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Looper's Delight
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After just posting that last bit on the FCB1010 MIDI pedal, I started
ruminating a bit on the
process that I go through as a musician in developing a relationship to my
gear. Someone on
another list recently made an excellent observation comparing physical
patchcords (like with the
old style modular synthesizers) to LCD menu screens. He said that the
patchcords are more "right
brain", you can see at a glance what is going on and take actions from an
intuitive part of
yourself in the patching process. What Brian Eno refers to as "rapport"
with ones chosen gear.
LCD screens are more "left brain" and require you to enter a different way
of thinking in order to
alter a patch. Perhaps this way of thinking doesn't come easy for some
people (like myself).
I don't know if the "left brain/right brain" analogy is accurate,
though his words spoke
volumes to me. The FCB1010 is a difficult beast for me to wrap my brain
around and it isn't
getting any easier for me as the years roll on. There's not even an LCD
screen... Also for me,
MIDI (the way it is currently applied), is non-intuitive, non-"right
brain" if you will. One of
the greatest things to come out in the last ten years of gear is the
entire Electrix line. Or at
least for those of us who relate well to this style of gear interaction.
Though I have never
tried using the EDP, the discussions that ensue here on this list push me
further away from it as
they seem to speak of a way to approach the pedal that runs counter to
what feels good to me. I
wish this wasn't so, as the EDP seems so powerful. Perhaps someday I will
come across one of
these little hummers and my thoughts about it will be proved incorrect. I
have to limit the
amount of gear that I buy based on how accessable it is to me to
understand and utilize. So much
of what has been produced over the last 20 years seems "unfriendly" to me
and my way of working.
I don't want to start any flame wars here, rather the FCB1010 and its
awkward programming
style led me to ruminate a bit. I put it in the "left brain" camp. I
would imagine that for some
"left brain" oriented people, the LCD screen actually works more fluidly
in their music making
process. To those who easily understand computer software and
programming, certain pathways have
been etched into their brain and the way they relate to these things. Or
so it seems to me. Once
the FCB1010 is well programmed, it may move itself over to the "right
brain" camp. Maybe. Same
goes for the EDP. It may serve as an unusually intuitive tool for me, if
I am ever able to get
past the user interface. Once my feet start dancing on the pedals, who
knows how easy it will be?
My sense is that Andre and others on this list already have this
relationship to the EDP, perhaps
even the FCB1010...
Another analogy comes to mind with the generic stomp box vs. the Line
6 stomp box modeler. I
have owned all 4 of their effect modelers and have felt myself not able to
relate to them
intuitively (programming them that is). The resultant effects don't seem
to do what they are
supposed to do. Other stomp boxes seem so intuitive on the other hand,
even the complex ones. I
suppose it all has to do with how the boxes are set up internally, how
their logic is constructed.
On the plus side, in the process of owning these effect modelers, I have
come across other gear
that does the job much more simply and directly, not to mention sounding
better to boot. So I
have a debt of gratitude for those humble Line 6 boxes. They taught me
that there are ways to
achieve what I want, in ways that work for me, and with some patience I
will find that way for
myself. (anyone interested in a used FM-4 or MM-4?)
I am still struggling with my Roland GR-33 and my Axon AX100-SB
guitar synths. The Axon is
far more powerful and far more difficult for me to work with. The Roland
is more of a Plug'n'Play
module, with crappier tracking and sounds, yet the footboard controls make
parts of it more
accessable. They both rely on small LCD screens and way too many menus to
scroll through, not to
mention Owner's Manuals that were written by aliens... The bottom line
may turn out that they are
not worth the trouble for me. The jury is not out yet.
And with all that Electrix has gone through in the last few years,
the bugs and
inconsistencies and ultimate demise that is their legacy, ya still gotta
love 'em. I have all 6
of the Electrix modules, (indeed it seems like a modular synthesizer from
the old days), and I
wouldn't trade them for anything. One quick look at the rack and I know
intimately what is
happening to my sound.
In none of this discussion do I mean to imply that either right or
left brain approaches are
superior to one another, or that one way of working is mo bettah than
another way. I'm interested
in hearing from people what works for them.
Cheers,
SVG
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