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Joined: Dec 2003
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........
AmpleSound AGM II Lite looks like a goer. I would like to let others know about it.
Tony
Thanx Tony, I just DLed it. I won the lottery for all of AGM's bass guitars. They are the best sounding software bass guitars that I have ever heard. Thus it doesn't surprise me that their guitars are also very good. YMMV
Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Having sax as my primary instrument I'm luckier than guitarists in the MIDI world. The wind MIDI controllers have almost instant response - about as instant as a keyboard controller.
Sax is my primary instrument but I do play guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and flute along with the wind MIDI controller.
I find putting in rhythm guitar parts with the keyboard a lot of work. Proper guitar chord inversions must be used, and sometimes choking and sustain has to be 'massaged' in the MIDI sequencer/DAW after entering. But it's all worth it.
Years ago when I tried the MIDI guitar, as I noted earlier, the latency drove me crazy. Perhaps I should investigate one of those MIDI guitar controllers.
For lead lines I find using the wind MIDI controller easier. Yes, I'm predominantly a sax player, but I also find that the reed on my WX5 does a much better emulation of string bending than the wheel or joystick on any of my keyboards.
The Yamaha WX5 does have mechanical keys unlike the EWI. But I'm so used to slapping keys on a sax, this is no problem for me. Yamaha made a very sturdy instrument. What I like most about the WX family as opposed to the EWI is the reed.
The EWI has a bite sensor that works with a capacitor discharge for return to 'zero pitch'. That gives the machine control over vibrato return speed. I want to be able to do things like bend up quickly and slowly come down to pitch like a guitarist does. The guitarist in a band I was in a long time ago called it a 'ghost bend'. Yes there are bending plates on the EWI that you can control this with, but my fingers are busy with other functions. I prefer it in the reed.
The Wind MIDI controller's con is that it doesn't do double stops. Everything has it's price. But they could be added.
So for making BiaB styles and the backing tracks for my duo, I use keyboards for chord input and melodic percussion input, and wind MIDI controller for wind, guitar, and other lyrical instrument leads or background riffs.
There are exceptions and no hard fast rules. The right tool for the job might not be the one that works most of the time. If something isn't working right, try other tools and you never know what will work best.
For me music isn't instant gratification. I like the process of making the music as much as I like the music itself.
Sometimes making a backing track for a new song in my duo might take only an hour or two, other times a day or two. It depends on the song and my skills.
The harder songs improve my skills and after working on them for many hours, hearing the playback the way I want it is the reward. And I've been in this duo for many years now, so if I'm lucky, I'll get to play that song hundreds or thousands of times, and I'll be glad I spent the extra time with it every time I play it.
Insights and incites by Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton  Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Joined: Dec 2007
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On sample based digital computer stuff:
The quality and amount of used samples also plays an import roll. There are some great VSTs around sound wise, indeed Ample, and Orange Tree.
Most acoustic instruments (and old electric Fender guitars?) have changing overtones (harmonics) and a resonance frequency belonging to the physical built property of the instrument itself. Hard to capture in a digital VST environment. Years ago i was in the luxury situation of owning some early AKAI and Ensoniq samplers due paid sound-tracking jobs. Spent a lot of time trying to capture mandolins and guitars. Tried layering to capture all, but gave it up sort of with a feeling of 'too much work' and 'i'll play it live on tape myself at a later stage', once i figured out the arrangement. Often done with BIAB, Atari days LoL.
These days i sometimes replace a 'real' rhythm guitarist with a VST (easy way out). And the only time i really was impressed of what synths could emulating a lead rock guitar (and sax and blues type harmonica) was with a Yamaha VL1m i owned quite a few years.
Later Steinberg Wizoo came out with their virtual guitarist VSTs, i still use at times for creating rhythm guitar tracks, maybe also out of laziness.
Sounds fairly OK though ...
MIDI produced stuff versus live recorded musicians has still a very big pre; one can change important parts quite easily at a later stage of some production. RTs are amazing, especially some. The trouble with digital tracks (limited to 16bit?) is IMO when you mix them together a sort of muddy-ing curtain moves in covering the whole caboose making all less palatable. Some RT's sound great soloed however.
On 16bit:
Was assisting at some live recording of a classical orchestra once in a church. The 16bit recordings on an AKAI Dr8, properly externally wordclock slaved and leveled, and left as pure as they were, turned out real well sounding on the final CD afterwards. 16bit can work, but i would prefer at least 24 bit if i have to work with sampled stuff in a complex production situation. RT going 24 bit? However it's the same with Toontracks drummer plugs, all 24 bit, but in a mix all those superbly sounding cymbals need extra help and processing to survive in a final mix. -F
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<...snip...>Most acoustic instruments (and old electric Fender guitars?) have changing overtones (harmonics) and a resonance frequency belonging to the physical built property of the instrument itself. Hard to capture in a digital VST environment. <...>
Agreed. The software synth has to create every note, every nuance of expression, every variation in harmonics, every tonal color change, from scratch by 'doing the math'. This taxes the CPU of the computer. And since software synths need to cut corners to reduce CPU drag, this might be a good case for external synthesizers. Hardware synths can have the properties of each note at each volume stored in RAM so all the changing tonal colors are available instantly with no extra load on the computer's CPU. Better synths have more realistic programming. Some hardware piano synths even add the sympathetic vibrations of the wood of the piano and the not played strings in a manner dependent on how hard the notes are played, and do it so realistically that it satisfies even finicky piano players. A good synth will change the quality of the sample with the pitch, that's pretty standard. A better synth will change the harmonics, brightness, attack, and other properties with volume. This requires a lot more CPU time on a software synth, but a hardware synth can have this pre-programmed. So with the better synth, playing the guitar string with more velocity (volume) will give a bigger noise burst at the attack, a brighter sound that gets damped over time, and a longer sustain. I have a synth that when playing a sax patch, and 'scooping' a note up to pitch as is often done, the sound brightens with the scoop. It also changes the brightness with vibrato so it sounds more a sax is supposed to sound like. All these things make the MIDI sounds more realistic. There are 128 continuous controllers http://www.nortonmusic.com/midi_cc.html many of which are there to add expression after the note has been attacked. They are your friends if your MIDI controller can send this data and your MIDI synth can receive it. Now I admit, I've only tried about a half dozen software synths, but none of these could compare with the amount of expression and realism I could derive out of a good hardware synth. And the hardware synth does this with no extra load on the CPU and thus for all practical purposes, no latency. That's why although I use RTs from time to time, I haven't abandoned MIDI. Insights and incites by Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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A PS on MIDI strings. Strings in an orchestra often sound that good due that the players adept their fine tuning according their feel of the scale's tonality. Usually if i have the time to check matters in a midi controlled environment, i'd like to fine tune the 3rds and sometimes 6ths for a more natural feel. Hardware synth or VST. You can't do that with real tracks.
With them you might be best off to use those in the key where they were recorded in.
F.i. a cajun melodeon is tuned to 'just' tuning. Played latter instrument at a studio job, and the engineer, a well trained classical pianist with ears used to his concert piano's tuning, said: argh, that thing is way out of tune. Well Marc Savoy himself tuned it, and he's the (cajun) expert and one of the best tuners around: 3rds and 6ths are 15% lower, but i changed it later towards around 8 % below zero. Less chilly and chicken skin for a few eager ears i guess LoL. -F
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Good old MIDI. Thank you, I remembered the past and smiled, very beautiful.
Be perfect at all.
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A PS on MIDI strings. Strings in an orchestra often sound that good due that the players adept their fine tuning according their feel of the scale's tonality. <...snip...> Horn players in a section do the same thing. Our ears like just intonation better than equal temperament. Piano tuner professionals often use 'stretch tuning' on a piano because it sounds better to our ears. There are plenty of MIDI edits available, and fine tuning is one of them. Insights and incites by Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
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Last Chance! The Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® Special Ends Today (May 31, 2026) at 11:59pm PDT!
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Another exciting new addition is the amazing new AI-Notes feature, which can transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI. View the results in notation or play them back as MIDI, and choose whether to transcribe an entire track or transcribe specific parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®.
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Our new country & Americana RealTracks deliver a rich collection of acoustic, electric, and roots-inspired styles! We have new country pop (9) with legendary guitarist Brent Mason. There is also a potpourri (14) of bouzouki, guitars, banjo, and more, perfect for adding texture and character to contemporary acoustic arrangements. We’ve added funky country guitar (5) with PG favorite Brent Mason, along with classic pedal steel styles (5) featuring steel great Doug Jernigan. There are more country songwriter styles (8) that provide intimate, rootsy foundations for storytelling and modern Americana writing. Finally, we have “background soloing” acoustic guitar (12) with Brent Mason — simpler, but still very tasty acoustic lines designed to sit beautifully behind vocals or act as a subtle standalone solo part.
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- MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
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- Artist Performance Set 19: Songs with Vocals 9
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