XBow Guitars

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INSTALLATION 3

LIBRARY SPECIFICATIONS 4

THE XBOW GUITARS PROJECT 5

THE KONTAKT INSTRUMENTS 7 THE JAMMER PANEL 8

A BASIC JAMMER TUTORIAL 11

THE GUITAR PANEL 12

THE OPTIONS MENU 16

THE EFFECTS PANEL 18 MODULAR EFFECTS INSERTS 18

THE SPACE MODULE 20

EFFECT PRESETS 20

SUPPORT 21

END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT 22

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INSTALLATION

YOUTUBE VIDEO: HOW TO ADD YOUR LIBRARY TO KONTAKT

TO ADD THE LIBRARY AND AUTHORISE IN KONTAKT

FIRST INSTALL KONTAKT PLAYER: Kontakt Player Download Link

1. Open NI Kontakt in standalone mode. In the Libraries tab, click Add Library 2. Navigate to the downloaded product and choose the Library folder

3. When the library graphic loads in Kontakt, click Activate

4. The NI Service Center app will launch. Login or create an account, and enter your

product serial number ( shown in your SC account with the download product).

5. Restart Kontakt to complete the authorization.

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LIBRARY SPECIFICATIONS 8 sampled instruments

Bowed Acoustic (with 4 articulations)

Bowed Electric (with 4 articulations)

EBow Acoustic

EBow Electric 1

EBow Electric 2

Vibrator Acoustic

Vibrator Electric

Gizmotron Electric

24 bit 48 khz stereo sampling

9 GB library (with NCW compression)

Over 8,600 samples

Custom KSP tools and effects: Jammer, Modular FX rack

NI NKS support

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THE XBOW GUITARS PROJECT This library is dedicated to exploring guitars played

inappropriately. We began this project with our

eBow Guitar library ten years ago. We’ve often

found that unique yet organic virtual instruments

can be created by playing conventional instruments

in unconventional ways.

We’ve followed this up with a Bowed Guitar instrument, in which both acoustic and

electric guitars are played with a violin bow.

We sampled several articulations like this, including playing with the wood of the bow (col

legno). The main violin bow articulation is a dynamic crossfade patch, interpolating

between the soft bow and the hard bow.

Another unusual technique we’ve put to good effect is Vibrator Guitar, in which an

‘electronic massage device’ is used to stimulate the strings. It’s quite an edgy sound, like

a constant tremolo effect. Again here we’ve explored this technique on both acoustic

and electric guitars.

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We also discovered a revival of the Godley and Creme “gizmotron”, a device that

attaches to an electric guitar and uses tiny rubber wheels to bow the strings. You can vary

the speed (velocity) of the wheels on the device itself, which we then sampled to create a

dynamic crossfade system in the virtual instrument.

These four techniques have been collected into this single library, which includes four

“master” Kontakt instruments, one for each technique: Bowed Guitar, EBow Guitar,

Gizmotron Guitar, and Vibrator Guitar.

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THE KONTAKT INSTRUMENTS You can hover your mouse over any control in this library to get information

about its function if you have the Kontakt Info pane activated.

SNAPSHOTS

Snapshots are presets. Remember that there are many presets in the Snapshots menu in

main Kontakt title bar. Click on the little camera icon, and the snapshot menu will appear

beneath the instrument title.

You can choose Snapshot presets for any instrument here. Our own presets will appear

in a submenu called “FACTORY”, and any snapshots you make yourself will be stored in

the submenu called “USER”.

XBOW GUITAR INSTRUMENTS

All of the XBow Guitars instruments contains three pages: Jammer, Guitar, and Effects.

These pages are selected with the Kontakt tabs at the bottom of the instrument GUI.

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THE JAMMER PANEL

THE JAMMER is our custom generative arpeggiator. It uses notes you hold down on

your keyboard to generate new patterns. You can then store these patterns in presets,

either as evolving setups or as fixed pattern loops.

The power button at the top left enables or disables the Jammer. When the Jammer is

ON, all throughput of MIDI is disabled, you only hear the output of the Jammer.

The five knobs along the top of the Jammer are global controls, these are:

MODE This sets the type of arpeggiation used to create patterns. The original Jammer

mode is Random mode, but you can also choose Up, Down, or Up Down, for somewhat

more traditional arpeggiator results. This controls how the notes are selected from what

you are holding down.

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RATE controls the speed of the Jammer, this is always related to the tempo of Kontakt or

the host sequencer.

LENGTH is an offset to the duration of the created notes. In the centre position, the

notes are created at the same duration set by the Rate knob, but using LENGTH you can

make these longer or shorter.

VEL OFFSET adds or subtracts from the velocity of the notes created by the Jammer.

Automating this can be useful for creating fades.

SWING adds some time to the offbeat notes to give a shuffle or swing feeling to the

rhythm.

The next five sliders are controls for the generative part of Jammer, which are essentially

randomising various aspects of note generation. These are:

NOTE add random offsets to the pitches you give Jammer (are holding down). This is in

semitones, so if it’s set to “1” the Jammer will output notes plus or minus 1 from the

notes you play, as well as the note you play.

OCTAVE add random octave offsets to the pitches created by Jammer. This control only

ADDS octaves, it doesn’t subtract octaves.

TIME add random changes to the timing of the Jammer, so that the result is less stable

and rhythmic.

VELOCITY add random changes to the velocity of the output notes. This always uses the

input velocity as a starting point, so if the VELOCITY range is small, it will just add small

changes to your input velocity.

GAPS add random rests or silent beats into the Jammer sequence.

In the middle of this section you’ll see a button titled “EVOLVE”, with the number 16 to

the right of it (by default). EVOLVE mode means that the Jammer is working to generate

new data constantly, the randomisers are always creating new patterns from your input

notes. If you click on EVOLVE, the button changes to display LOOP. Now the Jammer is

repeating the pattern it most recently created. The length of this pattern is determined

by the number to the right, so by default it repeats the last 16 generated ‘notes’. !9

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It’s important to remember that the Jammer is not storing the ‘notes’ themselves, but

rather the choice of, and offsets to, the input notes you play into it. So even in LOOP

mode, the Jammer will output different notes depending on what notes you play. The

pattern is stored, not the exact notes themselves. This means you can created quite

complicated patterns, but play them with any chord or input notes.

THE PITCH FILTER

The small keyboard ICON represents a pitch filter. Here you can

limit the output notes of the Jammer to a certain key or chord or

any selection of notes you like. At the top of the small keyboard

is a drop down menu with some popular scales, but you can click

on the keyboard directly to allow or disallow any pitch as you

like.

You can also use the MIDI input switch on the left of the keyboard to LEARN a scale by

playing it into the Jammer.

PRESET FADER AND STORE MENU

This fader on the left chooses between 12 presets. You can

automate this fader as part of your performance, flipping between

different Jammer setups to vary your pattern in even more

interesting ways.

STORE: The menu at the bottom lets you store the complete

Jammer setup into any of the preset positions.

You can also copy and paste presets to different positions, or import

/ export patterns between various Soniccouture instruments that

have the Jammer.

DOUBLE NOTES will trigger two notes on each step, as if you are playing with both

hands simultaneously.

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A BASIC JAMMER TUTORIAL

Setup : Set the Jammer to an Initialised state. Set the EVOLVE / LOOP length to 8 and

put it in EVOLVE mode. Turn DOUBLE NOTES off, and make sure the Jammer power

switch is ON.

Now play and hold a simple chord.

Play a major chord, say C, E, and G and hold that chord with one hand or else click on

LATCH. You should hear the Jammer repeating those notes randomly every 16th note.

Now bring the NOTE control up. Suddenly you should hear the Jammer playing other

notes than the ones you played. NOTE tells the Jammer to add or subtract semitones

from the given pool of notes. Move NOTE back to 0.

Bring the OCTAVE control up. You should hear the Jammer adding octaves occasionally

(randomly) to the input notes. Octaves are only added, whereas NOTES are added and

subtracted.

Now increase both the NOTE and OCTAVE controls, you should hear a pretty random

crazy bunch of notes that don’t make much sense. Use the SCALE drop down menu to

choose something other than ALL NOTES, perhaps C MAJOR. Now you should hear the

random notes are slightly less crazy, because the Jammer is forcing all the selections to

the nearest note within that scale.

If you reduce the note selection even further, say to D, F, and A, by clicking all the others

off, the Jammer now can only randomise things on the notes of a D minor chord.

Now turn EVOLVE off so that LOOP has 8 loops. Now you’ve captured a short pattern

that starts to sound more musical.

Note that you haven’t captured the exact notes, just the pattern. If you change the input

notes, you’ll get a different result, even with LOOP on.

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THE GUITAR PANEL

The Guitar page of the four instruments varies slightly, but always contains similar

elements. The most elaborate instrument is the Bowed Guitar, so we’ll use that to discuss

the controls.

GUITAR SELECT

Click on the ACOUSTIC GUITAR title and you can also select

other guitar types when available. Controls will vary according

to which guitar is selected.

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POWER

In all the guitars there is a large knob named POWER. This controls the power or strength

of the type of bow being used. Automating this knob, either by host automation or MIDI

controllers, is the key to making the instrument expressive. Just like other bowed string

or wind libraries, real time control breathes life to XBow Guitars when used in your

compositions.

If you use a pedal, or wind controller, or other expression control, right-click the POWER

knob and assign this to your favourite expression controller and then re-save the NKI.

The assignment will then be permanent for that guitar, no matter which Snapshot you use.

ARTICULATION FADER

In the Bowed Guitar there are four articulations at

the top of the main Guitar page: ARCO, SPICCATO, LEGNO, and MARCATO. You can

select these articulations either by clicking on their

name, or automating the fader to the left of the

names.

FRET

FRET controls the hand position or minimum fret to be used for any note. The timbre

changes slightly as a guitarists hand moves up the fretboard, so you can automate this for

more variation in your sequence.

VIBRATO

VIBRATO introduces vibrato to the sound, and again is best automated and used

sparingly.

ENSEMBLE

ENSEMBLE is a switch that triples the voices used, and alters their tuning and timing to

give a kind of ensemble effect. This is very nice for thickening string sections.

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MIC & PICKUP

Some guitars are sampled with more than one signal at the same time.

For example, on some acoustic guitars we have sampled both a Mic and

a contact Pickup on the guitar, on some electric guitars we have sampled

the Bridge and Neck pickups simultaneously. If this is the case you’ll see

two level knobs, like here on the right: Mic and Pickup. The bottom one

will also have a Phase switch above it so you can change it’s phase

relationship to the upper signal.

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EDIT CONTROLS

Beside the guitar’s title, near the top left of the page, you’ll see a small arrow pointing to

the left. If you click on this arrow, you’ll open the synth editing section. This gives you

access to many of the typical Kontakt playback control parameters you might use to

further shape the sound:

PANNER and RATE are auto-panning controls, they

control the depth and speed of auto-panning

respectively

ATTACK and RELEASE amplitude envelope controls

F ATTACK and F DECAY filter envelope controls.

VELOCITY velocity to level

CUTOFF Filter cutoff frequency

FILTER TYPE is changed by clicking on the menu icon

RES resonance of the filter

ENV the depth of the filter modulation envelope

HPF high pass filter

VELOCITY to filter cutoff

SLIM is a special kind of filter that removes only the

fundamental frequency of the instrument. This is useful

for exaggerating higher harmonics, which can both

increase the essential character of an instrument while

simultaneously giving it less dominance in the mix

FOLLOW sets the depth of the filter’s envelope follower

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THE OPTIONS MENU

At the top fight of the instruments, there is a small menu:

Clicking on this opens the Options for the current guitar:

All guitars include a PITCH BEND SETUP option that allows you to set how the pitch

bend control works. Normal Pitch Bend behaviour is called ALL, which means that all

notes played respond to the pitch bend wheel. Other options here are:

LAST NOTE, in which only the last played note responds to pitch bend,

TOP NOTE, in which only the highest note responds,

LOW NOTE, in which only the lowest note responds to pitch bend, and

HELD NOTE, in which any notes now released don’t respond to pitch bend.

You can set the range of the pitch bend with separate LOW and HIGH semitone limits.

EXTENDED KEYRANGE

This increases the playback area of the instrument on the keyboard. In some cases to the

entire MIDI range of notes, but sometimes we had to restrict even the wider range for

technical reasons. For a “natural” guitar range, turn EXTENDED KEYRANGE OFF.

SOLO MODE

SOLO MODE enables a MIDI solo mode, which can be useful for melodic performances.

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ATTACK CLIP

Many of the bow techniques sampled have their own attack characteristic, which is nice if

you want to keep the natural behaviour of that bow. However there may be times when

you want to start the sound quicker than the sample does naturally. ATTACK CLIP will

move the start time of the sample inwards, beyond the natural attack, to create an

artificial but sudden click at the front. This can be nice for certain voicing effects, and you

can of course use the Attack Knob in the synth edit section to then shape this new attack

as you like.

ROUND ROBINS

This is a popular method for increasing the sample variety in a performance and avoiding

the “machine gun effect” sometimes heard when exact samples are repeated

sequentially. Round Robins introduce a slight “randomicity” to the waveforms used for

any given note. We generally like to have Round Robins on for more interesting, organic

results, but in some cases it may be desirable to have precise “repeatability”, in which

case you may want to turn of Round Robins.

NATURAL VIB

This is only available in the original two Ebow Guitars, which were sampled with a very

subtle natural finger vibrato. You can turn this on or off as you like.

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THE EFFECTS PANEL

MODULAR EFFECTS INSERTS

You can assign six insert effects in order, from top to bottom. The parameters for the

currently selected effect appear on the far left, and you can choose which effect you’re

editing with the buttons on the right. You can place effect inserts in any order you like,

which can be very creative.

Switch the effect block ON using the square switch.

Choose effects using the small menu icon.

Select the effect for editing by clicking on it’s name.

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There are 21 types of insert effect available:

CHORUS PHASER FLANGER DELAY SATURATION DISTORTION LOFI SKREAMER TWANG JUMP FILTER TAPE CABINET ROTATOR COMPRESSOR LIMITER EQUALISER STEREO REVERB TRANSIENT CONVOLUTION

Note: you cannot have the same type of effect in two different blocks; if you choose an effect that is already in another effect block, the two effects will simply swap positions.

All effect parameters can be automated, and all parameters are retained even if the effect

is not currently being used.

MAGIC DICE The dice icon at the top of the insert effect blocks

chooses a random set of effects.

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THE SPACE MODULE

The SPACE section on the right of the screen is a convolution reverb.

There are controls over the MIX level, the room SIZE, and High Pass and Low Pass filters

of the reverb. The Space processor can be switched ON or OFF using the square switch

in the top left.

EFFECT PRESETS

At the bottom of the effect panel, you can store effect presets separately from the

instrument itself. So if you create an effects setup that you like, select the name and

write your own name, then save the effect setup for use in other XBow instruments.

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SUPPORT There are some helpful videos and FAQ on the Soniccouture Support Page

If you have any problems or questions relating to the use of this product, please feel free

to contact us. You can email us at :

support@soniccouture.com

We will always endeavour to reply to any enquiry within 12 hours. We are based in the

UK, so please bear in mind differences in time zones.

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END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT PREFACE: This End-User License Agreement ("EULA") is a legal agreement between you and Soniccouture

LTD for the Soniccouture product accompanying this EULA, which includes computer software and may

include associated media, printed materials, and online or electronic documentation ("Software"). By

installing, copying, or using the software, you agree to be bound by the terms of this EULA. If you do not

agree to the terms of this EULA, you may not use the software.

The software is protected by copyright laws and international copyright treaties, as well as other intellectual

property laws and treaties. The software is licensed, not sold.

Soniccouture Ltd grants the Owner of a Soniccouture product the right to create finished musical works and

performances using the sounds and software that comprise the Soniccouture product.

The making of sample libraries in any form, commercial or otherwise, using Soniccouture audio or software

(be they single hits, loops, fully mixed audio clips, or scripts) is STRICTLY FORBIDDEN without express

written agreement of Soniccouture Ltd, and violations will be prosecuted to the full extent of international

and local copyright law.

The ownership of all title and copyrights in and to the Software (including but not limited to any images,

photographs, animations, video, audio, music, text, and "applets" incorporated into the Software ) is fully

asserted by Soniccouture Ltd.

The Owner may only install and use Soniccouture libraries and software on multiple computers strictly under

the following conditions: where multiple computers comprise part of a single composition workstation for a

composer; or where the Owner has two non-concurrent sites of work, for example a studio desktop and a

laptop for live performance.

The Owner may not transfer, modify, rent, lease, loan, resell, distribute, network, electronically transmit or

merge the Software.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: The software is provided "as is" and without warranty of any kind. The entire

risk arising out of the use or performance of the software and documentation remains with user. To the

maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Soniccouture further disclaims all warranties, either express or

implied, including, but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular

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profits, business interruption, loss of business information, or other pecuniary loss) arising out of this EULA

or the use of or inability to use the software, even if Soniccouture has been advised of the possibility of such

damages.

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