MusicRadar is pleased to announce the ultimate jamming, recording and music experience with Jammit and its partnership with Line 6. Now musicians can plug their guitar into an iPad or iPhone using the Line 6 Mobile In and instantly make their guitar sound like the guitar on their favorite songs.
Released in 2011, Jammit is the revolutionary music software, available for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and Mac OS X desktop (a Windows version is coming) , that can isolate individual audio tracks within original multi-track master recordings. With Jammit, musicians are virtually able to become part of Rush, Dream Theater, the Foo Fighters, Nirvana and many, many more, as the software allows them to isolate guitar, bass, drums, keyboard or vocal tracks for intense examination. Players can navigate to whatever section of a song they like, loop and slow it down to as much as half-speed (without changing pitch). And once they've got their smoking riffs and solos nailed, they can record them right along with the master.
According to record producer and Jammit CEO Scott Humphrey, the idea of the Jammit software came to him while working with artists in the studio. "I would be sitting with guitar players and we'd be going over demos that were two or three years old. Sometimes they might not remember how they played certain parts. What I ended up doing was, I'd take a section, loop it, put it on a click track, maybe slow it down and walk out of the room. But the time I came back, the guitarist would have the part figured out. A little light bulb went on over my head…"
Along with the cool track isolating, looping and speed-manipulation functions, Jammit also provides note-for-note transcriptions and tab. "We do all of our own notation," says Humphrey. "We have specialists for each instrument."
With the integration of the Line 6 Mobile In digital interface, Humphrey feels that a good thing has now reached "a ridiculously awesome level. Let's say you're playing along to Limelight by Rush. You can use the Line 6 Mobile In, and on the distorted tracks, you'll get the distorted sound; on the cleaner, chorusy parts, you'll get those sounds. And using the slow feature, you can take it all the way down to half-speed, loop a section, and play it all you want till you get it just right. It's easy, and it's also a lot of fun."
And what's been the response from artists? "They love it," says Humphrey. "We're signing up so many bands and artists, it's great. The minute they start playing around with Jammit, they go, 'This is amazing! How can we get on board?'"
Line 6 co-founder Marcus Ryle has nothing but raves: "The Jammit app gives guitarists a uniquely inspiring way to do what they've always wanted to do: play their favorite songs with their favorite bands. What used to be complex and costly is now easily accessible to all guitarists - so they can focus on playing instead of on how to get a certain sound."
Among the 150-plus artists who have licensed tracks to Jammit are Mastodon, Yes, Boston, Steve Vai, Pantera and the Grateful Dead. As of this writing, over 300 songs are available for guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and vocals.
Jammit is available as a free download from the App Store. Songs range in price from $1.99 to $5.99US. Line 6 Mobile In is $79.95US (estimated street price) and can be purchased from a variety of retailers. (At press time, the custom Line 6 patches are available for over 70 songs in the Jammit catalogue.)
