Hi,
I’ve noticed that quite a few participants here in the forum use Ample Sound guitars. I use them alongside Orange Tree Samples, and although I think they sound amazing, I’ve often had trouble getting them to sync with the rhythm of other instruments, especially at variable tempos. Perhaps the following tip will save some of you a lot of work that I have done unnecessarily. Maybe it’s common knowledge for the sound engineers among you. In any case, as a novice, it would have been helpful for me to know this earlier.
Ample Guitar plugins simulate realistic guitar behavior, including the natural pick and attack delay that occurs when a real string is struck. To account for this they introduce a built-in latency, usually around 40–50 ms, to preserve realism (e.g. pick noise before the actual tone).
As a result, your guitar strums or pickings may sound slightly behind the grid, especially when working with tight MIDI timing.
The solution: Set a Track Delay of -40 to -50ms on the MIDI track in your DAW.
This causes MIDI notes to be triggered slightly earlier, so that the actual guitar sound aligns perfectly “on time” with the grid.
This is especially important for strumming and fingerpicking patterns.
You may adjust the value (e.g. -40ms to —50ms) by ear for best timing feel. It worked perfectly for me in my new song.
Orange Tree Sample guitars or Native Instrument guitars do not need this negative track delay.
