It’s more than an understatement to say that all musicians and artists want to sound great. That’s why we practice endlessly for a few short moments of main stage bliss. That’s why we constantly search for and buy pieces of that elusive “holy grail” rig, only to quickly realize that once you make the jump from live sound to recording that the whole game changes! That’s why we eventually invest in decent home studio setups. All to reach the end result of pulling a couple of tracks together into a demo or album.

Maybe you recorded these tracks in the studio or maybe you record live songs from your gigs and cobbled together the best takes. Either way, as you listen to each consecutive track you realize that, while reasonably good individually, the tracks don’t seem to fit together. Some of the songs are too soft and some parts – but only parts mind you – of other songs are too loud. Too much treble here, too much bass there. Too brittle. Too airy. Needs sweetening. Needs warmth.

That, my friends, is the doorway to the wonderful world of mastering which is traditionally an entirely separate process from the recording process. It’s true that “garbage in equals garbage out” – meaning mastering can’t make bad tracks good or good tracks great. What adept mastering can do is add a professional edge to your overall mix, letting your listeners know that you are serious about your art.
It requires special tools to do mastering correctly, particularly in the digital realm. Enter IK Multimedia’s new T-RackS 3, software specifically and meticulously crafted for the purpose.

In some ways I really miss the old tape recorder days. I’m not talking about the expensive ones either – or even those vintage reel-to-reel monstrosities. I’m talking about the $14.95 specials and buying “Hi-Fi” cassette tapes by the six-pack. It’s true that you had to forget about little things like fidelity and lack of multi-tracking ability, but these recorders were easy and fast. You could sketch out a song in five minutes and then whip the tape out and hand it to someone.

The tape recorder is in stark contrast to the unbelievable power available to home studio musicians these days. I’m certainly a fan of “big boy” tools like Pro Tools, Tracktion, Cakewalk, Live, Sonar, Acid, Reason, etc., and I don’t want to take anything away from their amazing music rendering power. But you have to admit that there is a big learning curve with these applications. Even the easiest versions require, in computer time, eons to load and then you have to navigate numerous screens to get the output you want.

More recently, we’ve seen some strong entrants into the space between the tape recorder and the DAW. There have also been a number of lightweight applications for the PC that just didn’t quite make the cut for one reason or another. Apple’s Garageband was really the first to take the stage in this area and open people’s eyes to the creative power unleashed through powerful tools, modular design, and a simple interface.

As such, I was excited to receive a copy of Riffworks version 2 by Sonoma Wireworks. I also had a couple valid questions. My first question was, “What was this ‘riff’ based approach?” My second question was, “Can you actually make songs with this?” As I worked with Riffworks, my skepticism turned to appreciation. Read on to hear the details!

In a galaxy far far away the following conversation occurs…“O.K., Mr. Guitar Shop Guy…I’d like to have 14 pre-amps models, 14 rack mounted effects, oh and a powered rack to go with it, 7 different power amps, 16 cabinets and 6 mic models. Oh, and by the way don’t give me any of that crappy stuff. I need a great mix of modern and true vintage sounds. Hey…pay attention here…while you are back there, please throw in these 21 shiny new stomp boxes. It’d be great if these stomp boxes came with a magic pedal board so it doesn’t take me forever to unstuck ‘em and switch ‘em around. One last request…this all has to cost less than four bills and fit in THIS backpack because I’m broke and I don’t have room at my house.”

Just a few years ago this kind of conversation would have been science fiction. Two companies really changed the game relative to computer modeling of amps and effects, Line6 with their POD and IK Multimedia with Amplitube. Luckily for all of us, both of these companies have continued to innovate.

Last year, I reviewed AmpliTube Lite as part of my Mackie Tracktion 2 review, and I stated then that AmpliTube delivers, by far, the best emulation I’ve ever heard from a computer based amp and effects modeler. I am happy to report that IK Multimedia has released an updated version on AmpliTube (to version 2) and crammed a bunch of new features into an already amazing product. IK Multimedia has also expanded into variations on the AmpliTube theme with a slew of variations, such as Ampeg SVX, AmpliTube Live, and AmpliTube Jimi Hendrix.

In this review, we take a look at both the AmpliTube 2 for electric guitar and AmpegSVX for bass guitar.