Mannieb
2006-11-03 05:05:41 UTC
It never fails. I'm sitting in my studio jamming away. When I discover
the greatest riff of all time. The riff to slay all other riffs. The
King Kameamea of riffs. I HAVE TO record this! Okay... so I put the
guitar down, (first mistake), go get a mike, run some cable, open my
recording software, adjust all the settings... figure out what tempo I
am playing... I should put a drum loop down? Yeah... That would totally
rock! I go through several loop folders; find something close to what I
want. It's now about 30 minutes or so later. What was I doing? Oh
yeah... that killer riff. Finally its time to record. Oh...crap! What
was I playing? I think it started in E. Damn! That's not it. An hour
later all my hopes and dreams are dashed. My riff that would align the
universe in perfect peace and harmony, solve world hunger, and stop
global warming is gone... forever! And even worse... my guitar is in
pieces, on the floor and my computer is in the swimming pool!
Okay, maybe it's not that intense with you, but I think that you get
the idea. The point is that when you get an idea you want to get it
down as quickly as possible. You don't want to spend time fiddling with
your DAW when you should be capturing your idea.
RiffWorks is a very easy to use recording software designed to help you
do just that. You simply connect your guitar to your computer's sound
card, open the RiffWorks software and start recording (You WILL need a
sound card with an ASIO driver for WinXP or a Core Audio device for the
Mac). While the company offers the AmpliTube LE plug which is very
helpful, you can also use your favorite direct recording gizmo or mic'd
amp. These days I keep a rig connected to my machine via the Koch
Loadbox. I was set up and ready to play in probably about 30 seconds...
not bad eh?
The next thing you want to figure out is what tempo you are playing.
This is pretty cool. RiffWorks has a feature called "JUNT." You simply
start playing and the software tells you what tempo you are playing.
Riffworks comes with it's own drum looping application called
InstantDrummer. What sets InstantDrummer apart from a program like
Acid, is that you can vary the complexity of the loops with the turn of
a virtual knob. By cranking up the "intensity" knob, the loop becomes
more complex... more fills, variations etc... How do they do that?!!!
This beats the hell out of scrolling through hundreds of loops to get
the groove that you want.
In addition to these features, RiffWorks also includes several of the
most common effects associated with the electric guitar, which all
sound very respectable. Once you have recorded your masterpiece you can
post it for all the world to hear with a feature called "RiffCast." You
can also "jam" in real time with a feature called "RiffLink."
The interface is pretty simple and user friendly. Most of the controls
have on screen knobs. The program's default recording setting loops
what you've recorded which allows you to add different layers with each
pass. This is great for being able to quickly hear how different parts
will work together. Once you record a section you simply save it and
move on to the next section. RiffWorks organizes each section together
into an arrangement, so you can quickly tell if the key change after
the second chorus is going to work going into the bridge, etc..
RiffWorks is fairly simple to use, and it is priced right ($129.99 for
download). This makes it an excellent "get your feet wet" recording
program for beginners. Okay. So it doesn't do nearly as much as say
Cubase or Nuendo, but it is also much easier to use, and MUCH less
expensive. The ease of use also makes RiffWorks great for capturing
song ideas while they are still fresh. However, I would like to see the
InstantDrummer feature expanded. It is a great concept, but could there
be some way to easily move the fills and accents around the
arrangement? While I found InstantDrummer compelling, I couldn't quite
get the fills and accents where I wanted them.
I have talked with some other guitarists about this software and the
consensus is pretty much the same. RiffWorks is a very good program for
beginners just learning to record, as well as great "sketching tool"
for pros.
For more information check out http://www.sonomawireworks.com/
Lou Lombardi, Your Guitarist
http://www.yourguitarist.com
http://www.myspace.com/guitartracks
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/guitartracksonline/
the greatest riff of all time. The riff to slay all other riffs. The
King Kameamea of riffs. I HAVE TO record this! Okay... so I put the
guitar down, (first mistake), go get a mike, run some cable, open my
recording software, adjust all the settings... figure out what tempo I
am playing... I should put a drum loop down? Yeah... That would totally
rock! I go through several loop folders; find something close to what I
want. It's now about 30 minutes or so later. What was I doing? Oh
yeah... that killer riff. Finally its time to record. Oh...crap! What
was I playing? I think it started in E. Damn! That's not it. An hour
later all my hopes and dreams are dashed. My riff that would align the
universe in perfect peace and harmony, solve world hunger, and stop
global warming is gone... forever! And even worse... my guitar is in
pieces, on the floor and my computer is in the swimming pool!
Okay, maybe it's not that intense with you, but I think that you get
the idea. The point is that when you get an idea you want to get it
down as quickly as possible. You don't want to spend time fiddling with
your DAW when you should be capturing your idea.
RiffWorks is a very easy to use recording software designed to help you
do just that. You simply connect your guitar to your computer's sound
card, open the RiffWorks software and start recording (You WILL need a
sound card with an ASIO driver for WinXP or a Core Audio device for the
Mac). While the company offers the AmpliTube LE plug which is very
helpful, you can also use your favorite direct recording gizmo or mic'd
amp. These days I keep a rig connected to my machine via the Koch
Loadbox. I was set up and ready to play in probably about 30 seconds...
not bad eh?
The next thing you want to figure out is what tempo you are playing.
This is pretty cool. RiffWorks has a feature called "JUNT." You simply
start playing and the software tells you what tempo you are playing.
Riffworks comes with it's own drum looping application called
InstantDrummer. What sets InstantDrummer apart from a program like
Acid, is that you can vary the complexity of the loops with the turn of
a virtual knob. By cranking up the "intensity" knob, the loop becomes
more complex... more fills, variations etc... How do they do that?!!!
This beats the hell out of scrolling through hundreds of loops to get
the groove that you want.
In addition to these features, RiffWorks also includes several of the
most common effects associated with the electric guitar, which all
sound very respectable. Once you have recorded your masterpiece you can
post it for all the world to hear with a feature called "RiffCast." You
can also "jam" in real time with a feature called "RiffLink."
The interface is pretty simple and user friendly. Most of the controls
have on screen knobs. The program's default recording setting loops
what you've recorded which allows you to add different layers with each
pass. This is great for being able to quickly hear how different parts
will work together. Once you record a section you simply save it and
move on to the next section. RiffWorks organizes each section together
into an arrangement, so you can quickly tell if the key change after
the second chorus is going to work going into the bridge, etc..
RiffWorks is fairly simple to use, and it is priced right ($129.99 for
download). This makes it an excellent "get your feet wet" recording
program for beginners. Okay. So it doesn't do nearly as much as say
Cubase or Nuendo, but it is also much easier to use, and MUCH less
expensive. The ease of use also makes RiffWorks great for capturing
song ideas while they are still fresh. However, I would like to see the
InstantDrummer feature expanded. It is a great concept, but could there
be some way to easily move the fills and accents around the
arrangement? While I found InstantDrummer compelling, I couldn't quite
get the fills and accents where I wanted them.
I have talked with some other guitarists about this software and the
consensus is pretty much the same. RiffWorks is a very good program for
beginners just learning to record, as well as great "sketching tool"
for pros.
For more information check out http://www.sonomawireworks.com/
Lou Lombardi, Your Guitarist
http://www.yourguitarist.com
http://www.myspace.com/guitartracks
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/guitartracksonline/