Where's the developer? Where's the community?

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I know life can get complicated, people can get discouraged and developers have to make a living ... so I don't want this to sound hostile.

But it is so disappointing that the developer no longer seems active on the forum. I answered the other day ... as best I could as a new user ... a question that had set on this forum for over a year. And a question that seemed reasonable with respect to how to use the strumming patterns in a realistic way to cover a popular song.

I also sent a flurry of emails to Indiginus as I was first delving into StrumMaker IV and asking questions ... some responded to but some never answered.

I also note that in my brief time here in this particular forum no community member has responded to any of my posted questions or comments.

What a shame. StrumMaker IV is a brilliant piece of software with a versatility and depth unmatched by any other Virtual Instrument I have used that's not a drum VSTi. And I've used a lot of them.

I want to shout how much I appreciate StrumMaker IV and how much I wish Mr. Collins would continue to develop it and to use his talent and creativity in designing other instruments.

A bass player certainly comes to mind.
Help! I've fallen up and can't get down!

Win7 x64 Dual Dualcore Xeon 3.0 Ghz 16 GB Ram. Cubase 6, RapidComposer, BIAB, Abelton 6, Acid Pro 6,Roland XV5080 & Super JD, E-Mu CS PX7, Korg Radias R and MI-EX R, ASR-X Turbo, UAD 2 Quads, stuff.

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Hi

I know what you mean about lack of replies. It was my post from over a year ago you replied to. I also agree that SM4 has the potential to be the best thing on the market, although it needs better samples to get there IMO. Native Instruments Session Guitarist is nowhere near as versatile as SM4 but has a far superior sound.

I looked at a couple of your posts and for the mapping of chords (C on C - Dm on D etc) I'd simply map whatever chords you like and save a Kontakt nki under a name you can remember. When you load it back in it'll all be there. I save the nki of a song to the song project folder it belongs to. Never had a problem.

With regards to my previous post about extra styles, I dumped the SM4 strumming engine completely. I now write the rhythm and chord switches into the MIDI editor of my DAW. I write a single bar, loop it and adjust the velocities until it sounds right to me. After that all I need to do is copy that bar and change the actual chord type to suit the song. There's a little more to it than that, some chords need slight adjustment to their velocities and some songs need the same chord over 2 or more bars with some minor variations to the rhythm, but it has the benefit of being able to stop and restart the song at any position in the song and be perfectly in sync. Songs that use the same rhythm can use the MIDI files from songs already programmed. It works for me anyhow.

I hope TC does continue to develop StrumMaker, especially if he can come up with better sounding samples, but if not, it was good while it lasted.

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Yes .. I am also hoping for further development.

As far as the quality of the samples goes I am pretty much in agreement ... they are pretty good, but not great.

Without getting too deep into the weeds, my use is a 'live' variation of yours. I essentially use Strum Maker to stream midi to other sound sources ... which works perfectly for everything but the mutes, which I can tweak later. That gives me potential control over all it's parameters to finesse subtle differences between different chorused and verses of a song in real time to tweak until I get close as possible to a finished version.

Ain't MIDI great!

Nice to hear from someone here.
Help! I've fallen up and can't get down!

Win7 x64 Dual Dualcore Xeon 3.0 Ghz 16 GB Ram. Cubase 6, RapidComposer, BIAB, Abelton 6, Acid Pro 6,Roland XV5080 & Super JD, E-Mu CS PX7, Korg Radias R and MI-EX R, ASR-X Turbo, UAD 2 Quads, stuff.

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Hi

I'd be interested to know if you use SM4 as the finished article or for roughing out songs. I actually play guitar and bass but I use SM4 for roughing out because it's quicker than recording a whole guitar part, deciding that I want to make changes and having to do the whole thing again to see if it works or not. I've never used just SM4 for a finished part though. I generally let it play (using the 12 string sound with some EQ) and put a real acoustic part over the top.
One thing I think I sometimes overlook when criticising SM4 is how ridiculously cheap it is for what you get. If it worked as it does now but sounded like Session Guitarist I'd pay three times the price and still consider it a bargain

To go back to something you said earlier about bass, have you tried any of the Ample Sound basses? It doesn't have auto playing bass parts but the P Bass is the best P bass sound I've heard. It actually sounds better than my own Fender P Bass and way better, and easier to use, than Scarbee. There's a downloadable free lite version which I tried and within a couple of hours I had to buy it.

Another 'fun' auto playing Kontakt instrument is RealiBanjo from RealiTone. Depends on whether you ever write/play stuff that needs a banjo of course, but, in a mix, it's hard to tell it's not a real bit of banjo picking. Realitone's strummed guitar was a bit of a poor effort though. Quite a while back they announced a fingerpicked acoustic Kontakt instrument, which I could have been very interested in, but that hasn't arrived yet.

Anyhow, I've gone way off topic there so I'll call it a day.

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jonny_g wrote:Hi

I'd be interested to know if you use SM4 as the finished article or for roughing out songs. I actually play guitar and bass but I use SM4 for roughing out because it's quicker than recording a whole guitar part, deciding that I want to make changes and having to do the whole thing again to see if it works or not. I've never used just SM4 for a finished part though. I generally let it play (using the 12 string sound with some EQ) and put a real acoustic part over the top.
I'm a masterfully unaccomplished guitar player ... and a MIDIot. So yes, I use the script generated MIDI for finished guitar parts ... but not necessarily the samples. I have other Kontakt guitar libraries. Those MIDI rhythms also work really well for percussive organ and keys ... I just filter out the notes for the Mutes.

jonny_g wrote:One thing I think I sometimes overlook when criticising SM4 is how ridiculously cheap it is for what you get. If it worked as it does now but sounded like Session Guitarist I'd pay three times the price and still consider it a bargain
The way I'd put it: forget the samples, just create the scripts and sell them!
jonny_g wrote:To go back to something you said earlier about bass, have you tried any of the Ample Sound basses? It doesn't have auto playing bass parts but the P Bass is the best P bass sound I've heard. It actually sounds better than my own Fender P Bass and way better, and easier to use, than Scarbee. There's a downloadable free lite version which I tried and within a couple of hours I had to buy it.
I haven't looked at Ample Bass, though I've heard some of their guitar samples. I still have a healthy collection of Roland and E-Mu MIDI modules with some great patches that have kept me happy. Again, from a MIDI programming point of view, I like the Bornemark Bass as a MIDI generating VSTi. The styles are dated and I'd welcome an update (I contacted the developer who said he no longer had his programmer), but they are pretty great starting points for straight Pop, Rock and Country.
jonny_g wrote:Another 'fun' auto playing Kontakt instrument is RealiBanjo from RealiTone. Depends on whether you ever write/play stuff that needs a banjo of course, but, in a mix, it's hard to tell it's not a real bit of banjo picking. Realitone's strummed guitar was a bit of a poor effort though. Quite a while back they announced a fingerpicked acoustic Kontakt instrument, which I could have been very interested in, but that hasn't arrived yet.
Thanks for the tip. I'll have to look into this. Banjo is a greatly unappreciated rhythm instrument ... except in Blue Grass and Country. Banjo players are one of the targets for all those bad jokes along with Drummers and Accordionists.
jonny_g wrote:Anyhow, I've gone way off topic there so I'll call it a day.
Let's just say you 'improvised' ... really well! :)
Help! I've fallen up and can't get down!

Win7 x64 Dual Dualcore Xeon 3.0 Ghz 16 GB Ram. Cubase 6, RapidComposer, BIAB, Abelton 6, Acid Pro 6,Roland XV5080 & Super JD, E-Mu CS PX7, Korg Radias R and MI-EX R, ASR-X Turbo, UAD 2 Quads, stuff.

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Hi guys- I'm still here. And still trying to figure out why this forum doesn't notify me when there is new activity, dang it. My apologies- I should check this forum more often.

Email is a much better way to get support. I will usually respond- even in the wee hours of the morning, if I happen to be awake!

como baila, I do remember responding to your emails earlier in April, but I did miss one on April 21st, and I apologize. There were many questions, and I had meant to respond when I had more time, but I forgot.

To answer one question, there will be more to come with StrumMaker, and new sample sets will be a part of its future. It will be fall before recording begins.

As far as using SM4 on finished tracks, I do it all the time, and on television scores. The producer, as far as I know, thinks it's real guitar.

Jonny_g, thanks for stepping up and helping to answer questions!

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Great to hear from you, TC.

Apologies accepted!
Help! I've fallen up and can't get down!

Win7 x64 Dual Dualcore Xeon 3.0 Ghz 16 GB Ram. Cubase 6, RapidComposer, BIAB, Abelton 6, Acid Pro 6,Roland XV5080 & Super JD, E-Mu CS PX7, Korg Radias R and MI-EX R, ASR-X Turbo, UAD 2 Quads, stuff.

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