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  • Guitar Rig Manual
  • Getting Started

Getting Started

Abstract

Guitar Rig is used to process audio from sources like guitar, bass, or any other instrument that you want to experiment with, be it acoustic or electronic.

Guitar Rig is used to process audio from sources like a guitar, a bass, or any other instrument that you want to experiment with, be it acoustic or electronic. For this purpose, Guitar Rig needs to receive the audio signal from the source, and make the processed signal available for recording, playback, and listening at its output.

Setting up Guitar Rig accordingly differs between the stand-alone application and the plug-in. The stand-alone application runs on its own and can be opened from the Native Instruments folder in your applications directory. The plug-in can be loaded in a compatible host software, most commonly a DAW.

Using the stand-alone application provides the most efficient way of playing an instrument through Guitar Rig. If the computer is not used for recording, editing, and arranging the music, the stand-alone application turns it into a powerful, dedicated effects rack to process your instrument. To setup the stand-alone application, you need to configure its Audio settings in the Preferences. For more information, refer to Setting up Guitar Rig as Stand-Alone Application.

Using the plug-in fully integrates Guitar Rig into your DAW, making it an integral part of recording, editing, and arranging your music. Synchronization and saving are handled by the DAW, and you benefit from your DAW's automation functionality. To setup the plug-in, you need to make it available to your DAW, load it into a track, and route your instrument to the track. For more information, refer to Setting up Guitar Rig as Plug-in in a DAW and Using Guitar Rig as Plug-in in a DAW.

Setting up Guitar Rig as Stand-Alone Application

The Guitar Rig stand-alone application turns your computer into a powerful, dedicated effects rack to process your instrument. To setup the stand-alone application, you need to configure its Audio settings in the Preferences:

  1. Click the Main menu in the Header and open Preferences... in the File sub-menu.

  2. In the Preferences, go to the Audio tab and click on Inputs in the lower section.

  3. Choose the inputs of the audio interface that you have used to connect your instrument in the Guitar Rig 6 In L and Guitar Rig 6 In R drop-down menus.

    Tip

    If you are using a mono source, like a guitar or a bass, you can use either the left or right input.

  4. Click on Outputs in the lower section of the Audio tab.

  5. Choose the outputs of your audio interface that are connected to your speaker system or headphones in the Guitar Rig 6 Out L and Guitar Rig 6 Out R drop-down menus.

  6. Close the Preferences by clicking on the X icon in the upper-right corner.

    The Guitar Rig stand-alone application is setup and ready to process your instrument.

Note

The Input selector in the Guitar Rig Header needs to be set accordingly in order to feed the audio signals received at the inputs into the Rack. For more information, refer to Signal Path.

Setting up Guitar Rig as Plug-in in a DAW

The Guitar Rig plug-in fully integrates into your DAW, making it an integral part of recording, editing, and arranging your music. It can be loaded in any DAW supporting the VST3, AU, and AAX plug-in formats. All three formats are automatically included when installing Guitar Rig using Native Access.

To setup the plug-in for use in your DAW, you need to load it on an audio track and configure the track's routing:

  1. Open your DAW after installing Guitar Rig using Native Access.

  2. Create a new audio track.

  3. Choose the inputs of your audio interface that you have used to connect your instrument in the audio track's input routing.

    Tip

    Alternatively, you can load audio recordings or software instruments and use the Guitar Rig plug-in to process them.

  4. Load the Guitar Rig plug-in in the audio track.

  5. Activate the record-ready or monitoring state of the audio track.

    The Guitar Rig plug-in is setup and ready to process your instrument.

Note

The Input selector in the Guitar Rig Header needs to be set accordingly in order to feed the audio signals received at the inputs into the Rack. For more information, refer to Signal Path.

Using Guitar Rig as Plug-in in a DAW

When using the Guitar Rig plug-in, keep in mind the following notes about plug-in behavior:

  • The plug-in and the stand-alone application share the same presets. When you save a user preset, it will be available in either version of the software. For more information, refer to Saving User Presets.

  • Any changes made in the plug-in are saved as part of the DAW's project file. When you change a preset, you only need to save your project in the DAW in order to restore the changes later.

  • The Metronome in the plug-in, and therefore all tempo-related functions, are synchronized to the tempo of your DAW. You can change the Sync mode in the Metronome. For more information, refer to Metronome.

  • The Macros can be used for MIDI control and automation independently of individual presets. When you use Macros to write automation or assign a MIDI controller, the changes will be effective for any preset you load. For more information, refer to Automation and MIDI Control.