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Looper's Delight
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David, Electronic John Fahey . . . wow, I am quite flattered (really). I'm definitely a mix of things (as we all are) and I always counted him an influence (back there some where). But you're the first person to ever catch it and mention it back to me though. Okay, rig questions . . . There are some photos linked at: <http://www.box.net/shared/ae6jz2h444#1:16578272:168830706> And some others at: <http://www.box.net/shared/fdab16okcg> As well as: <http://www.box.net/shared/lp5o4cv4kc> The one in the middle (at the 1st link above) was shot at the more intimate BEMF3 "Preview" event held in a martial arts dojo (from right behind me) and more or less shows my set up (though maybe not very well). It's just me sitting on a stool and playing my GK-equipped Gibson RD Artist (not seen for my being in the way, sorry). Close at hand on my left is a 5-space rack bag on a stand and sitting on top of that is the VG99 "brain". Equally close at hand to my right is another 5-space rack bag on another stand. Beginning with the bag on my left (below the VG99) it contains: Boss VF-1 multi-processor (half-rack FX for processing my normal magnetic pickup guitar sound when needed). Boss MX-10 (half-rack 10-channel mixer and more-or-less the "hub" of all this stuff) Lexicon Vortex #1 (FX for processing magnetic pickup signal #1) feeds 2 channels on the mixer Lexicon LXP-1 (half-rack FX for processing magnetic pickup signal #2) Lexicon LXP-5 (half-rack FX for processing magnetic pickup signal #2) Lexicon Vortex #2 (FX for processing magnetic pickup signal #2) Furman Rack Rider power supply. Some explanation of this left-hand rack . . . over the years I have come to like big, fat, complex, composite sounds that evolve and have "air" . . . but also like a system that is flexible and can also "narrow down" to a really good set of simple single-instrument voices at a moments notice too. The VG 99 main R&L signals go straight into the mixer without further processing - completely nude, nada, nothing - and I control it with an FC300 and the various buttons and controllers on the VG itself at times (having it at that height and position is quite handy for ribbon, D-Beam and knob twiddling) Out of the back of the VG99 my "normal" magnetic pickup signal is separated out from the processed VG signal and is further split into 2 different signal paths: Path #1) Via the VF-1 and Vortex #1 (and a Sustainiac Model C on the floor) it gets me my old familiar "Ted" tones that I cannot (at present) do without and haven't figured out how to get any other way yet (exactly) at the dip of an EB volume pedal (also on the floor). There is also an EV-5 on the floor to control the "morphs" of Vortex #1 on the floor. Path #2) Via the LXP-1, LXP-5 and Vortex #2 this gets me a variety of soft, hyper ambient field "cloud guitar" effects at the dip of a 2nd EB volume pedal. There is also another EV-5 pedal on the floor to control the "morphs" of Vortex #2. These 3 separate stereo signals ("naked" VG99, mag PU version #1 and mag PU version #2) take up 6 channels in the 10 channel MX-10 mixer. Out of the mono Aux send of the MX-10 we go out via a single mono cable to the rack bag on the right which is totally taken up with the functions of loop-producing and loop-processing. In my right-hand rack bag are: Oberheim EDP #1 (controlled by an EFC-7 on the floor) Alesis Akira #1 (for processing and "stereoizing" the output of EDP #1) Oberheim EDP #2 (controlled by another EFC-7 on the floor) Alesis Akira #2 (for processing and "stereoizing" the output of EDP #2) A little A.R.T. PowerMix III mixer (for sub-mixing the 4 signals from the above looping system down to a single stereo pair). Furman Rack Rider power supply. It shouldn't be too hard to imagine how this right-hand bag looping-side works in practice. A mono signal from the left-hand bag feeds it and a processed R&L stereo pair comes away from it. The 2 EDPs are un-synced and un-MIDIed as are the Alesis Akiras . . . it's all foot-switches and knob twiddling for control. Being on a stand in a rack bag at the same height as the bag over on the left means the displays, knobs, and buttons are all handy to see and manipulate on the fly (which I do a lot of) with my right hand. Via a pair of cables these return to the MX-10 again either on "channels" or the to stereo AUX returns (I've used both at different times for different reasons). The main outs of the mixer feed a pair of little Mackie SRM150s on sawed-off mic stands that I use for personal monitoring. The little Mackies 150's provide me with handy access to R&L master monitor volume right in front of me and (when I need to haul them out for a gig) they feed a pair of big Mackie SRM450s for my own "bring-along" house PA sound. Mostly, the 450's stay at home (as they did when I went to Boise) and sometimes I even leave the 150s at home too (as I likely will do when I go to Y2K8 next month). I have enough gear to haul as it is and it looks like I will be sharing a ride to Santa Cruz this time. But, at least it's down to 2 guitars - the RD and a Tele copy as a backup (making for 1 load-in trip) the 2 rack bags and stands (which I can carry from the car in trip #2) a duffle bag with my pedals and the VG99/Fc300 carrying case in one hand and a toolbox and my combo stool/guitar stand in the other (making for trip #3). Back when I had the big rack and all the cabs and amps and stuff it was more like 8 trips (and navigating stairs or narrow confines was always a huge pain in the arse, to say nothing for my aching back before and after). There is still some flexibility in this current system too - and other things that I have that I can add on when needed. I've got a GK4 13-pin splitter box so I can also hook up my old GR-1 when I feel like it in addition to the VG99. I still have a few unused extra inputs on the mixer too . . . so at any time I can add kalimba, birimbau, Dobro, harmonica or MIDI wind instruments and other goodies when the mood strikes. But what you hear from the Boise tracks is pretty much exactly as describes as above - no extras. For Y2K8 I am thinking of stacking the two 5-space bags one top of another on just one side (probably the right) to make for less floor space and cable spaghetti. But at home I like to spread out a little more. Does this help . . . or satisfy your inner gear nerd? Best regards, Ted Killian "I’ve gotten the scary feeling, for the first time in my life, that dimwittedness is not just on the march in the U.S., but that it might actually prevail." -- Bob Herbert, New York Times On Sep 20, 2008, at 10:11 AM, David Coffin wrote: > > On Sep 19, 2008, at 7:24 PM, tEd ® KiLLiAn wrote: > >> Ugly, gnarly, and mutant seems to be... > > ...lovely to me! > > > Quite wonderful, Ted: Oneness! You're my new electronic Fahey, > seriously. > > So, surely there's more here than just you and your 99, right? What > was your rig for these gorgeous tracks? > > dc