Native Instruments brings the funk to Kontakt
updated 10:45 pm EST, Fri February 25, 2011
Scarbee Funk Guitarist adds rhythm guitar lines
Describing the software as a "virtual session guitarist" for funk, soul, disco and r&b music-making, Native Instruments today released Scarbee Funk Guitarist, a new Kontakt-based software instrument. Controlled via a MIDI keyboard, players can now easily combine grooves and chords in various combinations while retaining harmonic progressions and authentic-sounding funk phrasings. Even minor touches such as mutes and slides are intelligently added to promote a realism while keeping the creation and editing of funk sounds incredibly simple.
The new software instrument is a collaboration between studio guitarist Soren Reiff, scripting expert Nils Liberg and sampling specialist Thomas Scarbee, and incorporates over 3,000 chord phrasings and voicings at multiple velocities and articulations. In combination with the script-based engine, over 130,000 individual chord samplings are available for the Kontakt 4 sampler and the free Kontakt Player.
The instrument also includes a "groove editor," chord finder, automatic chord recognition (via MIDI) and integrated play-along bass. The software also features an effects section customized for rhythm guitar, which can be chained together (up to eight effects). Users can also rely on a wide selection of presets to help inspire or add to their existing compositions.
Scarbee Funk Guitarist is available on DVD or as a download directly from Native Instruments and costs $119. It requires an Intel Mac (Core Duo or better) running Mac OS X 10.5 or later with at least 2GB of RAM.
