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Looper's Delight
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Jamie Lack touched a raw nerve: > Does any other loopers out there feel that the arrival of more > expressive control devices is overdue? > If you think about it, the volume pedal is a very simple thing. > Can't we do better? > > Instead of being able to control one parameter with one appendage, we > should be able to achieve a higher resolution. > Like, the flexion of each joint, say? > Or maybe contraction of muscles. > > The most promising thing I have seen to date is the Ribbon controllers > and scratch pads, or the Korg wavedrum. > > The "mastery" of these complicated electronic toys will be assisted, I > think, through better means of control. > > So, let's hear some weird ideas, eh? Yes! One of the main reasons I subscribe to this group is for the occasional dribble of information about how someone _controls_ a complex equipment setup. I don't have nearly the degree of control I'd like to have over my own gear (which is described in excessive detail at http://people.delphi.com/johnpollock/mysetup.htm). My hands are full of guitar, and my left foot is almost always dedicated to a pedal keyboard, so my right foot is the obvious candidate for controlling other parameters. For years, I've managed two quite comfortably: A volume pedal on the output of the synthesizer driven by my MIDI guitar, and a footswitch atop the volume pedal, used at first to start and stop a drum machine, now the sustain pedal for the synth driven by the pedal keyboard. The addition of the Vortex to my rig has completely upset the apple cart. To completely control it, I need an expression pedal and four footswitches. I'm resigned to the necessity of putting together something like the pedal used by the MTI Auto-Orchestra (http://people.delphi.com/johnpollock/pkbd.htm#MTI), which had four switches mounted on the moving part of a volume pedal. But when I do, I'll still often have situations where my right foot is on one pedal when it needs to be on the other, or on both simultaneously. As a recovering pedal steel guitarist, accustomed to using knee levers, I naturally considered knee-operated switches and pots. Unfortunately, my knees are moving so much in discharging their other duties that they couldn't achieve the precision needed to control musical events. Ditto my elbows and head (I'm singing or playing harmonica most of the time). Maybe I'm just maxed out. Maybe there's a natural law to the effect that "thou shalt do this much, and no more." I would gratefully welcome any suggestions toward a solution. And I'd really like to hear how Patrick Smith controls his rig, which dwarfs mine in complexity. :-) John Troubador Tech (http://people.delphi.com/johnpollock/)