Introduction

I've been writing and recording music on some level for over 25 years, starting out with a Fostex X-15 4 track cassette recorder which shaped my predilection for portable recording systems – something that can be taken into the field in addition to finding use in a home studio. At some point, I realized that recording vocal tracks in an automobile worked well as a vocal booth substitute, since you have a small space and sound-absorbing upholstery to create tight dry recordings, and really who hasn't sung in their car at one time or another? I could go on... When I first worked with an iPad, I realized it was the perfect device to create a mobile music studio and have since been exploring apps for that purpose.

Also, once upon a time, I had a Fender® Twin Reverb tube amp from the 70's that totally kicked. It had a very clean and warm tone at high volumes and – when using either its own distortion or a distortion pedal – it produced wonderful overdriven fuzz, harmonics and sustaining feedback. I loved that amp.

So when I saw that IK Multimedia, makers of the iRig line of products and other software such as SampleTank, AmpliTube, VocaLive & GrooveMaker had developed a Fender branded version of their AmpliTube guitar sound modeling software, I was eager to try it out.

Sound modeling for guitar has become popular on desktop & laptop computers, it's being built in to amplifier hardware (eg. Line 6 and Marshall), and is now available on mobile devices. In the 1980's the Rockman (created by Tom Scholz of the rock band Boston) was an expensive little box, worn on the belt like a Walkman with headphones and a guitar jack that allowed a guitarist to play electrified music anywhere with effects & amplifier modeling. Twenty years later, apps like AmpliTube with an iRig guitar interface adapter affordably place this capability into any iOS user's reach. 

AmpliTube Features

AmpliTube comes in several versions, each customized with layouts for either iPhone or iPad: there's the original flagship product, another version endorsed by Rock'n'Roll guitarist Slash and the Fender version. You need an input device such as the iRig guitar interface adapter to bring sound in to the app. To start using AmpliTube you create a guitar setup by choosing a virtual amplifier, speaker cabinet, microphone model, and guitar effects pedals. You can tweak the settings on your amp and effects, while choosing a different mic or cabinet further refines your sound. If you like the sound you designed, you can save all of these settings in "presets" to be called up at a later time. You can obtain additional gear (other amps, effects etc.) through in-app purchase. Rounding out the primary features is a recorder that can capture up to eight tracks for song-writing. Additional tools include a guitar tuner and a metronome.

Fender® Features

The Fender® version was developed in partnership with Fender, and comes with Fender branded amps, cabinets & effects. You get the '65 Twin Reverb, Supersonic, Pro Junior, '59 Bassman and '65 Deluxe Reverb amps & cabinets. Interestingly, you can use the head of one amp with the cabinet of another, (ie. a Twin Reverb head with a Bassman cabinet) which is something you can't do in real life since they're all-in-one combo units (with the exception of the Supersonic series), unless you're handy with some tools. Additionally, each modeled amp has features specific to it, such as reverb, tremolo, multiple gains, presence(!).

You also get several Fender branded effects: Noise Filter, Fender Blender, Overdrive, Tape Echo, Phaser and Compressor - up to 4 of these can be used simultaneously in a preset. And you can choose between a dynamic or compressor microphone to capture your rig's sound.

Playing Around

As noted above, I was interested in hearing how the Twin Reverb sounded. I used my Gibson SG Robot to give it a whirl, looking to see what sort of clean tone I could get. The first thing I noticed was that with the guitar's volume all the way up I was overdriving the amp, so I reduced my pickup output to around 4 on both the bridge and neck. This yielded a clean sound with full bass, strong mid-tone and crisp high. While there is a "bright" setting for this amp, I found I didn't need it - the sound was clean, there was drive behind it. You have the option to turn off the amp, giving you the opportunity to compare the straight sound of the guitar signal along side the modeled amp sound, and there is clearly a difference. I liked the tone of the Deluxe Reverb for similar reasons, it has a fuller mid and low profile, even with fewer tone control knobs.

In playing with the other amps, I found I also liked the Bassman. Apparently that amp was developed for the electric bass in the late '50's, and guitar players found the tone to be clean and full when they played through it. The Bassman included in this set handles tone and signal quite nicely. I found the Pro Junior and Supersonic amps to be a bit overdriven, a little scratchy and with not as much tonal range as the other three. This isn't bad since sounds all have their niche  (I got a sound from the Pro Junior similar to the opening guitar on "Misty Mountain Hop" from the Led Zeppelin IV album). The Supersonic has three volume related knobs, Gain 1, Gain 2 and Volume (master), which allow it to get pretty crunchy without any added effects. The reverb and tremolo effects worked convincingly where they were implemented.

Playing with the effects pedals, I realized how significantly one of them, Blender, affected the amp sound. On Fender Blender there are four control knobs (Volume, Blend, Sustain, Tone) and two switches (On/Off & Tone Boost). When the Blender is on, Volume defines the amount of pre-gain overdrive being supplied and the Blend knob allows you to mix the driven sound with the clean sound, so you can retain clean & overdriven tones simultaneously. Sustain acts as a kind of compression for the overdriven volume allowing notes to ring longer, and Tone heightens and dampens the brightness and mid-tones. The result is different from a purely distorted overdrive pedal effect, and I think gives one of the more realistic profiles I heard in the app when applied to the Twin Reverb and Deluxe Reverb amps. The Phaser effect is interesting in that it seems to produce almost wah & chorus like sounds at certain settings, a bit more enhanced than just a phase shifter. The Distortion, Compressor and Noise Filter pedals are pretty straight-forward, with few settings or knobs. The while reducing hum & buzz, the Noise Filter does appreciably reduce a rig's brightness.

You can load a backing song (the preferred format is MP3) from your iPod library, send one to your device by WIFI or transfer by iTunes FileSharing. Once you have a song loaded, the player will allow you to speed up or slow down the song 2x (keeping the same pitch) and can knock out vocals and lead guitar tracks.

Additionally, there is an option to use a MIDI device to control effects pedals (ie. MIDI stomp boxes), and app settings will allow AmpliTube to remain active in the background while other programs are open, so you can play along to a YouTube video or jam along side of the ThumbJam or SampleTank loops you've got running.

Recording

The recorder interface resembles a reel-to-reel tape machine and functions much the same way, allowing you to record a track, punch-in for re-takes and bounce down several tracks to one. It supports Audio Copy/Paste so that tracks from other apps can be brought in using the iOS clipboard, and AmpliTube recordings can be copied and pasted into other apps supporting Audio Copy/Paste. AmpliTube lacks a waveform editor or a project timeline, so you must rewind your project to the beginning each time you want to record a new part or get ready for a punch-in. You can set the in and out for a loop, which helps for isolating specific parts of the song to focus on. Another useful feature allows you to change the amp settings (re-amp) of a recorded track during playback, should you want to tweak the sound or change it completely. App settings also allow for the iOS device's built-in mic to be used with the recorder instead of the iRig.

The mixer has two sends for each track that correspond to two channels on a master board - each master board channel can have its own settings (Chorus, EQ, Compression) and the sends can be blended together for each recorder track. When completed, a project's audio can be exported to the Song Library, to SoundCloud, to an FTP server, emailed as an attachment or transferred via iTunes FileSharing.

Conclusion

I did find a few things to be quirky with this app: A No-Feedback option that changes the centered monophonic sound-space to a softened stereo; the lack of waveform for recording and an overall linear recording process; a maximum of only 4 simultaneous effects at a time (6 are included); Compressor effects are pretty basic without access to threshold. Also, it would be nice if there were a universal version of this app so that people with both iPads and iPhones could make a single purchase. (I believe if the free version was initially installed on each device and gear is purchased on one, the purchases could be restored on the other device, but you'd need that info before buying).

On the whole though, it did meet my expectations of how a Fender branded app should sound, and Fender enthusiasts looking for those specific amp models should be satisfied and find this app useful. It's certainly easier to carry around your iOS device instead of a Twin Reverb for those times when inspiration strikes.

Ken Kramar, with additional reporting by Harris Fogel, posted 9/17/2012

For more information on IK Multimedia: AmpliTube Fender™ for iPad please visit: www.ikmultimedia.com

For more information on the IK Multimedia: iRig guitar interface adapter please visit: www.ikmultimedia.com