Ample sound Guitar riffs - where are they and can I get more

[Roy Slough]

I am looking at riffs (and tabs) to learn how to control/play the digital guitar.
I am not a great keyboard player so mostly work directly in the riffer or midi data.
I can find many riffs in the Ample sound riff library but some are not there, e.g. in the VC guitar (Vintage Cherry) There are riffs named "Blues Lick 1" , "Children of the sea" etc..
I cannot find these in the library.
Where are they AND are there more elsewhere so I can learn/see other techniques.

 

Thanks

 

[Glenn Stanton]

if you check on the amplesound.net site, they have a bunch of demo projects you can load.

https://www.amplesound.net/en/download.asp

[mettelus]

Ample Sound has also put a lot of effort into being able to import Guitar Pro files over the years, so sites that have .gp3, .gp4, gpx files (often entire songs) are another potential source. For multi-track files, you can import them and select the track you want to work with.

[Roy Slough]

18 hours ago, Glenn Stanton said:

if you check on the amplesound.net site, they have a bunch of demo projects you can load.

https://www.amplesound.net/en/download.asp

Thanks Glenn, I downloaded one project to investigate further, but now I don't recognise any of the files extensions so I don't not how to use them.

11 hours ago, mettelus said:

Ample Sound has also put a lot of effort into being able to import Guitar Pro files over the years, so sites that have .gp3, .gp4, gpx files (often entire songs) are another potential source. For multi-track files, you can import them and select the track you want to work with.

Thanks Mettelus. I have done this a little but all I can access (for free) are Tab files. These are great for songs and melodies but do not use any of the really cool guitar features (slide, Hammer, palm mute etc.) it is this area I am investigating to make my guitars better and more lifelike.

[Glenn Stanton]

i think once you get into the enhancement side of things, you're likely to have to DIY - adding the types and fx to get the "close to live" performance. the Ample v4 instruments have significantly improved the riffer wrt features and easier use. some of it though could still be improved, like putting the type of actions above the track line vs above the image of the instrument! but it has better import of MIDI options than before.

if you open the demo project zip file, you see project files for DAWs and also a MID file (which is the MIDI file) and you can import this. if a MIDI file is created by Ample riffer, it will have all the ornamentations, otherwise it will be plain vanilla...

[mettelus]

I always send curt messages when on my phone, so sorry about that. Delving into AS4 is on my to do list for this weekend, so I have not downloaded the updates yet; but to Glenn's point, even the "rudimentary" ones you have may be a better start. The reason I say this is that building a riff from scratch would be the best way to learn the ins/outs of the workflow rather than trying to manipulate something pre-existing (both have their pros and cons).

It was mentioned in the Deals thread that Riffer got beefed up so much that it has its own manual now, so I looked that up (seems this is a work-in-progress as some sections only have headers). As for me, my plan is to tear into Riffer "from scratch" since things that existed prior may no longer be applicable. This way I will be able to catch the changes as well as the new capabilities.

Regarding the gpx files (or gp3/4 depending on version), those are made with Guitar Pro, which has a lot of detail capabilities, but is not the most intuitive in some respects to a new user. Some workflow aspects still bother me with GP, so another thing I am seeking this weekend is the workflow speed between the two and if files can be transferred back and forth between them (I am not sure if that functionality has been added though - you could always import them to the Tab page as you mentioned, but not the Riffer). As Riffer got a lot of attention with AS4, I would assume this is coming at some point if it doesn't exist yet, especially since you can do something like 264 bars in Riffer now, which is enough duration to do an entire guitar track for a song.

[mettelus]

@Roy Slough, quick question for you. Which guitar and version are you running? I have had to do other computer upkeep and only loaded a couple updates (HellRazer and Vintage Cherry) thus far, but it seems that a single version 4 guitar update installs ALL the riffs for ALL guitars (defaults to C:\Users\[username]\Documents\Ample Sound\Riff4\Guitar4). The v4 Riffer will not load prior riffs (I checked that switching to the C:\Users\[username]\Documents\Ample Sound\Riffs\Guitar and v4 doesn't even recognize them), but the Riff files that get installed with a single v4 guitar update appear to be "everything."

[Glenn Stanton]

and -- you can load other instrument riffer presets and MIDI, however, not all instruments have the same ornamentations, or not in the same place. so some will not be available or making other sounds...  esp the fx. as mettelus noted, start from scratch will reinforce your learning. for me, i also break down  the songs (my stuff) into smaller chunks so they're focused on those specific performances, rather than trying to get all of them in a single riffer. later i'll drag each onto the DAW instrument track as needed and they'll play together as expected.

[mettelus]

5 hours ago, Glenn Stanton said:

rather than trying to get all of them in a single riffer

+1 to this. It not only makes working much more manageable, but also accommodates time signature changes. The Riffer still cannot accept time signature changes from the host, so any "snap to grid" functionality can cause a serious headache if you have time signature changes in a song and try to use Riffer for an entire track.

[Roy Slough]

On 9/13/2025 at 5:00 PM, Glenn Stanton said:

and -- you can load other instrument riffer presets and MIDI, however, not all instruments have the same ornamentations, or not in the same place. so some will not be available or making other sounds...  esp the fx. as mettelus noted, start from scratch will reinforce your learning. for me, i also break down  the songs (my stuff) into smaller chunks so they're focused on those specific performances, rather than trying to get all of them in a single riffer. later i'll drag each onto the DAW instrument track as needed and they'll play together as expected.

 

On 9/13/2025 at 10:57 PM, mettelus said:

+1 to this. It not only makes working much more manageable, but also accommodates time signature changes. The Riffer still cannot accept time signature changes from the host, so any "snap to grid" functionality can cause a serious headache if you have time signature changes in a song and try to use Riffer for an entire track.

Ok Thanks,  Lotts to investigate. I do want to build myself from scratch, looking at others provides inspiration rather than looking at a blank and wondering what to attempt. I don't know what version i have e.g. the vintage cherry (VC) when I look at the settings/details in the VST version it just has 3 dots.

[Glenn Stanton]

go to your settings (spoked wheel) and look at the person icon and you'll see your version, and perhaps a note to update if not the latest.

 

 

[Roy Slough]

17 hours ago, Glenn Stanton said:

go to your settings (spoked wheel) and look at the person icon and you'll see your version, and perhaps a note to update if not the latest.

 

 

Thanks Glenn, I found it there at version 3.6 and it also offers an update.