Kronos stock guitar sounds... unimpressive?

Mickey85 · Post by **Mickey85** » Sat Sep 28, 2013 12:27 pm

Hey guys, been fiddling around with the Kronos a bit more. The strings, piano and violins sound great to my ears. However, being a guitar player I checked out the guitar sounds on the Kronos and was REALLY unimpressed. Most of the sound like a keyboard and nothing like a guitar. Do I have to tweak the settings to get a better sound? Or are the great guitar sounds in the aftermarket Kronos guitar software? Does anyone else think the Kronos stock guitars sound nothing like real guitars?

geoelectro · Post by **geoelectro** » Sat Sep 28, 2013 1:01 pm

This is typical of all keyboards. As a guitar player, of course you wouldn't be impressed with the guitar sounds. A sax player wouldn't be impressed with the sax sounds, a Hammond player wouldn't be that impressed by the CX-3 sounds etc.

Getting these sounds to sound the best is all how you play them and use them in a mix. They can sound good with some good technique.

The best guitar samples I've heard are samples of riffs and phrases. That is because you are capturing more of the subtle artifacts that make a guitar sound/performance. However, although these kinds of samples sound better, they also limit how they can be used.

I don't use guitar sounds as I play live with two guitar players. As to other libraries I'm sure others can chime in on that.

Geo

carmol · Post by **carmol** » Sat Sep 28, 2013 2:07 pm

kronos factory guitars are a step below other sounds IMHO.
you can tre these
http://thekronosblog.blogspot.it/2013/0 ... asses.html

Ronl · Post by **Ronl** » Sat Sep 28, 2013 4:01 pm

I have to agree with micky85, the guitars could use improvement, in the acoustic area especially. My motif xs7 had some great mega voices, strum patterns, articulations etc.

Notice I said motif xs that I HAD. Yup sold it to finance the Kronos.

I will start checking around for other libraries, or heaven forbid! Tweak. So far the Kronos is much more inviting i the editing department than the motif.

Any other suggestions for acoustic guitar sound patches to download?

MoonMusic · Post by **MoonMusic** » Sat Sep 28, 2013 4:45 pm

Mickey85 wrote:However, being a guitar player

You have the best answer right there....The hard part is over....You learned to play the real thing so it's a no brainer at this point.....I don't care how nice the best sample library is, it isn't going to replicate someone playing the guitar for real....By playing the part for real, you'll capture nuances that you don't get or will spend a considerable amount of time programming in if the software is capable....I agree on both opinions that yes, the Kronos has lousy sounding guitars (the worst category in the set in my opinion) and yes the Yamaha motif has wonderful guitars compared to the Kronos....If you get into software Native Instruments has some pretty good ones....There's a patch called Glorias Guitar in Omnisphere I play around on all the time that I really like.....While I do add some of these types of guitars in a production I almost ALWAYS call in my buddy to play real guitar parts too...It adds a lot of human feel back into the track as well.......moon

Gambler · Post by **Gambler** » Sat Sep 28, 2013 7:23 pm

Mickey85 wrote:Does anyone else think the Kronos stock guitars sound nothing like real guitars?

Yes. There are some electric guitars that sound allright to my ears, but Kronos' acoustic guitars lack both in variety and quality. Even my Juno Gi is much better in that department.

The library carmol linked to is much better. It's not perfect, it has some quirks, but it's much better than the stock sounds. I hope people will continue porting/releasing stuff like that.

Personally, I've searched sounfonts for good steel-string guitar, but haven't found much. Samplesmith had a good guitar sound-font, but I don't think you can buy it anymore, and the free version has only one layer.

Bertotti · Post by **Bertotti** » Sat Sep 28, 2013 7:24 pm

Well we all hear things different, I really don't like any guitar sound in this beast but sa a base for creating new sounds they do well, for me.

SanderXpander · Post by **SanderXpander** » Sat Sep 28, 2013 9:37 pm

Funny, I always could get decent results from the acoustics but not the electrics. I almost never need them though. Used a nylon preset for a mock up Spanish themed solo that I thought was pretty convincing.

Stipes Vigilo · Post by **Stipes Vigilo** » Sun Sep 29, 2013 11:17 pm

Sorry, but this just reminds me of that old joke about how many guitarists it takes to screw in a light bulb. Which is thirteen - one to do and twelve to stand around talking about how they can do it better.

I've watched a lot of guitar players that can't even agree on which is the best real guitar and amp in the store. And it sounds just as funny when they keep that up in every forum they pop up in.

You do realize that once they go electric, they're all technically nothing but a synthetic signal. Korg has great samples, my second favorites I use. Motif's being first. And I do play guitar too, but I'm no GIT-nerd and I'm much better guitar player on my keyboard than on my guitar IMO.

I also noticed something else. I've had people run in to watch the guitar solo and stand there with confused faces because we had no guitar. Everytime.

I think when people complain about the samples, they're really telling us they lack the ability to play them convincingly. Granted, the guitar is a pretty easy instrument you can become fairly proficient in a matter of months. It's a fact, piano takes longer, and using the keys to orchestrate other instruments convincingly takes even longer.

jeebustrain · Post by **jeebustrain** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 3:16 am

I sort of had the same thoughts about the Kronos drums - Actually, compared to a lot of other workstations and samplesets, they sound pretty good. But I play drums for real and to my ears - there's no way I could get the touch/sound of a real kit. The dynamics are all wrong, I don't like the tone of the cymbals, the toms are tuned way too low, etc... So what do I do when I'm writing/recording? I sketch out the basic idea in the Kronos (or another piece of gear) and then play my real drums when it comes time to record the song for real. If I played guitar, I would do the exact same thing.

Stipes Vigilo · Post by **Stipes Vigilo** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 4:06 am

I find no real problems with the dynamics in the drums either as long as I trigger them using sticks on my Roland pad controllers (RMP&HPD). Doing it with keys or even using the padKontrol/NanoPad does limit the dynamics though. So if I want it to sound real, I need to play it as real as I do my drums. I see the previous comment owns an Alesis Control Pad and have been thinking of adding one of these to my setup too.

How do you like the Alesis Pad?

MoonMusic · Post by **MoonMusic** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 4:44 am

I'm just the opposite on the Drum category....I like the drums in the Kronos ALOT better than the Motif....That's the category I hated the most when I had the XS.....Too sterile, no punch....I haven't got everything in place to record my acoustics yet but I'm curious how they will work out.....moon

Muzztone · Post by **Muzztone** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 11:41 am

I've been using the 12 string patch a bit live (as a second 'guitar' on REM's Losing My Religion). Blends pretty well but I wouldn't want to use a sampled guitar as a lead part anything soon.

jeebustrain · Post by **jeebustrain** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 12:12 pm

Stipes Vigilo wrote:I find no real problems with the dynamics in the drums either as long as I trigger them using sticks on my Roland pad controllers (RMP&HPD). Doing it with keys or even using the padKontrol/NanoPad does limit the dynamics though. So if I want it to sound real, I need to play it as real as I do my drums. I see the previous comment owns an Alesis Control Pad and have been thinking of adding one of these to my setup too.

How do you like the Alesis Pad?

Yea - it's more my just particular taste in drum sounds - I've never heard a sample based drumkit (even those $$ VST libraries) that I really like. If I'm going to play electronic drums, they're most likely going to be actual electronic sounds (simmons, 808, 909, etc...). I've been lucky to have the capacity to multitrack my drums properly and I've been working for almost a year now to learn how to do it properly.

Regarding the pad - I like it. Although I generally use it to just trigger things on my real kit. Actually lately it's been more of just a table on the left side of my kit that my headphone amp is sitting on

NuSkoolTone · Post by **NuSkoolTone** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 2:32 pm

I'm a BIG fan of the Kronos. However the Guitars are simply an embarrassment. My Motif XS from 2008 puts it to SHAME! After recovering from a year of health problems, I am hoping to create a library (or two) this year unless one shows up to my satisfaction. So far, I haven't seen anything.

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Kronos stock guitar sounds... unimpressive?

Kronos stock guitar sounds... unimpressive?

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