Mastering The Ozone Layer
Izotope's Ozone 3 mastering plug-in is one of the best-sounding, most versatile applets I've used for music, podcast, and lately radio production on computer. While it's sold as a mastering compressor and does that job extremely well, its presets are terrific for adding compression, EQ and glass on individual tracks, as well. I've used it on everything from bass guitar and lead vocals on songs, to recorded telephone interviews on podcasts. It allows for maximum level without distortion, and its presets making mastering of finished recordings a breeze, as well as endless tweaking and customization. Currently selling for about $184 on Amazon, this is a workhorse product.
Bivouacking The Guitar Army
Electric guitar technology has certainly advanced in many ways since the days when Leo Fender and Roland's VG-99 Virtual Guitar system, which debuted in October. Streeting at about $1200 and packed with 200 presets, the best of which are truly stunning, this is the culmination of a guitar modeling system that Roland has been crafting since the mid-1990s.
To make full use of the VG-99, you'll also need a guitar with a Roland-compatible hexaphonic pickup and 13-pin cable, such as those made by Godin, or Fender's Roland-Ready Stratocaster, which I used to test the unit. Like the predecessor VG-88, it's also possible to plug an electric guitar with a conventional quarter-inch jack into the VG-99. However with that configuration, most of the more extreme modeling patches won't trigger, but it's a great way to make use of a trusty old Les Paul, Tele or any other non-hex-equipped electric guitar, and it does drive the basic amp sounds.
There are dozens of stunning presets in the VG-99, ranging from bluesy Les Paul tones, to 12-string guitars, to an assortment of DADGAD-tuned instruments, to a pretty exact replica of Roland's GR-300 guitar synthesizer from the early 1980s. In other words, if you'd like some of the tones used by Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Robert Fripp or Pat Metheny, they're all here.
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