Muramasa Audio Electrum Guitar Amp-and-Effects Modeling in a Single Screen If you’re looking for a realistic-sounding amp modeling plug-in with plenty of effects choices, you’ll want to check out Electrum from Muramasa Audio. The company is one of several that make up the Prague-based audio consortium United Plugins.
In addition to the amp and cabinet modules, Electrum contains nine effects modules and a tuner. Its single-screen GUI (switchable from 3D to darker and more modern-looking 2D) makes it easy to turn on only the components you want, which can save CPU power. You can easily change the signal order by dragging and dropping the icons near the top of the screen. If you want, Electrum will even analyze your input and set the ideal level.
The amp section features five generic models, each one higher in gain. They all have identical controls, making it simple to compare amp sounds. In addition to a Gain knob, you get 3-band EQ and several other parameters.
Each amp is named after a color: Blue, Yellow, Orange, Red and Black. Unlike a lot of modelers, Electrum’s amps are not intended as exact models of specific amps. That said, Blue, the only clean amp, sounds pretty Fender-like, particularly with the Gain set low. Yellow has a Marshall quality to it, and Orange offers highgain tones reminiscent of its namesake. Red and Black go from crunchy at minimum gain to super heavy at higher settings.
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The Cabinet module lets you alter the sonic character, the speaker type and the virtual mic distance, or you can select from a list of presets. Surprisingly, the presets don’t indicate type and speaker size (4×12, 1×12, etc.), but that omission encourages you to use your ears more when choosing.
Effects include Gate, Comp, Doubler, Modulation, Distortion, EQ, Autowah, Delay and Reverb. I liked them all, but several stood out. The Doubler sounds excellent on both single notes and chords. Apply a mono-to-stereo instance on a mono rhythm guitar, and you’ve got an instant, fat, doubled part.
The powerful Modulation module features Chorus, Phaser, Flanger, Tremolo and Sweeper (envelope filter), which you can dial in individually or in combination. The Autowah is also impressive and allows you to vary its response quite a bit. The Reverb module offers plenty of different flavors and sounds quite good. Curiously, it lacks a spring reverb setting, an odd omission on a guitar-amp modeler. Quite simply, Electrum is a powerful and flexible tool for bringing your DI guitar tracks to life.”
