Walrus Audio has launched the Canvas Passive Re-Amp, a compact little device that could be described as “utilitarian” and yet it is exactly the sort of thing that soon become not only essential when recording but inspiring too.
Sure, it takes a certain kind of someone to get weak at the knees about DI boxes, guitar audio interfaces, or studio peripherals such as a re-amp box, but that certain kind of someone is us. And the Canvas Passive Re-Amp looks like it will be mighty useful not just in terms of workflow but as a means for experimenting and getting wild with your recordings.
The idea is of reamping is simple. Record your track dry and you can send it through whatever you want later. Take your dry electric guitar signal and put it through a Vox. No good? Try something else, a Fender Deluxe.
Use the one signal and send it through as many amps as you like, layer it up. And then you have the pedals. You can add effects in post, and really take your time in finding the right sound. It needn’t just be your guitar. Send vocals, drums, bass guitar, whatever through it.
The setup is simple. Connect the device to your DAW via XLR. The audio track gets sent from the DAW to the Canvas, through its output to your pedals, an amp simulator or mic’d guitar amp, and then you simply take the output from there back to the DAW. Done.
Do as Johnny Marr and John Porter did back in the day, staying up all night creating a weird tremolo effect that would become one of the coolest guitar sounds ever. Multi-track your guitars with a dozen different guitar amps as though you are Bob Rock and you have Mötley Crüe in the studio. Or simply just make your life easier and save on studio time.
The design of the Canvas Re-Amp is simple. There is an XLR output, a pair of 1/4” inputs and outputs, a volume control to adjust the level of your re-amped signal that’s being sent back through your amps and/or pedals.
On the other side of the unit you’ll find a ground lift switch to help with hum, a mute button to mute the 1/4” output – handy if you want to move a mic or adjust pedals without going back to the DAW to pause the audio. There is a phase inversion switch and a switchable high-pass filter set at 200Hz.
The Canvas Passive Re-Amp is available now, priced £/$149. See Walrus Audio for more details.
