If you are a gigging musician, you know the necessity of a fully stocked pedal inventory. If you are an audiophile, you might understand this even better. Having access to a variety of different pedals means more control over your instrument and endless options for tone and sounds. A well-maintained pedal collection can take years to compile and requires more than a fair share of effort to transport, set up and control while playing.
App developers have taken some of the hard work out of pedal setup with digital stompbox and effect pedals for your mobile device.
Mobile stompboxes and effect pedals offer you the ability for plug and play capability, giving you access to some great effects with comparable control in comparison to physical pedals. An app is a far cry from a high-end analog pedal, but these digital simulators make jamming and on the go effect usage as easy as a swipe of your finger.
These mobile apps are innovative and most of all fun. From amp simulators to pre-set effect packs, app developers have used the best of the physical pedal market and boiled it down to an efficient, easy-to-use app. With AudioBus drivers, these apps are low-latency and allow you to play your effects live with compatible hardware.
All you need is a 1/4 inch to USB adaptor and you are ready to experiment with tones without ever opening up your road case.
One of the apps in the collection, TonePrint (Android, iOS) from TC Electronics, is an example of how a well-established pedal company can bridge the gap between mobile-ready applications and the conventional digital pedal. Along with a series of TonePrint pedals, TC Electronics has developed an app made specifically to expand the capability of the pedal via the mobile app. Players simply need to “beam” a tone into the pick up of their guitar, after syncing the app-ready pedal, to gain access to a variety of pre-set effects. You can search effects from artists, dates in guitar history or by the pedal itself, to find pre-set pedal settings developed at the hands of professional musicians. Not only is this a very interesting merging of the pedal and the mobile device, but the TonePrint app makes finding the best setting for these pedals easy and fun.
Other multi-effect apps give you the option for multitrack recording and other essential instrument accessories — like tuners and metronomes. Some apps even offer play and jam capability, allowing you to access your favorite songs and jam alongside of them (keep on the look out for features like Amplitube‘s NO VOICE, which lets you mute lead vocal or guitar tracks giving you the chance to shine).
Finding the best stompbox or mobile effect app is completely dependent on how you plan to use your instrument. If you are low on time and need an effect quickly, these apps are the way to go, especially if your pedal collection is no where near expansive enough to handle the amount of effect control offered by these hardworking apps.
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