deck for Reverbs for example, and then all the icons for my reverbs appear. Tap one, and it adds it to the current track. It really enhances the creative process this way!

You can have them side by side.

Here are two examples of my use of the plugin. On this song Ultraviolet - what you think is a synth on that lead melody is actually a guitar run through Tantra. https://open.spotify.com/album/6Hx3SfRkoLzobecWdXMPXb Here is a song in process tentatively titled: All Things. This is my first experimentation with orchestration - and it still has a ways to go. I used Tantra - along with some other effects - on the intro voices (both the reversed and the spoken poem): https://www.dropbox.com/s/0g9y73fda40wt1n/All Things 01.wav?dl=0 Tantra is my favorite effects plugin and a bit of a secret weapon - it can far more than just EDM rhythms

This was a new one for me but right up my alley. To quote Bapu: Installed!

So I followed the calibration process and things track MUCH MUCH better! But I have two issues I don't know how to resolve. 1. The high E string is triggering notes about an octave lower than it should. It was doing this right out of the box so it wasn't anything I change. 2. No midi notes are sent to the pc for hammer-ons or pull-offs. that means every note has to be plucked which would greatly reduce the playability for me. It's a hell of a lot closer than I expected it to get - I'll be curious to see if I can solve these issues...

As I recall there were one or two things they added but they weren't important to me. What I'd really like is the ability to manually retrigger the plugin. I've talked/emailed with Dmitry about it. He's a cool guy and I mostly bought v2 just to support him.

I have it but still use v1. I love the interface for v1 and v2 feels like a monstrous step backwards in usability.

So it turns out I didn't do any of the calibration necessary to customize the GR55 to the guitar. I had not idea this needed to be done. My Sweetwater rep sent me instructions. I'll unbox everything and give it one more shot before returning it. Stay tuned!

This is exactly the conclusion I came to! I'm also going to experiment with recording guitar melodies and just converting them to midi using Ableton's native function or Melodyne. It's not real time but might move me forward.

I had a absolutely zero interest in the Roland. It was just used to generate midi to the computer. $800 is an expensive midi converter.

Sadly I have to report that this experience was every bit as disappointing as the last time I tried. You would think that two grand worth of equipment would give great results, but that's not the case. It's all packaged up and going back...

I like how this uses pre-made ensembles. It’s very easy to create an orchestra sound just by playing some chords as you don’t have to create a bunch of individual tracks for each instrument. The sound is rich and wonderful and I was happy to find out it is not just for big trailer music. There are also bonus instruments that seem really interesting and unique.

Thanks for the input and links guys! I'll check out the links and respond in more detail after I get this thing up and working. My past experiences were similar to what you guys describe and I understand what you are saying Nigel about the playing. My hope is that I can play melodies in my soft synths - such as pulling up a great instrument in East West Silk and playing lead. This is for recording, so I don't mind cleaning up midi but the tracking has to be quick enough to be inspiring - I want to just play/feel the instrument. If I have to battle the tech that just defeats the purpose. And when you and the GR55 with the guitar and the cable this is an expensive solution - it needs to work! I just got the guitar out of the box - I hope to have it feeding midi to the PC yet today...

OK no buyer's remorse here. WOW - this is cool - and DEEP!

I’m really excited to dig in!

Every three years or so I try out the latest in MIDI guitar hoping that one day I'll find a workable solution. I can play chords on a keyboard, but guitar is my main instrument. I struggle to get my melodic ideas from the guitar to a keyboard. Today Sweetwater delivered a Godin xtSA with the built-in hexagonal midi pickups system under the saddles. They also delivered a Roland GR-55. I'm told that the pair is about as best as you can do right now. It's a bit frustrating because I don't want to play the sounds of the Roland - I just want the midi to PC capability; it's an expensive converter. I'm going to let the guitar box adjust to my room temp for a few hours and then hook it up and see how it goes. I am hopeful, but not overly optimistic. Are any of you using a similar or different setup? Any advice to get it working the best?

I caved and bought it. I now have more than enough orchestral libraries to play with. My new song actually has orchestra (this is a first for me) and I'm eager to see if this brings something new to the table for that song...

Had Origins 1-5, picked this up anyway.

I picked up BBC during their Apex sale and wished I could grab this or the Abbey Road version. This is close to that sale - may have to pick this up... But then again I may wait for Abbey Road One.

Sure, why not.

M1 is an amazing piece of technology. I think it's worth the effort and moves the world of hardware forward. I'm a PC guy but bought a new M1 laptop - the performance is stunning.

It's working today - thanks!