[Tekker]

Contents:
• Introduction
• Breaking Down “Multi”-Effects Processors
• Plugin Settings
  * Effect #1: Clean
  * Effect #2: Clean with Chorus
  * Effect #3: Light Distortion
  * Effect #4: Light Distortion with Delay, Flange, and Reverb
  * Effect #5: “Wild” Effect
  * Heavy Distortion
• Conclusion


Introduction

With all of the effects units that are available there is literally an infinite about of possible combinations and sounds that can be created with them. The intent of this lesson is to first "demystify" the complexity of multi-effects processors and then demonstrate how to use VST plugins with your guitar, just as you would a guitar effects pedal or processor. All of the effects used in this lesson are from my list of Free VST Effects Plugins which are listed HERE. Hopefully this will give a basic starting point that can be expanded on and tweaked to get the particular sounds that you want. These effects can be used on your computer with the free recording program Kristal Audio Engine, the VERY inexpensive program ($50) Reaper (I highly recommend Reaper), or any other program that supports VST plugins and VST effects monitoring. With this you will be able to load the effects plugins and hear the effects live while you play your guitar.

I chose to use only free software so that anyone with a guitar, computer, and soundcard can try this. Since we all don't have access to the same effects units/pedals/amps/mics/etc... I figured this would be the best way to do a tutorial because everyone will have access to the same effects.

Other Necessary Tutorials:

If you have not already done so, then please check out the following tutorials as they will be necessary once we get to working with the plugins.

How to connect your guitar to your soundcard
* How to setup Reaper as a Guitar Processor
* How to setup Kristal Audio as a Guitar Processor
How to adjust the volume on your soundcard so that you do not clip

The knowledge gained while experimenting with these plugins will apply to any multi-effects unit you come across. Once you understand the basics of how each effect works individually it will be much easier to understand how to get the most out of using them in combination. So even if you don’t plan on using your computer for your guitar tones it will still be very beneficial to download the plugins and give this a try.

For this lesson I made a few samples of effects I think sound cool using strictly free plugins so everyone can participate at no cost. I will also post the preset files so you can load my settings directly into the plugins as well as mp3’s so you can hear what the effects will sound like before loading them. Hopefully this will give a good starting point for tweaking the effects further and seeing how changing certain settings will affect the sound. A good way to start would be to turn off all the effects and just listen to one of them at a time to hear what each effect contributes to the overall sound. Then you can turn off all but one effect and start tweaking the settings one at a time (starting with the amp sim plugin).

Some of these samples will have up to five plugins running at once, so there will be a lot to experiment with. Kristal has a max of five plugins that it can use at one time (two plugins on a track and then three plugins on the master bus), so I won’t go more than five.

[Tekker]

Breaking Down “Multi”-Effects Processors

Before we get into the effects plugins, let’s break down the overwhelming factor of multi-effects units in general.

Every multi-effects unit can be broken down into individual effects that can be understood separately from the others, such as reverb, delay, chorus, flanger, EQ, compression, etc. The best way to learn about these effects is to search for each one individually online. For example, learn what the various settings are for reverb and how they affect the sound, such as pre-delay, room size, diffusion, decay, etc. Then take some time to experiment using only the reverb effect with all of the other effects turned off. Once you fully understand the settings for the reverb then this one part of your effects processor will not be as confusing. Doing this for each effect in your processor will give you a greater understanding of each effect individually and then you can start working on combining effects to create various sounds. If you already have the basics down for each effect you will have a much better idea of how to combine them to get the sound you want.

A good way to start creating your own effects is to first start with no effects (chorus, reverb, compression, etc.) and focus on getting a straight clean or distorted sound (just like you would with a guitar amp) that you want to build the rest of your effects off of. This would involve selecting the amp model you want to use, setting the gain (amount of distortion), then making adjustments to the EQ. Using this section just as you would an amp focusing on minimal settings should make it easier to start with. Then start adding one effect at a time and tweaking each until you have the sound you want then move on and add another.

This is where effects plugins really shine. You can work very easily with individual plugins because each plugin has its own interface. Some effect plugins (such as compressors and EQ’s, etc) will even have graphical interfaces so you can see “visually” what you are doing to the sound instead of relying only on numbers. This is very helpful when you are first learning what all of the settings do. You can also quickly mute any effect you want and even re-arrange the order of effects to change the sounds. Experimenting with plugins is a very good way to advance your knowledge of how the effects work.

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Plugin Settings

Ok, now let’s get down to business!

To reproduce these sounds in your recording program:
1) Install the plugins in the exact order they are listed here in your recording program. (I also numbered the files so they will all be arranged in order if you save all the preset files in the same folder).
2) Open the plugin and go to the Plugin menu and select “Patch Load”. Then choose the corect preset to load into that plugin. Repeat this process for all the other plugins.

NOTE: All of the plugins use the same extension (.fxp) for saving presets, so my preset files include the name of the plugin they go with in order to make loading the plugins as easy as possible.

The level of your guitar signal will make a big difference in the sound of these effects. Mainly with the guitar amp simulator plugin Voxengo Boogex because it changes the distortion level based on how loud you play your guitar.

Here is a sample of my guitar with no effects to for an idea of how loud your guitar sound be while playing. For comparison, this is the same exact audio clip as “Effect #1” just with the effects turned off, so you can hear the before and after.

AUDIO CLIP - No Effects

NOTE: The other effects are a bit louder than this one, so if you cranked your speakers up, you'll probably want to turn them back down now.

These are the plugins that will get used on most (or all) of my samples posted:

Kjaerhus Audio EQ: I am going to be using this EQ for all of the effects because it is a graphical EQ which is very easy to use.

NOTE: Much better results can be obtained by using the Electri-Q EQ plugin. However it is a more difficult EQ to use if you are not used to parametric EQs. If you are familiar with these or would like to experiment with it, you can use the Eletri-Q plugin instead of the Kjaerhus Audio EQ.

Voxengo Boogex: Guitar amp simulator plugin. This will be the first plugin that you set when trying to create new sounds. You can treat this plugin just like an amp.
Drive: Lets you set the distortion level.
Dynamics: Determines how much the plugin reacts to your playing. If you turn the dynamics to 0%, then it will sound pretty much the same whether you strike the strings hard or soft. If you turn it to 100% it will make different sounds as you play harder or softer, and depending on where the drive level is set it can sound clean when you play soft and then add distortion as you play harder (and example of this will be demonstrated in “Effect #3 - Light Distortion Effect”).
Tone: This adjusts the tone of your signal, very similar to the tone knob on your guitar. At 100% the signal will sound brighter fuller. At 0% it will sound darker and duller.
Phase: This only affects the guitar signal if you are using more than one track (it adjusts the phase of this track relative to other tracks), so for this lesson we’ll ignore the phase knob and leave it at 0%.

Voxengo Audio Delay: This plugin is used to create the “wide” stereo image. This is done by delaying either left or right channel of the signal by a given time (in milliseconds). Adjusting the amount of the delay will significantly affect the sound of the guitar. To experiment with the stereo image: start out with both channels at 0ms and gradually increase one side and hear how the guitar’s sound changes.


Effect #1: Clean Setting - Stereo

This first effect is a clean setting with a little reverb and a delay plugin that creates a stereo image from the mono guitar signal.

AUDIO CLIP - Clean Setting

Preset Files

* Voxengo Boogex
* Kjaerhus Audio Classic EQ
* Voxengo Audio Delay
* Kjaerhus Audio Classic Reverb

Settings

Gutiar Setting: Bridge Humbucker.

Voxengo Boogex: In this example the drive knob is turned down low so that you get a good clean sound.

Voxengo Audio Delay: Is used to create the stereo image. To place the guitar in the center of the speakers (mono), simply turn this plugin off.


Effect #2: Clean with Chorus Setting - Stereo

This effect uses a clean setting on the Boogex similar to the first setting and combined with chorus and reverb. Note that because I was playing quieter for this one, the Boogex’s gain is a little higher on this effect than the first setting while still keeping the clean sound. Increasing the gain gives a warmer tone and if you’re going for a clean sound only increase the gain enough to warm the sound without adding distortion.

AUDIO CLIP - Clean with Chorus

Preset Files

* Voxengo Boogex
* Kjaerhus Audio Classic EQ
* Voxengo Audio Delay
* Kjaerhus Audio Classic Chorus
* Kjaerhus Audio Classic Reverb

Settings

Guitar Setting: Split Bridge and Neck Humbuckers.

The Voxengo Audio Delay: Is used to create the stereo image. To place the guitar in the center of the speakers (mono), simply turn this plugin off.


Effect #3: Light Distortion Effect - Stereo

This effect is a slightly distorted tone with a little reverb. Taking the stereo delay off makes it a perfect sound for blues leads. Removing (or decreasing) the reverb gives a more up front sound (as demonstrated in the audio samples).

AUDIO CLIP - Light Distortion with Reverb (Single Coil)
AUDIO CLIP - Light Distortion no Reverb (Single Coil)
AUDIO CLIP - Light Distortion with Reverb (Humbucker)
AUDIO CLIP - Light Distortion no Reverb (Humbucker)

Preset Files

* Voxengo Boogex
* Kjaerhus Audio Classic EQ
* Voxengo Audio Delay
* Kjaerhus Audio Classic Reverb

Settings

Guitar Settings: For the first two clips I used the coil split bridge pickup to get that twangy single coil sound. Fort the last two clips I used the bridge humbucker.

Voxengo Boogex: In this example the drive is up just enough to give a light distortion. The level of your guitar going into the plugin is critical for this setting. When your volume is just right you can pick lightly and get a clean sound and as you pick harder it will get a more distorted tone. Here is an example of this:

AUDIO CLIP - Light and Hard

And here is this same clip again, but with no effects to get a feel for actual guitar's volume.

AUDIO CLIP - Light and Hard No Effects

The Voxengo Audio Delay: Is used to create the stereo image. To place the guitar in the center of the speakers (mono), simply turn this plugin off.

Kjaerhus Audio Classic Reverb: Is used to create just a hint of reverb, which pushes the guitar back into the speakers. This would be useful for a background rhythm guitar. Turning the reverb off (or decreasing the amount of reverb) will bring the guitar forward for lead sounds.


Effect #4: Light Distortion with Delay, Flange, and Reverb

This effect uses a light distortion setting similar to the previous effect and the flange and reverb give a washy sound to the delay effect. This is a great one for tapping riffs.

AUDIO CLIP - Light Distortion with Delay, Flange, and Reverb

Preset Files

* Voxengo Boogex
* Kjaerhus Audio Classic EQ
* Kjaerhus Audio Classic Delay
* Kjaerhus Audio Classic Flanger
* Dasample GlaceVerb

Settings

Guitar Settings: Bridge Humbucker

Kjaerhus Audio Delay: This is used to create a slight amount of delay. This delay setting works great for tapping riffs as it kind of overlaps and blends the notes together.

Kjaerhus Audio Flange: Creates kind of a volume swell type of sound... Hard to explain but you can hear what it adds to the sound by turning the Flange off and on. I like this effect for the song I played (Bach’s Fuge in Dm) as the site I learned it from used a similar effect on their mp3 and I liked that sound. But in general it probably sounds better without it as it kind of muddy’s up the sound a little. But you can experiment with that and see which one you like best.

Glaceverb: This reverb plugin is a light fluttery kind of reverb. In general I prefer Glaceverb over the Kjaerhus Audio reverb, but it’s also a little more complicated to use. If you’re new to tweaking effects, I’d recommend learning the Kjaerhus Audio first as the controls are more straight forward, then move up to Glaceverb.


Effect #5: “Wild” Effect

This setting has no real use other than it’s simply a fun noise making effect. It is just an idea of the kind of the interesting sounds you can experiment with. If you turn the delay off, you can get a sound similar to an autowah effect. Turning the ResFilter off gives a ping-pong delay that sounds really good with arpeggios.

AUDIO CLIP - Weird Noises

Preset Files

* MDA ResFilter
* Voxengo Boogex
* Kjaerhus Audio Classic EQ
* Kjaerhus Audio Classic Reverb
* Interruptor Echomania

Settings

Guitar Settings: Coil Tap - Bridge Single Coil Pickup

MDA ResFilter: This creates a sound that’s kind of a cross between a wah-wah and a Leslie rotating speaker. That’s the best way I can think of to explain it.

Voxengo Boogex: Set for a light distortion.

Kjaerhus Audio Reverb: A light reverb that works very nice for this type off effect. It blends the sounds together, especially for long drawn out notes (or harmonics). This effect doesn’t work nearly as well without the verb IMO. Increasing the room size and reverb level also creates some very interesting sounds.

Interruptor Echomania: Is used to create a ping-pong delay sound.


Heavy Distortion

Unfortunately, I haven’t found any freebies that actually have a decent sounding high gain distortion. The best one I’ve heard is the SimulAnalog JCM900 but it leaves a lot to be desired. It’s a very straight forward plugin, so I won't cover it here.


Just to put a little plug in here, (pun intended) a bunch of VST plugins were released that used to be only available in my recording program (Magix Samplitude). One of the bundles called Analogue Modeling Suite contains a plugin called Phibia that is by far my favorite plugin for guitar I have used out of Amplitube, Guitar Rig, and a bunch of freebies. Phibia has a far better high gain distortion than any of the other ones I have used IMO. And that’s not all it does... It was actually designed as a mixing/mastering channel strip, but it has models for guitar (and even bass guitar). It is one of the best all around recording plugin work horse I have seen that literally works great on everything (try to use Amplitube on vocals! ) Highly recommended!

It comes bundled with two other plugins (a compressor and a transient modeler) and the price is 200 Euro (or $313.68 according to google). There are demo versions available for the VST plugins, so you can try them out if you’re interested. The demo download has ALL of the Samplitude effects bundled together (including the Vintage Effects Suite and Variverb, which are NOT included in the Analogue Modeling suite). You can download the demos here - located under "VST plug-ins demo/update".

[Tekker]

Conclusion

Hopefully this has helped in some way to demystify multiple effects units. They can be a little overwhelming at first, but by breaking it down and understanding what each individual effect does it is easier to understand how they all work together as a unit.

Also, I encourage everyone who uses these plugins to post your preset files (and an mp3 if you’d like) of your effects settings when you find something that you particularly like. This way others can enjoy and maybe even critique the sounds that you have made. I have started a thread in the Discussion on Member's Lessons forum just for that purpose, so this can be more of an interactive tutorial. I hope that the few settings I posted here is just the beginning.