Tips, tricks and techniques

[JohnR]

I, too, think Real Guitar has enourmous potential in my compositions. My biggest problem with it is that I don't have a lot of time for what is a hobby for me. (Two young children and a wife eat all my time!)

Whilst the manual tells you how to use RG, it doesn't really give you any usage tips.

Anybody got any tips/techniques to share as they discover this great instrument?

[Viese]

Im downloading it now and since I have dedicated 7 hours per day to make music I might find some time for RG.

I'll keep it in mind

[Sergey_MusicLab]

JohnR,

Great to start the thread where you can share the usage tips for RealGuitar.
I will have an eye on it and try to answer the questions and post some useful notes.

Let's begin with the one I've already posted.

Some tips for entering chords:

1. If you have difficulties with accurate timing when playing chords in the Main zone you can increase Chord Detect time (the delay for chord recognition) in Setup window.
2. The easiest way to repeat the down strums of the entered chord - just release one key of the pressed chord and strike it again while other notes are held. Thus you can perform sustained strums with one hand using one finger movement (the thumb works fine).
3. Don't forget that you have also the Left Repeat key zone so you can enter chords with the right hand in the Main zone and repeat strums with the left hand (refer to Keyboard Map in the Manual).
4. RG recognizes chords in any note combination and with some notes omittes, mostly the 5th (refer to Chord Map) - so you can enter for example the C9 chord with the 9th (D) inside the chord and without G note: Bb-C-D-E or C-D-E-Bb, or E-Bb-C-D.

Regards,
Sergey
_________________
MusicLab Support.

[JohnR]

I had a quick try at creating some realistic strumming patterns last night and didn't get very far - my attempts were not very realistic, and exact stroke timing seems to be absolutely crucial.

I've just listened again to the audio demo files that were posted on this site and it sounds like MusicLab made as much use of the muted stroke as the normal stroke.

So, when I get time tonight, I'm going to try again, but intersperse muted strokes with normal strokes and see where I get.

Anyone got realistic strumming patterns that they could describe as an example?

[Koolkeys]

I have been finding it hard or impossible to do things such as walking bass notes to accompany the chords I play. I seem to only be able to get the root note to play. So the workaround I have is this.

Since you can load more than one instance of RG without re-loading the samples, load two instances. Play the first part, the chords or whatever, with the first instance, but make the amount of strings used in the chord only five, so this will make the actual bass note not sound.

Then, go back and play in solo mode on the second instance using the bass note for each chord you desire.

I hope this works for you too!

Koolkeys

[Mike]

Hi all

I've found that the default chord detection time of 25 can create a slight "late feel" on playback.

On the other hand, low detection times can cause incorrect chord recognition.

My suggestion: use 25-30 for recording (very accurate recognition), and 0-5 for playback (once the performance is finalized). This gives a nice tight playback performance.

Hope this is helpful.
regards, Mike.

[kevvvvv]

POLISHING THE CHORD SOUND WITH SYNC - TIP
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Set the strum time, and the chorus and trem frequency to sync with your sequencer, and use Hold

For example, 1/8th, 2nds, etc

It sounds posher (if you want posh)

If you don't know how to calculate BPM to milliseconds or Hz, download a free copy of S-Cal 4.

www.sharewaremusicmachine.com/smm/win95/MUSIC_CALCULATORS/