Impact Soundworks Strum Designer User's Manual

An Impact Soundworks Library Designed by Andrew Aversa & Dickie Chapin

OVERVIEW

Acoustic Revolutions: Strum Designer (formally: Acoustic Revolutions 3) is the definitive entry into our

series of rhythmic acoustic guitar loops. Where the first volume had a small set of stylized loops, and the
second volume expanded that into a broader set of "bread and butter" rhythms, this third entry features over
10x more content than the previous two libraries COMBINED. We've exhaustively sampled 48 unique
strummed rhythms in two tempos, six keys, twelve chord types, and multiple variations per rhythm. As a result,
you can use the performances in virtually any composition with minimal stretching or shifting needed!

This third volume also includes a brand new Kontakt instrument giving you many ways to perform, sequence,
and switch between rhythms and chords seamlessly. While all loops are also provided as WAV, this playable
instrument is an incredibly convenient way to musically control the huge bank of over 13,000 loops. Use chord
detection or keyswitches to set up new chords, adjust playback to sync with your host, trigger transitions like
chokes, falls, stops, and mutes, and even apply up to 6 FX from our modular analog/digital effects rack!

Strum Designer is our most versatile, inspirational acoustic guitar collection yet. Whether you're writing pop,
rock, country, underscore, or EDM, the samples here are sure to inspire your songwriting!

INSTALLATION

1. Install the Pulse application if you don’t already have it. Pulse is a cross-platform desktop app that lets you
download and install your libraries with blazing speed! You’ll need to create an account here, but once you do,
you can access your purchases from any developers using Pulse, anytime, from any computer.

https://pulsedownloader.com/

2. Once Pulse is installed, open it and enter your Strum Designer product code. Follow the instructions to
download and install the library.

3. Open Native Access, click “Add a Serial”, and input the same product code to activate the library.

4. Once activated, click “View Products Not Installed”. Find Strum Designer in this list. Click the “Add Library”
button to the right, and select the folder where Pulse downloaded the library. This completes the installation
process.

We’ll explore the Strum Designer GUI in detail, but first a quick tip! If you’re unsure of the functionality of a
control just hover over it and some handy help text appears at the bottom of the Kontakt window.

INSTRUMENT & GUI

The GUI can be visually divided into 3 major panels. Let’s go through them one at a time:

Info Panel

The top panel displays information about the current rhythmic pattern – its name, chord type and time
signature. Below that there’s a playback timeline that shows you where you are in the pattern in real time.

Each bar is divided by a vertical line and each beat is represented by a symbol that describes a performance
technique. A white circle represents an open strum, a closed white circle is a muted strum, and a small gray
circle is a rest. An “X” represents a choke or ‘dead note’. A symbol turns red during playback to show the
currently active beat.

On the right side of the Info panel there’s a selection of performance options.

The A and B buttons allow you to choose between 2 different round robin performances, or “takes,” of the
pattern. With the DBL button activated, both round robins will play back, panned left and right to create a
stereo doubling effect.

The orange dropdown selects how the note release influences the playback of the pattern. It delays the note
release by a certain amount (or ignores it altogether) to allow for smooth chord changes.

Finally, the Fret Noise button inserts realistic fret noise between chord changes and the knob determines their
volume.

Fret Mode Panel

The second and third panels contain the chord and rhythm selection controls, respectively. Think of these 2
panels as parts of a guitar – the left (Fret Mode) panel represents the neck and the right (Rhythm Mode) panel
is the body where the chords are strummed.

The Fret Mode panel features a dropdown to select from 3 primary chord selection, or “fretting” modes –
Intelligent, Auto Chord and Manual. As shown on the GUI, fretting always takes place within the 2 octaves of
keys from C1 – B2. The process of creating chords differs for each of the 3 modes so let’s go into detail here:

Intelligent Mode: With this mode selected our engine will detect and play back the chord you play within the
fretting key range described above. The image below shows the Kontakt keyboard mapping when in Intelligent
Mode.

Manual Mode: In this mode, chords are selected via 2 sets of keyswitches within the fretting range. The first
set (blue keys) determines the key and the second (red) selects one of 12 chord types. For example, pressing
C1 and F2 triggers a C Major 7chord. The image below shows the Kontakt keyboard mapping when in Manual
Mode.

Auto Chord Mode: This is a simplified mode that allows for diatonically correct chords. Select a key and
chord type from the dropdowns and use the single octave of blue keyswitches to fret chords that sound great
together. The image below shows the Kontakt keyboard mapping when in Auto Chord Mode.

Note that in ALL 3 modes you also have access to a set of single strums, chokes, slides, knocks and other
FX, mentioned earlier in this manual. You can find these samples mapped to the octave starting at C0,
represented by the pink and red keys. Sprinkle them into your performances to create intros, transitions,
endings and added realism!

Rhythm Mode Panel

The Rhythm Mode panel is where the rhythmic patterns are set up. Think of this as the body of the guitar
where the patterns are strummed.

As shown on the GUI these rhythmic patterns are mapped across the
keyboard via keyswitches between C3 and B6 (up to 48 rhythms accessible
at a time). The dropdown at the top of the panel lets you choose between
two Rhythm Modes – Full and Compact:

Full Mode: In this mode, an interactive table allows you to load up to 48
rhythmic patterns and maps them to the keyboard range described above,
each represented by a seafoam key. Selecting any loaded pattern turns its
key green. Use the buttons below the table to quickly filter by time
signature, or to load/unload all.

Compact Mode: This mode allows you to load up to 24 patterns, which get
mapped only to a 2 octave range between C3 and B4. Clicking a slot in the
table opens a browser where you can select and load any of the 48
available rhythmic patterns. Use the buttons below the table to filter by time
signature and use the up and down arrows in the browser to scroll. Hit OK
to make your selection.

Note that due to the extreme depth of sampling, loading a large number of patterns can dramatically increase
RAM usage, so we recommend only loading the ones you need.

FX RACK

Our easy-to-use FX rack features an analog-modeled parametric EQ, compressor, chorus, delay, convolution
reverb and limiter.

Clicking the * button next to each effect will randomize the FX settings; holding shift and clicking will reset all
knobs to normal.

Note that the convolution reverb can be CPU-intensive and may have performance issues on older systems.
If you are having trouble with clicks & pops, check buffer settings in your DAW, or considering disabling and
using an external reverb.

CREDITS

Instrument Concept & Design: Andrew Aversa & Dickie Chapin
Performed by: Patrick Windsor
Kontakt Scripting: Mario Krušelj & Nabeel Ansari
Editing: Anthony Mena & Christian Yoder
Art: Dickie Chapin (UI), Daniel Jimenez (logo)

TROUBLESHOOTING & FEEDBACK

Have you used Strum Designer in a project recently? Got an awesome track you'd like to share? Drop us a
line ([e-mail]) and we might post it on our website! Or, tell the world at our Facebook
page here: http://www.facebook.com/ImpactSoundworks

We encourage all our users to share and promote their work. Word of mouth is the #1 way people find our
samples, so it also helps us to produce more great libraries for you!

For any technical support issues regarding the library, don’t hesitate to email [e-mail].

COPYRIGHT & LICENSE AGREEMENT

The following license is granted non-exclusively to all purchasers of our products. This version (updated
December 4, 2017) supersedes any prior printed or digital versions of our license.

Overview

All sound recordings, performances, scripting and/or code contained in this product is the intellectual property
of Impact Soundworks unless otherwise noted, and remain the property of Impact Soundworks after the
product is purchased. When purchasing an Impact Soundworks product, you are purchasing a non-exclusive
license to use, edit, perform, or otherwise utilize these recordings, performances, scripting and/or code for
commercial and non-commercial purposes as defined below.

Authorized Users

Depending on the type of customer and usage scenario, authorized users of this license will vary. ALL
purchases fall into category A or B.

A. Individual Purchase

This license is extended to customers who are purchasing as the primary user of the product, OR are
purchasing on the behalf of another primary user (i.e. as a gift).

The licensee (primary user) MAY install the product on as many computer systems as he or she has
access to. However, ONLY the licensee may use the product. No other users are authorized.

B. Corporate, Academic, Institutional Purchase

This license is extended to customers who are purchasing for a multi-user setting, such as a shared

studio, networked workstation, computer lab, etc. In this case, the licensee is the institution and not

any one user.

In contrast with individual purchases, an institutional license applies to ONE computer / workstation. All
users of that workstation who belong to the purchasing institution (licensee) shall be considered
authorized users.

However, at no point may multiple authorized users access one license simultaneously. Multiple

licenses must be purchased if the product is to be used by multiple users simultaneously.

Scope of License

The licensee is entitled to the use and unlimited editing of the product within the scope of music production,
performance, recording, and composition. This includes both non-commercial and commercial usage of all
types, including, but not limited to, film scores, television scores, music libraries, video game soundtracks,
digital and physical music releases, albums, compilations, etc. Exceptions to this scope are listed below.
The licensee MAY NOT use the product in the production of any other sample library or virtual instrument
products.

The licensee MAY NOT sell individual sounds from a product in any context.

For clarity: The licensee MAY use sounds from the product to create individual sound effects (SFX) for use in
film, TV, advertising, and video games. However, the licensee cannot sell these sounds individually via
marketplace, stock music/stock audio site, etc.

Ownership, Resale, and Transfer

Redistributing, reselling, electronically transmitting, uploading, sharing, or renting the product in any way,
shape, or form is prohibited by law. The licensee may create a physical backup copy of any digitally purchased
and downloaded product. This backup copy is subject to the same limitations as the original copy of the
product, and may not be transferred to any other individual for any reason.

Copyright © 2022 Impact Soundworks, LLC. All Rights Reserved.