Review: Native Instruments Guitar Rig 2
Pages: 1, 2, 3, 4

The Virtual Guitar Studio

Figure 2. Guitar Rig comes with more than 1,700 presets, and it's easy to store your own as well. (Click to enlarge.)

The Guitar Rig 2 software is a hefty rig indeed. You get amplifier, speaker cabinet, and microphone modeling; multiple effects processors; and even a real-time looper to record your performance. Everything is editable, and you can save your edits to create custom banks. You get up to 14 banks of 128 presets each, for a whopping total of 1,792 unique guitar sounds (see Figure 2). That ought to be enough for any tone hog!

Right out of the box, you get beaucoup presets that show off what the rig can do, and users are encouraged to share their sounds online. Well-implemented search functions make it easy to locate just the sound you want. For instance, the keyword "weird" yielded six seriously warped patches.

To create a sound, you drag components from the left side of the interface to the virtual rack on the right. You aren't constrained to a particular effects order. And the designers thoughtfully included tools to run effects in parallel, cross-fade between them, or do just about anything your twisted little heart desires.

Figure 3. Routing effects in MOTU Digital Performer.

Naturally there's a tuner and a metronome, as well as two virtual tape decks for playing back prerecorded loops and overdubbing new tracks. I found these fun, but of limited use; a rudimentary audio sequencer would be far better. However, the looping tool is flat-out brilliant. I'll discuss it in a moment.

You can use the software on its own or as a plugin with your recording software; the VST, Direct X, RTAS, and Audio Units plugin formats are supported. Be sure to set up the host recording software to allow monitoring through the effects.

Note that some entry-level host programs don't let you monitor this way as you're recording. That means you can't hear how your guitar sounds until after it's been recorded. Yes, recording your guitar dry so you can add effects in the mix—called re-amping—is a time-honored recording technique. But it still helps to hear what you're doing.

One way to hear the effects is by placing the plugin in an aux track in front of an audio track (see Figure 3). Be careful though, as that will print (record) the effect.

Because the best way to describe the software is to show you how it works, I'll walk you through some examples. But first I want to talk about the Rig Kontrol 2.

Happy Little Feet

Guitar effects didn't get the name "stomp boxes" for nothing: we axe-slingers have heavy feet. So I'm happy to relate that the Rig Kontrol 2 foot pedal is designed for serious service. Housed in an attractive aluminum frame, it sports eight rugged switches and a sturdy rocker pedal. There's another switch under the pedal for tasks like turning off the wah. (See Figures 4 and 5.) Everything is customizable; your edits are stored with each preset. Alternately, you can assign some switches to global tasks such as stepping through presets and banks, engaging transport controls on the looper or tape-deck modules, and so on.

On the rear you'll find two independent Hi-Z inputs (handy for jamming with a pal), left/right stereo outs (balanced), a headphone out, two 1/4-inch ins for expression pedals, and the USB jack. Although the software features extensive MIDI control for automating effects and there are MIDI In and Out jacks on the Rig Kontrol, the pedal is not a MIDI controller. The pedal does send VST automation data, however, so you can record your moves into host programs that support that standard. Alternately, you can use any MIDI controller to overdub control-change data after the fact.

Figure 4. Computer mice make lousy stomp boxes, so NI thoughtfully included Rig Kontrol 2, a sturdy floor controller with a high-resolution USB audio interface.

Figure 5. The back panel of the Rig Kontrol 2 features balanced 1/4-inch inputs and outputs, a stereo headphone jack with volume knob, a USB 2.0 jack, MIDI I/O, and two additional pedal inputs. The button beside the output jacks is a high/low switch.