Due to popular demand from users of our Acoustic Guitar Creation Kit (which contains a small set of chords), we have released a sample disc with an extensive library of the most popular guitar chords. Since you can't strum a MIDI device you need a different way to realistically create the sound of a strummed acoustic guitar. The SoundBrewer Acoustic Chords sample collection provides you with the samples necessary to create realistic acoustic guitar chord progressions. The chords are arranged to be easily played and programmed. There is one recording for the down strum and another for the up strum. They are mapped to different keys one octave apart. With this setup you can create your own strumming patterns, rhythms and chord progressions.
An acoustic guitar is a noisy instrument. Noise occurs naturally when you move your hand on the fret board or change chords. When using samples, this noise is usually missing giving the music created a sterile 'fake' sound. You notice when the noise is missing. The Acoustic Guitar Chords sample collection contains these naturally occurring noises (from C5-C6) to place in between chords to better mimic a live recording. These scrapes, and string noises help add to the realism of your acoustic guitar chord progression.
To create the Acoustic Guitar Chords sample collection we used two large diaphragm condenser microphones, and made nearly 300 stereo recordings. Both up strums and down strums were recorded for all chords. In addition, to capture the natural sustain and tone of the acoustic guitar, no loops are used. We left the original recordings just as they were. These recordings capture the natural decay of the acoustic guitar.
There are 12 different chords played and recorded in the first position.
They are:
R='root' note. Notes in [ ] are omitted in certain chords.
The GigaStudio version of the Acoustic Guitar Chords contains all of the different chords in one .gig file. The keys are then selectable by a keyswitch. A keyswitch allows you to quickly switch between various samples, dimensions, and articulations (in this case, different chords). The SoundFont version has the chords and fret noises in separate .sf2 files.
Demo Phrases
Click the links below to hear mp3 demos of these sounds. These demo mp3's were created using only samples from the Acoustic Guitar Chords sample collection.
