Guitar legend Joe Satriani will take part in this year's Vai Academy 5.0. He has posted a video message for the event, which can be viewed below.

Vai Academy 5.0 runs from July 29th through August 2nd on Long Island, NY. Other artists on the roster include Steve Vai, Andy Timmons, Devin Townsend, Larry Mitchell and Plini. To attend Vai Academy 5.0, register here.

IK Multimedia recently welcomed long-time IK user, Joe Satriani, to its family of artists. IK is excited to partner with Satriani, first on a series of videos sharing Joe’s extensive expertise in recording guitar, and later on more formal collaborations to help guitarists get the most out of their playing and recording experience.

"I’m happy to be working with IK Multimedia. I’ve used AmpliTube software at home, in the studio and on several albums. And now, the AXE I/O ups my game in the studio." - Joe Satriani

In the video below, Satriani explains some of his philosophy when recording, the importance of finding just the right tone for a particular recording, and some of the ways tools like AmpliTube and AXE I/O can help make the process of laying down guitar tracks much more productive and satisfying:

Satriani shares his thoughts on digital recording and how AXE I/O can play an important role: "When I saw this, I thought ‘oh wow this is great. I know exactly how I’m going to use this.

"What guitar players really want is to see a clear place to plug in. They want control over the gain of the input and the nature of the input in itself. This [AXE I/O] is actually affording the guitar player all those things and you’ve got those extra controls that you can play with the impedance in a way that would mimic the difference between a vintage strat and a brand new guitar."

Inspired by the new relationship and Satriani’s personal recording process, IK Multimedia also announces a firmware update to AXE I/O, improving its onboard Amp Out feature that eliminates the need for a DI box during the re-amplification process. For a more convenient experience for guitarists, AXE I/O’s software control panel now features a “To Amp Out” button that routes the Instrument Input 1 directly to the Amp Out with zero latency so guitarists can easily record both a clean DI signal and their amplifier simultaneously, without the need for splitters or other external gear.