Gordon's Progress

Not a fan of multi-effects myself.

My setup is shamefully BOSS-ridden... or is that shameful? Damn fine pedals, they is.

Gordon - listen to "Troika" on my page. The string effects on there were made putting an Etherwave through a Boss PS-2, DD-6 and an Alesis Nanoverb.

I'm currently experimenting with processing through various synthesizers. I built a Pitch to CV patch on my Korg MS-20, but that obliterated dynamics (obviously), so that was really no good. I'm currently trying out similar ideas on a Red Sound Systems Darkstar and an MS2000, with better results. If you own synths, they're generally much better than multi-fx boxes, assuming they have onboard effects and inputs, because you also have the fun of filter modulation... mm, random waveform.

teslatheremin: I'm barely a thereminist. My primary instruments are bass and guitar respectively. That being said, I've owned and used multi effects rack mount processors (Quadraverb and ART) but didn't find them to be as easy to jsut start playing with out of the box and not as flexible as far as being able to make changes on the fly. Of course, if you have the time to program them they are more stable and less of a hassle to plug in quickly in a live situation. I personally like the ala-carte aspect of using pedals as opposed to using an all-in-one box. Pedals tend to have their own character. For example, my ProCo RAT sounds very different than my Boss distortion pedal and is one of only two distortions I've ever used with a bass that sounds good to my ears (the other is a Big Muff). Rackmount signal processors may have their own unique character, but it's across the board on that unit. If you don't like the delay effects you're still stuck going out and buying another effect to replace it.
Bottom line: to each their own. There are benefits to both sides. And sorry about the ramble.

Gordon: I'm aware of the Kees limitations and I have you, wise sir, to thank for that. Thank you for allowing us follow your journey. Although I'd never sell the Kees (it's just too beautiful to let go of), I'll likely replace it with a Moog at some point in the future. Once I get the studio built and some of that debt paid down. If it's not one thing... ;-)

Alexander: There is no shame in your Boss love. Embrace it. Roland makes quality stuff as far mass manufacturers go. I'm also very intrigued by your experiments with analog synths. I'm going to check out your page now.

Whew! Done and out.

Back in the day I went through a couple of Zoom 9002 multi processors and then went to a Zoom 506 for the bass but I currently use a mixture of individual pedals and multis for both bass and theremin.

My bass processor is a Roland GT6B and I love it.

I use an old ART SGX2000 for the theremin and I haven;t had to mess with any of the presets. I just picked a few that sound good.

My delays are a Zoom 508 and an old Peavey digital delay pedal. I also have a Morley wah and a Korg flanger pedal that I use occasionally.

My Boss ME-30 is probably going up for sale soon. I just never use it anymore.

I also want to get a Boss RC-20XL. They do make some good sturdy pedals. I love the Zoomz sound but Boss/Roland are made to be dropped from tall buildings and still work where Zoom must have gotten a good price on plastic...

I've never really liked the Zoomz build, but liked their sound. I had a student of mine a couple years back have his need some soldering done. The joints cracked pretty badly. Fortunately, the traces weren't destroyed on the PCB board and I could put it back together for him. It seemed like the board was being flexed evertime he stepped on it. The way I look at it, if I can't step on it without the need to be dainty I have no use for it.

I had an early 90's ART (SGX I think) multi-effects processor that I hated. It was noisy as all get out. I hear that they've gotten better, though. I replaced that with a Quadraverb that served me much better for years. I recently sold it. I really like the ART Levelar that I have and use that for bass compression in the studio (after the DI box and before the Mic Pre). Solid little piece of gear that I don't think I could live with out now.

Edweird - who said it was a limitation? Never mind sentimental reasons - keep it because it makes a sound that the etherwave can't. Also I admit it - I was repeating myself. Mea culpa (or "my bad" in Buffy-speak. Mmmm. Evil Willow. Mmmm. But I digress.)

Alexander - I went and had a read of the Korg MS-20 manuals at korganalogue.net - curiosity, and I'm confused. Manual claims it has built in pitch and envelope followers - what was the problem with dynamics?

Also, I found a patch to produce a thereminesque waveform ---

http://www.korganalogue.net/korgms/mstt.html (scroll down to Theremin)

Make your theremin sound a bit like a theremin!

Troika - yup, that's a PS2 alright. Funny - I had heard it before and not realised.

Have you tried plugging a tuner into your PS2? Is tuning it to something meaningful a worthwhile activity?

I think I mentioned this idea in passing before.

You know what a difference engine is. Does complicated maths by subtracting one number from another. (wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Difference_engine#Method_of_differences))

Er, you can subtract one CV from another by inverting one and adding it to the other, yes?

A CV derived from the pitch of a theremin equates to an absolute distance from the pitch antenna at any given moment. The difference between the CV as it is now and as it was say a tenth of a second ago is a measure of how fast the pitch is changing. It tells us the speed of a stroke.

The difference between the speed of a stroke now and as it was say a tenth of a second ago is a measure of the acceleration of a stroke.

One should be able to vary the timbre, for instance, of a theremin controlled synthesiser according to how fast you are moving your hand. Or according to your hand's acceleration.

Does that make sense?

(By the by, did you know roller coaster designers consider not only speed and acceleration but also rate of change of acceleration (jolt) and rate of change of jolt (jounce.)

[i]One should be able to vary the timbre, for instance, of a theremin controlled synthesiser according to how fast you are moving your hand. Or according to your hand's acceleration.[/i]

Yes, indeed... very easy to accomplish.

If you split a control voltage (say the pitch cv) you can take the split signal, invert it, run it through a lag, and sum it with the original voltage. The resulting cv will (in effect) cancel the d.c. offset and retain the rapid changes. This voltage could in turn be summed with the pitch cv and used to control a Voltage Controlled Filter (VCF). Thus, the timbre would change with a more rapid motion of the pitch hand.

Another application would be if you summed the voltage with the voltage from a keyboard. In this case the keyboard would play the notes and the only effect from the pitch circuit would be to impart vibrato and some glide to the pitch.

On MultiFX units - based on what I heard from our guitarist tonight, I will heartily recommend the Boss ME-50.

"Dedicated knobs for each effect section—no menus to navigate!"

Now this is what I'm talking about. Being able to monkey with tone on the fly without having to navigate menus and hit an "Enter" button. Sounds interesting. I need to go play with stuff at Guitar Center a bit more frequently.

BTW I checked out your page Alexander. Nice stuff.

There is a but of noise from the ART I use but it is not too bad to play with.

There are enough controls over the incomgin and outgoing signal to minimalize the noise in a live setting.

So far, when I have recorded with it, it has been in a live type set-up with each of us going into the board and our amps miked.

I will have to see what happens when I plug it straight into the board.