Wavesfactory Strum Guitar review

We take a look at this new Kontakt Instrument in our Wavesfactory Strum Guitar review. Stuck for a sessions guitarist? Then look no further, Wavesfactory has you covered with Strum Guitar.

Wavesfactory Strum Guitar review in brief

I was given the chance to review this plugin and wanted to see what all the fuss was about from the guys at Wavesfactory. My only experience of Wavesfactory is their dynamic EQ and space making plugin Wavesfactory Trackspacer which I use on pretty much every track I have.

The reason for that, quite simply it is a brilliant plugin. That being an effects plugin, I wanted to take a look at what other options they offered so when the chance to review one of their Kontakt instruments came along, I couldn’t say no – and I’m glad I didn’t!

Installation of a Kontakt Instrument

Technically speaking this is not a VST plugin in its true form, but a Kontakt Instrument. This means that you will need either the full version of Native Instruments Kontakt included in the NI Komplete 13 bundle, or the free Kontakt Player in order to use the plugin. Once you have that though, you’ll be ready to go.

Essentially it is a case of moving the download bundle from your purchase to a location on your system, then pointing to the NKI file from within the Kontakt plugin and loading it from there.

Probably not the simplest task for newbies to Kontakt, but when doing this Wavesfactory Strum Guitar review I always make sure to read the manual. The documentation is excellent and covers the installation process in full.

First Impressions of Strum Guitar

What I really like about Kontakt Instruments of any kind is just how simple the interfaces can be and how everything is where it should be.

This makes using the product similar to previous products as there is a standard which Kontakt Instruments have to meet. So it is easy to find various settings such as presets, tuning settings and volume.

We also have the ability to make routing signals as simple or as complicated as we want it to be. When the instrument gets loaded, sounds can be made using a midi keyboard straight away and this allows us to get playing instantly. But if you want to get clever with routing it is possible to do so.

Plenty of Choice

Once our Strum Guitar session is loaded, we’ve got some options of what version of NKI to load too. There is a choice of notes or chords.

The naming there is quite descriptive, but this gives the option of playing one string at a time (notes) or by playing a chord at a time of each midi note hit.

The latter I found really useful when used to sketch out ideas and chord sequences. Previously I would have used Scaler 2 to sketch our chord sequences however Strum Guitar gives me another option when it comes to creativity and ideas.

There are 4 guitar types on the main interface:

• Electric Guitar
• Acoustic Guitar
• 12 String Guitar
• Classical Guitar

Selecting the required sounds is simply a case of clicking on the guitar you want to use. It is possible to select one at a time, or up to all 4 at once if you so wish.

I think these choices allow plenty of variety when it comes to using on specific genres. Using in addition with other plugins will only extend the possibilities too.

Built in to my DAW (Bitwig Studio) there is the Amp utility and this ramps up the creativity styles which are possible when using this plugin.

I was able to test this out with Amp plugin and managed to get some really hard rock sounds, some blues type sounds and also some creative echo wah wah effects in just a few clicks.

Final Thoughts?

While doing this Wavesfactory Strum Guitar review I can certainly say this Kontakt Instrument is definitely one of the better Kontakt Instruments I have used.

It has a simple interface, but the sound quality is excellent and some thought has gone in to what it can offer.

An ideal use for strumming out ideas if you don’t have your guitar to hand. Next on the agenda is to see how it performs when replicating a real guitar piece. Until then, happy strumming!