# Great little "Musical Sketchpad" for free.



## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

I found out about this piece of software from Computer Music magazine as it was on the DVD that comes with the magazine. I've since found out that you can download it from a website that I'll be giving you a link to at the bottom of this posting. It's in the September issue and it's free for both Mac and PC users. It's made by Sonoma Wire Works and it's called "RiffWorks T4". Here's what it says in the magazine about it:

"A free version of Sonoma Wire Works' RiffWorks guitar recording software. RiffWorks T4 offers a cut-down feature set compared to the standard edition, with the major limitation being that there are only four tracks available rather than the full 24. It also includes AmpliTube Duo LE rather than AmpliTube Live, Studio Devil BVC, and a single demo drummer instead of the nine virtual drummers found in the standard version. There's also no ReWire or REX file compatibility here, and 1125 display resolution support is also missing. Despite these limitations, RiffWorks T4 is still a highly usable app that boasts some amazing features, considering it's free. It should be very appealing to computer music novices in particular. 

When you run the program for the first time, a tutorial guides you through the creation of a virtual drummer track, setting up effects, and recording a guitar part, known here as a riff. Once you've recorded one of these, it can be duplicated to build up the basis of a full track. As well as the amp effects, RiffWorks also features a built-in filter shaper, an EQ, a compressor, a modulator and delay and reverb effects, for creating a wide variety of useful guitar tones. Likewise, the virtual drummers style can be tailored to suit the track you're working on, with settings like Variation, Intensity and Ambience. RiffWorks is clearly designed as a less intimidating alternative to more complicated recording software - the interface has the feel of guitar recording hardware, for example, and the program appears to be quite deliberately limited.

Also, VST (Virtual Studio Instrument) plug-in support is restricted - you can't use instruments, and effects without their own interface won't even load up. There's no way to import your own WAV files, either, which means you have to use the supplied virtual drummer for beats. This is a great way for guitarists who are unfamiliar with software recording to get their hands dirty, though - especially as it doesn't require a cash investment. You can even collaborate online with four other musicians using the RiffLink feature, which includes a chat client."

BTW, for those of you who are new to recording on the computer, it may be a little tricky to set up at first but the help file makes things pretty clear. I was messing around with it last night and at first I was going to use the VST amps but then I decided to try my Roland VG-99 via the USB function. The (very short) track I'll give you the link to took me less than 15 minutes to put together and it could've been even shorter than that if I hadn't have made a couple of flubs. Three out of the four instruments I'm using here were ones I programmed myself on the VG-99 with the exception of the Andy Summers setting that I downloaded from the vg-forums website. BTW the MP3 file I'll be giving you the link to is looped so if you want to download it and use it in your DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) of choice (Sonar, Cubase, Logic, etc.) to solo over, be my guest. The progression is C#minor, B, F#minor and A. Another thing, I haven't even experimented with the effects in this RiffWorks program so that's something else I'll be checking out. I feel more motivated to try more things now because sometimes even a user friendly DAW can be a little intimidating or uninspiring. If you want to check it out just go to http://www.sonomawireworks.com and you can download it for free. Also here's the link to my MP3 file:
http://media.putfile.com/RiffWorks-Experiment


----------



## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

So how about it? Has anybody downloaded and tried out this software yet?


----------



## SquierDude (Aug 16, 2008)

I am downloading it right now.


----------



## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

Let me know what you think of it SquierDude. One thing I should mention though, I found that it took about 30 seconds or so for the program to show up on screen. The download is about 97 megs for PC and 70 megs of that comes from the included drum sets. I don't know if it takes awhile to start up on a Mac but if you're a Mac user and you download this, post your "wait time" results here.


----------



## kat_ (Jan 11, 2007)

Kenmac said:


> One thing I should mention though, I found that it took about 30 seconds or so for the program to show up on screen.


It started up within about 2 seconds on my PC. My computer is older too, so it's usually slow. 

It looks like a really nice program to play around with. Thanks for posting it.


----------



## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

You're welcome Kat. The thing is, I've got two computers I use, the one I'm typing on now for general use and a second one which is my "music only" computer. It's not connected to the Internet and I think that's why on *that* computer it takes a while for it to start. The program is probably looking for a connection on start-up. Maybe I should try installing it on this one and see if it starts up quicker.

EDIT: Sure enough, when I installed it on this computer and started it, there was no delay whatsover and I was asked if I wanted to download a free drumset. I said yes, made a new account and downloaded the freebie which I'll be putting on the other computer.


----------



## SquierDude (Aug 16, 2008)

it looks like a good program, I only played with it for a brief time.


----------



## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

SquierDude said:


> it looks like a good program, I only played with it for a brief time.


It's pretty good for a freebie. The full version isn't all that pricey either.


----------

