Fender is wading into the DAW world with Fender Studio – an entry level, free-to-download recording app that comes equipped with official and authentic Big F guitar amp and effects models.
Available on macOS, Windows, and Linux – as well as iOS and Android mobile devices – it provides “the entire signal chain from guitar to recording”, with a host of Fender amps and effects pedals in between and tools for post-production.
The app is fully compatible with audio interfaces, meaning electric guitars, bass guitars, vocals, and plenty beyond them can be tracked, and it has been made for “players and music creators at every level, making it faster to capture and share ideas digitally”.
At a glance, Fender dropping a free DAW might seem a little bonkers, but with PreSonus (the firm behind Studio One Pro) part of the wider Fender family, it makes perfect sense. As such, Fender has tapped into the developer’s expertise, with its “world-class recording, editing, and production capabilities” transferring across.
Beyond one-tap recording, which takes the complication out of recording software and focuses on performance, there are amp sims for guitar and bass (a ’65 Twin Reverb guitar amp and Rumble 800 v.3 bass amp) – five pedals and an integrated tuner.
Those who sign up for a free Fender Connect account will also get access to six extra amps and effects, including a ’59 Bassman, Supersonic, and Tube Preamp. It also creates a comprehensive virtual pedalboard taking in overdrive, chorus, tremolo, fuzz, flanger, and a few flavors of reverbs and delays.
And when it’s a wrap on tracking, there are studio-quality editing tools to make the most of. This includes a compressor, EQ, reverb and delay, as well as some more obscure effects like a de-tuner, ring modulator, and vocoder.
It’s not just about recording, however. Fender Studio also comes loaded with 20 professionally recorded and fully editable jam tracks, ranging from pop ballads to all-out metal. Each track comes with multitrack audio and there are options to transpose, mute, solo, speed up or slow down individual parts for tailored shredding.
Fender Studio has been designed to synergize with the firm’s other digital offerings: Fender Play for learning, Fender Tone for tone-sculpting assistance, and Fender Tune for getting record-ready. This release, then, adds to a wide-ranging digital ecosystem that also offers greater competition to the market.
Of course, it’s to be seen whether the software can go toe-to-toe with other free DAWs like Reaper and Garage Band or if, perhaps limited in scope, it shines better as a mobile app for on-the-fly recording.
Notably, the promo video – which stars Joe Satriani-backed shredder Alyssa Day and the “Nile Rogers meets Eddie Van Halen” talents of Dre DiMura – focuses solely on the mobile version of the software, hinting at the above. But there is serious expertise behind its creation, and its $0 price tag is not to be sniffed at. Plus, official comments from Fender are talking up its full capabilities.
“Whether you are new to recording or a seasoned pro, Fender Studio delivers authentic Fender tones and intuitive editing capabilities to record, jam, create, and inspire, for free,” says Max Gutnik, EVP & GM of PreSonus, Jackson, Charvel, Gretsch, and EVH. “We are super-excited to hear all the amazing music it will help bring into the world!”
Conveniently, Fender’s super transportable audio interface, the Fender Link I/O arrived earlier this year and it features extensively in the video.
Check out Fender to learn more.
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