review of BOSS SL-20 Slicer and description of my Noise Rig

[looppool@cruzio.com]

I own the Boss SL-20 and have had a lot of fun with it.

Currently,  I'm using it in my Rhythm/Noise solo project called
'AEther Engine' and also in the Japanese Noise band,  'Noise Clinic'.

I love resampling of loops so currently,   I place this between my first
floor
loopers (currently a Line 6 M9 but soon to be a Looperlative LP-2 MINI
looper)
and my Looperlative LP-1.

Additionally, in my rig, which, currently, is very noise based,  my
routing goes like
this (I mention all this minutiae first so you can see how I use the 
SL-20):

DESCRIPTION of RIG:

Guitar/Bass/Microphone/Shertler Pickup (for multiple instruments)  =>
Line 6 M9 (looper and multi-effects) goes into Audio Input of =>
Walker Manual Glitch Pedal (for rhythmic and glitching manipulation of
Audio input
                                          and generation of Pink Noise,
White Noise and Silence  =>
DAED Disturbo DS-1 Distortion Synthesizer
(I love this fantastic mod of a normal Boss DS-1 Distortion pedal
--some very radical noises can be created by this unit      =>
Zvex Fuzz Factory
(this unit's gate settings can also cause very hip, chaotic glitching
effects)  =>
Boss SL-20 Slicer   (more about this in a second)
Digitech DF-7 Distortion Factory (with many models of classic fuzzes and
distortions)
                                               (rotary knob goes from dark
midrangey models to
                                                 very treble and fuzzy
models with discreet
square
                                                 wave tremelo between each
knob click-very cool for
rhytym)
Ibanez  Demon Wah (used as a gradual filter than as a wah wah effect)
Looperlative LP-1 Looper

split mono signal goes to
1) Boss Miniature Bass Cube  (with amp models and aforementioned square
wave tremelo
                                           effect between modellings)
2) Vox Miniature Battery Powered Amp (with similar models and effects)

*I'm in a frenzy of distortion, fuzz and feedback lately, so I am
constantly swapping out
pedals for the DF-7 and Zvex Fuzz Factory (I love my Digitech Buzz Box, 
my Digitech Meat Box,
Ibanez Bass Stack,  Electro Harmoniz Bass Big Muff, Boss DS-20 (distortion
modeler similar
but more sophisticated and with larger foot print than the Digitech DF7),
Seymour Duncan Tweak Box, Pro Co Rat, Big Muff, Dunlp Fuzz Face,  and a
few other Boss distortion pedals.

This is all topped off by a huge marching bass drum and marching snare
with huge chains draped over them to acoustically simulate distortion.
It's a fun and HEAVY rig.........lol.



REVIEW of the BOSS SL-20

I really love this device because I can set up all kinds of rhythmic
manipulations
but what I really love about it, is that it has an onboard mixer with two
knobs
that control Dry Sound (no Rhythm)  and Wet Sound  (Rhythm effect).

Because it has two knobs I can do very, very subtle mixes in real time of
noise
and rhythmic effects.

Additionally,  the unit has the ability to control the envelope of the
rhythmic effect.
When the ADSR (as it were)  is fully open and the noise content is very
heavy,
this thing barely pulses (especially if I'm using different distortions on
the back side of it).
One knob is really the Attack  and the second knob controls the length of
the Rhythmic Slice.

I can get very cool and very subtle manipulations of even the simplest
rhythms using these two knobs.

I'm not running in stereo so I don't use the stereo modes conventionally,
but someone on this list (and please forgive me because I can't remember
who it was right now without researching it)  hipped me to the use of the
Random panning mode of the unit:   If you take a rhythmic
slice,  put it in Random panning mode and then put a dummy plug into one
side of the stereo
it means that though rhythmic (the sub pulse speed stays the same)  the
notes spit out will
be random.     It's like if a hip drummer was putting out a constantly
changing ostinato rhythm
but always in the same time signature and with the same note division (say
16ths).

CRITIQUES:
I have to say that I love using this pedal in my current project but that
normally,  I just use it to spit out constant 8ths, triplet 8ths, 16ths or
triplet 16ths.

I do this because I then rely on the extensive rhythmic editing
capabilities of my
Looperlative LP-1 which is last in my chain.

I can do so much glitching, replacing, time signature dimunition or
augmentation (creating
new time signatures out of the straight time signatures spit out by the
SL-20)
that I don't mind this limitation to much.

I do wish , however, that one could create customized rhythms for the
slicer,  but
this is why, frankly,   I created the Walker Manual Glitch Pedal.

All in all, with only having a single guitar chord or even just touching a
live  line cable
to introduce initial noise,  I have a very sophisticated ability to sculpt
things rhythmically.
I just do it with three devices   (Lp1, Sl-20,  Walker Manual Glitch)

I still have not checked out all the rhythms in the unit, by the way,
mostly because
I'm not too interested in having a single static rhythm through my pieces
of music unless
they are monolithically static like straight and constant subdivision.

I really dig the SL-20!