Fishing for practice software suggestions...

[Robert Hendrix]

As some of you know, I travel alot with my job so the best way for me to practice is to set up in the hotel rooms during my downtime and practice there. Up until recently I was using a Tascam CD guitar trainer and while it was a bit of a pain to use and the effects were a bit cheap sounding, it was sufficiant. Well, it seems that someone decided they needed my guitar trainer worse than I did so I'm looking for something else to practice with in the hotel rooms. I've recently purchased a new laptop and thought it would be great if I could find some software that did the same thing that the guitar trainer did. Any suggestions? I'm sure I'll need some type of interface hardware as well and since I haven't messed with alot of the computer hard/software stuff for guitar I am interested in what those that have had some experience with it have to say...
Thanks in advance

[broken_fusion]

I found www.songsterr.com to be great when traveling.

[Jack Napalm]

The Amazing Slowdowner if you will have your laptop to use. Great program.

http://www.ronimusic.com/

[Outlander]

Not the type of software you're asking about but I found this site great for practicing and jamming with. Some even have the vocals and the sound quality is great!

http://www.guitarbackingtrack.com/

[Flatpicker]

Audacity.

it's free and very useful.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Wiki and tutorials

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/

[Robert Hendrix]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'll check that stuff out. I also have best practice on my home PC that seems to work pretty well. My next question is what would I use to run my guitar into the laptop? Hardware? Software??

[Sunbane]

I would suggest something in the vein of Line 6 Guitarport (see link). It's basically an external soundcard with a dial on it, that you connect to your computer using both sound wires and USB. Then you plug your guitar into the device.

The downside is having to deal with all the wires, but on the other hand it's also extremely flexible. You select amp models and effects entirely in its software, and if you get the "Rifftracker" version, you also have a recording studio in there.

[dg]

I had a Guitarport for several years, and really enjoyed it & got quite a bit of use out of it. It died after a lightning strike a couple months ago, and I replaced it with a POD Studio UX1. IMO, you get quite a bit more bang for your buck if you get one of the POD Studio models. The GX costs the same as a Guitarport ($99) and has a few more features, plus lower latency for recording. The UX1 has still more features, the FX Junkie model pack, and Riffworks (similar to Rifftracker) included for about $50 more. They are just slightly more complicated than the Guitarport, but imo the lower latency & extra features are worth it.

http://line6.com/podstudio/

[Sharkfin]

Not the type of software you're asking about but I found this site great for practicing and jamming with. Some even have the vocals and the sound quality is great!

http://www.guitarbackingtrack.com/

+1! This is a great site, and you can download the backing tracks. Theres a studio version of Crazy train & Bark at the Moon have vocals. I also like to jam to Santana's Black Magic Woman

[Robert Hendrix]

Not the type of software you're asking about but I found this site great for practicing and jamming with. Some even have the vocals and the sound quality is great!

http://www.guitarbackingtrack.com/

+1! This is a great site, and you can download the backing tracks. Theres a studio version of Crazy train & Bark at the Moon have vocals. I also like to jam to Santana's Black Magic Woman

Oh yeah. I've been a fan of that site for awhile. I've downloaded some killer backing tracks that I regularly practice/warm up to. There are a couple of sites like that out there. guitarbt and guitarchaos are a couple of others that I frequent. Alot of them are the same tracks but occasionally, you'll find something different.

[hippietim]

Robert - stop by this week - I can demo Amazing Slow Downer for you. I also have a couple solutions for what you plug your guitar into that you can check out.

[Robert Hendrix]

Robert - stop by this week - I can demo Amazing Slow Downer for you. I also have a couple solutions for what you plug your guitar into that you can check out.

Cool, I'm in VA this week but (unless I get a big job - Yeah right) I should be back Thursday evening. You gonna be around friday?

[BenoA]

I like this tab software and it's free:

http://www.tuxguitar.com.ar/

If you don't want to be hooked to your PC all the time, a Boss Micro BR is cool as you can record with it, it has some decent amp sims, some built-in drum patterns, a metronome and MP3 player with slow down function.

[Robert Hendrix]

Has anyone had any experience with the Maudio Jamlab? It looks like it would fit the bill for what I need but the reviews I've seen online are so mixed it's hard to tell if it's a waste of money or the best thing ever invented.