UJAM have announced a complete overhaul of their pop Virtual Guitarist ‘SPARKLE’ adding MIDI drag and drop, extended onboard FX, and more. Here’s the details…
Whilst the interface may appear similar, under the hood SPARKLE 2 has been totally revamped making it a completely separate entity from its predecessor, with many more opportunities for realism, flexibility and creative processing techniques all within the plugin interface. The entire sample set is filled with entirely new recordings to match the additional flexibility and realism programmed into the new version of the plugin. It’s an entirely new guitarist ... which means existing users can use it in conjunction with the first SPARKLE! This lets you hard pan one left and the other right, giving you true stereo guitar parts without any phasing issues. If there’s a preset you love from the original, there’s no reason not to combine both versions of the virtual guitarist to beef up your songs even more.
60s grit, 70s disco, 80s glam, 90s brit pop, 00s indie, contemporary electronic pop, you name it — SPARKLE 2 contains over 30 styles and 350 phrases, offering endless possibilities for guitar rhythms spanning many different genres — and all of these are totally different from the ones in the original version. UJAM have also expanded the harmonic capabilities by including an Open Chords feature, allowing users to get a wider variety of sounds than were ever possible with SPARKLE’s first iteration. If you enjoy using a lot of guitar in your songs, this will allow you to get even more mileage out of it!
MIDI Drag & Drop
UJAM recognised the limitations of pre-made guitar phrases and decided it was time for a change; now MIDI for any guitar phrase can be dragged right into your DAW and the rhythm and phrasing modified to your preference. This type of feature offers endless flexibility allowing users to easily build on the extensive library of existing patterns and riffs so you never have to start from scratch.
UJAM’s Instrument mode also made its way into SPARKLE 2, allowing you to design completely realistic guitar parts from the ground up. While the Player mode uses premade MIDI phrases to allow you to instantly create guitar parts you love (which can be easily manipulated, of course), Instrument mode “unlocks” the virtual guitarist and allows you to play everything note by note, complete with open, half-muted and fully muted notes, along with stops, dead notes and more. Every articulation included in SPARKLE 2 is accessible through this mode, giving you absolute control over the timbre and contours of everything you play.
This is achieved with a much more flexible approach than the clunky keyswitch model employed by many other guitar VSTs, as you can actually play in each articulation without even changing chords. Once you feel how flexible this is in action, you’ll love playing in realistic guitar parts on the fly as you gain complete control over your guitar performances.
Shaping Your Guitar Sound
SPARKLE’s extensive suite of onboard effects has been updated to include 30 different stomp box combinations (pre-amplifier, meaning the amp and “speaker” will dynamically react the signal as you make changes to the core sound) and 60 multi-FX chains in the upgraded Finisher section.
In SPARKLE 2, you’ll find presets that let you bridge genres in an instant, whether you’re looking for something clean and polished, grungy, even indie rock. With a few tweaks of the Amp and Character settings, you can completely change the behaviour of this guitarist to match the needs of your song. When you’ve covered all your bases but there still isn’t enough oomph, use the Drive knob to push the signal that last little bit and heat things up to the temperature you’re looking for.
Pricing
UJAM SPARKLE 2 works with Windows 10 or later and macOS 10.15 or later (runs natively on Apple Silicon 64bit only) in VST2, VST3, AU2, and AAX formats. It is available at an introductory price of $99 until 30th October 2022 (normally $149). Existing SPARKLE users can upgrade for $49 during the introductory period. A free trial is also available.