I've been using such a setup like this with my band for quite a few years now. We let the whole band go through the windows 10 laptop using a Focusrite interface and Ableton Live and it really works like a charm. We also used midi footswitches for band practice and jamming.
It is true that you may run into some fragility issues with a laptop rig live. It’s also true that your tubes, batteries and cables can go bad, too. So if the argument for a completely analog rig is that it’s reliable, I’d like to take issue with that here and now.
Like I said in last video, work with an effects company and build a dedicated unit to replace the laptop, an effects 'pedal' that can be programmed at home and used live, with the option to tweak . Slap the Ola emblem on it, make millions, give us all free Solar basses :P
YOU, I like you :D Just basicaly a mini PC loaded with a proprietary DAW simple enough for 'noobs' but enough features to be usefull for pro's , and obviously load any VST's you have, I have a feeling it would sell
Even if Ola didn't do that, I hope someone has that idea because it sounds amazing. If Ola ever did that though we know it would be damn near perfect lol
Considering that the MOD 2, which is basically just a bunch of open source plugins and a plugin host running on an embedded linux computer in a special purpose housing, sells for something like 600 €, you're probably more right than you know.
I´m using this system combining vst plugins and a tube amp since 2 years (before to watch it in the Ola videos i was the only who was using it at least that i knew it, although I thought that probably more people would have the same idea), and specifically i use a Ignite amp head and overdrive, cubase 5, focusrite interface, into a normal laptop with windows 10, plugged in the fx return of a bugera combo amp.... The result: sounds nice, i have all chanel changes, boost, delay and effects, etc completely automated and till nowadays 0 problems in live shows
What focusrite interface do you use? Thinking about maybe getting a clarette but not sure the usb C (or thunderbolt 1 as they are the same more or less) will be fast enough latency wise.
@@peterrovaniemi138 I use focusrite saffire 6, in the buffer length i have choosen 2 ms (with plugins is more), but latency isn´t a problem if you have a fast and good computer (mine is a HP i5)
I know you are just trying to stay humble, but you have a large dedicated fanbase who show up to support you in what ever you do, please don't call them small... while I am sure you are just being self deprecating, in this case you are not shitting you, but us I was proud of how much we support you cause you are an awesome artist, and deserve it.
There's another advantage to using in-ears when playing through computer plugins... it lowers the real-world latency. If you have, say 10ms round-trip latency in your processing, you have to another 5-15 ms latency depending on where your cab or monitor is. By using in-ears, that analog latency (distance) is removed.
It can also be really useful in band situations. A lot of modern metal bands use backing tracks for synth and other programmed sounds. Why not use the automation for the guitar at the same time? It's worth considering! I don't really think reliability should be a big problem. Personally, I'm done carting amps around. So happy for my Helix and maybe this is the next step. Thanks again Ola 👍
Even John Petrucci with dt are runing protools session live. I've seen that even jp's sounds are switched via midi commands in protools. Good Job Ola! Big fan!
I went to a similar route like you, I just finished a show with just my guitar, an iPad, an interface, and a bluetooth MIDI pedalboard. Sound is great, no latency issue, my rig got a whole lot smaller and a whole lot more efficient, and I like this new iPad setup. I think this is the future, I'm not sacrificing anything in terms of tone and reliability so far, so yeah, just like you I will continue using this digital solution.
Definitely think this will be the future for a lot of live applications. Apple’s Mainstage has implemented this concept for a long time but I like the idea of using the DAW for everything: backing tracks if needed and all of your automation. You’re essentially setting up your entire performance 🤘🏻
Hey Ola Swedun, the Eng. Makes perfect sense. I think you should do more of these tech tips and methods videos. You know a huge amount about all of this.
Very Well said, my man! For those who can only criticize jamming thru a DAW, Plugins, Cab & IR Cabs. You don't know what your missing. I personly was like this back in the early '90s when it came to the solid state, modular, emulator amplifiers. i.e. amplifier without valves. However, fast forward to 2010 to present and I own 5 valve amp 2 modeling combo amp. I have changed how I feel about them. Technology has not only made modular amplifiers a contender it has brought many tonal variations into my arsenal. Even more, the same thing can be said when you run your signal chain thru your computer into a DAW, vst plugins, Effects & Impulse Response Cabinets. They bring tons of sound and tonal options to the table with some mean tones. Every person asked, "can you tell what one of my amps I playing in this track" there answer 95% of the time is yes! The answer is alway's one of my tube amps or any random valve-amp. If they don't know me well. The other 5% just answer honestly with, " I don't know"!
I know NiN uses LiveStage and they run all sorts of stuff through there (decapitator, echo boy, to name a couple) It's handy for a live show where you don't need a pedal board anymore. Just have your drummer have a midi controller send the midi out (even if you don't even use midi) controlled by bass drum / snare / whatever and everything just works. You can go from acoustic, to high gain to lead to whatever parts of the song need whatever. It's like having your tech backstage do this, except done via logic / mainstage. It's been part of my rundown for a few years now. Now it's bring a half stack, head and run the audio via interface > mixing boards and your in ears and boom. All you get to do is play and no touching anything as it all just works. Takes a while to get this set up, but once you do it's really good.
wow. slowly im understanding what is this plugins thing. from a peds user like 15 years ago, now that im getting back to my beloved hobby. plugins got my attention. thanks for this post.
Yes, I've been using a laptop with bias fx to a cab 4*12 for more than a year and never had a problem and super happy with it. Best choice I ever did in gear
the demo songs sound amazing! Also, I’ve watched several clinics and they also have this kind of setup, which I observed is very handy and easy for them to go with the program. So maybe we are already in the age where plugins are embraced in live situations :)
BRILLIANT!!! I've been proposing this type of system for some time now and I"m thrilled to see you using something like this. I'll be money you end up using for Live Band shows in the future.
I've never really played live with a full band. I've been wanting to for years and I've been thinking of doing a similar setup with my own DI. I can only commend you for show casing this video and really showcasing exactly what you can do with new gear and how portable it actually is. So awesome dude. 10/10
That seems a pretty smooth and solid rig. Also the guys from Periphery use a similar setup where they have Logic changing all their AxeFx patches. It seems a very convenient setup for clinics and you are left with just making sure the venue has electricity.
Laptops have been the central piece of gear of karoake DJ's for years. Spills, drunks, daily gigs and they make it work. I think the reliability issue, while valid, isn't as big as one would think.
Good point, though some may point out a metal show isn't quite the same dynamic as a solo DJ on stage. A good metric might be to know the number of laptops DJs go through in a year or per number of shows.
Hi Ola! I believe that this approach is the future. I actually did a similar setup for a performance back in 1997. Of course it didn´t sound anywhere nearly as good back then, and I had to combine it with some rack hardware to pull it off. Had my clunky big ass computer cabinet and huge CRT-monitor on stage, and performed with just my guitar. I did another similar setup of this for my Bacherlor´s degree about 10 years ago, this time with a iMac, Logic, some automation and a Boss GT-8. Keep up the good work :) Cheers from Norway
I used this method few months back on stage during my office event. Where I played some melodic death with my laptop and USB powered audio interface. Works perfect for me and it's very portable n mobile.
You got me pumped with this! I’ve been searching on this subject for 2 days and then I stumble upon your video. Thanks Ola for the info, never thought of automation for brining in and out the sims. Genius! A bit tedious at first but sounds like it gets the job done. Gonna try this with the Mesa Amplitube sims. 👍👍👍🎸🎸🎸
I know its an older video but you just earned my sub! Thanks man you are going down same path I am. I appreciate that you are sharing some of the methods you have experimented with. This is the future I know it.
Ola this video helped me a lot on my flow! I was thinking to look on how to do this but didn't have the time to search it.. watching your video I started to do this trick one a project & bingo!!!
Yeah I had a native instruments guitar rig live IO interface doing that - size of a cigarette packet and ran Amplitube at something daft like 32 sample buffer. One thing I noticed is smaller less complicated USB interfaces with solid drivers are best for live performance latency. Firewire at the time was better but less reliable on non-apple laptops due to a lot of non-TI chipsets.
Exactly when I'm digging this stuff. Could you do another video explaining more about how getting familliar with this software? Thank you for being such dedicated to what you do, you really are a source of inspiration for me. Cheers from France Ola !
Merci Ola ! This is the way to go for clinics and also for recording and make a living of it. Now, I can start my personnal studio recording at peoples home !
Hey Ola! Even I use my laptop during my jams and performances but the only problem I had was to change presets live. The only solution I could figure out to go to clean patch was to lower the tone and the volume knob on my guitars but that didn't work out so well. But thanks to you I know what I have to do to change my presets! Thank You!
Really thinking about ditching my axe fx for this route. Trying the nameless plug in trial and I'm in love. Unbelievable tone which handles really low tuning like a charm. So much clarity and brutality at the same time!
Imagine if logic, cubase, ableton etc made a computer (or DAW console). It would be like a pc but locked to only be used for music production. Lieterally nothing else. I think that would be genuinely amazing. Have it built like a interface which would be robust, and gig-able
Very interesting video!!! Completely agree that reliability is THE issue..as for the rest, once all different needed sounds are programmed, all you need to care is focus on guitar playing, which is perfect! Thanx for this cool lesson, Ola, and keep it up🤘
Awesome Ola , you’re embracing new technology and learning how to make it your bitch !! I see this eventually making its way to the live gigs probably with you leading the way !!
Pretty cool that you did this with Logic. I believe that Digital Performer was designed with this kind of application in mind (I think that it can even control lighting to sync everything up). I only dicked with it a little bit years ago and came to the same conclusion.....too much latency back then using plugins. Plus lets be honest....I don't go out and tour and do clinics so it was just the techy side checking it out at the time. The wife said thanks for that damn AxeFXIII video you did......after the third time watching it I ended up selling my II and getting a III. She appreciates you pushing me over the edge. ;) I just didn't realize how much things had improved and it really is an amazing box. By the way, if memory serves correctly I think that you can use MIDI to switch patches and maybe even scenes (effects would probably require sysex data) from your DAW....so basically you could have all of your effects switching done just like this, but with the AxeFXIII instead of plugins. Not quite as portable, but you'd have damn near zero latency.
If you don't need UAD amps, I use reaxis through a Yamaha THR10 as the interface. The Yamaha converters are super fast, there is no perceptible latency using reaxis, or Brainworx, or amplitude, and it's a great stereo speaker
You could also use something like Bias Fx or Amplitube and connect a midi controller like the MeloAudio MIDI Commander, that way you could change between completely different presets in the same way you switch a pedal on/off, and also link it to a especific pedal, in a specific preset you can choose which pedal you want to be able to turn on/off, even configure a wah or volume pedal with a expression midi pedal
Hi! I think this method is going to be used more and more often as the time and progress go by. Surely, it might become a part of the digital/modelling amps religion and who knows how are people going to play in the next few decades. Perhaps a rig is going to be minimised to the size of a computer and a USB interface. I on the other hand love the vibe of a roaring, raw, intimidating tube amp, it's heat emmision, the smell and sound. But at home I started to use plugins to record demos and practice - this makes my life with neighbors and wife much easier :D
I think it is great that technology is pushing the boundaries of real amps and effects pedals. Only a matter of time till a laptop plug in will replace a tube amp. Like one of the guys below said if you can make the plugin outside of a Daw and have it switchable via a pedal then they would be great.
Great video Ola, very informative. The future is most certainly digital, it's only a matter of time though for us amp lovers, we can still use them if we wish. I'll embrace both!
Been doing this with Leo Pou plugins in Studio One. Pretty awesome to see Ola is doing it now too! I always set the buffer rate to 64 and as long as youre careful about not using CPU hogging VST's there shouldent be latency. Some reverbs do cause issues be careful and see what works for you and your PC. Ola makes anything sound brutal though!
Dear Ola, this was really helpful, wow, thanks a lot!! Almost every word was what I needed. True!! All the best. I guess, checking this setup in Moscow would be a little different by now... I will try it at home first 🙂
I also tried playing through amp sims (Boss GT-100, EZ Mix, and BIAS AMP 2 + FX) in recent years. They are cheaper and can be used more easily in a home setup. Everything sounded pretty fine: distorted power chords, overdrive lead sounds, clean or crunch sounds with lots of effects on it (especially with the BIAS FX). However, I never was satisfied with the sound of palm mutes when playing through virtual amps and effects - I now have a Revv Generator 100p with an Engl box and I can tell you - it's a great feeling when the sound waves of a palm-muted riff hit your balls while you shred in front of your gear. So when practicing with my band mates, I use "real" gear, but amp sims are just so convenient when practicing at home (or while traveling).
A lot of it comes down to what you are monitoring on but there is something great (both tone and feel) about the simplicity of just a really nice valve amp.
As a young lad, I always thought to myself as I entered Guitar Center" all these huge amps and keyboards at expensive prices". All while the people I knew had sound banks on flashdrives.
Thanks for the great video Ola. I've tinkered a bit with plugins, but found that it's hard to nail down a nice tone. Do you have any videos, or plan on making a video about how you sculpted your tone in this video?
My old band used a Mac 7/600 (many MANY years ago...) in rehearsal with keys & 2nd guitar from what was then an early version of Cubase (we managed to find a real 2nd guitarist eventually). Worked great as long as the drummer kept to the click. Would have loved to try the automated plugin system - I think it is definitely the way to go when considering the increased transportation costs for bands in a world of ever decreasing financial return. I've got a Marshall 6100 (which has MIDI control) & would be interested in trying that, linked to a Mac to see how it goes. Might try that in my studio for curiosity. The only pit fall is the computer dying mid set - I think Devin Townsend has a vid of a gig where it all goes tits up at the start & he gets through it like a total pro. Modern machines are so much more complex these days but I think if you keep your third party plugins to a minimum & run something like a Mac with Logic (where the same manufacturer is responsible for both items) you are on fairly safe ground. Also agree with the in ear monitoring - far safer & I agree, you never know what the venue monitors are like... As always, superb vid!
This is unreal backing and effects all in one compact unit genius. I wondered how you change VSTs. now I know, preset. The computer wouldn't do update while playing if you set it to block while performing is that correct. That is a good looking interface. Cheers Les.
i'll go for this because i don't have to carry lots of stuff for a small gig, just a very good gigbad with laptop and cables, ready to go...im buying myself an Ipad Pro to use Bias Amp 2 to record stuff (i was blown away with its potential to do so) and i can really take it in my backpack and just sit in my breaks at college and jam around to get all the subjects mess out of my mind
Hey man, your setup looks good, but you might want to consider dropping that Fabfilter limiter out of the master chain, since the low-latency mode is bypassing that completely (as you can see from all the clipping in the meters). It's true that around 1-3db clipping is not really audible in most cases - the stuff in this video sounds good for example - but you might want to turn it down a bit in Logic and use the headroom of the main venue sound system to get the loudness you need. I've been using Mainstage (it's Logic, but for live) since we use two computers on stage - one for the backing tracks and a second one for my guitar plugins and vocals - and I use just a small two-button bluetooth page turner to scroll between presets. The latency is great on that software too and allows for quite elaborate routings but your solution of having all the plug-ins on the same track is also very clever!
I've done a 80 people capacity club show with two 100W tube heads and four 4x12" cabs and a separate JC120 just for cleans, and a 50 000 stadium (+1,5 million viewers on TV) with an iPad and Focusrite iTrack Dock . Also did shows where Logic (on a MacBook Pro) did all backing tracks and all my guitar stuff with plugins and ALSO all pedal work. Like whammys and wahwahs too. (talk about playing on cue :D) So whatever works, works.
Hi Ola! How about if you need backing tracks + click track in your iem and the actual sound that goes through the foh? Can you show us a detailed video on how you route the signal using your current setup? Thanks a lot!!
Dude, Ive been watching your videos on and off and find you interesting. I think the whole computer set up and plug in is great for me because who knows when I'll afford all those great amps and gear! I pursued a metal career back in the Hollywood Metal scene but then died and now its super hard to find what your looking for and even harder because I'm not in my 20s anymore! So, I decided to finish many songs and other new ones so I've been looking at products you mention, even the SATAN plug in! Really, who the hell has all that fkng money to buy so many amps and even the Hammond B3. The last guy I depended on had a REAL B3 in Hollywood and thought I'd never find anyone with a real B3. The fkr decided to sell it and go to college! A-hole! Now that I'm older and harder to face that Ill never be a "star" I can at least finish my music via digital and feel a sense of accomplishment. PS I still have my main power amp, VHT 2902 and dual recto cab Mesa, EMG' on my guitars, and my ADA Mp1 but cant play em in an upstairs apartment! Setting up a digital workstation is an excellent way to go and believe I could even play live once I get it all together. Thanks for your videos.
What's the name of that "intro"(maybe) played on 9:00? It's so sick man, fucking cool that dark energy feeling the darkness kingdom rising slowly and the chaos taking the earth and the hope away I heard this little part at least 20 times just this day
You can use automation when playing to a backing track. In a band situation you may want to control the computer with an external midi pedal board. Long story short: support for this you may find on bias and amplitube, they are standalone even!, but they don't really work in a true stereo way. Reaxis i love, it has a great stereo imaging, but no midi program changes and no stand alone. If you want to use several plugins in your chain you may be forced to use the midi capabilities of your daw, which are not well developed yet for such task. That's the greatest pitfall for plugins in a band situation: midi pedal board control. No daw considers this and no third party plug-in hub that i know can pull this off yet.
I"ve shared this video with my pal Kris at Guitarmasterclass.net and he sees the power of this approach, as do it. I'm glad it's you doing it. If it were anybody else, most folks would just dismiss it.
hey ola, i think you just started a new path to live performance. it's like kemper amps... but you showed a way to use all the computer power and plugins if this gets hooked up by other guitar players, this could lead to a very interesting path for future live music btw. i love my first solar guitar A2.6 gmm, but the pickups get noisy when you switch the 5-way switch to position 2 & 4 Greetings from Germany & Rock on Swede :) Chers Sebastian
Honestly, digital has came a very long way in the last 10 years. I remember saying back in 2003 when i went to audio engineering school that i would never record in anything other than analog. But today i have a full digital setup studio lol Don't get me wrong i love that analog sound but like u said ola it just makes life so much easier and sounds amazing. Live i would def like them amp feels, but for your situation ola I'm for digital 100%
This is a thing I've been thinking about A LOT. In the terms of: could this thing be used as an entire band's rig? Using a 4in-8out interface to have 2 guitars, bass and vocals going into the interface and routing all of these, plus prerecorded tracks to the PA, metronome and monitor mixes to the players. Definitely need a heavy duty processor to do this, but how much of an awesome thing would it be? it's also very backup-able, meaning that you can upload the project to a cloud and in case your rig craps out/gets stolen/whatever, you have an easy backup solution if you can get your hands on a laptop and an interface (easier than getting a couple of tube amps or kempers)
Really thinking of doing this live .... either through the fx return or to the desk .... i can have 2 outputs , one metronome out from the interface and one to the desk/return .... the metronome out is for the drummer - that way i can automate the whole performance as the songs are in time since the drummer is using the metronome of the same project file
Hi Ola !! I'm using more and more plugins to emulate amps and cabinet for my recordings but I must admit I' m thinking more and more about letting all my stompboxes at home in my roomstudio if I need to move to a concert or festival as I usually use a laptop with a midi controller for some loops and additional effects, so why not using amp and pedal effetcs VST meanwhile ?! I must say the only reason I didn't go to that solution is I didn't find a good foot midi footboard, and most of all afordable... And afordable is really important for my group as we play mostly lo-fi punk music ;) So we are always aiming for the cheapest xDDD If you have a suggestion I'd be really happy to hear it from you !! Anyway, keep on doing what you're doing, I lover your channel, even if I'm not metal fan now, I used to and I tyotally respect and like your work :)))))) Thanks for all and have fun Ola ! Djo from IronicA PNP
I do similar to Ola, but I use a JTV Variax, an AXE FX II GL+, POD HD500X, Reaper (EZ mix) with midi. Everything automated and on a click track, going from 8 string style, to 6 string, to acoustic, to whatever I want, all without touching a thing. No amps, cabs, or mics. A purest might find it ridiculous, but I think it's pretty cool.
What do you guys think about this? Should you subscribe or not? I know the answer...
instructions unclear i am already subscribed. xD SEND HELP!!
You look like how i imagine Jesus looks.
Should check out the omec teleport!
Ola, what is the back track?
I am so on board with this. I am doing this with bands for years now, also check out humanitys last breath and they are doing the same
I've been using such a setup like this with my band for quite a few years now. We let the whole band go through the windows 10 laptop using a Focusrite interface and Ableton Live and it really works like a charm. We also used midi footswitches for band practice and jamming.
It is true that you may run into some fragility issues with a laptop rig live. It’s also true that your tubes, batteries and cables can go bad, too. So if the argument for a completely analog rig is that it’s reliable, I’d like to take issue with that here and now.
Like I said in last video, work with an effects company and build a dedicated unit to replace the laptop, an effects 'pedal' that can be programmed at home and used live, with the option to tweak . Slap the Ola emblem on it, make millions, give us all free Solar basses :P
Ola, listen to the blobfish.
YOU, I like you :D Just basicaly a mini PC loaded with a proprietary DAW simple enough for 'noobs' but enough features to be usefull for pro's , and obviously load any VST's you have, I have a feeling it would sell
Even if Ola didn't do that, I hope someone has that idea because it sounds amazing. If Ola ever did that though we know it would be damn near perfect lol
That's a really great idea, would be a fantastic bit of kit!
Considering that the MOD 2, which is basically just a bunch of open source plugins and a plugin host running on an embedded linux computer in a special purpose housing, sells for something like 600 €, you're probably more right than you know.
This so sick. As a guitar player and interning producer, this is quite eye opening and just all around informative. This is so sick!
This is SO seriously cool! The automation thing blew my mind.
I´m using this system combining vst plugins and a tube amp since 2 years (before to watch it in the Ola videos i was the only who was using it at least that i knew it, although I thought that probably more people would have the same idea), and specifically i use a Ignite amp head and overdrive, cubase 5, focusrite interface, into a normal laptop with windows 10, plugged in the fx return of a bugera combo amp.... The result: sounds nice, i have all chanel changes, boost, delay and effects, etc completely automated and till nowadays 0 problems in live shows
What focusrite interface do you use? Thinking about maybe getting a clarette but not sure the usb C (or thunderbolt 1 as they are the same more or less) will be fast enough latency wise.
@@peterrovaniemi138 I use focusrite saffire 6, in the buffer length i have choosen 2 ms (with plugins is more), but latency isn´t a problem if you have a fast and good computer (mine is a HP i5)
That s my goal, have u tried wet dry wet configuration?
I don get the precise signal chain
I know you are just trying to stay humble, but you have a large dedicated fanbase who show up to support you in what ever you do, please don't call them small... while I am sure you are just being self deprecating, in this case you are not shitting you, but us I was proud of how much we support you cause you are an awesome artist, and deserve it.
There's another advantage to using in-ears when playing through computer plugins... it lowers the real-world latency. If you have, say 10ms round-trip latency in your processing, you have to another 5-15 ms latency depending on where your cab or monitor is. By using in-ears, that analog latency (distance) is removed.
It can also be really useful in band situations. A lot of modern metal bands use backing tracks for synth and other programmed sounds. Why not use the automation for the guitar at the same time? It's worth considering! I don't really think reliability should be a big problem.
Personally, I'm done carting amps around. So happy for my Helix and maybe this is the next step.
Thanks again Ola 👍
Even John Petrucci with dt are runing protools session live. I've seen that even jp's sounds are switched via midi commands in protools. Good Job Ola! Big fan!
Now all we need is a Ola Englund "The Swede" signature plugin based on the Randall Satan.
YES or an Ola FX automation pedal board system.
Biasfx metal pack has an ola englund satan
But it's not an Ola Englund "The Swede" Satan, wich has extra bass.
shiiit that would be awesome! Ola we need this!
I went to a similar route like you, I just finished a show with just my guitar, an iPad, an interface, and a bluetooth MIDI pedalboard. Sound is great, no latency issue, my rig got a whole lot smaller and a whole lot more efficient, and I like this new iPad setup. I think this is the future, I'm not sacrificing anything in terms of tone and reliability so far, so yeah, just like you I will continue using this digital solution.
what program are you using?
We’ve this with our band and it very convenient as you dont have to bring two 4x12 and weighty tubeamps on the stage. Everytime better live sound!
Definitely think this will be the future for a lot of live applications. Apple’s Mainstage has implemented this concept for a long time but I like the idea of using the DAW for everything: backing tracks if needed and all of your automation. You’re essentially setting up your entire performance 🤘🏻
Hey Ola Swedun, the Eng. Makes perfect sense. I think you should do more of these tech tips and methods videos. You know a huge amount about all of this.
Very Well said, my man! For those who can only criticize jamming thru a DAW, Plugins, Cab & IR Cabs. You don't know what your missing. I personly was like this back in the early '90s when it came to the solid state, modular, emulator amplifiers. i.e. amplifier without valves. However, fast forward to 2010 to present and I own 5 valve amp 2 modeling combo amp. I have changed how I feel about them. Technology has not only made modular amplifiers a contender it has brought many tonal variations into my arsenal. Even more, the same thing can be said when you run your signal chain thru your computer into a DAW, vst plugins, Effects & Impulse Response Cabinets. They bring tons of sound and tonal options to the table with some mean tones. Every person asked, "can you tell what one of my amps I playing in this track" there answer 95% of the time is yes! The answer is alway's one of my tube amps or any random valve-amp. If they don't know me well. The other 5% just answer honestly with, " I don't know"!
Maybe not the first one to try this method, but atleas you put the effort to share your experiance! Thank you for this Ola, you are one of a kind!!
it's great to see people who actually have the balls to use that kind of setup on stage, that's pretty innovative. thanks for sharing
I know NiN uses LiveStage and they run all sorts of stuff through there (decapitator, echo boy, to name a couple) It's handy for a live show where you don't need a pedal board anymore. Just have your drummer have a midi controller send the midi out (even if you don't even use midi) controlled by bass drum / snare / whatever and everything just works. You can go from acoustic, to high gain to lead to whatever parts of the song need whatever. It's like having your tech backstage do this, except done via logic / mainstage. It's been part of my rundown for a few years now. Now it's bring a half stack, head and run the audio via interface > mixing boards and your in ears and boom. All you get to do is play and no touching anything as it all just works. Takes a while to get this set up, but once you do it's really good.
wow. slowly im understanding what is this plugins thing. from a peds user like 15 years ago, now that im getting back to my beloved hobby. plugins got my attention. thanks for this post.
As someone who has lugged around cabinets, heads and pedal boards for over a decade... I am ready to start using live plug-ins yesterday!
I came here just looking at UA Arrow reviews but this is a really creative fresh idea on automating signal paths/FX. Well done!
Yes, I've been using a laptop with bias fx to a cab 4*12 for more than a year and never had a problem and super happy with it. Best choice I ever did in gear
the demo songs sound amazing! Also, I’ve watched several clinics and they also have this kind of setup, which I observed is very handy and easy for them to go with the program. So maybe we are already in the age where plugins are embraced in live situations :)
BRILLIANT!!! I've been proposing this type of system for some time now and I"m thrilled to see you using something like this. I'll be money you end up using for Live Band shows in the future.
I've never really played live with a full band. I've been wanting to for years and I've been thinking of doing a similar setup with my own DI. I can only commend you for show casing this video and really showcasing exactly what you can do with new gear and how portable it actually is. So awesome dude. 10/10
If my drummer could stay in tempo with logic that would be cool
some in ears have metronomes built in. Maybe he cant hear what's going on with mudded sounds
That seems a pretty smooth and solid rig.
Also the guys from Periphery use a similar setup where they have Logic changing all their AxeFx patches.
It seems a very convenient setup for clinics and you are left with just making sure the venue has electricity.
This is fantastic. Your tone is stellar as always man. I can see this being the next big thing.
Laptops have been the central piece of gear of karoake DJ's for years. Spills, drunks, daily gigs and they make it work. I think the reliability issue, while valid, isn't as big as one would think.
the iPod nano is the wedding DJ's #1 competition :D
Good point, though some may point out a metal show isn't quite the same dynamic as a solo DJ on stage. A good metric might be to know the number of laptops DJs go through in a year or per number of shows.
A backup laptop is easier to carry than a backup amp.
@@GregRickard And cheaper as well.
@@evilgremlin True. You could get a pretty nice laptop for the cost of a new valve amp. And it would serve other purposes.
Hi Ola! I believe that this approach is the future. I actually did a similar setup for a performance back in 1997. Of course it didn´t sound anywhere nearly as good back then, and I had to combine it with some rack hardware to pull it off. Had my clunky big ass computer cabinet and huge CRT-monitor on stage, and performed with just my guitar. I did another similar setup of this for my Bacherlor´s degree about 10 years ago, this time with a iMac, Logic, some automation and a Boss GT-8. Keep up the good work :) Cheers from Norway
I used this method few months back on stage during my office event. Where I played some melodic death with my laptop and USB powered audio interface. Works perfect for me and it's very portable n mobile.
You got me pumped with this! I’ve been searching on this subject for 2 days and then I stumble upon your video. Thanks Ola for the info, never thought of automation for brining in and out the sims. Genius! A bit tedious at first but sounds like it gets the job done. Gonna try this with the Mesa Amplitube sims. 👍👍👍🎸🎸🎸
I know its an older video but you just earned my sub! Thanks man you are going down same path I am. I appreciate that you are sharing some of the methods you have experimented with. This is the future I know it.
Ola this video helped me a lot on my flow! I was thinking to look on how to do this but didn't have the time to search it.. watching your video I started to do this trick one a project & bingo!!!
12 years ago I played live gigs using Guitar Rig 3. I had 7ms latency
Yeah I've used it, that pedal they had was pretty sick.. could easily automate loop pedal/expression pedals too
Yeah I had a native instruments guitar rig live IO interface doing that - size of a cigarette packet and ran Amplitube at something daft like 32 sample buffer.
One thing I noticed is smaller less complicated USB interfaces with solid drivers are best for live performance latency. Firewire at the time was better but less reliable on non-apple laptops due to a lot of non-TI chipsets.
That's guitar rig for you
and 12 years later we are stuck with shitty usb 2.0 powered audi interfaces,,,, they fucking dared to kill FIREWIRE man, and they did it....
@@johnnyguitar7921 Now of course we have USB-C- which is the direct descendent of FireWire!
mind blown at 5:30. Just wow. Never thought of that!
I have started to use Mainstage 3 and I think I am in love. It's a great live tool. No need to open the Logic project and it's great for a song set...
Exactly when I'm digging this stuff. Could you do another video explaining more about how getting familliar with this software? Thank you for being such dedicated to what you do, you really are a source of inspiration for me. Cheers from France Ola !
Merci Ola ! This is the way to go for clinics and also for recording and make a living of it. Now, I can start my personnal studio recording at peoples home !
Thanks for the info Ola!!! I’m an old tube and pedal guy, getting into this computer stuff is a little daunting but your info really helps!!!
Hey Ola! Even I use my laptop during my jams and performances but the only problem I had was to change presets live. The only solution I could figure out to go to clean patch was to lower the tone and the volume knob on my guitars but that didn't work out so well. But thanks to you I know what I have to do to change my presets! Thank You!
holy... was wondering how you were doing those switcheroos with the guitar the sound. props man! cool stuff as always! love your videos :D
Really thinking about ditching my axe fx for this route. Trying the nameless plug in trial and I'm in love. Unbelievable tone which handles really low tuning like a charm. So much clarity and brutality at the same time!
Imagine if logic, cubase, ableton etc made a computer (or DAW console). It would be like a pc but locked to only be used for music production. Lieterally nothing else.
I think that would be genuinely amazing. Have it built like a interface which would be robust, and gig-able
Very interesting video!!! Completely agree that reliability is THE issue..as for the rest, once all different needed sounds are programmed, all you need to care is focus on guitar playing, which is perfect! Thanx for this cool lesson, Ola, and keep it up🤘
Very cool!!!! The two outputs (L/R) were plugged into two different channels of a mixer? Or a speaker power amp? Thank you!! 🙏
I still dont understand, why there is still some people push 'dislike' button.. All the way like for you, ola.. 👍👍
Awesome Ola , you’re embracing new technology and learning how to make it your bitch !! I see this eventually making its way to the live gigs probably with you leading the way !!
Pretty cool that you did this with Logic. I believe that Digital Performer was designed with this kind of application in mind (I think that it can even control lighting to sync everything up). I only dicked with it a little bit years ago and came to the same conclusion.....too much latency back then using plugins. Plus lets be honest....I don't go out and tour and do clinics so it was just the techy side checking it out at the time.
The wife said thanks for that damn AxeFXIII video you did......after the third time watching it I ended up selling my II and getting a III. She appreciates you pushing me over the edge. ;) I just didn't realize how much things had improved and it really is an amazing box.
By the way, if memory serves correctly I think that you can use MIDI to switch patches and maybe even scenes (effects would probably require sysex data) from your DAW....so basically you could have all of your effects switching done just like this, but with the AxeFXIII instead of plugins. Not quite as portable, but you'd have damn near zero latency.
If you don't need UAD amps, I use reaxis through a Yamaha THR10 as the interface. The Yamaha converters are super fast, there is no perceptible latency using reaxis, or Brainworx, or amplitude, and it's a great stereo speaker
You could also use something like Bias Fx or Amplitube and connect a midi controller like the MeloAudio MIDI Commander, that way you could change between completely different presets in the same way you switch a pedal on/off, and also link it to a especific pedal, in a specific preset you can choose which pedal you want to be able to turn on/off, even configure a wah or volume pedal with a expression midi pedal
Hi! I think this method is going to be used more and more often as the time and progress go by. Surely, it might become a part of the digital/modelling amps religion and who knows how are people going to play in the next few decades. Perhaps a rig is going to be minimised to the size of a computer and a USB interface. I on the other hand love the vibe of a roaring, raw, intimidating tube amp, it's heat emmision, the smell and sound. But at home I started to use plugins to record demos and practice - this makes my life with neighbors and wife much easier :D
I think it is great that technology is pushing the boundaries of real amps and effects pedals.
Only a matter of time till a laptop plug in will replace a tube amp.
Like one of the guys below said if you can make the plugin outside of a Daw and have it switchable via a pedal then they would be great.
Thank you for showing me this Ola, as a proud owner of an Axe-Fx II and MFC-101 owner, this has given me a lot to think about! ^_^
Awesome solution and great video! btw that secret lead plugin sounds to me very "nevermorey" :D
Brilliantly video! Pretty good job as always Mr. Jesus!!! I’d really like to see the settings you’re using with the Nameless Suite sometime!!! 😉
Great video Ola, very informative. The future is most certainly digital, it's only a matter of time though for us amp lovers, we can still use them if we wish. I'll embrace both!
Been doing this with Leo Pou plugins in Studio One. Pretty awesome to see Ola is doing it now too! I always set the buffer rate to 64 and as long as youre careful about not using CPU hogging VST's there shouldent be latency. Some reverbs do cause issues be careful and see what works for you and your PC. Ola makes anything sound brutal though!
Dear Ola, this was really helpful, wow, thanks a lot!! Almost every word was what I needed. True!! All the best.
I guess, checking this setup in Moscow would be a little different by now... I will try it at home first 🙂
I also tried playing through amp sims (Boss GT-100, EZ Mix, and BIAS AMP 2 + FX) in recent years. They are cheaper and can be used more easily in a home setup. Everything sounded pretty fine: distorted power chords, overdrive lead sounds, clean or crunch sounds with lots of effects on it (especially with the BIAS FX). However, I never was satisfied with the sound of palm mutes when playing through virtual amps and effects - I now have a Revv Generator 100p with an Engl box and I can tell you - it's a great feeling when the sound waves of a palm-muted riff hit your balls while you shred in front of your gear. So when practicing with my band mates, I use "real" gear, but amp sims are just so convenient when practicing at home (or while traveling).
A lot of it comes down to what you are monitoring on but there is something great (both tone and feel) about the simplicity of just a really nice valve amp.
automation is so nice and consistent in ears
Great great video, you're always one step ahead of the others 🤘
i really like Ola, i've only subbed to his channel a couple of weeks, me and ola should be neighbours, it would be one long party !
Love the idea, but dunno how much more portable this setup is comparing to carrying an AX8
As a young lad, I always thought to myself as I entered Guitar Center" all these huge amps and keyboards at expensive prices". All while the people I knew had sound banks on flashdrives.
Great video, Ola! Could you make a video teaching how to program the plug in changes automatically?
Thanks for the great video Ola. I've tinkered a bit with plugins, but found that it's hard to nail down a nice tone. Do you have any videos, or plan on making a video about how you sculpted your tone in this video?
It’s scary how much sense this makes...
Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks Ola!
My old band used a Mac 7/600 (many MANY years ago...) in rehearsal with keys & 2nd guitar from what was then an early version of Cubase (we managed to find a real 2nd guitarist eventually). Worked great as long as the drummer kept to the click. Would have loved to try the automated plugin system - I think it is definitely the way to go when considering the increased transportation costs for bands in a world of ever decreasing financial return. I've got a Marshall 6100 (which has MIDI control) & would be interested in trying that, linked to a Mac to see how it goes. Might try that in my studio for curiosity. The only pit fall is the computer dying mid set - I think Devin Townsend has a vid of a gig where it all goes tits up at the start & he gets through it like a total pro. Modern machines are so much more complex these days but I think if you keep your third party plugins to a minimum & run something like a Mac with Logic (where the same manufacturer is responsible for both items) you are on fairly safe ground. Also agree with the in ear monitoring - far safer & I agree, you never know what the venue monitors are like... As always, superb vid!
Hi Ola. Can you PLEASE do a video on how to get Logic Pro X set up like this?? How did you do this?!
It must be weird calculating in your time travel moments when planning videos. Always fun :).
As a one-man- band I could really appreciate and use this method for live gigs
man this dude its ridiculous with the stuff that he plays its so fucking hard i love it.
This is unreal backing and effects all in one compact unit genius. I wondered how you change VSTs. now I know, preset. The computer wouldn't do update while
playing if you set it to block while performing is that correct. That is a good looking interface. Cheers Les.
Ola, perhaps your best video yet! not just subscribed; JOINed
With my band we were playing just with a computer for a few years now and so far its been working!
i'll go for this because i don't have to carry lots of stuff for a small gig, just a very good gigbad with laptop and cables, ready to go...im buying myself an Ipad Pro to use Bias Amp 2 to record stuff (i was blown away with its potential to do so) and i can really take it in my backpack and just sit in my breaks at college and jam around to get all the subjects mess out of my mind
Hey man, your setup looks good, but you might want to consider dropping that Fabfilter limiter out of the master chain, since the low-latency mode is bypassing that completely (as you can see from all the clipping in the meters). It's true that around 1-3db clipping is not really audible in most cases - the stuff in this video sounds good for example - but you might want to turn it down a bit in Logic and use the headroom of the main venue sound system to get the loudness you need.
I've been using Mainstage (it's Logic, but for live) since we use two computers on stage - one for the backing tracks and a second one for my guitar plugins and vocals - and I use just a small two-button bluetooth page turner to scroll between presets. The latency is great on that software too and allows for quite elaborate routings but your solution of having all the plug-ins on the same track is also very clever!
I've done a 80 people capacity club show with two 100W tube heads and four 4x12" cabs and a separate JC120 just for cleans, and a 50 000 stadium (+1,5 million viewers on TV) with an iPad and Focusrite iTrack Dock . Also did shows where Logic (on a MacBook Pro) did all backing tracks and all my guitar stuff with plugins and ALSO all pedal work. Like whammys and wahwahs too. (talk about playing on cue :D) So whatever works, works.
Hi Ola! How about if you need backing tracks + click track in your iem and the actual sound that goes through the foh? Can you show us a detailed video on how you route the signal using your current setup? Thanks a lot!!
Dude, Ive been watching your videos on and off and find you interesting. I think the whole computer set up and plug in is great for me because who knows when I'll afford all those great amps and gear! I pursued a metal career back in the Hollywood Metal scene but then died and now its super hard to find what your looking for and even harder because I'm not in my 20s anymore! So, I decided to finish many songs and other new ones so I've been looking at products you mention, even the SATAN plug in! Really, who the hell has all that fkng money to buy so many amps and even the Hammond B3. The last guy I depended on had a REAL B3 in Hollywood and thought I'd never find anyone with a real B3. The fkr decided to sell it and go to college! A-hole! Now that I'm older and harder to face that Ill never be a "star" I can at least finish my music via digital and feel a sense of accomplishment. PS I still have my main power amp, VHT 2902 and dual recto cab Mesa, EMG' on my guitars, and my ADA Mp1 but cant play em in an upstairs apartment! Setting up a digital workstation is an excellent way to go and believe I could even play live once I get it all together. Thanks for your videos.
I don’t have a band as I just do everything myself. The downside is playing live (I don’t play live) but this seems like a really sweet alternative!
You just saved me. This Is exactly what i needed. Thank you Ola
thanks ola, these mixing videos and paranormal videos are the only kind on youtube that dont make me want to kill myself! keep it sick brother \m/
What's the name of that "intro"(maybe) played on 9:00? It's so sick man, fucking cool that dark energy feeling the darkness kingdom rising slowly and the chaos taking the earth and the hope away I heard this little part at least 20 times just this day
You can use automation when playing to a backing track. In a band situation you may want to control the computer with an external midi pedal board. Long story short: support for this you may find on bias and amplitube, they are standalone even!, but they don't really work in a true stereo way. Reaxis i love, it has a great stereo imaging, but no midi program changes and no stand alone. If you want to use several plugins in your chain you may be forced to use the midi capabilities of your daw, which are not well developed yet for such task. That's the greatest pitfall for plugins in a band situation: midi pedal board control. No daw considers this and no third party plug-in hub that i know can pull this off yet.
I"ve shared this video with my pal Kris at Guitarmasterclass.net and he sees the power of this approach, as do it. I'm glad it's you doing it. If it were anybody else, most folks would just dismiss it.
hey ola, i think you just started a new path to live performance. it's like kemper amps... but you showed a way to use all the computer power and plugins
if this gets hooked up by other guitar players, this could lead to a very interesting path for future live music
btw. i love my first solar guitar A2.6 gmm, but the pickups get noisy when you switch the 5-way switch to position 2 & 4
Greetings from Germany & Rock on Swede :)
Chers
Sebastian
I'd like to see multiple musicians setup with effects automation.Singer vocal effect automation as well.
Honestly, digital has came a very long way in the last 10 years. I remember saying back in 2003 when i went to audio engineering school that i would never record in anything other than analog. But today i have a full digital setup studio lol Don't get me wrong i love that analog sound but like u said ola it just makes life so much easier and sounds amazing. Live i would def like them amp feels, but for your situation ola I'm for digital 100%
That clean riff was funkyy
My last gig I used Amplitube on iPad Air 2 on an Alesis iO Dock II. It went very well, and people thought my sound have even improved!
This is a thing I've been thinking about A LOT. In the terms of: could this thing be used as an entire band's rig? Using a 4in-8out interface to have 2 guitars, bass and vocals going into the interface and routing all of these, plus prerecorded tracks to the PA, metronome and monitor mixes to the players. Definitely need a heavy duty processor to do this, but how much of an awesome thing would it be? it's also very backup-able, meaning that you can upload the project to a cloud and in case your rig craps out/gets stolen/whatever, you have an easy backup solution if you can get your hands on a laptop and an interface (easier than getting a couple of tube amps or kempers)
Really thinking of doing this live .... either through the fx return or to the desk .... i can have 2 outputs , one metronome out from the interface and one to the desk/return .... the metronome out is for the drummer - that way i can automate the whole performance as the songs are in time since the drummer is using the metronome of the same project file
Hi Ola !! I'm using more and more plugins to emulate amps and cabinet for my recordings but I must admit I' m thinking more and more about letting all my stompboxes at home in my roomstudio if I need to move to a concert or festival as I usually use a laptop with a midi controller for some loops and additional effects, so why not using amp and pedal effetcs VST meanwhile ?!
I must say the only reason I didn't go to that solution is I didn't find a good foot midi footboard, and most of all afordable... And afordable is really important for my group as we play mostly lo-fi punk music ;) So we are always aiming for the cheapest xDDD
If you have a suggestion I'd be really happy to hear it from you !! Anyway, keep on doing what you're doing, I lover your channel, even if I'm not metal fan now, I used to and I tyotally respect and like your work :)))))) Thanks for all and have fun Ola !
Djo from IronicA PNP
I do similar to Ola, but I use a JTV Variax, an AXE FX II GL+, POD HD500X, Reaper (EZ mix) with midi. Everything automated and on a click track, going from 8 string style, to 6 string, to acoustic, to whatever I want, all without touching a thing. No amps, cabs, or mics. A purest might find it ridiculous, but I think it's pretty cool.
Very cool. I'm gathering a midi pedalboard could be hooked up too for manualy changing preamps, cab sims and effects if needed ?