Michael Ross
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The Most Recent stories by Michael Ross
- Patty Larkin May 2008
What sets Patty Larkin apart from the standard singer/songwriter set is that she is as well known for her inventive guitar playing as she is for her songs. The Berklee alum also differs from that crowd in having been an early adopter ...
- Digidesign Eleven May 2008
The first popular DAW guitar-modeling plug-in—Line 6’s Amp Farm software—worked solely with Digidesign’s Pro Tools TDM sequencer. A decade later, Digidesign has decided to enter the fray with its own guitar-modeling software. Let’s ...
- Native Instruments Guitar Rig 3 vs. Waves GTR3 January 2008
Guitar Rig 3 ($339 retail/$299 street Software Edition; $579 retail/$499 street for Kontrol Edition) and GTR3 (complete system $500 retail/native or $600 TDM; software only is $380 retail/native or $480 retail/TDM; interface only is ...
- The Real Heroes of Guitar Hero III January 2008
The video-game industry has become a monster player in the new-media economy. Just ask the record and movie companies desperately trying to compete for your entertainment dollar. For a while, it even appeared that PlayStation, XBox, ...
- Nick Moss December 2007
To find a singer/guitarist/songwriter who excels at all three pursuits is a rare thing, but Nick Moss is not content to rest on those laurels alone—the young Chicagoan is a one-man cottage industry. His label, Blue Bella, has released ...
- Roland VG-99 V-Guitar System July 2007
When Roland introduced the VG-8 more than a decade ago, it was revolutionary. In addition to modeling amplifiers, the VG-8 modeled guitars, allowing you to create virtual tunings, as well as move virtual pickups anywhere on the body ...
- Damage Control Solid Metal July 2007
The Solid Metal pedal ($279 retail/$199 street) uses twin 12AX7 tubes to produce extremely high-gain distortion. The uniquely voiced Bass control provides nice thump without loss of articulation—regardless of gain levels—but the Scoop ...
- Damage Control Liquid Blues July 2007
The Liquid Blues ($279 retail/$199 street) is a dual-tube overdrive with Level, Drive, Opto Comp, Clarity, and Treble controls. I found the overdrive sound by itself uninspiring, but I was blown away by the studio quality compression ...
- Damage Control Glass Nexus July 2007
The Glass Nexus ($559 retail/$399 street) multi-effects pedal unites warmth and clarity by using 96kHz processing and dual 12AX7s. Offering reverb, delay, and modulation effects (rotary, Uni-Vibe, detune, flange, phase, etc.), the Glass ...
- Damage Control TimeLine July 2007
With its 96kHz processing and pair of 12AX7 tubes, the TimeLine ($559 retail $399 street) provides a wealth of studio-quality, programmable delay variations (slap, reverse, etc.), and modulation effects such as chorus, flange, and vibrato. ...