Author: Roland UK Features Team

Due to constantly advancing digital technology, even the most die-hard tone masters enjoy the benefits of amp modeling products. Even famous artists now rely on the convenience and range of tones available from amp modeling while performing, practicing or writing. If you’re looking for a modeling amp, here are a few things to consider.

Hardware with Amp Modeling technology: The VG-99 Inspires

What Does Amp Modeling Actually Do?

The term modeling usually refers to emulating or recreating the sound of something digitally. Amp modeling is basically Digital Signal Processing (DSP) that emulates the sound of different amplifiers and speaker cabinets. Amp modeling isn’t exclusive to plug-ins, in fact, modeling started with hardware – the Roland VG-8 V-Guitar System. Today’s guitarists can find a host of guitar amplifiers, pedals and rack-mounted gear – all with the ability to model a variety of different amps.

VG-8 V-Guitar System

So, what are the main advantages of amp modeling? Broadly speaking, there are four areas: convenience, reliability, flexibility and cost. One amp modeling product can provide the sound of hundreds of amps, speaker and even microphone combinations; way more than you’re ever likely to be able to buy, store, maintain and transport.

The potential Behind Amp Modeling…

Tube Amp

Imagine being able to combine the tone of a hot Fender Twin with two different 4×12 cabinets for your lead sound and a stereo Roland JC-120 with a sweet reverb effect for a clean tone, just by dialling up a preset.

The other advantage is that amp modellers tend to work well in most scenarios. Tubes sound great, but remember they are a decades-old technology and come with limitations. They sound best when they are running hot and cranked up all the way. But hot tubes usually mean serious volume and vice versa! The tubes also need to be treated much more carefully and require time to warm up; also the tubes will need replacing from time to time by someone with the right equipment and knowledge. An amp modeller can imitate the coveted characteristics of a hot tube amp at very low volumes or even through headphones, meaning you can play for longer and at much more unsociable hours with a full-on tone.

Emulating an Amplifier’s Characteristics…

Thanks to the latest DSP technology, it’s now easy to emulate virtually an infinite range of amp and speaker combinations. Complex algorithms have been designed to give ultra-realistic responses that simulate the result you get from a mic’d-up cabinet in different size rooms, with adjustable mic positioning and amp character that responds naturally to the way you play your guitar. This provides the player with an almost limitless tonal canvas on which to experiment, potentially saving thousands of dollars and years of tweaking and experimenting. They sound exceptional, straight out of the box.

Most legendary tube amps are also famous for a particular sound or characteristic but amp modeling can build on these by being able to adjust parameters of the modelled amp beyond what the original can do. For example, you could have a much more adjustable EQ, more gain, less hum, an effects loop or different speaker configuration.

There are, however, different types of modeling algorithms, all of varying quality. Some provide a ‘snapshot’ of the tone that initially sounds great, but once you start tweaking, they become much less authentic. Other modeling systems such as Roland’s COSM system actually model different aspects of all the individual components that make up your modelled rig, as well as the associated effects that countless guitarists have come to love.

But remember, all this technology requires hardware that can handle the job. If you’re using software, make sure your computer can do the number crunching or you’ll get poor performance and even latency. Generally, purpose built hardware with dedicated DSP chips and algorithms will reward you with the best experience and tone. You can find this technology in our CUBE series amps and other hardware such as the VG-99 V-Guitar System, GT-100 Amp effects Processor, GR-55 Guitar Synthesizer and others.

Related links and articles:

• Play an Entire Live Set With Just the GT-100
• Digital Guitar Amp Roundtable
• The Arrival of The Digital Guitar Amp
• The VG-99 Inspires

A few weeks ago we gave Michael “Nomad” Ripoll a VG-99 guitar synthesizer to test drive and report. After a brief follow up we were surprised to learn that he’d been using the unit for his movie trailer projects. Michael says that within an hour of unboxing the unit he was committing to tape. Off camera, Michael explained that the unit has sparked his creativity, sped up his workflow and eliminated the need of extra musicians for his current studio projects. In these videos, both Michael and Joel Stevenett express how the VG-99 has inspired them musically.

For Roland, the VG-99 is a milestone in guitar modeling and performance technology. It has three powerful processors at its core, plus expressive performance controls such as the Ribbon Controller, a versatile new foot controller, and our standard D Beam sensors. We’ve sure come a long way from the VG-8, the world’s first guitar modeling processor. We weren’t sure how Michael would use this unit, we were pleased with what we saw and heard.

The VG-99 contains a vast array of COSM-modeled guitars and amplifiers ranging from acoustic to electric to the non-traditional. The on board dual process modeling also allows you to play two different guitar sounds simultaneously. For example, one virtual guitar could be a Telecaster® in a vintage Tweed amp with full effects and the other a nylon-string guitar with just a hint of reverb. One could easily see why Michael was so inspired with the unit, he was playing with a pallet of sounds he wasn’t accustomed to playing with a traditional guitar.

If the on board sounds isn’t what your looking for, the software editor is a dream for sound designers. The VG-99 can produce custom tunings — anything the player desires on any virtual guitar. A virtual Les Paul®, for example, could be tuned down four or five steps for a heavy sound, while a nylon string could be tuned as a 12-string, and also tuned down four or five steps at the same time. Open and drop tunings are also supported as well as user-defined custom tunings and can be applied to any COSM® guitar, so the player can switch instantly between tuning setups without physically switching guitars or having to manually retune.

Joni Mitchell who was named 72nd greatest guitarist of all time in 2003 by Rolling Stone magazine was also inspired by guitar synthesis with the original VG-8. She turned to the VG-8 with the help of her friend Fred Walecki after expressing her frustrations with alternate tunings. The following excerpt was taken from Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers’ article, “The Guitar Odyssey of Joni Mitchell: My Secret Place“:

The new influence at work is an electric guitar that Mitchell’s old friend Fred Walecki built for her to alleviate her ongoing frustrations with using alternate tunings – one of the reasons why she stopped touring in 1983 and was on the verge of quitting the stage permanently in the spring of ’95. Walecki, of Westwood Music in Los Angeles, designed the Stratocaster-style guitar to work with the Roland VG-8 – the Virtual Guitar – a very sophisticated processor capable of electronically creating her tunings. While the strings physically stay in standard tuning, the VG-8 tweaks the pickup signals so that they come out of the speakers in an altered tuning. This means that Mitchell can use one guitar on stage, with an offstage tech punching in the preprogrammed tuning for each song. 

“This new guitar that I’m working with eliminated a certain amount of problems that I had with the acoustic guitar,” Mitchell explained. “Problems isn’t even the right word; maddening frustrations is more accurate. The guitar is intended to be played in standard tuning; the neck is calibrated and everything. Twiddling it around isn’t good for the instrument, generally speaking. It’s not good for the neck; it unsettles the intonation. I have very good pitch, so if I’m never quite in tune, that’s frustrating.” Over the years, Mitchell has learned to slightly bend the strings to compensate for the intonation error, but that effort is still often defeated by the extreme slackness of her tunings. “In some of those tunings I’ve got an A on the bottom or a B-flat, and it’s banging against the string next to it and kicking the thing out of tune as I play, no matter how carefully I tweak it.” The VG-8 sidesteps all these problems: as long as the strings are accurately in standard tuning, she can play all over the neck in the virtual alternate tunings and sound in tune.

In every gig since the 1995 New Orleans Jazz Festival, Mitchell has used the VG-8, using its effects to build a guitar sound reminiscent of her Hejira era. But the VG-8 is having a much more far reaching impact on her music than just providing a workable stage setup. In composing and recording the songs for her next album, she’s thrown herself into a heady exploration of the VG-8′s sampled sounds. “Sonically, it’s very new,” she said of the tracks recorded so far. “I don’t know what you’d call it. It’s my impression, in a way, of ’40s music. Because I don’t like a lot of contemporary music – it’s just so formulated and artificial and false – I kind of cleared my ear and didn’t listen to anything for a while, and what emerged were these vague memories of ’40s and early ’50s sounds. Swinging brass – not Benny Goodman and not Glenn Miller but my own brand, pulled through Miles [Davis] and different harmonic stuff that I absorbed in the ’50s. Because this guitar has heavy-metal sounds in it and pretty good brass sounds, I’m mixing heavy-metal sounds with a brass section, so it’s a really strange hybrid kind of music. I’m a bit scared of it sometimes, you know. I don’t know what it is.”

Have you been musically inspired by our products? We want to know, please leave us a link to your site or video as we are always looking for great content to share with our readers. In the meantime, keep rockin’!

Related links and articles:

• Michael “Nomad” Ripoll Artist Page
• Bubby Lewis Explains the VB-99
• Steve Stevens Demos the G-5 Strat

Meet Michael “Nomad” Ripoll, our newest addition to the family. Michael is a music veteran with credits and experience that spans decades. As a professional guitarist, he has worked and played with many of the most respected artists in the music world. He remains committed to pushing the envelope and has broadened his career by seeking and securing opportunities in other facets of the industry such as operating as Musical Director for world renowned artists such as Kenny ‘Babyface’ Edmonds, composing for film & television, and teaching guitar.

Michael’s Website: iLikeNomad.com

Michael’s main instrument is the guitar and can play just about any incarnation; electric, acoustic, steel, nylon, 12-string, you name it, he can rock it! He is fluent in Pop, Rock, R&B, Flamenco, Latin, Country and pretty much any style that requires a guitar and even some that don’t with the help of guitar synths such as the VG-99 and GR-55, his pallet is endless.

Michael’s Credits

ARTIST COLLABORATION ROSTER

• American Idol
• Babyface
• Carrie Underwood
• The Pussy Cat Dolls
• Jennifer Hudson
• Leona Lewis
• Natalie Cole
• Randy Jackson
• Mary J. Blige
• Michael McDonald
• Stevie Wonder
• Trisha Yearwood
• Patti LaBelle
• Joss Stone
• Nick Lachey
• Travis Tritt
• Vanessa Williams
• Billy Ray Cyrus
• Brandy
• The Temptations
• Daniel Powter
• Donny Osmond
• Eric Benet
• India Arie
• KC & JoJo
• Michelle Williams (Destiny’s Child)
• Mya
• Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi)
• Robert Randolph (And The Family
• Band)
• Sam Moore (Sam & Dave)
• Take 6
• Jaci Velasquez
• Natalie Grant
• Ayo
• CeCe Winans
• Bo Bice
• Dave Koz
• George Huff (American Idol)
• John Stoddart
• Johnny Gill
• Jonathan Butler
• Josh Groban
• Barbara Wheathers (Atlantic Starr)
• Candy Dulfer
• Cliff Richards
• Michael W. Smith
• Kelly Price
• Boney James
• Toby Mac
• Avalon
• Kimberly Locke (American Idol)
• Kirk Whalum
• LaChelle Griffin (Oprah Winfrey)
• Nicholas Payton
• Norman Brown
• Pat Boone
• Peter White
• Plus One
• Rick Braun
• RJ Helton (American Idol)
• Trick Daddy
• Wayman Tisdale

MOTION PICTURE SCORE COMPOSITIONS & CONTRIBUTIONS

• KNIGHT AND DAY (Flamenco guitar)
• LORAX (electric guitar)
• HAPPY FEET I (Flamenco and electric guitar)
• HAPPY FEET II (electric guitar/bass)
• KUNGFU PANDA (Chinese mandolin – pipa)
• MR. & MRS SMITH (Flamenco and electric guitar)
• PS I LOVE YOU (acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin)
• LILO & STITCH (ukulele)
• THE GAME PLAN (guitar)
• LIZZIE MCGUIRE MOVIE (guitar)
• STOP LOSS (acoustic and electric guitar)
• CHICKEN LITTLE (electric guitar)
• PRINCE OF EGYPT (electric & acoustic guitar)
• CROSSOVER (composed song)

TELEVISION SCORE COMPOSITIONS

• AMERICAN IDOL
• THE TODAY SHOW
• DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES
• ABC WORLD NEWS
• LIPSTICK JUNGLE
• SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE
• TODDLERS AND TIARAS (TLC)
• CITIES OF THE UNDERWORLD (HISTORY CHANNEL)
• FUNNIEST PETS AND PEOPLE
• I DIDN’T KNOW I WAS PREGNANT (TLC)
• MAN MADE (DISCOVERY CHANNEL)
• MILLIONAIRE MATCHMAKER (BRAVO)
• PETER PERFECT
• PITBULLS AND PAROLEES
• RENOVATION NATION (HGTV)
• SECRET LIVES OF WOMAN (E!)
• TWINS BY SURPRISE
• UNFORGETTABLE WEDDING
• LOS NINOS EN SU CASA

ADVERTISING AND JINGLE CONTRIBUTIONS

• PENZOIL
• PRUDENTIAL
• DISNEY
• COCA-COLA

TELEVISION APPEARANCES

• AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS: LEONA LEWIS
• OPRAH: BABYFACE
• TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO: BO BICE/RICHIE SAMBORA
• THE VIEW: JENNIFER HUDSON, BABYFACE
• JIMMY KIMMEL: JENNIFER HUDSON, LEONA LEWIS
• MIKE AND JULIET SHOW: DONNY OSMOND
• CROSSROADS: TRISHA YEARWOOD/BABYFACE
• LATE LATE SHOW WITH CRAIG FERGUSON: AYO
• THE TODAY SHOW: PUSSYCAT DOLLS, DONNY OSMOND, JENNIFER HUDSON,
• BABYFACE
• GMA: JENNIFER HUDSON, BABYFACE, DONNY OSMOND, PUSSY CAT DOLLS
• REGIS AND KELLY: BABYFACE
• THE CBS EARLY SHOW: JENNIFER HUDSON, BABYFACE
• TYRA BANKS SHOW: JENNIFER HUDSON
• 106TH & PARK: JENNIFER HUDSON
• THE MEGAN MULLALLY SHOW: A MEMBER OF THE HOUSE BAND