Customized Computer Systems for Guitarists

Guitarist Combo (Guitar not included) (Click for a close-up)

Guitarist Control Station (Guitar not included) (Click for a close-up)

Carillon wants to take the mystery out of computer music by providing pre-configured solutions that combine a soundcard, music software and other hardware ready to go out of the box. Computers are often seen as the exclusive tools of electronic musicians and programmers but now Carillon offers two specially configured systems aimed squarely at the songwriter and music producing guitarist.

The Carillon integrated manual will take you through your first steps of making music on the computer. The tutorials are unique to each solution and are created in-house by Carillon's Technical Director Robin Vincent, author of the best selling book "PC Music -- The Easy Guide" and the brand new "Guitarist Guide to Computer Music".

Carillon's own controllers can provide finger tip access to transport and effects control, and they also external controllers like the Behringer FCB1010 floorboard.

Carillon RK8 with Warp VST

As featured in the "Guitarist Combo" Solution, Carillon's front mounted 8 knob MIDI controller has been customized to match the controls on the Hughes & Ketner Warp VST amp modelling plug-in. If you want to change from Clean to Plexi, no problem, just turn the knob. All the controls are mapped for instant tonal gratification.

Warp VST gives you three amps, Jazz Clean, Plexi Tube Head and Warp Rectified, and three cabinets, British, Combo and Greenback that can be used in any combination. Along with selecting amp and cabinet the RK8 takes care of Gain, Master, Presence and EQ for the selected amp.

Carillon RK8 and Behringer FCB1010 with Amplitube

The "Guitarist Control Station" Solution introduces foot control with the Behringer FCB1010. Normally employed to work with hardware effects processors, Carillon have programmed it to control the Amplitube amp modelling software from IK Multimedia. Amplitube offers numerous amp models, cabinets, EQ models as well as a number of stomp style and post effects.

With the FCB1010 you can turn effects in Amplitube on and off with the press of a toe, and use the expression pedals for performance parameters such as Wah amount and volume. Go up a bank on the FCB1010 and you can select from any of your saved preset tones. Not content with just foot control the RK8 can come back into play for tactile control over any of the parameters in Amplitube.

The Guitarist Control Station also comes with the Carillon RTM1 as standard (an option with the other packages) giving hardware transport controls over the recording software. It also features a flashing metronome which is surprisingly useful in the recording environment. The FCB1010 is also mapped to control transport, so you can drop into record at any time with a stomp.

Playing live with the DSound GT Player

With every guitarist solution Carillon supplies GT Player and Stompn'FX software from DSound. The GT Player allows you to load up any of the 13 Stompn'FX effects boxes and chain them together, along with any other VST effects like Amplitube and Warp VST. You can then simply play your guitar without having to load up anything else. It also features a Track Player which can play backing tracks or loop riffs off CD and slow them down with the real-time time stretching tool. The Stompn'FX effects can also be used in the recording software.

Available Solutions

The Guitarist Combo includes:

• Cubase SL multitrack recording software.
• Virtual guitar sounds are available through the Hughes and Ketner Warp VST effect plug-in, with full knob control with the Carillon RK8.
• Steinberg's Groove Agent provides backing drums
• Omni Studio gives you pro quality recording of guitar, mics and line levels directly into the PC. A total of 4 in/out, S/PDIF and dual headphones all controllable from the front panel.
• Prices from $2674

The Guitarist Control Station comes with:

• Steinberg Cubase SX Studio
• Warp VST Guitar Amp Modeller
• IK Multimedia's Amplitube amp modeller
• Steinberg Groove Agent Virtual Drummer
• 1U rack DA2496 with mic, guitar and 8 analog i/o.
• Behringer FCB1010 floorboard controller (configured to control all the effects in Cubase SX)
• Prices from $3574