3 GO - TO VIRTUAL GUITAR AMPS
FOR GREAT SOUNDING GUITARS!
Just like the emulations of the moog synthesizers and the drum machines, we now also have excellent emulations of guitar
amps and processing. There is a rapidly growing market for making guitar amp emulations to help guitarists get bigger and
better sounds without the need for external processing. Over the years, these emulations have almost come at par with the
trusted analog hardware. These emulations really enable the guitarists to achieve the sounds of artists that they have looked
up to all their life. Here are 3 guitar amps that wide array of musicians use to achieve that big and brilliant sound.
Universal Audio UAD-
2 Guitar Amps
Universal Audio has really raised
the bar with respect to guitar
simulation amps. The whole set of
Universal Audio plugins brought
a huge change to home studio
recording. One of the highlights
of the UAD-2 guitar amps are that
these plugins have zero latency and
they sound amazing and organic.
The option of choosing microphones
can be really helpful and UAD-
2 plugins even have a choice
of valve, FET compressors and
dynamic microphones. This
can make a world of difference.
Knowing the microphones can
help a lot because it allows us to
simulate the exact tone and get
real high quality guitar sounds.
IK Multimedia Amplitube 4
IK Multimedia is a well- known
company for virtual instruments and
plugins. Amplitube is a pretty popular
sounding guitar amp simulator with
some pretty solid sounding presets.
Amplitube also offers looping ,
cabinet selection , mic selection
and placement so that you get the
exact tone that you are looking for.
Amplitube also has the option to
mix the individual mics separately
and later blend it in with the room
ambience to give it a polished sound.
One way to get a really good sound
through amplitube is using multiple
amps for the same sound so that the
disadvantages of the first amp can be
compensated by the other amp. The
first amp can have a lot of low and
mids to it and the second amp can
fill up the high mids. This way you
can get a round tone for your guitar.
Guitar Rig 5 Pro Native
Instruments
Guitar Rig, like many amp
simulations have been there for
many years now, with updates being
done regularly. Guitar Rig does not
have as many options as Amplitube
or other virtual guitar amps but up
for it with its effect racks. It covers
all the basic amps but it’s the effects
with which you can play around to
get brilliant sounds. This, in a way,
is very helpful because it saves a
lot of time trying to make your own
effects as Guitar Rig has so many in-
built effects which make life easier.
These effects sound professional to
the ear and they fit perfectly in the
mix without having any issues.
Conclusion
There are a lot of companies making virtual guitar amp simulations like Brainworx BX Rockrack Pro , Line 6 pod, Waves
GTR, Softube amp etc. These are also really good virtual ampsut from personal experience, UAD , Amplitube and Guitar Rig 5
Pro are my go-to plugins.
Author Vishal Ramakrishnan, Global Peace song of the year award winning and music producer. He
is also a music production trainer. For more details, visit www.vishaladitya.com
32
The
Score Magazine
highonscore.com