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Looper's Delight
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In response to the recent announcements about this processor, i wrote the attached letter to TCElectronics. For what it's worth, I offer a copy here, hoping to stimulate, perhaps, some interesting debate, and, of course, to encourage anyone else to add their 2 monitary units to the mail that TC's R&D folks get to read! From: Dpcoffin@aol.com Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 12:11:44 -0400 (EDT) To: warrenw@tcelectronic.com Subject: G-Force Greetings, and thanks for posting the news about your new processor; can't wait to hear more about it. In the meantime, I hope you don't mind if I share a few rambling thoughts on the subject of guitar processing (think of this as a one-person focus group, from someone who lives and breathes guitar processing): IMHO, the current coolest processors are the VG-8, which I have, and the GTR4000, which I can't afford, and which I'm not sure would be worth it if I could. Its appeal is the complete modularity, and the DEEP, complex ways you can mix and control the various modules. My concern is that I'm afraid I'm bored with traditional FX! The VG-8 has revealed that REALLY innovative processing these days goes way beyond the trad. delay, pitch, dynamics and modulation FX we all know, into realms of total sound modification (I'm not a tech type, so my terminology is probably not really on target...apologies), using modelling to change the wave forms, the envelopes, and the filtering of each sonic event. I also have a Vortex, which I like in principle (it tries to push the envelope), but it has actually made me even more leary of processors that just use traditional, mostly delay-based fx, even in very in creative ways, since I find myself mostly bypassing it! (If editing and storage were easier, I'd probably love it by now.) My only other processor is a DP-4 which I love for its flexibilty and the sheer number of algorithims. I'll probably next buy a GT-5, for its ring modulator, Humanizer, slow gear, and acoustic simulator, all of which seem to change the actual character of the sound, as well as for the preamp and distortion modelling. (My basic rig is all-tube.) Now I know that few other processors are using modelling (altho if reverb isn't a type of modelling, what is it?), and don't have access to Roland's hex pickup to get at individual strings, but, besides clarity and quality, what I'M looking for in a processor is presets and algorithims (whether they use modelling or not) that unlock sonic possibilities that I probably wouldn't discover on my own, especially anything that responds dynamically to my playing, allowing me to transform the instrument I love to play into something new. The traditional areas I seem to find the most provocative for guitar sound design (besides preamp, power amp, and speaker EQ and distortion FX, either from the real things, or from emulations) are, in order of usefulness: EQ, more EQ, pitch, delay, digital distortion (used sparingly), and dynamics, plus I almost always use at least a little reverb. The areas that seem way under-explored in all the processors that I see coming out are: compression and limiting as sound manglers, rather than as just precautionary devices; envelope control (as in the slow gear); really extreme filtering (for synth-like sound shaping); and LONG delay times--which brings up the other most-critical and missing processing area, in my view: LOOPING! I'm really tempted by the PCM-80 simply because you can add ram to provide up to 42 sec. of very-tweakable STEREO delay. But this seems a very expensive way to get that capability. I would buy the more-versatile-seeming MPX-1 tomorrow if its delay time were expandable. I URGE you to see that ram expansion or a STEREO sampling option is part of the G-Force when it actually appears. Other important features for me include: Redundant effects, so I can place EQ and other things in more than one spot in a chain; Easy patch swapping and re-ordering, plus LOTs of storage space for MY patches, either in ram or on some kind of cheap media; Multiple mod destinations (sounds like you're on to that one); A moveable FX loop, for patching in other processors (STEREO and/or digital would be nice!); a few things that I've never even considered, like the arpeggiator on the MPX-1. Well, hope you've managed to read this far in my ramble; sorry to have been so long winded, but believe me when I say that announcements of new guitar processors are among the most exciting events in my musical oddessy these days; I hope TC will make their real thing less disappointing than the others I've seen so far. Eagerly awaiting more detail! David Coffin ===================================================== Reply: Dear David, Thank you for your thoughtful comments. I will forward your email to our R&D and Sales/Marketing departments in Risskov, Denmark. When I have more specifics on the G-Force I will be posting them on AOL and the Internet. If you want me to send you a G-Force brochure when they are available, email me your mailing address. Warren Weinberg TC Electronic US Inc. TC Electronic Inc. Postal: 790-H Hampshire Rd. Address: Westlake Village, CA 91361 Tel: 805-373-1828 Fax: 805-379-2648 ------------------------------------------------- Email: WarrenW@tcelectronic.com (Warren Weinberg) ------------------------------------------------- WWW: http://tcelectronic.com