# Introducing Torch Electric Guitar



## tcollins (Jul 2, 2011)

A day late, but worth the wait!



I'll get a YouTube demo of features posted in the next few days.
In the meantime, check out the http://indiginus.com/files/Torch_User_Guide.pdf (User Guide).

Thank-you,
TC


----------



## wst3 (Jul 3, 2011)

congrats! Certainly don't want to apply any undue pressure, but I'd love to see/hear a demo or two... thinking this one will be a no-brainer type purchase though!


----------



## tcollins (Jul 3, 2011)

A detailed demo is coming, but in the meantime...

Here is a teaser I made a few weeks ago that shows a couple of quickly made sequences made using torch. In both cases, I played a track using StrumMaker (manually playing the down and upstrokes), added drums (Kontakt 4's Rock Kit), bass (from my own studio library), and added a Torch lead.
What you see on the GUI during this video reflects what is happening on the StrumMaker tracks, although the keyboard seems to be showing the lead track also. I am triggering downstrokes on the octave C1-B1 (cyan colored keys) and upstrokes on the red keys. The rhythm and lead tracks are on separate instances of Torch on separate midi channels in DP.
The effects you hear are part of Torch, not an external Plug-in. And yes, you can easily bypass these effects. Notice the position of the pickup switch on each sequence, and the dramatic difference in sound between them (of course, the effects settings are also different). We soldered a jack to each pickup and simultaneously recorded the outputs, so when the switch (5 position) is changed the sound of each pickup is discreet and the phase relationships between them are preserved. This gives you 5 (like a 3 pickup strat there are 2 'in between' selections) basic guitar sounds to choose from. 
Because of this, Torch is capable of producing a great variety of sounds, from rock to blues to funk.
Ours is a working studio, and Torch has been developed in a working environment where my clients pull no punches as far what sounds they like and especially what they don't! I'm proud to say that Torch has emerged victorious and helped me produce much more convincing guitar tracks. 


Best Regards,

T Collins
http://indiginus.com/index (indiginus)


----------



## dinerdog (Jul 3, 2011)

Great stuff, looking forward to more demos. I've always loved your acoustic guitar stuff and use them all the time. You make your instruments play in a very musical way. : >


----------



## Raindog (Jul 4, 2011)

Hi TC,
just to be sure how the strumming works. You have to use the strummaker, right?
With the strummaker you define certain keys which trigger a certain type of chord. Am I still right? How do you define the chord key, let´s say I want toplay a c major followed by a Bminor7? It would be great if yopu could clarify this for me, maybe I misunderstood the strummaker concept.
Thanks and best regards
Raindog

PS: Still love your acoustic guitar collection very much. One of the best especially when taking the low RAM use into account.


----------



## tcollins (Jul 4, 2011)

Raindog @ Mon Jul 04 said:


> Hi TC,
> just to be sure how the strumming works. You have to use the strummaker, right?
> With the strummaker you define certain keys which trigger a certain type of chord. Am I still right? How do you define the chord key, let´s say I want toplay a c major followed by a Bminor7? It would be great if yopu could clarify this for me, maybe I misunderstood the strummaker concept.
> Thanks and best regards
> ...



Thank-you for the kinds word, Raindog!
One of the biggest challenges with StrumMaker was keeping the GUI simple- especially when trying to do something as complex as choosing chords (and allowing user-created chords) for all 12 scale steps. Our solution was to use the keyboard (real or Kontakt's) to input the root note that will be used to trigger the chord, and the Variation knob to select the chord style. To do as you asked:





Just hit the root key and select the chord on the Variation knob. That's it.

Make sure that the orange StrumMaker button is on.

1. Choose the root note of the chord on the keyboard (in the octave C1-B1), in this case play a C1.
2. The Variation Knob (the big one in the lower center) will move to whatever chord variation is currently assigned to "C". Select "Major" on the Variation knob and you will see the root and chord displayed above the guitar neck. Now, whenever you hit a C1 (downstroke) or C2 (upstroke) you will hear a C major chord.
3 For B minor, hit a B1 on the keyboard, then select "Min" on the Variation knob.

Now, C always plays a C major and B always plays a B minor.

To create your own chord, just select "User" on the Variation knob and select the notes on the pull-down menus on the neck. There are 12 user locations, one for each scale note (C1-B1). Any chord can be assigned to any user location. On the video demo, I copied a D sus to the D# User location so I could switch between D maj and D sus live.

AGC's StrumMaker III operates the same way, although the variation knob appears different.

TC


----------



## Raindog (Jul 4, 2011)

Thanks very much for claryfying TC. Very good concept. To trigger mutes you will use low velocities I presume. Are palm stops also possible?
Best regards
Raindog


----------



## tcollins (Jul 5, 2011)

Raindog @ Tue Jul 05 said:


> Thanks very much for claryfying TC. Very good concept. To trigger mutes you will use low velocities I presume. Are palm stops also possible?
> Best regards
> Raindog



You're correct, mutes are triggered at low velocities (with the Mutes button on), both for normal playing and with the strum engine.
Both finger mutes and palm mutes are included in the sample pool, but the palm mutes are not yet referenced by the scripts. The finger mutes had a tighter, more aggressive sound with more harmonics, so they were used the mutes layer.

Or, are you referring to a palm mute that ends a sustaining chord, like a release sound?

TC


----------



## Raindog (Jul 6, 2011)

tcollins @ 6th July 2011 said:


> Raindog @ Tue Jul 05 said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks very much for claryfying TC. Very good concept. To trigger mutes you will use low velocities I presume. Are palm stops also possible?
> ...



Hi TC,
bought the library anyway as Ican´t resist your products. Very nice and intuitive like usual. I like it a lot.
I was indeed refering to the palm stops you use when you stop a chord with the palm for more agressive rhythms. Would be a "nice to have". Additionally some release sounds (if possible with the amount editable) would be on my wish list.
I like the concept of the switchable pickup. It changes the sound remarkably so that you don´t just buy ONE guitar but FIVE. Great feature.

Best regards
Raindog


----------



## tcollins (Jul 9, 2011)

Raindog @ Wed Jul 06 said:


> tcollins @ 6th July 2011 said:
> 
> 
> > Raindog @ Tue Jul 05 said:
> ...



I like the palm mute release sound idea, and I can include that on an update.
There actually are release sounds happening (turned down rather low because they were too obvious with compression and distortion), and I almost included a level control but I decided against it to keep the GUI simpler. I do think it's a good idea to have that control, though.
Thanks again for the kind words, Raindog, and your support.

TC


----------



## tcollins (Jul 11, 2011)

Well, here it is!
A very detailed look at the inner workings of Torch.
Thanks for checking it out!
TC


----------



## Raindog (Jul 11, 2011)

Hi TC,
great video, thank you. Any chance for providing a decent vibrato? Would this be possible via scripting as sampling vibratos seems very difficult to me and using an LFO rather unnatural.
Best regards
Raindog


----------



## Yossarian (Jul 12, 2011)

Raindog @ Tue Jul 12 said:


> Any chance for providing a decent vibrato? Would this be possible via scripting as sampling vibratos seems very difficult to me and using an LFO rather unnatural.



Have you tried Benjamin's (Dynamitec) script?

http://ksp.dynamitec.de/


/Yoss


----------



## Raindog (Jul 12, 2011)

Yossarian @ 12th July 2011 said:


> Raindog @ Tue Jul 12 said:
> 
> 
> > Any chance for providing a decent vibrato? Would this be possible via scripting as sampling vibratos seems very difficult to me and using an LFO rather unnatural.
> ...



Thanks for providing this link. I got Benjamin´s Vir2 library. If the script is the same then the vibrato should sound pretty good.
Rwegards
Raindog


----------



## Rob Elliott (Jul 13, 2011)

Yossarian @ Tue Jul 12 said:


> Raindog @ Tue Jul 12 said:
> 
> 
> > Any chance for providing a decent vibrato? Would this be possible via scripting as sampling vibratos seems very difficult to me and using an LFO rather unnatural.
> ...




Hey is this script just for the taking? If so - for us Kontakt- no -tweaky -folks - what do I do with this script (where to load in, etc...)


----------



## Yossarian (Jul 13, 2011)

Rob Elliott @ Wed Jul 13 said:


> Hey is this script just for the taking? If so - for us Kontakt- no -tweaky -folks - what do I do with this script (where to load in, etc...)



Benjamin is probably the one who should answer this but as I understand it it's free for personal use (there's a PayPal link at the website if you want to donate), a commercial license is 15 euro (that's for both the vibrato and tremolo scripts).

There's also a downloadable manual describing how to install and set up the scripts.

/Yoss


----------



## Rob Elliott (Jul 13, 2011)

Thanks Yoss.


----------



## tcollins (Jul 13, 2011)

Researching guitar vibrato now. In the past, I've always used a mod-wheel controlled LFO and not given it much thought. There is a unique quality to lead guitar vibrato, though, and I'll see what can be implemented for an update. The first thing that comes to mind is that the modulation must be additive, since there is no way to lower the pitch on a guitar apart from loosening the tuning keys! Also, the mod wheel should control the LFO rate as well as depth, so the vibrato can be slowed toward the end of the note.

I had considered an automated vibrato for Torch, to help those who don't have wheels on their controllers. If there is interest, it can be implemented soon.

TC


----------



## Dynamitec (Jul 14, 2011)

Hi guys,

I just saw that you mentioned UltraVibe. And I wanted to share this link with you: http://kontaktdevelopment.blogspot.com

You'll find the full source there, too! (And some other scripts as well)

Benjamin


----------



## Raindog (Jul 18, 2011)

tcollins @ 14th July 2011 said:


> Researching guitar vibrato now. In the past, I've always used a mod-wheel controlled LFO and not given it much thought. There is a unique quality to lead guitar vibrato, though, and I'll see what can be implemented for an update. The first thing that comes to mind is that the modulation must be additive, since there is no way to lower the pitch on a guitar apart from loosening the tuning keys! Also, the mod wheel should control the LFO rate as well as depth, so the vibrato can be slowed toward the end of the note.
> 
> I had considered an automated vibrato for Torch, to help those who don't have wheels on their controllers. If there is interest, it can be implemented soon.
> 
> TC



Hi TC,
do you think one could just add the vibrato script to your instrument or would this interfere with your scripts included in the torch guitar?
Regards
Raindog


----------



## tcollins (Jul 18, 2011)

Raindog @ Mon Jul 18 said:


> tcollins @ 14th July 2011 said:
> 
> 
> > Researching guitar vibrato now. In the past, I've always used a mod-wheel controlled LFO and not given it much thought. There is a unique quality to lead guitar vibrato, though, and I'll see what can be implemented for an update. The first thing that comes to mind is that the modulation must be additive, since there is no way to lower the pitch on a guitar apart from loosening the tuning keys! Also, the mod wheel should control the LFO rate as well as depth, so the vibrato can be slowed toward the end of the note.
> ...



It might work, since the Torch scripts do not deal with pitch mod at all. Any keyswitches in the vibrato script would probably need to be disabled, though.
It can't hurt anything to try. Just put the vib script in the 4th slot.
TC


----------



## Raindog (Jul 21, 2011)

Ok, I´ll give it a try
Thanks
Raindog


----------



## damstraversaz (Jul 28, 2011)

a very nice instrument, it sound really good in my opinion.Is it possible to use the sequencer midi out for another instrument ? ( via kontakt send midi to outside world, or directly as a script )

best,
damien


----------



## noiseboyuk (Jul 28, 2011)

I missed this first time round - fifty bucks?! Great price and the long youtube demo looks very good.


----------



## Rob Elliott (Jul 28, 2011)

noiseboyuk @ Thu Jul 28 said:


> I missed this first time round - fifty bucks?! Great price and the long youtube demo looks very good.




Yea - I was lucky as a project was calling for this sound.... and the price. Best $50 spent in quite some time. The vibrato is not my favorite but I understand an update is coming out.


----------

