When discussing guitar modeling software, it usually comes down to how well the included amps sound, but there’s much more to the applications than just amps and cabinets. While the process of re-amping the guitar signal gives guitar players a variety of options when it comes to shaping the tone of the guitar, we don’t have to use the amps. Each of the guitar modeling applications comes with a wide range of virtual effects too.
In fact, an application like Guitar Rig 3 has over 40 effects that can be used to shape the tone of a guitar track that has already been recorded. So if you don’t think you had enough Chorus on the track you can go in after the fact and add the effect without the need to re-record.
Adding an effect to a guitar track is really simple. First load the Guitar Rig plug-in into the track of your favorite music recording program. Normally at this stage you would choose the amp you want to play through, but we are going to skip that this time and move on to the effects.
If you click the “Components” button on the Guitar Rig interface you will find tabs with Modulation, EQ, Volume, and other tools. If you click on the “Rev” tab, you will see several Reverb and Echo effects. Double-clicking on an effect will automatically load it into the panel on the right hand side and make it active.
Before you add too many effects, set the parameters on each one as you go―if you keep adding effects the sound will be too muddy to get a clear sound when you try to adjust the settings.
You can see in the included screenshot that I inserted a Chorus, Studio Reverb, and Delay, in that order. Taking my own advice, I added an effect and adjusted the parameters for each one as I went. I would also turn off each effect to make sure the others were sounding the way I expected.
Each effect also has presets included that you can use, but for the most part if you are used to adjusting parameters on an analog pedal, adjusting the dials on the virtual effects is the same thing.
If you do want to use the built-in presets, just choose one from the drop down menu and the parameters will automatically change. The names of the presets give you a good idea of the sound you will get. For instance, presets on the Chorus effect include “Jazz Chorus,” “Slow n’ Wide,” and “Warm Pitch Mod.”
I have included two sound clips I recorded with an acoustic guitar. The first one is a dry unprocessed clip with just the guitar; the second clip includes the effects you see in the screenshot.
Dry, unprocessed guitar tone
Guitar Rig effects tone
One of the great things about working with effects in this manner is that they are easy to add and configure. Don’t worry about making mistakes; nothing is permanent―you can always go in and turn them off and your original track is still there.