As a lifelong guitarist and tone hound, I’ve had the pleasure of recording and playing on some of the world’s most cherished amplifiers. My sonic heaven is a set of glowing tubes spilling into a vintage Marshall 4×12 cabinet and projected out at mind numbing volume. But at 3am when I have an idea that just can’t wait and I don’t want to be arrested for disturbing the peace, I find my salvation in Native Instruments Guitar Rig 4 LE which is included in SONAR X1 Producer.
Armed with a guitar and a cable, your choice of great tones await within Guitar Rig 4 LE in just a few steps. From searing, tube style lead tones, thick and chunky metal to crystal clean majesty it’s all there!
First, grab your axe and cord and plug into your audio interface.
Then add a new audio track to your project by right clicking in the open space of the Track View and selecting “Add new audio track”.
Next, select your input that the guitar is plugged into from the input section of the track in the Console View.
Now go to the Browser and select the Audio FX from the Plugins tab. In the “Amp/Tape Simulation” folder, drag Guitar Rig 4 LE from the browser to the newly added audio track. Make sure the Input Echo is engaged on the audio track so that you can hear the guitar and start trying out the different amps, cabinets and effects to build your setup. At the top of Guitar Rig’s window are handy visual meters for the input and output levels of the guitar signal, adjust the input level on your audio interface until you get a good solid level without going into the red. There’s even a tuner with strobe mode built in to make sure you’re in tune with the rest of your instruments!
Once you’ve got your tone dialed in, all of the settings for the track can be saved as a Track Template by right clicking on the track in the Console View and selecting “Save as track template”. Now you can drag in this template to any new project and all of the settings from Guitar Rig 4LE, the input channel setting and any other mix settings are loaded up automatically saving you loads of time and thought!
Now arm the track to record and you’re ready to burn up the fretboard with stunning tone! And if your amp looks jealous it’s because it should be, Guitar Rig 4 LE is just that good.
 Learn more about SONAR X1 Producer and watch our free how to videos in HD on CakeTV.