Re: Re[2]: Vortex Applications Notes

[JOHNPOLLOCK@delphi.com]

Jon Durant wrote, in part,

>If only there were more of you out there, Todd and Andre, this box
>might have actually sold. Did I tell you about the demo I received
>when I popped by a store in Nashville (in disguise, of course) that
>had been trained not two weeks prior?
>(Q: What's a Vortex? A: It's a trick reverb) Or about the Guitar
>Center in the San Jose area (can't remember now which city) that had
>a really noisy patch bay and said it was the Vortex making all that
>buzzing? 

>The thing that really pushed me over the edge, however, was when the UK
>distributor said at an international marketing/bitching meeting
>(w/distributors from Germany, France, Italy and England): "I can't
>believe Lexicon doesn't make a delay box any more!" To which I replied,
>"Andrew, we make two. And the reason you can't sell JamMan and Vortex
>is because you don't know what a delay box is."  This, of course, got
>me into big trouble with the President of Lexland, but

Synchronicity:  Within minutes of receiving Jon's post, I got a phone
call from the Guitar Center employee who sold me my Vortex a few weeks
ago.

GCE:  "Are you happy with it?"

Me:  "Deliriously."

GCE:  "Really?!?

Me:  "Yeah...Why are you so surprised?"

GCE:  "Well, I wasn't sure if you'd tried one before you bought it..."

Me:  "Never heard or laid eyes on one until I took mine out of the box."

GCE:  "Well, then, how...why...uhh..."

I explained that I had a good idea of the unit's capabilities from the
L-D list and Web site, at which point he became very excited.  It turns
out the guitarist in his band has a Vortex, but no clue as to how to
use it.  I gave him the URL. :-)

I'm not sure whether he was looking for help, or trying to placate a
potentially unhappy customer, or both.  I did ask him about the Vortex
User Guide Addendum/Application Notes, and he said he'd check and get
back to me.  It'll be interesting to see what happens.

Unlike Todd and Andre, I can't say that I really "get" the box-- I just
don't have enough hands-on time at this point.  Also, I've been using
what time I do have for looping!  Deja Vu B with expression pedal assigned
to Envelope.  This afternoon I was playing heavily distorted (saturated)
guitar, and set up a rhythmic loop that wasn't quite right.  Instead of
starting over, I started adding to it with scrapes across muted strings.
Then I stuck in some single notes, a different one on each beat, fading
them in and out with the expression pedal.  I repeated these notes several
times.  It still wasn't right.  I tapped the tempo pedal a couple times,
just to see how chopping it would do...and burst into laughter:  I had
unintentionally created a heavy metal Cajun waltz, complete with rubboard
and accordion!

Another thing I do is to set up a very simple rhythmic loop, back off
the expression pedal to a value of 3 or 4, and play over the loop.
When I stop playing, I'm always surprised and usually delighted by the
wash of sound that has accumulated in the loop, but which I couldn't
hear clearly while playing.

When I get time, I'm really looking forward to running my acoustic
guitars through Duo A and B, with piezo pickup feeding one side and
magnetic to the other. 

So, yeah, I'm deliriously happy with the Vortex--but I bought it as a
$150 looper/tap tempo delay.  It does chorus, flanging, rotary, and
morphing as well?  Thaaat's nice...but I'm not sure I would have paid
$478 for it.

See, the JamEntity has features that are not only easily understood,
but roughly quantifiable in dollars:  "It does what one of those 8-second
Digitech boxes does, for only a little more.  It can expand to do double
what the EH 16-second delay does, and if you can _find_ the EH box, it'll
cost twice as much. PLUS it's MIDI controllable, and can slave to my drum
machine--OR make my drum machine ITS slave, and therefore the slave of MY
tapping toe!  And a chromatic tuner to boot?  That's worth $40-50 right
there...Write it up!"

With the Vortex, the process is more like:  "That's a pair of $150 chorus/
delay stompboxes, plus a $50 stereo volume pedal for panning.  No MIDI...
less than two seconds delay... Nawp, lemme look at that JamOne again..."

So, tell us, Jon, if you can:  Is there really some exotic and expensive
DSP deep mojo in the Vortex, to justify the list price?  Or did the
Lexfolk simply misguess the desirability of morphing along with the
need to explain Bleen?

John                              Email:  johnpollock@delphi.com
Troubador Tech on the Web--http://people.delphi.com/johnpollock/