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At 05:49 AM 8/26/2001, Doug Cox wrote: >I have an EDP. It may be a bit misleading to say that the feedback (or as >the first msg put it, "fade level") is only applicable when the track is >being recorded. If I start a loop and then take the EDP out of >recording/overdub mode (all lights green), the feedback control still >applies to that loop. > >Maybe I misunderstood what you said? Just wanted to make sure that the >poster had a good understanding of the EDP's capabilities. There are two ways you can have feedback control in the Echoplex. The default way is what we call "Loop" mode. In this mode, feedback is independent, so it is always available as a way to alter the loop, whether you are overdubbing or not. To me, this is one of the really important innovations that Matthias made in the basic Echoplex design, separating his original Loop/Delay (and then the Echoplex) away from the way delays worked and making feedback into a much more important control over the loops. With it always continuously available, you have a lot more flexibility over its use. For example, while a loop is steadily fading out, you can be otherwise playing material *without* overdubbing something new (and not otherwise needing complicated mixer setups to do this). Then, independent of the feedback effect on your loop, you can choose when and what you want to be adding in to the loop by turning overdub on and off. Or for that matter, you could be using other functions like replace or whatever, independent of feedback. Eliminating this somewhat arbitrary connection between overdubbing and feedback gives the Echoplex an interesting degree of flexibility that turns out to be really useful in a live looping context. The echoplex also has "Delay" mode, which makes it follow the old style of feedback operation that delays always had. In that mode, the loop input is normally open as it is in a delay, and feedback is active only while audio is being added. (in fact, the delay input is immediately open in this case after you set the length with the Record, just as it would be in a delay.) In Delay mode, the Overdub button actually becomes the "hold" function normally found in delays. When you press Hold, the input to the delay is closed so no more audio goes in, and the feedback is set to 100% so it repeats infinitely. Changing the feedback knob doesn't have any effect while Hold is on. As soon as hold is turned off, feedback is active again. That option was kept because so many people into looping were coming from the long delay approach, and wanted to continue working in the same way. So fine, we give them that. Then the people ready to move on to the next step, or those new to the whole concept, can go on to the new way of thinking in Loop mode. In either case, you also have continuous, live control over the feedback, just as it always was with delays. So at any time you can change the feedback knob at the rate you want and hear that sweep in the next repetition of the loop. If you want, you can pick some section of your loop to fade out, and another section to preserve. Each time you get to that section you turn the feedback down some and as you get past it you bring it back up again. You could use this to steadily evolve only one part as the rest remains static, for example. This is different from some other devices that just have a small number of discrete feedback levels that effect the entire loop. (like the jamman). You can't really change those in a live way, you just set it and it takes effect at the next loop repetition and the whole loop is changed. So you can't really get smooth feedback level changes, it always goes into it suddenly. You can't smoothly change from one feedback level to another, you just jump to the next discrete level. And you can't pick a section of your loop to fade out while the rest stays unchanged. If you want that sudden change effect, you can still do it in the Echoplex, you just have to do it with MIDI. Feedback level can be set at any time with continuous controllers. So you can set it to a discrete level or sweep it around with a midi controller or whatever. kim ______________________________________________________________________ Kim Flint | Looper's Delight kflint@loopers-delight.com | http://www.loopers-delight.com