Start Playing with Virtual Guitarist SILK!

Before we look at things in more depth, let’s first explore how to play Virtual Guitarist SILK, as that may be all you need for now. The top half of the Virtual Guitarist SILK window is dedicated to the guitarist’s performance – in other words: what is played. Here, you’ll find two musical core aspects you can control: Phrasing and Notes. The Interactive Keyboard is split between a Phrase Range (left), Bass Notes (middle), and a Chord Range (right). The basic principle is simple:

• When you press keys from C4* upwards, Virtual Guitarist SILK will start playing a phrase with the chord determined by the notes you play. When you release the key(s), playback will stop.

• MIDI notes below C3 don’t represent musical keys but switches varying the phrasing of your player in real-time. This is a powerful way of making your performance interesting and dynamic.
• By turning up the Modulation wheel, you can morph from normal to shorter to dead notes – another powerful way of varying phrases.
• Play with the Pitch Wheel to control the playing intensity – very powerful to let the guitar follow the song’s arc.
• MIDI notes between C3 and B3 let you select the Bass Note to play along with the chord.

If you know these things and can switch presets, you know all you need to start producing with Virtual Guitarist SILK.

*C4 is one octave above middle C. The MIDI note number is 72. Some DAWs refer to it as C5.