Ah yes, a tale as old as time…, digital or analog (ok maybe not THAT old) Tube amps or modelers? We’ll dive into what you need for both cases and what you should consider before making this decision, but most importantly: What works best for you!
Maybe you don’t need amp modelers and fancy stuff, just an amp. Perhaps the opposite case is true for you; in the end, I can’t make that call for you, I can only provide the information so your choice is informed.
Much like Glenn Fricker’s series “11 Reasons Why”, every point will have its counterpart with advantages and disadvantages: With that clarification: Let’s begin.
Mix workflow
This is not specifically about using amp sims instead of tube amps, and the following scenario can be dealt with either option, however, a band’s show is not only the guitar player filling their ego with a wall for Marshalls (Looking at you Malmsteen).
Digital consoles bring to the table an important feature that saves engineers a lot of time: recalling a mix. Going with a plug-in-based system essentially turns your computer into a digital console where you can have scenes for every song and even parts for every song which allows you to change your mix on-demand taking the premixed multitrack and adjusting it to your needs on the go. It is important to note, however, that drastic changes might not be necessary.
If you have ever done live sound before: You know that in most cases consists of setting the mix and then leaving it alone; subtly tweaking it when necessary at most, however, the scene recalls can be a double edge blade, since if you need to modify something drastically on the fly, changing scenes for a different part of the song will undo the previous needed modification having to re-do them again. However, both issues can be easily addressed by hiring someone to do the Front of House mixing, so maybe save some budget to actually pay an engineer to do a good job for you.
If you happen to struggle to find an engineer (Since, let’s be honest, not everyone lives in a well-crowded city where finding a qualified audio engineer is easy), you can have pre-mixed scenes and change the patches, but know that you won’t be able to modify the mix while you’re playing.
Processing
Digital consoles (And DAWs by extension) have a lot of processors built-in that can be taken advantage of. From EQ to correct for the unprepared venue you’re playing at, compressors to maintain a certain sense of volume for singers that go from mumbling to shouting, gates to prevent bleeding from mics, reverbs, delay, and all sorts of FX. Some analog consoles have EQ and compression baked in as well, some even have their reverb and FX modules, you have not as many effects as digital, granted, but this can be an advantage because it reduces choice paralysis: It’s way easier to turn a knob and send stuff to the reverb rather than having to choose between plate, hall, room, etc (and set it up afterward). That way you eliminate the chances of making a mistake or spending hours finding that perfect effect.
If you’re using a digital console and external amp modeler, you’re pretty much failure-safe regarding technical issues. The same is not true for a DAW running on a computer. Since you’re not working on a dedicated system but rather running your show in a digital environment with resources allocated to different tasks: You have to be conscious of the processing power and resource consumption of the plug-ins you’re running. Most modern computers are powerful enough to run a show seamlessly, the key, however, relies on the term “MODERN”, and what you plan to do with the computer.
Maybe running the audio is something your computer can do, but rendering live video and DMX lighting scenes might drown your CPU and GPU. The best advice I can lend to test the capabilities of your computer is to create a full-on set using everything you will need on the show, the highest sample rate, and lowest buffer size possible, and test it for a couple of weeks; make sure everything runs well and then you should be good to go.
If you encounter any issues start by reducing the sample rate and then increase the buffer size; I’m pretty sure you’re thinking that the reason I’m suggesting the highest sample rate possible is because it sounds more “natural, warm, yet punchy, and to get those super-harmonics beyond the range of human hearing that resonate with the universe”. And you couldn’t possibly be more wrong! Unless you’re playing for a crowd of bats (and I mean literally, not those gothic dudes that show up to gigs and call everyone “posser”), to the human perception; a higher sample rate doesn’t make a difference, however, your CPU cares, think about this: The higher the sample rate, the more packages come into your computer a second, which means the buffer fills faster, ergo, higher speed of processing in opposition to the incoming wave, and paired with a lower buffer you get less latency. However, your CPU needs to be able to perform these quick operations, so be aware of that and find the balance between stability and latency. And speaking of that:
Latency
Every digital system introduces latency, and you’d probably say: “BuT I oWn A KeMPeR AnD iT DoESn’t aDD latENcY”, to which I would reply “Does your Kemper have tubes and analog electronic circuitry to switch between a gazillion topologies and emulate different tube amps that way? No? Is it digital? THEN IT ADDS LATENCY!!!” Why? Well, I’ll leave an explanation down in case you’re interested, but it is skippable since it is a more in-depth view and a lot more technical take, which is good to know, but non-essential to the premises of this article:
Digital systems introduce latency because (among other factors) they are complex and have a lot of stages where they can add potential delay:
Digital systems have to turn your guitar into 1s and 0s in processing called A-D-C or Analog to Digital Conversion, which requires sampling, that means you have to wait for the converter to take a portion of your guitar signal to feed it to the DSP (Digital Signal Processor) through the buffer.
After the signal is converted it must go through the buffer memory (VRAM [The V stands for volatile, it has nothing to do with Virtual RAM on a computer sense or Video RAM]) that memory has what are called memory addresses and a memory controller that assigns the incoming data to said addresses.
After the DSP receives the packages from the RAM, it has to fetch the convolution formulas (Which are in essence, your profiles) from another memory (NV Storage [NV stands for “Non-Volatile”] where your profiles are stored).
Now that the DSP has both the incoming signal from the ram and the formula: It applies the algorithms that make it sound as if it was getting out of an emulated rig to the incoming signal.
After the DSP has performed those calculations, the inverse process of A-D conversion called D-A-C or Digital to Analog Conversion has to turn those DSP’d 1s and 0s into a sound wave, but before doing it, the proper filtering (reconstruction filtering, low-pass at Nyquist frequency, anti-aliasing, etc) must be applied.
All of this nerdy mambo-jumbo serves the purpose of explaining what is going on inside your knob-filled toaster and understanding that, like every digital system: it introduces latency, however, it is sold as latency-free because the speed at which this process occurs is unnoticeable for the human ear.
Now, running plug-ins in a DAW adds latency, and even though it might not seem like an issue if the response is unnoticeable: This latency might affect the overall frequency response if you run the same sources through multiple instances, mainly because a shift in delay in two similar signals introduces phase cancellation on certain frequencies (this is known as comb filtering and is why poor dual tracking gives that shitty chorus-like sound). Even though latency might seem “fine” for the performer/s, a quick recording and listening goes a long way. On the other hand, analog equipment has no latency, which, in need of a more powerful system in terms of computing: Can and will be more efficient and less troublesome than digital systems.
(For the nerds out there: I know the latency of analog is 90% of the speed of light, plus whatever time it takes for sound to get from the speakers to your ears, but is virtually 0)
Resources
Okay, I hinted at what you need for your show but now is time to put it in clear items and divide the different possibilities regarding your set-up and intentions, as well as the pros and cons of each system.
Fully computerized system
This refers to a situation where you only take your computer to do live audio and nothing else to the show:
- Computer
- Audio interface
- DAW (Studio One, VSTLive, Ableton Live, and MainStage are the best options for this as they are made just for live performances or offer a workflow for live performances).
- Amp-Sim and sampler Plug-ins if you’re not using modelers and have E-Drums (For example using Element Bass for Bass guitar or Extinction Level Event to get the best out of an E-Kit).
- A MIDI controller to switch scenes (This is optional if you have someone to do it, and if you have a multi-fx pedal unit it might have a MIDI out).
- A control app for your DAW so the mixes can be altered by an engineer on a phone or tablet (This is optional as well, and most DAWS come with their control app).
Pros:
- It’s practically weightless as you can carry your laptop in your gig bag and your interface in your backpack
- Consistancy between different shows
- Quick set-up at the venue, just open the software and run it
- Scenes can carry video playback and programmed DMX (depending on the software)
- Easy to disassemble.
- Virtually unlimited effects
Cons:
Modelers-computerized system
This refers to a situation where you take your computer to do live audio and your hardware modelers, requirements, pros, and cons are the same except for the amp sim requirements (and therefore, is lighter on the CPU).
Fully analog and amp-based system
This refers to a situation where most of you have been: Taking your amps, pedals, and mics to the venue and then going into an analog console. So here are the resources (keep in mind the venue MIGHT provide some stuff)
- Amps and pedals for every musician.
- Mics for every amp.
- Analog console (With enough Aux outs for every monitoring mix).
- Required effects units if they are not included in the console.
Pros:
- Latency and failure-free.
- Room for improvisation and setlist changes on the fly.
- Less dependency on the venue’s PA system for instruments.
Cons:
- Longer set-up time.
- Larger costs.
- Heavier and harder transportation.
- No DMX or video control from a central hub.
- External effect units are required.
- Larger costs.
PA System
Unless you have your own PA system, the resources to carry it around whenever you need it, and the time and knowledge (or crew) to set it up: You’ll be relying on the venue’s PA, sometimes it will not be an issue and sometimes it will.
With that in mind, before playing a gig: Ask the venue owner if you can go there and play some music into their PA to get an idea of how it’ll sound (Select songs that you know very well so you get an idea of what it sounds: I go with the remastered Dawn Patrol by Megadeth to test the bass response and Take No Prisoners from the original album release to test the mid-highs, but that is because I know those songs like the back of my hand and how they should sound, you have your own).
You might find that using a bass amp and plug-ins for the guitars and vocals is a good idea, or how you should EQ everything to compensate for the room, in the end; if you are dependent on the venue’s PA: You should ALWAYS consider adapting to that
Conclusion
You might already have amps and your shows are perfectly fine like that, on the other hand, you might already have modelers or be using plug-ins altogether. This article doesn’t seek to encourage anyone from switching to one method to another but rather to inform you and let you know if there is room for improvement and what choices you should make to improve the quality of your show. I hope you found it useful, see you at your next gig!
