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Steinberg Virtual Guitarist 2 User Manual

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    							ENGLISH
    Virtual Guitarist
    English 21
    You can also trigger a fill by pressing the F# key on the remote octave 
    of your MIDI keyboard. In the Part list on the Riff Page, Fills are marked 
    with an asterisk (*).
    A Fill will repeat as long as the Modwheel is held up or the F# key is 
    held. If, e. g., you want a Fill to play over three bars, hold the Fill key or 
    the Modwheel up for three bars.
    If you want to trigger Fills by another MIDI controller, go to the Setup 
    Page and select one from the Fill Trigger menu.
    Sustained Chords
    You can also use Virtual Guitarist 2 to play long (sustained) chords.
    •To play long chords, press the sustain pedal and play the chords as 
    normal on your MIDI keyboard.
    There are two types of long chords, triggered by different MIDI note 
    velocities:
    • A light key stroke produces a slowly strummed chord (not available in all 
    Styles).
    • A stronger key stroke produces a heavy chord.
    This function is also assigned to the G# key of your MIDI keyboard’s re-
    mote octave. Double-click this key to lock the sustain mode, click again 
    to unlock.
    Accents
    Playing a MIDI note in the Pitch Range with a high velocity (125 and 
    above) will start the Part (depending on the Style) with an syncopated 
    eighth or quarter length “Accent” note. This Accent is handy for vary-
    ing your performance in real-time. 
    						
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    22 English
    Remote Keys
    Remote Keys are special functions assigned in the Key Remote Oc-
    tave that influence the performance of Virtual Guitarist 2. These keys 
    include: Slide Noise (C#), Stop Noise (D#), Fill trigger (F#), Sustain 
    (G#) and Latch On/Off (A#).
    Aftertouch Vibrato
    Applying aftertouch will automatically produce vibrato in Virtual Gui-
    tarist 2. To set the Vibrato rate, depth and delay adjust the knobs on 
    the Setup Page.
    Chord recognition
    Virtual Guitarist 2 features an intelligent chord recognition system, 
    which always plays the correct chord based on the MIDI input from a 
    sequencer or MIDI keyboard in real time. The MIDI input can consist of 
    a complete chord or simple one-finger notes—you don’t need to make 
    any special settings because Virtual Guitarist will always know what 
    to do.
    Playing chords
    If you play a complete chord (for example, the notes C, F, and G for a 
    Csus chord), Virtual Guitarist will automatically recognize it. 
    • For the best possible chord recognition, all the notes of a chord must be 
    played. Playing three notes is sufficient for major, minor or sus4 chords, 
    but for other chord types (maj7, 7, 6, dim, mmaj7, m7, m6, m7-5, sus2 
    and 7sus4) you need to play all four notes. 
    						
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    Virtual Guitarist
    English 23
    Chord inversions
    In most cases, it doesn’t matter what inversion of a chord you play. 
    However, there are some exceptions where the bass note has to be 
    the root or tonic note:
    • m7: For example, in Am7 the A must be the bass note because Virtual Guitar-
    ist would otherwise interpret the chord as a sixth (C6, in this case)—although 
    the chord uses the same notes on the keyboard, it sounds totally different on 
    the guitar.
    • dim chords (for example, Adim uses the same notes as Cdim, Eb-dim and 
    Gb-dim).
    • +5 chords (A+5 uses the same notes as C#+5 and F+5).
    • m6 chords (Am6 shares the same notes as F#m7-5).
    One-finger chords
    For the chord types major, 7, minor, and m7, you don’t actually need 
    to play all the notes in the chord. Although playing a single note al-
    ways indicates a major chord, you can indicate a different chord type 
    by playing an additional key.
    For keyboard schemes, see “Chord reference” on page 70.
    Additional key Chord
    None major
    Next left white key 7
    Next left black key minor
    Next left white and black keys minor7 
    						
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    24 English
    Chord display
    The chord display shows the currently playing or pre-selected chord. 
    If the chord you play can’t be found or is missing in the current chord 
    set, Virtual Guitarist will automatically choose the most appropriate 
    replacement chord (indicated in the chord display). This will also be 
    the case when the chord isn’t available because you’ve selected the 
    MID or ECO chord set.
    Styles and Chords
    You’ll soon discover that the selection of available chords depends on 
    which Style you have selected. Some Styles only offer neutral chords. 
    But it is no problem to control this type of Style from a MIDI track con-
    taining more complex chords—Virtual Guitarist automatically selects 
    the most appropriate chords from the available selection.
    Sustain pedal
    The sustain pedal has an important function in Virtual Guitarist, and it 
    works differently depending on whether Latch mode is activated or 
    not. Using a combination of Latch settings and sustain pedal with Vir-
    tual Guitarist will give you a lot of flexibility when arranging and per-
    forming.
    If you don’t have a sustain pedal, you can simulate it by using the G#-
    key in the Key Remote Range instead.  
    						
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    Virtual Guitarist
    English 25
    Try experimenting with the functions described in the table below to 
    get an understanding of how you can use the sustain pedal.
    Latch Mode OnWhile Virtual Gui-
    tarist 2 is runningVirtual Guitarist 2 will stop playing if you press 
    the sustain pedal during playback. Latch mode 
    is disabled for the time the sustain pedal is 
    pressed. While the sustain pedal is held any 
    notes or chords played in the Pitch Region will 
    produce sustained chords. Virtual Guitarist 2 
    will return to playing normal Parts when the 
    sustain pedal is released and a pitch key is 
    pressed.
    Latch Mode OffWhile Virtual Gui-
    tarist 2 is runningVirtual Guitarist 2 will stop playing as soon as 
    you release the keys played on the MIDI key-
    board, unless you release the keys while the 
    sustain pedal is down. (This is similar to how 
    the sustain pedal works when playing a piano 
    instrument on a keyboard, for example.) Latch 
    mode is enabled for the time the sustain pedal 
    is pressed. Any Parts held will play until you re-
    lease the sustain pedal.
    Latch Mode On/ 
    OffWhile Virtual Gui-
    tarist 2 is stoppedIf Virtual Guitarist 2 is not playing and you hold 
    down the sustain pedal, notes played on the 
    keyboard will result in single long chords, in-
    stead of starting the rhythm playing of Virtual 
    Guitarist 2 as usual. 
    						
    							Virtual Guitarist
    26English
    The Play Page
    The Play Page is the main interface in Virtual Guitarist. Here you can set 
    all of the general playing parameters of the instrument, load and save 
    Styles and Parts, and modify its general sound and rhythmic behavior.  
    						
    							ENGLISH
    Virtual Guitarist
    English 27
    Loading and Saving Styles
    On the right hand side of the Play Page of Virtual Guitarist 2, you find 
    a blue browser, listing the available Styles. 
    Load
    There are three ways to load a Style: 
    •Double-click its name in the list. 
    •Select the desired Style and click the Load button on the bottom left 
    of the Browser.
    •Right-click (Win)/[Ctrl]-click (Mac) the Load button and select the de-
    sired Style from the Load Style dialog.
    Save
    To save a Style click Save in the lower left of the Browser and use the 
    standard Save dialog to enter a name and location for the saved Style.
    Depending on the speed of your computer a Style may take a few 
    seconds to load.  
    						
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    28 English
    Auditioning Styles
    Each Factory Style comes with an audio preview. There are two ways 
    of previewing:
    Listen
    Click a Style from the Style Browser (it becomes highlighted). Click 
    Listen and Virtual Guitarist 2 will play a preview for as long as you hold 
    the mouse button.
    Auto
    Clicking Auto activates the automatic preview mode. With Auto active 
    a Style preview will play any time you click a Style in the Browser. The 
    preview will play for as long as you hold the mouse button.  
    						
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    Virtual Guitarist
    English 29
    The Parts Browser
    Clicking on the Parts button in the Play Page Browser displays the 
    key assignments of all Parts and remote keys used in the selected 
    Style. All Parts in the key remote range can be renamed. The assign-
    ments of certain keys to certain Parts or remote functions cannot be 
    changed.
    When a Part, Fill or Remote Key is played it will become highlighted in 
    the Parts Browser.  
    						
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    30 English
    The Play Page Controls
    Speed
    You can set Virtual Guitarist to play at half-, normal- or double-speed, 
    independently from the tempo of the current song, by clicking on the 
    buttons in the tempo section:
    Volume
    The Volume knob controls the output volume of Virtual Guitarist 2. 
    Decay
    The Decay dial sets the decay time of the individual beats, which en-
    ables the guitar track to sound more “staccato” with shorter delay 
    times, or more fluid and “legato” with longer decay times.
    Note that the decay dial controls an envelope that shapes the play-
    back of the originally recorded guitar tracks. Some dial positions 
    sound more natural than others, depending on the selected style.
    Option Description
    Half (x 1/2) The tempo of Virtual Guitarist 2 is half that of the current song.
    Normal (x1) Normal tempo, which is the same as the tempo of the current song.
    Double (x2) The tempo of Virtual Guitarist 2 is twice that of the current song.    
    						
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