Applied Acoustics Systems STRUM GS-2 (Mac)

Applied Acoustics Systems STRUM GS-2 is a nylon and steel acoustic and electric guitar VST (Virtual Studio Technology) plugin for macOS. GS-2 runs as an NKS, RTAS, AAX, STANDALONE, and VST plugin. STRUM GS-2 VST plugin can be used with all major digital audio workstations (DAW) including Live, Logic, Cubase, Pro Tools, and others.
  • Publisher: Applied Acoustics Systems
  • Product: STRUM GS-2
  • Version: 2.3.2
  • Format: VST, RTAS, AAX, NKS, STANDALONE, AU
  • Operating System: macOS
  • Bit depth: 32-bit & 64-bit

Applied Acoustics Systems STRUM GS-2 is a nylon and steel acoustic and electric guitar VST (Virtual Studio Technology) plugin for macOS. GS-2 runs as an NKS, RTAS, AAX, STANDALONE, AU, and VST plugin. STRUM GS-2 VST plugin can be used with all major digital audio workstations (DAW) including Live, Logic, Cubase, Pro Tools, and others.

If you like, you can download the Windows version of STRUM GS-2.

Sean Divine presents Strum GS-2’s three play modes: Keyboard, Guitar, and Loop.

With an enormous collection of acoustic and electric guitars, automatic chord recognition, sophisticated chord voicing, integrated strumming and picking action, MIDI riff library, amp, and effects, playing guitar on a keyboard has never been very easy.

From Clean to Crunch

GS-2’s expanded preset library contains six core soundbanks – two Acoustic (Acoustic and Experimental) and 4 Electric (Clean, Crunch, Distortion, and DI). At over 250 presets, you get many choices, although many are laced with excessive EQ and effects, which is frustrating.

There’s a clear character to both guitars but also a uniformity to GS-2’s sound that sets it aside from samples and therefore the real McCoy. We spent a while trying to counter this within the Edit page, and although we managed to make some rounder tones, sadly the uniformity couldn’t be dispelled. this is often more problematic for lead lines than chords or arpeggios, on the other hand, Strum GS-2 is, because the name suggests, all about the chords.

Lead guitar programming isn’t totally off the menu, though, as playing semitone or tone intervals can trigger hammer on and hammer off articulations, while legato playing keeps all notes on an equivalent string as far as possible (we counted a 27-note range on the low E string).

Further thereto, the Slide MIDI setting enables fret-to-fret slides via MIDI pitch bend, and therefore the Aftertouch Bend setting defines a selected finger-style bend amount (up to 2 semitones).

GS-2’s new effects do a reasonably good job, and therefore the Amplifier is OK for bright, fizzy tones; however, pairing GS-2’s Electric with a fanatical guitar amp sim gives far more convincing results. We also found that employing a longer keyboard made GS-2 that much easier to play.

GS-2 may be a much more capable instrument than its predecessors, with an improved palette of sounds and effects, and therefore the same excellent ability to translate the keyboard to the fretboard. If it’s truly convincing solo lead lines that you’re after, though, there are better options.

Final Thoughts on STRUM GS-2

I must admit, I’m one among those realism snobs. Whether it’s how close a software compressor involves a specific hardware unit after which it had been modeled, or if I could make someone think a sampled drum kit was the important deal, it’s the primary thing that involves my mind.

While the overall tone of Strum GS-2 won’t be tricking more critical ears, a minimum of the outside of the context of a dense mix, this instrument made me not care. that’s never the purpose as I see it.

It is still definitely useable during a track as a replacement for a true acoustic or guitar, but the important benefit lies within the doors this opened creatively and musically. Strum GS-2 is massively inspiring and has acted as a robust reminder to me what proportion more important that’s to making new music. increase this Strum GS-2’s extremely tweakable physical modeling engine and built-in effects, and you’ve got a beat one package for brand spanking new musical output for a few times.

No matter what instrument you play, Strum GS-2 will have something for you. it’s definitely worth giving it a try at the very least.

  • Post category:Plugins / VST [MAC]
  • Post last modified:June 30, 2020

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