Guitar Rig: The Placebo Effect

Guitar Rig: The Placebo Effect - Live and in the Studio

Placebo have achieved longstanding success with a distinctive signature sound that combines elements of electronic styles with the power and straightforward attitude of a rock band. Native Instruments Guitar Rig 2 and Kontakt 2 are both used heavily in the band's setups for songwriting, studio production, and playing live.

Bill Lloyd, the band's sound designer and additional live musician, took the time to give NI an interview and share some inside knowledge from his creative work. As an expert sound designer and analytically-minded musician, Bill has been a part of the success story around Placebo for almost a decade by now.

Analogue synths got him started as a keyboard player and his sounds and snappy synth lines have helped shape the sound of the band's albums Without You I'm nothing, Black Market Music, Sleeping With Ghosts, and the 2006 release Meds. He is working closely with the three core band members in songwriting sessions and sound design. During Placebo's extensive world tours of the past couple of years, Bill has stepped into the spotlight and contributed as additional instrumentalist, playing bass, guitar, and keyboards.

NI: From your point of view as long-time sound designer of the band, how has Placebo's sound evolved over the years?

Bill: It certainly has more electronics involved, which happened gradually from the second album [Without You I'm Nothing] on. It already had a few keyboard and synth lines on it, then on the third album [Black Market Music] there was more and on the fourth [Sleeping with Ghosts] even more than that. It became really electronic then. The last album [Meds] was quite simple, but there are a few loops and synth lines, and a few old keyboards on it as well. I think this album is certainly more raw, but the one before this one had definitely a lot more electronics involved. But I don't think anybody would say that Placebo is an electronic band or even an electronic rock band for that matter, it's still just a rock band that incorporates electronics and synths.

NI: You use Guitar Rig 2 with Placebo?

Bill: I have used it in the writing sessions for "Meds" with Brian. We just put it on bass and guitar, and it worked great in that environment. We had a little setup on a barge in France. It was just a couple of guitars, one controller keyboard and a laptop. We used Kontakt quite a bit for samples and Guitar Rig on all the guitars. It was fantastic! I especially like the Plexi and the Tweed, they are very good. And the Bass PRO is pretty good on bass.

NI: Do you usually start from scratch with your own presets?

Bill: Absolutely, yes, I love tweaking! I've got some templates that I use to start from, like clean, distortion, spacy sounds and such, and then I just go from there. It's fun, as it's so easy to add and subtract the modules. Alex, the guy on the other side of the stage and the band's second guitarist, uses Guitar Rig 2 live as well. It's his main system, actually. And it works really well! It's nice because Brian and Stefan have very hard, punky sounds, and it's good to be able to get different textures. I think the computer generated sounds add a nice texture. They have their own sound, it's just a bit different, probably more controlled.

Guitar Rig Megadeals from Native Instruments

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Both of these deals represent fantastic value. The software-only deal gives you Guitar Rig 3 for half price. Although Guitar Rig 3 Kontrol Edition is new hardware, most of the changes are cosmetic so you are saving a massive £150 when compared to the retail price of Guitar Rig 3 Kontrol Edition and you get a free update to Guitar Rig 3 software direct from Native Instruments.

The free upgrade (direct from Native Instruments) to Guitar Rig 3 software is valid for all DV Guitar Rig 2 customers who have purchased on or after 1st September 2007.

Why upgrade to Native Instruments Guitar Rig 3 Software?

Guitar Rig 3 software comes with a completely re-arranged sound library. The enormous sound pallete with 300 presets and/or preset setups brings you a gigantic selection of typical guitar sounds - for each amplifier model common and co-ordinated setups are provided for fast selection (e.g.- from clean to crunch or hi-gain) - or search for your sounds using typical music styles from classic rock to pop to metal.

Each sound has been pre-mapped to the controller meaning each preset is instantly recallable. Ideal for the studio or rehearsal room, this also serves as a perfect starting point for creating your own presets. For a more effective and more intuitive sound management new categories have been introduced, as well as the addition of optimized Browser functionality.