Guitar Engines...

Had an interesting situation pop up this weekend with respect to the initial guitar parts for “A Different Kind of Weather”.  For a little background as to how these songs are built… I initially record demo parts for all of the instrumentation.  I do this using a keyboard controller; the process is fairly straightforward for keyboards, basslines and rudimentary string parts (since the notes themselves can be played directly on a keyboard).  Drum parts are built from a library of prerecorded patterns that are converted into midi format, so that they can be applied to an effectively unlimited variety of styles and tempos.   

For guitars, I use a complex simulator (https://www.applied-acoustics.com/strum-gs-2/).  It’s a great engine, but it’s got some limitations.  In addition to having to pick appropriate strumming patterns and guitar variants for the performance, I also have to choose chord types (e.g., drop lowest, movable-root, etc) and fret positions.  For whatever reason – there are some instances where no matter what variations of the chord type and position I use, the engine doesn’t pick up on some subtle changes.  I can see the chord changes register visually, but it doesn’t sound any different.  That was the case with some of the chord changes in this song. 

In this case, I provided the demo stems to Niels (the guitarist I’m working with) along with a lead sheet reflecting the chord changes.  In this case, Niels built the parts assuming the guitar demo stem was the intended structure, and that the lead sheet was outdated – when it fact, it was the lead sheet that was correct.  So we’re going to need to record those guitar parts again.  To facilitate this, I’ll head back to the workstation to generate a temporary basic (and very clear) keyboard pad reflecting the intended chord structure, so that Niels can develop the appropriate guitar voicings in concert with it.

And so it goes!