Impact Soundworks Shreddage 3 Hydra

The ultimate badass 8-string guitar for rock and metal music! Write crystal-clear clean tones, screaming leads, or brutal chugs with incredible realism. With two distinct pickups, 30,000+ samples, and over 50 included tone snapshots, Shreddage 3 Hydra is the most complete Shreddage guitar ever.

Content:

• 8 strings, low string drop-tuned to E
• Two pickup positions (neck+bridge)
• Over 40,000 pristine 24-bit samples
• Sustains, powerchords, palm mutes
• Staccatos, hammer-on/pull-off legato
• Harmonics, pinch harmonics, tapping
• Tremolo, slides, fingered vibrato
• Unpitched & pitched releases, FX
• Rakes, muted chokes, DI line noise

Features:

• Cutting edge virtual guitarist engine
• Beautiful, expanded UI for easier editing
• Easy tone and noise settings
• Multiple fret & string voicing algorithms
• New POLY INPUT feature for realistic chords
• New STRUMMING tab for custom rhythm parts
• CONSOLE: Modular rack & mixer w/ 30+ FX
• Includes TACT 2.0 for articulation mapping
• 55 production-ready CONSOLE tone snapshots

Library Overview

Shreddage 3 Hydra is the culmination of everything we at Impact Soundworks have learned in 10 years of creating virtual guitars. This is our vision of what a no-compromises, maximum-quality 8-string guitar should be. Our internal bar of quality was so high that we recorded the entire sample set three times in our pursuit of the perfect performances and tone.

Now it’s finally done, and you can enjoy the ultimate rock and metal virtual guitar in your music.
We selected an “Iron Label” RGIF8 drop-tuned to low E for our guitar, and equipped it with Fishman Fluence Tosin Abasi Signature pickups. These pickups put Shreddage 3 Hydra in its own class, even compared to our other instruments. They not only have distinct and useful tones (neck & bridge positions), but their clarity and low noise floor is unmatched. Some open-string sustain notes ring out for over 40 seconds!

Thanks to exhaustive sampling of all useful articulations, dynamics, RR variations, and layers, Hydra gives you all the tools you need to create absolutely incredible guitar tracks. With the right writing (see our ‘Masterclass’ series on YouTube, below) you can make rhythm parts, chords, and leads that will drop jaws with their sound and realism.

Naturally this is a killer guitar for rock and metal music, particularly heavy subgenres and progressive variations. But as you can hear in our walkthrough video and demos, the clean tone possibilities are just as impressive. The clarity and sustain in the pickups make Hydra a great choice for any kind of ‘gaze’ style music too.

Whatever style or genre of music you like to make, we know that Shreddage 3 Hydra will become an essential part of your production workflow. It certainly has for us!

Console: Modular FX Rack and Mixer

Console is our new mixer, modular effects rack, and pedal board, designed to give you full control over your virtual guitar tone. Unlike our previous FX racks, which were limited to a small amount of preset modules, Console gives you 30 effects modules to choose from!

These include multiple EQs (digital and analog-style), compressors, spatial FX, modulation FX, amps, distortion pedals, reverbs, and a selection of over 30 custom cabinet IRs recorded just for Shreddage 3! These cabs cover all the most important sounds you would want, with both dynamic & condenser mics in multiple positions plus a ribbon mic for certain models.

Using Console, you can easily save and load FX chains or presets between projects or even different Shreddage 3 products. It also allows you to mix and blend between guitar pickups, with custom inserts on each if you’d like.

Total Articulation Control Technology (TACT) 2.0
Shreddage 3 Legacy includes an updated version of TACT, allowing you to customize how all articulations are mapped and triggered! Everyone has their own preferences for how to perform or write for virtual guitar, and with TACT you can create the perfect setup for your DAW.