Symphonic Guitars by ZAK Sound orchestral guitar synth plugin interface

Symphonic Guitars: Orchestral Guitar Sound Plugin by ZAK Sound

Rated 3.8/5 on Plugin Boutique (5 ratings)

Symphonic Guitars is a VST3 and AU instrument plugin from ZAK Sound that recreates orchestral sounds, including cello, viola, violin, flute and horn, using only guitars.

VST3AUWindowsmacOS64-bit

AVAILABLE ATPlugin Boutique

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01Overview

Symphonic Guitars is built around a simple idea: orchestral-style sounds made entirely from guitar recordings. ZAK Sound recorded acoustic and electric guitars using different playing techniques, shaping them into a set of string, wind and brass-style instruments. The plugin contains 50 instruments in total, including variations with effects, and is aimed at producers who want cinematic and inspirational textures with a guitar-based character.

Best for

Cinematic string pads
Orchestral-style melodies
Pizzicato plucked textures
Inspirational film scores
Guitar-based orchestral layers

Developer: ZAK Sound
Category: Synths
Store: Plugin Boutique

02Key features

What you get

50 orchestral-style instruments, including effected variations
Cello, viola, violin, flute and horn sounds from guitar
Long, staccato and pizzicato articulations
Eight categories, including a Special set
Recorded with four microphones, including XY condenser pairs
Available as VST3 and AU, 64-bit

03In depth

Orchestral Sounds Made From Guitar

The plugin covers five orchestral sources: cello, viola, violin, flute and horn. ZAK Sound created long notes, staccato (short notes) and pizzicato sounds depending on the instrument, so the set includes sustained pads, short articulations and plucked textures.

The library is organized into eight categories: Cellos (9 presets), Flute (4), Horn (4), Pizzicato (7), Special (5), Staccato (8), Viola (5) and Violin (8). The Special category and the effected versions give you options that go beyond straight imitation of the orchestral instruments.

How the Sounds Were Made

Most sounds were produced with violin bows and electronic bows. The position of the bow on the guitar determines which instrument you hear. For the violin tone, the bow was applied to the first two strings, while the cello tone came from the thicker sixth string.

ZAK Sound also tried pulling the strings while muting them to get a pizzicato character similar to violin or cello. All sounds were recorded with four microphones: two XY small-diaphragm condensers, one large-diaphragm condenser and one dynamic microphone.

04Specs

Will it run?

Formats, systems and requirements as listed by Plugin Boutique. Missing details are left out, not guessed.

Developer	ZAK Sound
Type	Plugin
Category	Synth
Formats	VST3, AU
Operating systems	Windows, macOS
Architecture	64-bit

05FAQ

Questions, answered

What is Symphonic Guitars?

Symphonic Guitars is an instrument plugin by ZAK Sound containing 50 orchestral-style sounds created only from guitars. It covers cello, viola, violin, flute and horn.

What formats and operating systems does Symphonic Guitars support?

It is available in VST3 and AU formats, is 64-bit, and runs on Windows 8, 10 and 11 (64-bit only) as well as macOS 10.11 to 12, with native Apple Silicon support. It is recommended to have 8GB of RAM and 1.35GB of free disk space.

How are the orchestral sounds created?

ZAK Sound used violin bows and electronic bows on the guitar, with the bow position determining the instrument. They also used pulling and muting techniques to create pizzicato-style sounds.