The "signature sound" that is the hallmark of any superstar band
usually comes from using a particular guitar amplifier. AC/DC's Angus
Young uses four Marshall stacks, the Beatles used VOX AC-30s and blues
guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughn was famous for tweaking a studio full of
Fender amps before recording an album. Now anyone with an iRig
connector, the AmpliTube app and an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad and a guitar can create their own signature sound at a fraction of the cost of the original hardware.
What is the iRig?
The iRig is a thumb-sized adapter that plugs these devices together, along with headphones
or external speakers. The AmpliTube app (guitar amplifier and effects
simulator software) gives you the digital equivalent of many thousands
of dollars worth of the same sort of classic big name guitar amplifiers,
microphones and effect pedals used by the rock stars, without needing a
truck and a team of roadies to haul it around for you.
For our test we purchased the full version of the Amplitude
version 2 for $23.99 from the iTunes store and installed it on an iPad.
Although amp and effect simulators have been available on computers and
in pro audio software for years, this is the first time we have seen so
many quality sounds for portable device. The makers of AmpliTube 2 claim
the new app has improved sound by adapting DSP (digital signal
processing) technology derived from flagship desktop computer software
AmpliTube 3 and T-RackS 3.
This full featured version of AmpliTube includes five amplifiers
with virtual dials to shape the tone, reverb, and gain as well as five
speaker cabinets, two microphones and the following effect pedals:
Delay, fuzz, distortion, overdrive, wah, envelope filter, chorus,
flanger, phaser, compressor, graphic EQ, parametric EQ, reverb, limiter,
octave and a noise filter.
Wired for sound?
You can interchange up to four effects at once and store them
with custom names in one of the 36 preset configurations. The makers of
AmpliTube, IK Multimedia, have indicated that more (virtual) amps and
effects will be available in the future.
Visually and aurally the five amps reflect the clean reverb and
tremolo tones of Fender, the crunch sound of a Vox, lead sounds of
Marshall as well as a heavy metal guitar and bass rig. The slick
interface is easy to navigate and these classic amps and pedals look
very much like their 'real' but unbranded cousins.
AmpliTube has recently announced a Fender Amplifier app version
(soon to be released in Australia) of the software which includes the
following amplifier and effect simulators: '65 Deluxe ReverbTM, the
Super-SonicTM, the '65 Twin ReverbTM, the '59 BassmanTM LTD and the Pro
JuniorTM, Tape Delay, Compressor, the Fender BlenderTM, FenderTM Phaser,
Overdrive and Noise Filter. Its available for iPhone and iPad costs
$14.99.
We achieved more realistic interpretation of classic guitar
sounds by combining these amps with multiple speaker options (1 x 12", 2
x 12", 4 x 10", or 15") as well as the choice of two virtual
microphones that change the tone of the sound.
You can listen to the iRig with headphones or plug it into a
guitar amplifier, mixing desk or powered monitor speakers. It's a very
quick way of emulating an array of guitar sounds that cover blues, rock,
metal, funk and experimental.
Same but different
"Real" guitar amplifiers are made of solid state and/or tube
(valve) electronics technology. The sound or tone between the two can
vary greatly, as can the dynamics. Tube amplifiers are popular for their
unique tonal qualities of "breaking up". This means you can strum a
chord gently and get a soft undistorted sound or hit the strings hard to
get a loud distorted or overdriven sound. Take a listen the our demo
recordings below to decide for yourself how well the Amplitude app
simulates a real amp's sounds and effects.
Software emulation of amplifier and guitar effects has come a
long way. The apps sounds are so realistic you even get the hum and
feedback that comes with distorted guitar effects and overdriven
amplifiers, however there is a "Noise filter" and "no feedback" option
to mute this.
We found that a big amplifier stack sounds realistic through a
set of headphones. Looking for that elusive Hendrix tone? Try the lead
amp with a large speaker cabinet, add a wah and fuzz pedal. Going for
that country/rock sound? Try the tremolo, with some gain on the vintage
tube amplifier. (See audio examples below)
Hang on? How can I swipe my iPad to control the wah pedal when I
need two hands to play the guitar? You could try using your toes.
Unfortunately there are currently no remote or external control pedals
to control this setup with your feet so an auto wah is the best option
in this case.
If you're keen to jam along with your favorite band, you can
import up to 50 songs from iTunes as backing tracks directly from the
iPod library on your device or your computer using file sharing or
Wi-Fi. Learning those tricky guitar solos and chord progressions is
easier with the ability to set loop points and slow down or speed up
tracks (50-200%) without changing the pitch. Other handy tools include a
chromatic guitar tuner and metronome.
Benefits of buying digital
The real strength of this portable setup on an iPad is the
ability to easily adjust the knobs on the all the amps, effects and
tools. By swapping the order of effects around and saving presets you
can quickly experiment with a wide range of sounds and save them as
presets for later use. Another handy feature is the ability to
synchronise delay and flanger effects to the tempo or BPM (beats per
minute) of the song you are playing.
AmpliTube version 2 comes with a recording and production studio
built-in. This includes a single track recorder with re-amping
capabilities. This will allow you to record and export your recordings
and mixes as high quality audio files.
It is possible to expand the recording capabilities to enable a
multi-track recorder with eight tracks and a master FX section with five
effects (Reverb, Chorus, Delay, Compressor & Parametric EQ). This
comes at an additional $17.99 as an in-app purchase.
Only one question remains, what would Jimi Hendrix do with one of these?
The
AmpliTube iRig adaptor costs $16.76 availavle at zeromartz.com .
EXAMPLES:
We recorded three different styles of guitar music with the iRig and ampliTube as an example of the different sounds available.
