Ambient/Drone in Guitar Rig

[S1gnsOfL1fe]

I've been messing around with Guitar Rig lately and surfing through presets trying to find something that creates somewhat of a beautiful drone/ambient tone. While there is an "ambient" category in the presets, nothing seems to be exactly what I'm looking for.

I'm very new to guitar rig as I only picked up K8 five months ago. Since then I've been mainly using other stuff but recent works of mine have me intrigued to use more guitar rig (and it's effects, on OTHER instruments) in my tracks.

Plus everyone I talk to is begging me to do a guitar piece. I just want to get my production techniques right before I put something out there.

I call upon you ambient guitar experts, where do I start?

Tons of reverb? Delay? Reverse delays? :dunno:

Cheers,

-S1gns

[IOK-1]

I have a patch you can use. I seldom use it by itself. I usually combine it with several other reverbs and echo delays (Valhalla shimmer and Sound Toys Echo Boy most frequent)
Just fiddle around with the settings, add reverbs/delays, remove shit, change amp and cabinet and so on.
http://www.mediafire.com/?96paxoxdkugeg7a

I have some examples of me dronin' with this patch and some additional crap on my soundcloud.

https://soundcloud.com/tarmskrap/drone-ambient-guitar-improv


https://soundcloud.com/tarmskrap/ambient-drone-improv-2


Oh yes, both are tuned in drop-A.

That's another thing you can do. Experiment with different tunings. The outcome can be fun!

[Ambient Indigo]

I've been messing around with Guitar Rig lately and surfing through presets trying to find something that creates somewhat of a beautiful drone/ambient tone. While there is an "ambient" category in the presets, nothing seems to be exactly what I'm looking for.

I'm very new to guitar rig as I only picked up K8 five months ago. Since then I've been mainly using other stuff but recent works of mine have me intrigued to use more guitar rig (and it's effects, on OTHER instruments) in my tracks.

Plus everyone I talk to is begging me to do a guitar piece. I just want to get my production techniques right before I put something out there.

I call upon you ambient guitar experts, where do I start?

Tons of reverb? Delay? Reverse delays? :dunno:

Cheers,

-S1gns

Hei S1gns ... I didn't know you had Guitar Rig ... that vocal sample I mentioned earlier I had processed in Guitar Rig - I used a GR5 preset called "Stereo Memoryman" - you can play with the various delay settings etc.

Like you, I found the GR "Ambient" settings are nothing like what I was expecting/wanting ...

After listening to your new track I have to check out Reaktor more for some drones.

[S1gnsOfL1fe]

Amazing. Really enjoyed those examples. Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you so much for the advice.

I downloaded the file and tried to import it into Guitar Rig but it didn't seem to work. Nothing showed up and my cleared preset didn't change. Strange. I am using Guitar Rig 5 Pro. Is that what you're using too?

Cheers and thanks again,

-S1gns

[S1gnsOfL1fe]

Hei S1gns ... I didn't know you had Guitar Rig ... that vocal sample I mentioned earlier I had processed in Guitar Rig - I used a GR5 preset called "Stereo Memoryman" - you can play with the various delay settings etc.

Like you, I found the GR "Ambient" settings are nothing like what I was expecting/wanting ...

After listening to your new track I have to check out Reaktor more for some drones.

Yeah if you have Reaktor, you MUST check out DRON-E.

http://www.antonioblanca.com/dron-e

It was pretty much the main reason I bought K8 was because I wanted this one ensemble...and it's free.

I feel like I've only scratched the surface with it too. There's so much you can do with it. Have fun!

And thanks one more time Indigo for the inspiration.

Cheers,

-S1gns

[IOK-1]

Amazing. Really enjoyed those examples. Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you so much for the advice.

I downloaded the file and tried to import it into Guitar Rig but it didn't seem to work. Nothing showed up and my cleared preset didn't change. Strange. I am using Guitar Rig 5 Pro. Is that what you're using too?

Cheers and thanks again,



-S1gns

Try drag and drop from ie the desktop to Guitar Rig. Whenever I have problems importing patches and presets I do it like this and it usually works.

[Ambient Indigo]

[QUOTE=S1gnsOfL1fe;6259]

Yeah if you have Reaktor, you MUST check out DRON-E.

http://www.antonioblanca.com/dron-e

It was pretty much the main reason I bought K8 was because I wanted this one ensemble...and it's free.

I feel like I've only scratched the surface with it too. There's so much you can do with it. Have fun!

And thanks one more time Indigo for the inspiration.

Cheers,

-S1gns

Aha ... thanks for the tip & link, I'm checking it out now ...

[robojam]

Do you have an eBow? They're great for drones as you can get notes to sustain on and on. If you have a bow from a stringed instrument and some rosin around that's great too, especially with some delay.

In general I think delay and reverb are awesome, and things like distortion and a ring mod can do great things.

Here's something I put together some time back:

https://soundcloud.com/michael-jm/desolation-of-the-odontomachus


It's a metallic reverb, some delay and a harsh distortion (don't remember the exact FX chain). There's some occasional synth in there too, but it's pretty much all guitar.

As for how I played it, it's just pretty much picking random notes and runs in the same key (G minor if I remember right).

[S1gnsOfL1fe]

Do you have an eBow? They're great for drones as you can get notes to sustain on and on. If you have a bow from a stringed instrument and some rosin around that's great too, especially with some delay.

In general I think delay and reverb are awesome, and things like distortion and a ring mod can do great things.

Here's something I put together some time back:

https://soundcloud.com/michael-jm/desolation-of-the-odontomachus


It's a metallic reverb, some delay and a harsh distortion (don't remember the exact FX chain). There's some occasional synth in there too, but it's pretty much all guitar.

As for how I played it, it's just pretty much picking random notes and runs in the same key (G minor if I remember right).

I have heard of an eBow but I never put two and two together. That's an awesome idea! When I have an extra $100 laying around I am definitely going to consider it. Sometimes musiciansfriend sends me 20% coupons in the mail so if it applies I might use it towards that.

Thanks Robo! Love that track you shared too. Always been a favorite.

Cheers,

-S1gns

[seismic1]

I've been building up some nice layered guitar sounds using hardware and sending the audio from an outboard processor. I have a Zoom G7.1ut for this. It works well with Cubase elements. I can then save the captured audio and import into EnergyXT or process in Audacity.

[S1gnsOfL1fe]

Amazing. Really enjoyed those examples. Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you so much for the advice.

I downloaded the file and tried to import it into Guitar Rig but it didn't seem to work. Nothing showed up and my cleared preset didn't change. Strange. I am using Guitar Rig 5 Pro. Is that what you're using too?

Cheers and thanks again,



-S1gns

Try drag and drop from ie the desktop to Guitar Rig. Whenever I have problems importing patches and presets I do it like this and it usually works.

I finally got it to work! I was trying to drag it to the wrong place. When you drag it over to the "main window" where the cabinets are, it doesn't allow you. You have to drop it into the bottom left hand corner and when doing so, it created a folder up above called "import" and below, there it was. One click on the word "ambient" and bam. Drone City! Thank you so much man. I will use this as a base to create further presets. If I come up with anything good I'll let you know.

Cheers and thanks again,

-S1gns

[aoVI]

+1 on an Ebow.

I picked one up a couple of weeks ago. It's fairly easy to get cool results right away, and yet still a lot to learn as far as the subtleties of control. I have really enjoyed mine.

If you are ok with eBay, I saw several going for $65-75 range in good condition.

[tonecarver]

Another +1 on the eBow. Way cool and expressive after learning its subtleties. Also try sliding various metallic/glass/plastic objects along the strings for special effects (with or without an ebow, season to taste). I found objects with a slight texture on the surface to be very useful: a screwdriver blade, a wrench/spanner, a plastic tie, polished stones, whatever ... Add copius amounts of delay, reverb, modulations, loopers et cetera. Record long jam sessions and snip out the good bits for post processing. It's all good. To paraphrase David Torn, think of it like "Painting with your Guitar".

@IOK-1: thanks for the Guitar Rig patch. I'll be chekcing that out later.

[Nemo]

Another +1 for the eBow... or does that make it +2. Those are a lot of fun and they look cool as well with that blue led.

Also, if you ever have the chance check out one of those Fernandez sustainers or sustainer guitars. Steve Hackett uses one. You could get that thing going and then go into the next room and fix yourself a cup of coffee and all the while the note will keep on going and going and going.

As for the eBow... I believe I saw Robert Rich using one once on his lap steel. It will work on any strings that have a metal core, so you might be able to use it on all sorts of non-guitar instruments as well. It's something that is fun to experiment with.

[Nemo]

Oh yeah... and please disregard the "Guitar" in Guitar Rig. Of course it isn't just for guitar.