How to set up and begin using external resources?

[craftygrass]

How would one go about getting started with using some of the “external resources” (currently “SFZ Samplebanks”, “Cabinets”, “Reverbs”, “Backing Tracks”, and “Tunings”)? I can see that MG3 lets me specify the folders I want to map to, but I’m at least a few steps back from that. I’ve got essentially no experience with using any of these resources like this, and want to learn how to do so.

So, for example, “Cabinets”. Are these the same as what I understand are IRs? The current audio interface I’m using (NUX Amp Academy), has a feature that allows me to use third party IRs in addition to the ones the device shipped with out of box. I’ve deduced that these IRs, physically, are .wav files that someone has prepared, and I have acquired a few of these from Chop Tones and the Neural Amp Modeler, which indeed seem to be usable in this context by both Amp Academy and NAM. So, should I be able to point MG3 to a folder with these same .wav files and expect to be able to use them in MG3?

For the other “external resources”, I know even less. What format does a “Reverb” take? I understand the concept of a reverb as a plugin, but plugins are handled separately here, so what exactly is a “Reverb”, why would I use that instead of a reverb plugin, and how would one go about acquiring the files that would live in the “Reverbs” folder?

Similarly, what is an “SFZ SampleBank”, and how is it that people come by these?

Are “Backing tracks” just arbitrary .mp3 or .wav files, or something else?

And finally for “Tunings”, are these intended for the retuning module in MG3, or do they have another purpose? How would one go about creating one?

Sorry for all the n00b questions here, but these are things I just don’t know, yet.

[LoFiLeiF]

I see these as easier access points to possible resources I otherwise might have to go look for. I use Cabinets and Reverbs similarly pointing to folders on my computer with different purpose IRs in them. Cabinet IRs for particular Instrument or Amps/Cabinets and Reverbs for the occasional Hall/space sound I want to use that is not a plugin.

I don’t have any SFZ files on my computer by you’ll find those easily enough on the Web.

Backing track can be a few different formats, but clicking of one of those in that directory folder opens it up in a Player, for you to use instead of having to go to any external app to play those files from.

For the Tunings category, you can view this as a workflow streamlining compared to first opening the Retuer and then opening and dragging a tuning file onto the Scl/Kbm window. Now, Clicking on the TUNINGS will open your tunings file folder directly and you just choose the tuning you want to use. It will still open in the Retuner module, but you skip a lot of unnecessary steps if you know what you are looking for.

Some tunings resources:
Sevish Scale workshop

Scale Workshop

Sevish tuning files

Sevish - Resources for Microtonal Music

Tune.js scale archive explanations
http://abbernie.github.io/tune/scales.html

Scala archive
Page
https://www.huygens-fokker.org/scala/downloads.html
Download:
https://www.huygens-fokker.org/docs/scales.zip

[craftygrass]

Thank you most kindly for that; I’ll see what I can do with it!

So if I’m understanding you correctly, that means that a “Reverb” is at least a slightly arbitrary word here; if MG3 is looking for the format of an IR capture, then technically any valid-format IR capture would “work”, and that would imply that “Reverbs” is more of a classification than anything else. Theoretically one could collect some IR captures of rooms, halls, acoustic guitar bodies, inside of a cajon, etc., and use those in the conceptual place where one might otherwise use a [theoretically heavier-weight] plugin…

Am I reading all that right?

[LoFiLeiF]

That is how I use it! MG3 isn’t really looking beyond what you tell it to look at, so I have the REVERB look into a folder with Rooms, Halls and stuff like that. Looks like this:

Choosing any one of these will give me that file in a REVERB module like this:

And I have CABINET IR look in a folder with Amp/Cabinet/Instruments “sounds”. Looks like this:

And clicking on any of these will give you that file in a Cabinet Module:

Works great for me to keep these different “kinds” or categories separate. But it is of course important to have some sort of file structure already, and don’t just choose your entire HD in directories.

[craftygrass]

Perfect, thank you for that. Lots of things to try out at my next sitting.