Applied Acoustics Systems (AAS) has announced the availability of the updated virtual guitar instrument, Strum GS-2.
Strum GS-2 reproduces the sound of acoustic guitars as well as the playing techniques of a guitar player, which, developers say, makes “producing realistic guitar tracks very straightforward.”
As we mentioned in an earlier story, Strum GS-2 is a major redesign of its predecessor. In addition to the synthesis and strumming engines that have been completely revamped, Strum GS-2 ships with a new streamlined interface, a new equalizer and compressor module, a new multi-effects processor, native 64-bit operation on Mac OS X and Windows, and much more. Strum GS-2 comes with an all-new factory library with quite a few nylon and steel acoustic guitars of various sizes, both in natural and production-ready configurations.
Pricing and Availability. Strum GS-2 is available now at an introductory price of $149 (reg $199) through April 30, 2015, via the Ilio webstore. Strum Acoustic GS-1 users who purchased Strum Acoustic GS-1 between February 27, 2015 and March 27, 2015, will receive a free upgrade to Strum GS-2.
Finally! – it’s just impossible to find a real guitar player…
And even if you track down a guitarist, what’s the chance they have their own guitar? Those things cost like a hundred dollars!
Guitars that sound like synths. Synths that sound like guitars. Get a room, you two!
no freebird,,wayne’s world
i like this guy!
..and the instrument!
Now that’s a proper, manly demo! 😀 His playing is strong and I have a full overview of what the instrument can do. I’ve often been wary of ‘faking’ guitar tracks, but when the sound is right, its a big plus. Strum is comparable to Modartt Pianoteq, being right on the intended mark, with some added synthy patches that are quite musical. This goes on my short list as an excellent guitar go-to. It pretty much trumps most ROM-based guitars, even the crispy Yamaha patches. Physical modeling can eat a lot of CPU cycles for a snack, but it pays off.
Just picked this up with the upgrade option for $29. Very impressive, especially with the loop mode. Running it through several amp sims gave mixed results but it sounds pretty convincing. As an upgrade, its definitely worth it.
For everyone who never heard a real guitar before, this is not what a guitar sounds like!
The nylon sounds pretty dang good to me. And I lived with a classical guitarist for 4 years. He practiced everyday. And I recorded many performances for him. Best sounding virtual guitar I’ve ever heard for sure.
Sorry but this is 2015 and this VI does not sound like a guitar at all. I am sure the VI has redeeming features, but, sounding like a real acoustic guitar is not one of them. I hope honest comments are allowed to stay on this site.
The power of marketing is that I just watched the whole of this video…
…when I play guitar…
“OOh, if I got this plugin I could er.. addd.. err.. guitar to my tracks like I already do?”
I swear, I want to buy every plugin and instrument there is, WHETHER I NEED THEM OR NOT. I am an idiot.
i probably dont really need it either, but if playing it is half as fun as the demonstrator makes it look, ill take two.
From this Demo, IMHO – it sorta sounds like a guitar, especially the strumming. The acoustic guitar fusion song sounds like a cool steel string sample mixed with a FM patch from 1986: cool lead, but I would never think it was an actual guitar…
That said:
I still have not found a guitar modeling set that rivals that of the Yamaha Tyros 4 or Tyros 5. I’m getting tired of dragging this heavy beast with me when I play a gig, and I am hoping to find something that I can control with my Novation. Nothing yet. Has anyone played this live and turned heads? Every time I play the Tyros Nylon String, people come up to me asking “where is the guitarist…?’ Any suggested alternatives would be awesome as well, but I’ve played all of the new sample playback keyboards, and nothing comes close to the Tyros, except for my guitarist. 😉
thx!
KT
KeytarTony, can we assume you know that AAS Strum GS-2 costs US$200 and a Tyros costs over $4000? Sure a Tyros does a lot more than create guitar sounds, but if you’re tired of lugging one around, you may want to consider downloading the free trial of Strum and trying it at a couple gigs. Yes, there will be a learning curve and it probably won’t sound quite as good, but you may discover that your audiences are not as discerning as you are and you can save money on chiropractic appointments as well. ;o)