Guitar Noize - guitar news, crazy guitar designs and cool guitar videos

Check out the following press release I just received:

IK Multimedia is proud to announce that AmpliTube 3, a massive upgrade of the leading guitar and bass tone gear-modeling software, is now shipping! AmpliTube 3 raises the industry standard of sound variety, realism and creative power - with over 160 precisely modeled pieces of vintage and modern gear available in one package - it is the ultimate gear tone collection for players, producers and engineers.

More Gear, More Feel, More Power, More Tone. AmpliTube 3 gives you More!

More Gear. In fact, twice as much gear!
-    Over 160 gear models included (with nearly 100 added models), more than double the amount of other packages, from the most sought-after vintage collections to modern-day workhorses
-    51 Stompbox effects, 31 Amps, 46 Cabinets, 15 Studio Mics and 17 Rack effects
-    30 brand new models for the most complete anthology of gear, ever
-    70 re-worked and superior sounding models from packages like AmpliTube Metal™ and AmpliTube Jimi Hendrix™
-    A new collection of bass gear models also makes it the most complete package for recording and performance of bass by the engineer or musician
-    Can be directly expanded with packages like AmpliTube Fender™, Ampeg® SVX™ and future packages
-    New preset management and keyword system allows you to organize and quickly recall the massive library of included and custom preset tones

More Feel. Nothing even comes close.
-    New cabinet module inside now provides double miking per cabinet, with freely movable microphones thanks to IK’s VRM™ (Volumetric Response Modeling) technology, giving you a level of control and sound accuracy never experienced before in software
-    All models in AmpliTube 3 have been ultra-accurately “remastered” with our new 3rd generation modeling technology (the same found in AmpliTube Fender™), using IK’s exclusive DSM™ technology (Dynamic Saturation Modeling), then painstakingly compared with the originals in “A/B” style to ensure that the sound you hear from the software is the same sound you’ll be hearing from the gear.
-    New impulse-based reverbs are now used in the entire chain, from spring reverb to room ambience, which ensures the most realistic possible representation of your recording environment
-    New rotary speaker module sets the new standard for accurate emulation of these types of cabinets – until now, there had never been such a great sounding rotary cabinet in software

More Power. Unleash more creative power.
-    New creative Effects: featuring the new Step Filter, Step Slicer, TapDelay, Rezo and Swell stomp and rack effects that allow you to sculpt your sound and create inspiring rhythmic patterns or amazing drone and pad-like effects
-    New full-stereo path allows you to use the huge collection of analog and digital effects on your vocal tracks, keyboards and drums
-    New Drag & Drop functions in the stomp and rack modules make experimenting with effects’ combinations a breeze
-    New “MIDI Learn” feature allows you to assign any software control or parameter to an external controller with a simple click on the parameter’s knob
-    New, integrated 4-track recorder/player allows you to capture and layer your ideas quickly and easily - right at the moment of inspiration!

More Tone. Every Sound You Can Imagine.
AmpliTube 3 is the voice for your soul. With the largest collection of ultra-accurately modeled gear, creative effects and flexible routing features, you’ll never run out of sonic possibilities. Every sound you’ve heard before, and even new ones you haven’t dreamed of yet…find them here in AmpliTube 3.

Pricing and Availability:
AmpliTube 3 is now shipping as VST, RTAS and Audio Unit plug-in formats, and also as stand-alone software for Mac OSX® and Windows®, currently available in the following versions and MSRP prices*:

• AmpliTube 3 $349.99/€269.99
• AmpliTube 3 Crossgrade $269.99/€199.99 (available to any IK registered user)
• AmpliTube 3 Upgrade $199.99/€149.99 (available to all previous AmpliTube 2, AmpliTube Metal, AmpliTube Jimi Hendrix™, AmpliTube Fender™ or Ampeg® SVX™ registered users)
• AmpliTube 3 Pedal   $399.99/€299.99 (AmpliTube 3 bundled with StealthPedal™ USB/MIDI controller and audio interface)

These products are already available in the IK Online Store, and through our network of dealers and distributors worldwide.

* All prices excluding taxes.

For more information on AmpliTube 3, please visit:
http://www.amplitube.com

Everytime I post a video on YouTube at least one person will ask me what I am using to record with so I figured guitarists are having trouble sourcing this info and thought I would try and help out. Here is my simple and very basic guide to recording with amp modelling software on your computer. There are many many resources for home recording on the internet so if there is something in this post that you don’t quite understand do a google search and check out a few sites and forums. I have embedded an example above where I used an Ibanez JS1000, a Tapco link.FireWireNative audio interface Native Instruments Guitar Rig 4 and Abelton Live.

The most important part of the recording process when going direct to computer is the signal conversion, the signal from your guitar lead needs to be converted into something your computer understands, this is called AD/DA conversion (analog to digital, digital to analog) and for this you will need an audio interface. Now there are loads of interfaces on the market and it will depend on your budget which one you choose but you can either get a USB or FireWire version depending on your preference and computer capabilities. I have a Tapco link.FireWire interface which connects to my Mac which is great and not too pricey, it has 2 inputs which you can switch between instrument and line level (Eg. Guitar or microphone), headphone monitor level and external monitor outputs. When the interface is connected I can select it as my input and/or output audio device which means your interface is taking care if all audio processing which frees up your computer’s CPU for other tasks such as amp modelling and recording. If you don’t use and interface you will get what is called Latency where the computer’s processor is trying to do a million things while processing your guitar which means you hear the sound later than when you pick the note, maybe half a second maybe even a second. Latency makes playing frustrating and recording in time impossible!

Check out Tapco’s Link.USB and Link.FireWire, IK Multimedia’s StealthPlug, Native Instruments Guitar Rig Session and Kontrol and Mobile and Line 6 Guitar Port. These are just a few of the many interfaces available but Native Instruments, IK Multimedia and Line6 are all great options for guitarists.

The next thing you will need is the amp modelling software itself, there are quite a few available these days but I recommend you check out Native Instruments Guitar Rig 4, Waves GTR3 and IK Multimedia’s Amplitube. All of these programs can be used as standalone or as a VST plugin for DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) software, I personally use Abelton Live and all of these programs open with a double click of the mouse giving me access to a myriad of amps, effects, speaker cabinet and microphone options. Using an amp modeller as a plug-in means you can record exactly what you are hearing through your headphones/monitor speakers including effects, mic variations etc. and if you are not happy with the results you can just change your amp, effects cabinet to whatever combination you prefer even after recording. The reason you can do this is that the signal is actually recorded dry from your guitar and processed on playback in realtime, this is why it is so important for the audio interface to take over all the hard work. It also means you can duplicate a track in your DAW and set it up with a completely different rig to add more depth to your recording without any extra tracking.

If you don’t have any software to record with you might want to check out Reaper for PC or Garageband for Mac as a starting point but many interfaces come bundled with recording software. If you happen to have Pro Tools your selection of Audio Interfaces may be a little more limited and expensive as apparently there are only certain brands that are compatible.

If you have any questions just send me an email and either myself or Paul will get back to you as soon as possible.

I have used a few software amp modelling applications before but I had never tried Native Instruments’ Guitar Rig even though I used to use one of their Synth modelling programs years ago called Generator. When I saw that Native Instruments was about to release the 4th version of their amp modelling application I was keen to finally try it out for myself.

I have been running Guitar Rig as a VST plug-in for Ableton Live 7 by the way which was a seamless installation. The first thing that went through my mind is how nice the user interface is for Guitar Rig. There is a collapsable browser where you can select Presets, or individual amps, effects, modifiers and of course cabinets and mics. The amp models are pretty amazing based around classic amps such as the Plex, the wonderfully rich Hot Plex, Lead 800, one of my favourites the Jump, of course the AC Box, the Citrus, classic amps like the Tweed Delight and Twang Reverb and then there is a high gain modern amp called the Ultrasonic. Thats a lot to take in and the best way is to start playing around with the Presets and see what is available and possible with a little bit of dragging, dropping and tweaking. You can even adjust the sag, tube bias, the voltage and the power supply (50hz/60hz). I’ve personally never seen this level of control before amp modelling software, very impressive.

When you add an amp to the rack you get a matched cabinet by default with 2 mic’ing possibilitiesa and the ability to blend the 2, however there is also a cabinets and mics module that you can use to customise your setup further. With this module you can add cabinets, mic and mic position as well as distance and individual eq and pan controls. However there is another option which is new to Guitar Rig 4 and is a very cool feature called the Control Room module which “features 5 classic cabinets picked up by 6-8 legendary microphones, each perfectly in phase! They have been painstakingly positioned by studio legend Peter Weihe, delivering pure ear candy and endless facets of sound for you to mix.” and you can mix these mics however you like for that particular amp with the Control Room faders and pan controls.

There is just about every conceivable effects units at your fingertips from classic boost, overdrive and distortion pedals to modulation, time-based and freaky filter effects. There is also 2 modules which are very important called the Split and Crossover modules.

The Split Module allows you to create parallel (instead of serial) effects chains which means you can process the split the sound and process it with different effects and then mix the results back together at the end. Serial, parallel, and mixed serial/parallel combinations offer a practically limitless range of possibilities for combining effects, for a truly original sound. The Split Module can be inserted anywhere in the rack.

This device is similar to the Split Module - it splits the signal path into two. However, in this case, you can set a dividing line (“crossover point”) in the frequency response, and send lower frequencies to one split and higher frequencies to the other split. With the Split Module you can, for examle, create rich effect chains that only affect the high frequencies and mix with a more solid natural foundation of the sound.

These are both very powerful features and make using multiple amp setups really easy.

I have the Guitar Rig Kontrol edition which also includes the Bradshaw-esque looking foot controller which also doubles as a high quality audio interface and preamp called Rig Kontrol 3. This compact controller includes powerful software which allows you to assign the switches and expression pedal to any parameter in your rig. I could list all the features but I would simply be regurgitating the website so have a quick browse of this page which explains the controller in detail.

I think if you watch the videos above in high quality mode you will hear just how outstanding this software is, I was not really expecting Guitar Rig to be anything particularly new but I have found the amp models inspiring and reactive just like a real JCM800 or AC30 would be. As a recording tool this software is almost essential, as a live tool I think it would hold up pretty well especially with the solid Rig Kontrol 3 unit. I’m still too old fashioned to move away from a tube amp for a live situation but it certainly is tempting with such an amazing array of amps and effects available at the stomp of a switch!

If you follow Guitar Noize you will know that I am quite a big fan of amp modelling software for recording purposes it is a cheap and extremely versatile method for creating a great studio quality sound. When I saw the specs for IK Multimedia’s Amplitube Fender® a while back I was intrigued that this version of Amplitube would be restricted to only Fender® amps and wondered if it would be limiting so with the recently updated version 1.1 which sees a trio of new stomps (Compressor, Wah and Tremelo) and a new Rack Unit based upon the Fender® ’63 Reverb Tank I decided to put it to the test.

The first thing you realise when you start Amplitube Fender® is just how many great amps Fender® have made over the years and how expensive it would be to own such a collection of classics. A vintage reissue of the ‘59 Bassman LTD alone will set you back $1400 as would a reissue version of the ‘65 Twin Reverb® and that is just 2 of the 12 amps. Obviously the cool thing about Amplitube is that you can mix and match speaker cabinets and microphones too so you are not limited to using the Vibro-King Custom with its matching 3x10” Open Back cabinet, maybe instead you could use the Vibratone 1x10” Rotary Speaker for Leslie style effects. There are also 9 different microphones to use with the cabinets that can be placed near or far and either on or off-axis as well as adding ambience to fatten up the sound.

There are now 9 stomp effects as well as 7 rack effects, a couple of these are duplicated such as the reverb, tape echo and tremelo but the difference is in whether the effect is placed before the amp or in the virtual effects loop depending on what sounds you are trying to achieve.

I don’t personally own a Fender® amp but I have played a few and I have to say that IK Multimedia have really captured those chiming Fender® clean tones incredibly close to the originals. Many of the amps can create a great blues to blues rock tone when used in conjunction with the Fuzz Wah. If you want pre-amp overdrive then the Supersonic has plenty with its 2 gain knobs and for an all out Metal assualt machine check out the MH-500 Metalhead™ a solid state high gain amplifier.

Amplitube is incredibly intuitive and simple to use but it does have extra features for those who like to experiment with the technical side, it has 5 individual components, with Tuner, Stomp pedal board, Amp Head, Cabinet + Mic, and Rack effects on 2 separate guitar rigs with 8 different series/parallel configurations. I haven’t delved to deep into this but I found it easy to run two amps in parallel to create some very unique sounds. It also means you can use 2 sets of 4 stomps on the same amp. You can easily see the wiring configurations by clicking on the numbered setups.

I have one issue with Amplitube Fender®, when I was recording the video demo in Ableton Live I switched amps and effects a lot but none of this information was saved so when I played back my hours of recording it was set to the last amp I had selected. I have used another software modelling amp which took care of this no problem so I didn’t have to record on separate tracks each with its own amp setup. I did notice some automation possibilities but it was per amp and looked like you had to manual set up the midi mapping. I have no idea how complicated it would be to add a feature like this, but to be able to switch say between amp A and amp B and record that change into Live would be a very useful addition especially if you are trying to reduce CPU load of the extra plugin instances.

If you like Fender® amps then you will love Amplitube Fender®, it is incredibly simple to dial in a great sound on all of these amp models and with the added stomps and rack effects there are many tonal possibilities. You are getting 10’s of thousands of dollars worth of amps, cabinets and mics for a mere $229.99 which is a bargain. I’m not sure how it would compare in a live setting as I haven’t tried, but you would have to spend a lot of money on studio time and a good engineer to get a recording close to this quality.

Check out IK Multimedia’s site for more information on Amplitube Fender® and the rest of the Amplitube series including their Interfaces and Controllers

How could I resist checking out the software application Capo when I saw that it was made by a company called SuperMegaUltraGroovy? Well believe it or not this application popped up as an ad in my Twitter reader Tweetie on my Mac and it is probably the only ad I have clicked on this year. Now if you are a PC user than you might as well browse another part of my site right now as you are out of luck and I’m sure there is an equivalent (if not a little ugly) application for your needs. Capo however is like all good Mac applications, simple and clean interface that does one thing well. Capo allows you to open a track that you would like to learn and using the built in looping and marker tools lets you listen to sections of the track at 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 1x and 1.5x speeds. You can use keyboard shortcuts to mark verses, choruses, bridges, and other important points in your songs so you can return to them later. Capo also lets you adjust the pitch of songs so you can change their key or fine tune them to match your guitar. There is a video of Capo in action on the website, check it out here.

Capo is currently available at an introductory price of $39.

I’ve never had much luck with Software Amp modelling software in the past due to the fact that my main computer, my Macbook Pro generates so much noise and the CPU seems to crap out a lot. I also feel that it seems a waste when I have such an amazing sounding Class A Tube amp but as I found tube amps are not easy to record when you live in a small house with a newborn baby, the only real option is an expensive Speaker simulator or isolation cabinet which I can’t justify laying out the cash for. So when I was sent a copy of Waves GTR Solo, which by the way you can download and use for a full year free of charge, I thought I would give my wife’s new iMac a try instead, Bingo! I’ve finally had a chance to understand what everyone has been raving about.

I want to show the possibilities with the Clean amp so I loaded up a couple of BluesJamTracks.com tracks into Abelton Live. I chose the Total Blues BB King Shuffle and Stevie Ray Vaughan tracks and have tried to emulate their tone using my Ibanez JS1000. For the BB King track I boosted the Clean amp with the overdrive stomp pedal just using the volume and used the neck pickup. Check the video for the amp settings. For the Stevie Ray Vaughan style track I actually used all three pickup selections throughout but had the Split coil selector activated as well as the hi-pass filter on my guitar to get that SRV single coil sound and used the Overdrive stomp pedal to boost the gain and the volume up to 10 like Stevie used to do with his TS-808. I reckon I got pretty close to both and in my opinion you really can’t tell that you are listening to an amp created with software. The video didn’t upload to YouTube as well as I’d hoped, I tried to do a High Quality version but it seems it had other ideas so the settings for the Cabinet on the BB King track was a 12inchOpenBack and a Dyn409_onAxis mic and the Stevie Ray track was a 12inchClosedBack with a Dyn421_OnAxis mic.

I apologise for the video quality, I’ll make sure I get hold of a lamp to shed a bit more light on me for the next one and try and work out how to upload High Quality.

Aside from the clean amp there is a Drive Amp with 3 voicings, Edgy, Drive and Overdrive and a HighGain amp with 4 different voicings Crunch, Shredder, PRS Scorch and PRS Crush (Paul Reed Smith helped create and test the amp models using his favourite amps, check out “The making of GTR3” in the Waves GTR videos section). I will try and do a video using these 2 amps too soon, I’ve already managed to create some great distorted guitars using a combination of these amps and the Distortion and Compresser/Gate stomp boxes.

I’m looking forward to trying just the cabinet simulator with the line out from my Black Pearl too!