Guitar, computer, live (part 1: amplitube 3)

    To make friends with a guitar and a computer for playing on stage - what could be better?
    But, as it turned out, for this to work fine and give real advantages over guitar processors, you need to search through tons of information and play a little shaman, which I did.
    By the way, you need to spend so much money that would be enough for some Line6 HD500: you need a floor midi controller and a normal sound interface. Do not forget about the preamp with midi control, since digital amplifiers and signal distortors most often sound extremely bad. But this is a disaster for ordinary guitar processors. It is worth noting that having done all these actions, you understand that the game is worth the candle. And this is undoubtedly pleasing.

    In this article I want to talk first about the basic types of guitar software, and then switch to complex solutions and complete this whole thing with an overview of the goodies we can get by combining a guitar and a computer.

    Amplitube 3 - start


    Amplitube 3 is a program in the Beginner Series, although it is one of the strongest players in the guitar software market. Let's consider it in more detail.

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    So we see the window after starting the program. Everything looks quite simple and clear, but I will go through the main points in order to make up a general impression.

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    The program provides several modes of switching channels. Unfortunately, there can be only two ways out, but the likelihood that it will be needed more, as well as the likelihood of a resist with an impaleved, is extremely small.

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    As you can see, in the second position we have two lines that run in parallel. You can, like Tom Morello, throw a kwaku on one line, and a tremolo and a chorus on the second. Well, or something of their own.
    8 positions are enough for almost any fantasy and it is difficult to complain specifically about this aspect.

    Lotions


    Let's go further. In the program, you can switch between several modes: “Tuner”, “Floor”, “Amplifier”, “Cabinet” and “River”.

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    As we can see, in the "Paul" mode we have the opportunity to choose effects and put them one after another. In total, 10 “floor” effects can work simultaneously in sequential mode or 5 on each channel in parallel. I can’t say that this is not enough, but restrictions are always bad.

    The effects are divided into separate groups and include the usual guitar set: distortions, kwaki, tremolo, chorus, compressors, octave, delay and reverb. There is still a small step sequencer and all sorts of garbage on the little things. The set is quite self-sufficient for an ordinary guitarist.

    I want to note that I did not like the sound of distortions, even very much, but this is a subjective opinion, because I listened to bypassing the emulation of amplifiers and cabinets, releasing a signal to a tube Musicman. The amplifier is not “evil” at all, and my guitar is quite “soft” - Framus Diablo Pro. But many “mutalists,” especially from the young, praise this very program.

    Midi


    Evaluating the sound is generally ungrateful - therefore, I propose to go specifically to an overview of what this program can offer us in Live mode, in conjunction with the midi floor controller.

    The purpose of the controller itself is quite simple: right-click on the controller we need in the program, select "Assign midi" and after that we pull the floor controller.

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    That's all. The controller is assigned.

    Scene


    The mode of the list of songs that we are following is made fairly straightforward, but illogical.
    When saving a preset, we choose in which folder to save it. This folder is our list.

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    True, it’s strange that presets are arranged in alphabetical order and during preparation for the concert it is best to create a separate folder and rename the tracks in the desired order: “1_Polet_Shmelya”, “2_Let_eat_bee” and so on. Then the program will process everything as you need.

    Switching between presets, by the way, can be assigned to controllers in the global input midi control menu. It is quite convenient and obvious.

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    Also, in this menu you can assign a common controller for all wah, volum and so on effects, or assign buttons to turn on / off ordinary effects, based on their position on the "floor".

    conclusions


    In general, after all the settings, we get an ordinary pedal substitute: for each button, you can assign on / off several pedals, but only in toogle mode. Assigning to a separate controller only turning on or just turning off something is impossible, which creates certain inconveniences.

    Oh, I almost forgot about the “rack”. It expands the capabilities of the program a little: added more delays, equalizers, harmonizers and a few filters.

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    More cons?


    In addition to all of the above, the disadvantages are the inability to control via midi any external device. So, if you have a tube preamp (well, or not a tube preamp) with midi control, you cannot adequately use this program in its pure form.

    Amplitube 3 is limited only by the effects that it has, which, in principle, is the standard for this class of programs. Also, it seems to me that an attempt to wrap all effects in a wrapper of an “analog” appearance, even if it makes it easier to navigate the familiar pedals, but imposes some limitations and destroys almost all the advantages of computer sound.

    Personally, this program seemed to me too limited even in comparison with floor guitar processors, not to mention the leading DJ solutions.

    Afterword


    At first I wanted to make an overview of all the solutions in one post, but, looking at the volume of the description of even such simple software as Amplitube, I decided to split the article into several.

    In the next part, we will look at Guitar Rig and the nuances of working with it on stage, and then we will deal with serious software for live computer sound and solutions for the pros.

    Published the second part. And the third , for those who do not want to read about Guitar Rig.

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