The means we make music has modified. A plethora of digital modelers, out there in each {hardware} and plugin varieties, has made recording nice guitar tones accessible to anybody with a pc.
With this, nonetheless, comes 1000’s of just about infinitely tweakable choices. Great when you have the time, however what if there was a solution to minimize by way of all of it, and get straight to the tone that’s in your head? Enter Positive Grid with Project: Bias X.
Watch On
No stranger to the guitar plug-in sport, Positive Grid has constructed BIAS X with an all-new DSP engine to make their guitar amp, cab, and results fashions sound and really feel extra life like than ever. Of which we now have 33 amps and 63 results (on the time of writing), that cowl every thing from heat, jazzy cleans to all-out, melt-your-face distortion.
If you’re susceptible to the dreaded possibility paralysis, this may occasionally sound like one thing that can solely add to the issue. However, it’s precisely this that BIAS X appears to deal with with a powerful AI-driven interface that goals to get the person straight to the tone of their thoughts.
The potential time saving is big
There are two methods to work together with it. Text to tone, which includes describing the sound by way of the AI’s chat field, or music to tone, which nails down a guitar sound from a user-uploaded observe. In each circumstances, it’s just a few moments earlier than BIAS X presents a preset that may be tweaked by way of extra dialogue with the AI, or manually diving into the controls on the amps and results within the preset it has give you.
It sounds nice on paper, and as somebody who recurrently data music at dwelling, the potential time saved is big. So, let’s load it up and see what occurs.
Upon first opening BIAS X, I’m offered with a self-explanatory drag-and-drop workflow. It’s one which anybody who has used amplifier modeling software program earlier than will likely be acquainted with and presents alternatives to maintain it easy or dive into the deeper features with a couple of clicks.
Amps, cabs, and results are displayed on the left of the display as a part of a visible and fashionable interface by way of trendy photographs that correlate to the sound the mannequin relies on.
The cab fashions come full with 4 completely different mic picks that may be blended and positioned to style with degree controls and the aforementioned drag and drop. Additionally, when you have a most popular IR, like many people rightfully fussy guitar gamers do, that may be loaded in right here, too.
And, as one may count on, there’s a wholesome serving of curated presets to get you began.
So, I may merely deal with BIAS X like I’d a conventional modeling plugin and construct the tone from scratch myself, however that’s not my purpose right here. I’m trying to save time and let the AI do the work.
With this in thoughts, load up a tough rock, blues-inspired undertaking (assume someplace between Philip Sayce and Phil X) that wants some guitar, choose up my Fender Telecaster, and use the textual content to tone performance to ask the AI for a “easy, pushed arduous rock tone.” To most, this could point out a reasonably gained up Marshall with loads of mid-range and a chew that’s current however not offensive.
Astonishingly, after a couple of brief moments, BIAS X nails it. It masses up a Marshall-style amp mannequin that is receiving a very good kick from a Klon-type overdrive, and somewhat reverb so as to add some area.
I’m shocked, as I used to be anticipating to do some tweaking, notably as my instruction was purposefully normal. BIAS X appears to have understood the connotations of the style and delivered accordingly, leaving me free to go forward and hit report.
Next, I have to do a little bit of double monitoring. BIAS X conveniently permits presets to be saved and organised into folders throughout the software program, so I try this and cargo the plug-in right into a separate observe. Bringing up the identical sound, I ask the AI to tweak it to a darker model with much less acquire.
The software program provides an EQ, which darkens issues up as requested, nevertheless it didn’t scale back the acquire to the extent that I wished. Helpfully, the AI provides an in depth rationalization of the way it arrives on the presets it creates. Reading by way of this, I see it considers the amp to be operating in a low-gain mode and that it made adjustments to the Klon-style pedal mannequin to cut back the acquire.
The solely factor I did outdoors of prompting the AI was flip a quantity knob – the AI did the remaining
Utilising this as a little bit of route, I dive into the pedal controls and again off the amount knob, which seems to be the change that does the trick. This lowered acquire appears to focus on a little bit of fizz. Given that there are a selection of locations this might be tweaked at – the drive pedal, amp, and EQ – I’m going again and ask the AI to do that for me.
Telling me that it utilised these three issues, BIAS X now presents a tone that could be a darker, lower-gain model of the primary. Exactly what I used to be chasing. After recording a double observe, I now have an enormous and impactful arduous rock sound utilising two completely different variations of a brand new preset, and the one factor I did outdoors of prompting the AI was flip that quantity knob on the overdrive pedal – the AI did the remaining.
I’ve the same expertise when utilizing the identical technique to immediate an “epic, arduous rock, lead tone”. This time, it provides me a Mesa-style amp, boosted with a Tube Screamer-inspired pedal and a few delay. I ask it to extend the delay degree and sync it to my DAW’s tempo observe, which it does with none points, leading to a saturated and huge-sounding lead. Admittedly, I spend quite a lot of time right here indulging my over-the-top rock licks and simply having enjoyable.
And it’s the identical story with my subsequent request – a “creepy ethereal clear”. Out of this, I hope for a reverb-soaked clear with some eerie modulation. Initially, it’s all a bit on the skinny aspect, courtesy of the Crystal Jazz amp mannequin, and a reverb that’s gone somewhat too far, nevertheless it does have a modulation that’s certainly ‘creepy’ like I requested. So, I inform the BIAS X to cut back the reverb and fatten issues up a bit, which it duly does ensuing within the eerie ambiance I hoped for.
Four sounds, little or no effort, quite a lot of time saved, and music efficiently recorded with the tones I had in thoughts. Mission completed.
Before ending up, I need to check out the ‘music to tone’ operate. Potentially good for recording covers, I go for recreating the lead tone in The Kinks – Waterloo Sunset. The course of is so simple as attaching the music file to the AI chat field. BIAS X takes a second to analyse it, asks for the timestamp location of the tone to be copied, after which presents 4 various choices.
The first three don’t fairly have that mid-range honk, however the fourth will get it just about spot on by way of some compression, the Ecstasy 100 amp mannequin, an EQ, and somewhat reverb. The solely factor it’s lacking is a slapback delay to create that doubling impact within the music. As you’ll have gathered by now, it’s only a case of asking the AI to do that, and it’s glad to oblige.
All of that is fairly a surreal expertise. Having spent lots of of hours tweaking guitar tones, it is somewhat unusual to all of the sudden have BIAS X doing the heavy lifting, and doing it properly. The thrilling factor is that, being an ‘agentic’ AI, BIAS X is barely going to get higher.
There are, after all, individuals who benefit from the strategy of obsessively tweaking a guitar sound, and rightfully so. I actually am considered one of them. If you’re too, then there may be a lot right here to get caught into, identical to a standard plugin. In this case, the AI can act as a useful and handy place to begin.
And it’s not just like the software program simply mindlessly does it for you both. It provides an in depth rationalization of the steps it has taken in a means that might be academic for newcomers, and even the skilled could study a couple of tips.
Anything that helps streamline a workflow reduces the limitations from thought to creation. The means BIAS X facilitates the short manufacturing of record-ready sounds is subsequently endlessly beneficial, and to many, will probably be genuinely inspiring.
Try it for your self www.positivegrid.com/pages/bias-x
