OK. Now this one is ridiculously exciting to talk about. If you are a guitar player (or bass player), this one is gonna blow your mind. Actually, if you are a mix engineer, then this is also something you probably will know about (as this is the talk of the town lately).
First let's start with this box above. Developed by Waves and the well-known guitar genius, Paul Reed Smith, this brilliant little box (we call it a "DI" in studio terminology) takes the guitar/bass signal, directly from your guitar, and lets you get this signal into your computer. Nothing new but this has always been a tough thing to make a box or system that would faithfully retain the quality and little "nuances" that make a guitar or bass signal very special. Okay, back to the idea.
Once the signal/direct sound from your instrument gets in the computer, you then have 2 options:
- You re-amp the signal before mixing down your recording. This means that you take this raw signal that has been recorded into your computer system and you send it back out of the computer and into any amplifier you like, then miking it up in front of a speaker cabinet and then basically letting you choose any amp and speaker cabinet combo that you want. This can be a great thing for a mix engineer if the artist has a crappy sound when he or she recorded the original track because the engineer is able to try completely new and different sounds with amps/speakers in his/her studio to get the best sonic "fit" to the rest of the music. This PRS/Waves box is a breakthrough in that it was developed to get the pure direct guitar/bass signal into your system with the highest quality. There are not many units that have been developed that come close to this thing.
- Take this direct signal into your computer and use a software plug-in to "simulate" an amplifier/speaker cabinet combination. This is where the biggest "breakthrough" comes!
Waves developed a software system called GTR3. It takes that direct signal and simulates or models guitar amplifiers and speaker cabinets and even effects pedals. Waves were not the first company to do so however they are the first company to do it right. They won the race! Not only does the thing look nice, it SOUNDS un-real. You have to hear this to believe it. As of writing this, I am working on my new/next Annihilator cd (will be the 13th studio record) and you will hear the clean sounds on the new record. In fact, you will probably hear the heavier, overdrive sounds also, as this will be devastatingly awesome for soloing too! For other projects I work on, I will use this for dirty rhythm guitars but since I am a dedicated Laboga amp fan, unless Waves adds a Laboga simulation/model, I am faithful! :
But seriously, this is a SICK and KILLER product that I know every mix engineer and guitar and bass player will DIE to have. I think Waves has a demo for this so check it out: http://www.waves.com/content.aspx?id=93
Their site will explain this better than I could but here are a few pics before you go see it! You literally drag and drop pedals into your custom pedal board. They actually sound BETTER than real pedals and the control you have over this system is so simple. You will be hearing killer guitar tones in literally minutes.
The only problem is, as I told Waves, I am having problems getting any writing done because I'm playing with this thing all the time! Hehe! HAVE FUN and thanks to PRS and WAVES for the brilliant products!!
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