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3. Ample Guitar M Lite II by AmpleSound

1 Ample Sound’s Ample Guitar M II Lite can be used to create astonishingly realistic guitar passages in virtually any style. At its most basic, it makes for a good means by which to do a bit of convincing fingerpicking. Load it up and have a play using your MIDI keyboard or controller of choice. Try to play dynamically for the best results 2 One of the instrument’s most interesting features is the ability to control the proximity of the virtual microphones used to capture it, using the Mic 1, Mic 2 and Main (both) sliders. You can also adjust Pan and Width, but more exciting still is the Double effect – turn it on and use the Doubling knob to add a bit of artificial double tracking. 3 There are a few more controls of note on the main page. The FX slider adjusts the mix of any effects pedals you have activated (more on that shortly), while another adjusts the RESonance of the virtual guitar body. Adjustments can also be made to the attack ( FSA) and release ( FSR) of the fret sound. 4 Now let’s tab over to the Strummer, which is, literally, where the action is. We’ll start the hoedown by toggling the Strummer switch to the On position. As you can see, there’s a sequence grid just to the left of centre in the bottom half of the GUI. Play note C3 on your controller to hear the default pattern.

5 Playing C# 3 triggers a variation. D#3 instigates another, as do each of the ascending black keys up to and including D#

4. And you aren’t stuck playing in one key – trigger chord changes using the keys in the second octave of your keyboard. The chord names are displayed in the section to the left of the Sequence grid. 6 At the bottom right of the Strummer, you can load preset Strummer patterns, and adjust tempo, swing and quantisation. On the opposite side are controls for strum time, mute and humanisation. Finally, click the FX tab to indulge in the instrument’s excellent selection of effects pedals.