Shreddage II + hpse Revalver Problemos (mainly the latter =p)

[HoboKa]

Does shreddage II require a lot of automation to sound realistic, or is it minimal effort?

Edited December 27, 2014 by HoboKa

[AngelCityOutlaw]

I bought it for the sake of seeing how realistic I could sequence a guitar since I am a guitarist. Strange purchase, I know.

I'd say that in a rock/metal rhythm playing context, it's actually fairly easy to get something that sounds pretty damn convincing without a ton of work. A lot of it, in my opinion, has to do with the fact that there is a lot of finger noise and all those subtle details in with the samples. Also, with that style, as long as you trigger the keyswitches where you would logically palm-mute, hammer-on, slide etc. it should sound good. Plus, since rock music uses a lot of distortion, differences in velocity aren't as noticeable so you don't have to worry so much about when to play loud or quiet since it's pretty much always loud. EDIT: Also, the double tracking feature works great in Shreddage II, which is a necessity for that kind of rhythm.

However, I find that sequencing any sort of playing style beyond that is pretty damn hard.

[HoboKa]

I bought it for the sake of seeing how realistic I could sequence a guitar since I am a guitarist. Strange purchase, I know.

I'd say that in a rock/metal rhythm playing context, it's actually fairly easy to get something that sounds pretty damn convincing without a ton of work. A lot of it, in my opinion, has to do with the fact that there is a lot of finger noise and all those subtle details in with the samples. Also, with that style, as long as you trigger the keyswitches where you would logically palm-mute, hammer-on, slide etc. it should sound good. Plus, since rock music uses a lot of distortion, differences in velocity aren't as noticeable so you don't have to worry so much about when to play loud or quiet since it's pretty much always loud. EDIT: Also, the double tracking feature works great in Shreddage II, which is a necessity for that kind of rhythm.

However, I find that sequencing any sort of playing style beyond that is pretty damn hard.

Ohhh yeah sequencing can be a pain lol. I've given Shreddage 2 a bit of a spin as well; seems pretty solid. But for some reason my keyswitches only seem to work when they want to lol. Is it because I'm not using a MIDI keyboard?

Also, Revalver hpse won't show up in my VST plugins list, despite that I installed it into Image-Line>Plugins>VST.

edit 1

Also thanks for the tips AngelcityOutlaw ^^

edit 2

Oops forgot to mention that I'm running FL Studio 11. Anyone using FL and have hpse Revalver, and had a similar issue?

Edited December 27, 2014 by HoboKa

[timaeus222]

I found learning how to use Shreddage II to be pretty hard, but I still found it worth learning and it really does sound realistic to me. I kind of play guitar. I'm not good at it, and that's why I got Shreddage at all, but I do know enough to use it.

It might require lots of automation, but not that much if you're just doing rhythm guitar. Lead guitar, on the other hand, needs lots of TLC to make sound realistic. Sometimes you can use modwheel to bring in vibrato, pitch wheel to bring in pitch bends, maybe even a little MIDI CC automation to change portamento speed, trigger pinch squeals, etc. This video should have covered plenty of that automation stuffs:

Velocity, however, IS very helpful to incorporate; not so much for volume response, but there IS the option to make it more noticeable (there is a velocity->volume trigger). Here, velocities more so trigger certain "unique" articulations, like extents of mutes or chokes for rhythm, or staccato, tremolo, etc. for lead. You can see which ones in the Articulation page.

By default, there's a "slop" feature that basically gives a bit of rhythmic error to all the notes to a certain extent, so even if all your notes are quantized completely, it won't play as if it is completely quantized.

Edited December 27, 2014 by timaeus222

[HoboKa]

I found learning how to use Shreddage II to be pretty hard, but I still found it worth learning and it really does sound realistic to me. I kind of play guitar. I'm not good at it, and that's why I got Shreddage at all, but I do know enough to use it.

It might require lots of automation, but not that much if you're just doing rhythm guitar. Lead guitar, on the other hand, needs lots of TLC to make sound realistic. Sometimes you can use modwheel to bring in vibrato, pitch wheel to bring in pitch bends, maybe even a little MIDI CC automation to change portamento speed, trigger pinch squeals, etc. This video should have covered plenty of that automation stuffs:

Velocity, however, IS very helpful to incorporate; not so much for volume response, but there IS the option to make it more noticeable (there is a velocity->volume trigger). Here, velocities more so trigger certain "unique" articulations, like extents of mutes or chokes for rhythm, or staccato, tremolo, etc. for lead. You can see which ones in the Articulation page.

Aight thanks Timaeus! I'll use that video as my reference...still unsure if I can do it w/out a MIDI keyboard (might grab one way later on, but for now it isn't really a feasible option for me). But that won't stop me from trying

EDIT

I will definitely exploit that slop feature for sure lol.

[timaeus222]

Aight thanks Timaeus! I'll use that video as my reference...still unsure if I can do it w/out a MIDI keyboard (might grab one way later on, but for now it isn't really a feasible option for me). But that won't stop me from trying

EDIT

I will definitely exploit that slop feature for sure lol.

Hehe, I don't wanna boss ya around, buuuut

Get a MIDI keyboard sometime! Automation gets you so far! It also helps if you want to play in notes for other sound sources that need the human rhythm (like piano, mallet instruments, etc.).

[HoboKa]

Hehe, I don't wanna boss ya around, buuuut

Get a MIDI keyboard sometime! Automation gets you so far! It also helps if you want to play in notes for other sound sources that need the human rhythm (like piano, mallet instruments, etc.).

Yeah I guess so >.< - I'll see in a year or two perhaps. In the meantime, I s'pose I can just rely on rhythmic stuff and maybe a very layered guitar lead so it doesn't feel too exposed

Also, are you running FL Studio Timaeus? Was wondering if you know about how to get hpse amp working properly

[Nabeel Ansari]

The Image-Line>Plugins>VST is not a place for installing VST's, rather it is a place where FL stores VST versions of its own plugins (that you own). In other words, you can go to this folder to access the VST versions, and then copy them somewhere to use in another DAW.

EDIT: You can install plug-ins here, it's just not really a standard way of doing things and makes things like file management and backups harder. You should always isolate your personal/external data from software installations.

It's better to install VST's into a folder on your computer (like C:\Program Files\VSTPlugins, which is the common VST path shared by every DAW, and where FL looks for VST's) than to install them into FL's VST directory.

Edited December 27, 2014 by Neblix

[HoboKa]

The Image-Line>Plugins>VST is not a place for installing VST's, rather it is a place where FL stores VST versions of its own plugins (that you own). In other words, you can go to this folder to access the VST versions, and then copy them somewhere to use in another DAW.

It's better to install VST's into a folder on your computer (like C:\Program Files\VSTPlugins, which is the common VST path shared by every DAW, and where FL looks for VST's) than to install them into FL's VST directory.

oh I see. I'll give that a shot, thanks Neblix.

EDIT

It didn't work. Oh wellz - I'll have to improvise. q.q

Edited December 27, 2014 by HoboKa

[timaeus222]

Well, HPSE (I believe) installs like any other VST effects plugin. I do use FL, but it's been a while since I installed HPSE; try installing it again and write down the installation destination. I remember several times having a weird issue installing each new version of Guitar Rig where it kept saying an FL Studio 1 folder existed (even after changing the directory choice), and then it created it. Anything like that happening?

i.e. Are you having issues with finding where it installed? Or, is it just an issue with registration? (That I don't really remember either) Is it not showing up in the list of VSTs that you own?

Edited December 27, 2014 by timaeus222

[HoboKa]

Well, HPSE (I believe) installs like any other VST effects plugin. I do use FL, but it's been a while since I installed HPSE; try installing it again and write down the installation destination. I remember several times having a weird issue installing each new version of Guitar Rig where it kept saying an FL Studio 1 folder existed (even after changing the directory choice), and then it created it. Anything like that happening?

i.e. Are you having issues with finding where it installed? Or, is it just an issue with registration? (That I don't really remember either) Is it not showing up in the list of VSTs that you own?

Well it works as a standalone. And the install path is now where Neblix suggested I put it (Program Files>VSTplugins). No issues with registration (when i used the standalone). It's just not showing up in the list of VSTs within FL, even after refreshing the list. So something funky is going on for sure.

[timaeus222]

Well it works as a standalone. And the install path is now where Neblix suggested I put it (Program Files>VSTplugins). No issues with registration (when i used the standalone). It's just not showing up in the list of VSTs within FL, even after refreshing the list. So something funky is going on for sure.

Have you checked out the File settings window (Options > File settings)? http://www.image-line.com/support/FLHelp/html/envsettings_files.htm

That lists the places FL searches for files like samples and such, but below that there's a spot for VST searching. Is the folder C:\Program Files\VstPlugins listed there? You might also want to take a gander at this too; it's pretty comprehensive: http://www.image-line.com/support/FLHelp/html/basics_externalplugins.htm

Edited December 27, 2014 by timaeus222

[Nabeel Ansari]

That lists the places FL searches for files like samples and such, but below that there's a spot for VST searching. Is the folder C:\Program Files\VstPlugins listed there?

That's for the extra VST search path, if you have them anywhere else on your computer. FL will check C:\Program Files\VstPlugins by default (at least for me, since I set that in the installation process I believe). For instance, there, I have C:\Program Files (x86)\VstPlugins as my extra search path, so FL can see both my 32bit and 64bit plugins.

Edited December 27, 2014 by Neblix

[timaeus222]

Thanks. I'm just asking what he has listed there; so far it seems like HoboKa's said that he installed HPSE at C:\Program Files\VstPlugins, but he hasn't mentioned looking at the File settings folder.

[Nabeel Ansari]

Well it works as a standalone. And the install path is now where Neblix suggested I put it (Program Files>VSTplugins). No issues with registration (when i used the standalone). It's just not showing up in the list of VSTs within FL, even after refreshing the list. So something funky is going on for sure.

An FL Studio reinstall may be in order, because its uncertain what your FL default VST search path actually is. When you reinstall it, make sure you're aware of where it looks for VST's, it should say somewhere in the installation process. The help doc says it's FL Studio\Plugins\VST by default, but that is clearly not working for you either.

[HoboKa]

An FL Studio reinstall may be in order, because its uncertain what your FL default VST search path actually is. When you reinstall it, make sure you're aware of where it looks for VST's, it should say somewhere in the installation process. The help doc says it's FL Studio\Plugins\VST by default, but that is clearly not working for you either.

Possibly. I seem to have two of those directory one in C:/Program Files and one in C:/Program Files(x86) - maybe I'll try reinstalling hpse into the (x86) if not then I will try your suggestion.