Shreddage Guitar VSTs - Worth picking up?

Mutant1988

So I've made a lot of use of the Sessions Starburst Deluxe and recently also acquired the Sessions Mint Guitar.

But I'm starting to feel I've reached the limits on what I can achieve with those, in terms of low octave/deep sounds, as featured in a lot of Heavy Metal/Industrial Metal music.

So right now I'm looking at VSTs from other vendors and found the Shreddage series by Impact Soundworks.

I'm particularly interested in the "Shreddage 3 Hydra".

Anyone here have any experience using that or any other Shreddage VST, or any other Impact Soundworks tools for that matter? I'm especially curious to know how intuitive it is to work with, especially while using only Maschine 2 (My friend is nagging me to try a new DAW, but I'm not ready to move on just yet).

Also curious to know if there's any limitations imposed while using Kontakt Player instead of the full version.

And just generally, I'd like to know others experiences on Impact Soundworks as vendor, in terms of customer support/update support, etc.

Brad Yost

Shreddage is a monster of flexibility but presents a massive learning curve. However, recent updates in the 3.5 engine have cleaned up the TACT interface so it is less confusing. And I've had a couple interactions with ISW techs and their response has been excellent.

Definitely my favorite lead guitar VI so far, and I've tried all of the majors out there.

Can't say about K player... don't use it.

Mutant1988

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/69367#Comment_69367

Does it feature note mapped articulations like the Sessions instruments (ie, notes below the playable octaves swap between open, muted, flageolet, tremolo - Or patterns, if you pick that mode in Sessions)? Because my usage of Sessions has primarily been using it's melody instrument with alternating articulation, effect notes and velocity settings (+ Various amps configurations).

I'm curious how well it integrates into the Maschine 2 UI (I'm well aware that most people use more advanced DAWs however and use Maschine as a plugin in those), because that's the only DAW I've really used.

I'd assume that most controls would be accessible in Maschines macro interface, however awkward and awful that is to do automation in.

As for Kontakt, it's listed as a requirement, but as I've not had any limitations with any other Kontakt instrument with the player version, I'll just assume there won't be any with this one either.

Putting my questions more simply, I'm basically a complete amateur.

Is there anything in particular I should be aware of in terms of difficulties in using it?

Brad Yost

@Mutant1988

Shreddage has no patterns in it like the Sessions instruments... you are free (required) to play note by note (which I prefer). There is a strumming engine built in tho, but you have to play your own chords.

The FX (console) section has all of the built-in algorithms that are standard in Kontakt (this may be where player has some limitations, don't know for sure) like reverb, delay, chorus, compression, amp sims, etc. However, I mostly cut it clean and apply Guitar Rig 5/6 because I get more control. There are many presets for tone & toys.

I used to have a Maschine controller but got rid of it and now do everything with a master controller keyboard directly into a DAW. I use Nuendo, Cubase 12Pro, an older version of Pro Tools, but most of my work and larger scoring templates are in Cakewalk by Bandlab [formerly SONAR; absolutely FREE since 2018] (only because I have been a beta tester since '92 on that platform, and am just really fast with it). Any DAW that gets along with Kontakt should work, however, my personal experience with Maschine seems that it would be a frustrating controller for this particular GUI.

The multitude of articulations are velocity and/or keyswitchable and can be modified to your workflow.

Shreddage 3 Stratus FREE is a place to start, tho it is limited to 12 frets and fewer articulations.

I reiterate: IT HAS A MASSIVE LEARNING CURVE, so be patient with it. It took me nearly 2 months of almost constant practice to get it to sound like I wanted, and I was an actual guitarist for 42 years before arthritis.

Check out the masterclass YouTube series for a really indepth walkthrough:

Shreddage 3 Masterclass Episode 1, 2, 3, 4.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ftT76wb9NQ

Mutant1988

Thank you. You've been extremely helpful.