Re: [Harp-L] Interesting PC-based Amp Simulation freeware found

[JohnnieHarp <johnnieharp@xxxxxxxxx>]

Richard, thanks for your comments re: FreeAmp 2.5

> .... don't sell your great tube amp in a sudden fit of excitement resulting from your
> discovery of the new stuff....

Thanks for your advice. Actually, I don't have an amp, which is partly
what motivated me to look into what might be PC based. I'm not in the
Little Walter holy grail camp so am not trying to recreate a
particular sound; more interested in what might be possible.

I like to augment music I find I catchy whether it be by Benny Goodman
or Miley Cyrus. When I'm learning something I usually play unamplified
and one-handed to try and work on what I'm doing without the
interference of amplification or even hand effects. I find these make
it harder to hear what I'm playing in terms of tone, tonal changes,
etc.

This approach is partly happenstance as I find playing along
subconsciously to music in the background, while online reading or
surfing, seems to work really well. Creativity with successive repeats
seems to happen naturally and its easy to put in practice time without
really noticing it.

I started thinking about PC amplification as I use Audacity to import
a tune, then add my track along side it. If practising as above, I
sometimes record my efforts then listen to my successive iterations to
review what I've played and see what worked and what didn't.

When done recording, I often add a bit of delay to my track with
Audacity effects. This has worked quite well so I realized how much
simulated amps/effects might add to the playing experience.

I notice that you've recommended an inexpensive PC mic in the past.
Last week I picked up a small lapel sized PC mic on sale for $5. It's
about the size of a CDN Loonie ($1 coin) and designed to clip on to
the wire of headphones to give them speech capabilities for skype,
gaming, etc.

When playing, cupping or not, it fits easily in my hand and works well
one or two handed. Only the relatively thin wire exits so when two
handed cupping, mic positioning and tight cupping is easy. Plus, I
really like the sound I get out of it. Could easily see using it in a
performance situation.

Amazing, the inexpensive technology available. It most certainly is
the “... the golden age of gear ...”

Johnnie