Hi,
I don't know anything about guitars. Been enjoying the sound that I have heard in music though. Lately I've come across a particular kind of guitar sound that I really like a lot. It seems distorted, but it's not as heavily distorted as guitars that you would hear in heavy metal or rock music. It's very gentle and sweet. Examples:

at around 0:51 (the broken chords that go from bottom to top)
(I guess I also like the sounds you hear from the beginning of the track, the repeating notes)

at 1:52

What's the name of that guitar sound, and are there good Kontakt libraries that allow me to play sounds like this with my MIDI-Keyboard? Thank you.

 

It's a compressed guitar signal with delay. The slight distortion might come from the fact that the compressor is slightly clipping the input of the amp.

 

Check your messages.

 

Hello, thank you. I figured it has delay, but I don't know what guitar it is. I mean, guitars sound drastically different. This is certainly not the same kind of guitar you'd hear in an Iron Maiden song. What's the name of this kind of guitar, and/or what's the name of the specific amp or whatever it uses?
Because it doesn't sound 'naked' to me, it has something else than the raw acoustic sound.

 

This is a crunch sound. You could achieve it using a crunch amp, or by using a clean boost before a clean amp. The more you crank it, it will become crunchier.

 

Last edited: Jun 9, 2020

Framus Mayfield Custom. Compression, overdrive, delay and reverb. Probably tubescreamer TS9/TS10 into Strymon delay and reverb.
The music video is just playback and not played live, so the reverb could have been added in post (since you generally don't record/"print" with reverb and delay in the studio but rather use these pedals live).

 

Last edited: Jun 9, 2020

@metaller
Thank you, that is such a beautiful sound in those videos. Amazing.
I am not acquainted with guitar workflows at all. I assume when you say amp, that is a device for amplification? I assume that I would simply use a normal acoustic guitar library in my DAW, insert an amp plugin, and then get that sound out of it? If so, what plugin would you recommend to get this sound?
Or are there Kontakt libraries that have this kind of sound already pre-recorded?

@Baxter
Thank you for the info. I don't play any guitar at all, that is such a fascinating world though. Any thoughts on libraries or plugins to get this kind of sound? I tried searching for Framus Mayfield Custom libraries but there doesn't seem to be one.

 

I don't really think you will find this in a library. Maybe something similar with Ample Sound. Who knows?
If you want the to get the vibe, tone, sound, notes you want it to be played. You need to play it (or find someone who can) with the suitable/similar gear. Just like in "the old days".
Edit: you can ofc use pedal- and amp/cab modeling with software.

 

Last edited: Jun 10, 2020

Damn, that sucks :/ Guitar is so fascinating though. Will have a look around different guitar libraries. If anyone else has a suggestion please let me know. Thanks!

 

Wouldn't go far wrong with this. Most amp sims would be sufficient.

https://www.orangetreesamples.com/products/evolution-hollowbody-blues

 

I've used Shreddage guitars for almost anything- metal, crunch, classic rock, clean 80s chorus, The Edge style stuff (all modern praise music rips off that sound)... it's all in how you amp and process, just like a real guitar.

 

It sounds as perhaps you should buy a guitar and amp and learn how to play as it seems that you resonate with the instrument.

 

The original guitar sound is crystal clear, but the amps and effects added to it, color the sound, or make it distorted. So you can pick any guitar sound and add an amp to it.

Mercuriall Spark is pretty good for this type of sounds:

At 5:50

0:0 to 1:20

The guitar type matters to a degree, but that mostly depends on the taste of the guitarist, and non-guitarists may not be able to tell the difference between different guitar types.

 

Last edited: Jun 10, 2020

I don't know much about copying other sounds. It's a lot of work and for the same amount of effort I can come up with something that I can say is mine.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Jun 10, 2020

These are the standard guitar sounds, and it is not called copying. Trying to change the sound of a guitar, is like trying to make a violin sound like a marimba. Obviously the slight differences in the guitars, pickups, amps, pedals, speakers, picks, guitarists' fingers, will make a different sound, but the basis of all of them is the same, and that is what makes the sound of the guitar and the genre

 

@vaiman
Thank you, that sounds fantastic. Fairly close to the sound in the videos I linked. Great find! Will be on the lookout for this.

@Trurl
Shreddage by Impact Soundworks, right? I've seen them on sale in the past. Will give them a try. I think they also have a free one, will try that as well.

@Lois Lane
Nah, that train is gone for me. I have other priorities right now. But in general you're right. Perhaps I'll get myself a beginner guitar and mess around with it a little bit. I really do like the instrument very much.

@metaller
Ah now I understand. So amps are like plugins in real life if you will :p
I'll demo the Mercuriall Spark. The sound is very beautiful, although it lacks a bit of the gentleness of the recordings I linked.
So, does that mean I can just use, say, a Native Instruments guitar library, insert the Spark plugin on top of that, and then I'll get this kind of sound? That is sweet.

@Lenny Belardo
I was asking for the kind of sound as I had no idea what I'm dealing with. But I guess there's some truth to what you say.

Thanks again to everyone who took the time to reply, greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you waverider for understanding my point. I didn't mean to dismiss your request.
I see xupito disagrees. Brian May's hero is Jimi Hendrix. Who would have been a better guitarist for Queen. One that sounded like Jimi Hendrix or Brian May?
Of course it's an important step on the journey to mastering music to mimic the sounds of others, but I don't think being able to simply copy something is the sole aim of making music. And what I am proposing, is if in your attempt to copy something you go straight past a fantastic sound of your own because you only have one goal, then you're missing part of the journey.
Short version. Would you rather be in a successful band playing your own material or a covers band?

 

There's a basic Spitfire Audio Labs guitar Library called Peel I use a lot that sounds similar to your first example. It's very basic and only about 20mb and good for a nice clean starter sound you can add crunch to if required. I'm a guitarist but still use this library occasionally as it sounds great to my ears.

 

Eyyy...we did a series of mixpulses from an Orange cab that might fit the bill.
Here is link to where you can listen to them

Download link - mix 1
Download link - mix 2
Download link - mix 3

I also recorded alot of sweeps from an Orange crush amp that we will upload to the library shortly.

 

There's another level to Lenny's argument-

Anytime you are using samples or virtual instruments to mimic real ones you generally open yourself up to a world of hurt in terms of getting something that will pass for being real- it can be done but (depending on the instrument of course) it can take crazy hours of programming and tweaking. Whereas, if you just decide hey, I'm using a virutal instrument, I'm not going to worry about making it sound real, I'm just going to play to its strengths and let it be its own thing- then you wind up with a cool original sound. And maybe other people will post in forums asking "How did waverider get that soound!!"

Also bear in mind that I don't even take my own advice about 80% of the time