Since we launched our speaker impulse responses (IRs) a lot of guitar players are using Celestion IRs in a myriad of ways, with homemade demo videos on YouTube and plenty of forum discussions. Clearly, users are experimenting with all kinds of different setup options made possible with our impulse response files – but if you’re new to IRs it might all be a bit daunting. How can you see past all the detail to find out which ways of using an IR would actually benefit you? To help you answer this question, here we countdown the top 5 things you can do with a Celestion impulse response download.
Need a quick primer on impulse responses? Check out this video by Pete Thorn and then keep reading.
#5 – Be Cab Free, Whenever You Want to Be
Most guitar players love their cab, especially when it’s fitted with a great Celestion speaker and hooked up to a great amp. But however much you love it, there are downsides – like finding space for it in your home and transporting it between gigs. Even if you’re happy to take your cabinet on the road with you, there’s the possibility of damage which could shorten it’s life or lead to impaired sound quality.
But with a speaker cabinet simulator, you can achieve a near-identical speaker cab sound, but without the need for a physical cabinet and speaker. No space issues. No lugging around bulky cabinets. Nothing to damage. Having an IR version of your cabinet and speaker is like having a software backup for your cab. Your cab and speaker last longer, but you get to take the sound with you wherever you want.
#4 – Enhance Your Playing
Getting the right tone can elevate a good recording or practice session to a great one – which is why the talents of the best sound engineers are recognised as being vital to the recording and production process. When your speaker doesn’t match the type of music you are playing, it can be a significant distraction or source of frustration, especially if you are trying to achieve a particular sound.
But, If you have impulse response files for more than one speaker you can load them all into your DAW or amp modelling gear and switch between them – either as you are playing, using a pedal setup, or afterwards in post-production. This gives you incredible control over the tone, ensuring that your playing is showcased in the best possible light. It also adds levels of depth and expression to your playing that you’d normally only be able to achieve in a professional studio setup, with highly sophisticated mixing and production equipment (and probably a sound engineer).
Having access to a great IR library like this becomes more than just a convenient alternative to using a physical speaker – it becomes an aid to artistic creativity.
We have an extensive impulse response library for you to draw upon, based on 15 of our most loved speakers, each available in 5 different cabinet configurations. And, because any particular cabinet IR can be blended with any other, quickly and easily, the choice of tonal effects is almost limitless.
Click here to view our Impulse Response product range.
#3 – Nail Your Perfect Setup
If you’re the kind of player who will spend hours rearranging cabinets and microphones a couple of millimetres, searching for the exact tone you want – only to get frustrated when you just can’t replicate the sound you thought you’d got nailed down only yesterday – then impulse responses are going to be a game changer for you.
Because the tone you get is digital, all you have to do is save the particular configuration you like and it’s ready to run over and over again, anytime you want – whether you just want consistent practice sessions at home or whether you want to recreate a sound in different live venues.
#2 – Defy the Laws of Physics
Not many products that you can buy online offer you this – and it’s probably not going to be the first thing on your mind when downloading one of our IRs – but this is, in fact, what you may end up doing, especially if you start combining multiple impulse responses that come with each cabinet IR library.
For each cabinet IR, we’ve recorded 3 different studio quality microphones, each in 6 positions – giving 18 impulse responses to choose from. So you can, if you want, combine the Shure SM57 in position 1 with the Sennheiser, also in position 1. In reality you could never get this exact sound, because you can’t have two mics occupying exactly the same position – but in the IR world, you can.
Or you could have one mic at the front of a closed back cabinet, combined with another recorded at the rear of an openback. In the real world you’d need two separate speakers in different cabs, combined together, and then pray that one mic doesn’t pick up the sound from the other cabinet and vice versa, which is next to impossible to do. But combing IRs makes it possible – easy in fact.
#1 – Get Authentic Celestion Tone
Finally, we come to the Number One thing you can do with Celestion impulse responses – and that’s to hear authentic sounding Celestion tone while you play, but without necessarily having to own a Celestion speaker or associated paraphernalia like a cabinet and microphone.
You don’t have to do any of the fancy stuff above to get full value from a Celestion IR download. All you need is a single cabinet IR of your favourite Celestion speaker and cab configuration, some software or an amp modeller to run it through and you’re ready to go. Legendary Celestion tone, at home, for less than the price of a pizza delivery.
Celestion impulse responses are available now for 15 of our classic speakers: Celestion Gold, Cream and Blue, G12M Greenback, G12M-65 Creamback, G12H-75 Creamback, G12H Anniversary, G12-65, Vintage 30, A-Type, Classic Lead 80, G12-35XC, G12-50GL Lynchback, Neo Creamback and the G12H-150 Redback. Explore the range, listen to samples and buy here.