Cool JamMan tricks

["Michael P. Hughes, Ph.D." <pycraft@elec.gla.ac.uk>]

This is to show everyone I CAN actually post on-topic!

Someone, ages ago, suggested using the DELAY mode on a JamMan in order to
be able to control the loop feedback.  For a change, I spent yesterday
playing around with this mode and came across some surprising features.
Note that some of these require rapid changes of feedback level - Bob, is
there any way of modifying thisngs so that one can change from feedback #1
to 16 by clicking one step antickockwise?

Anyway....

1.  MULTIPLY EXISTS ON THE JAMMAN.

Set up a loop of, say 5 seconds by setting Feedback (Fb) to 16 and tapping
that duration out. Play your loop. As it starts to repeat, tap to start the
replacement (ie extended) loop.  Wait til your short loop has been around 4
times, ie 20 seconds, than TAP again.  The new loop is 4 copies of the
short loop long.  Use Fb less than 16 if you want to vary the repeat level,
but Fb16 will hold the loop without fading.    

2.  IT WORKS THE OTHER WAY AROUND TOO.

Take the above 20-second loops and TAP so that the start and stop points
cover a single small loop.  THe new loop is now the same size as the samll
loop (ie 5 sec).  Tthis is really useful for changing the tempo of a piece
- build up a chord sequence, then end it by looping just one chord.
Alternatively, use /2, /3 or /4 to chop the loop up in a pseudorandom 
fashion.

3.  YOU CAN LOOP _AND_ DELAY.

Set the feedback to about 6, delay time .5 sec (for example).  This gives a
regular DDL effect.  Then TAP on, play your loop with the DDL effect.  When
the loop is finished, tap off and get the Fb to 16 RIGHT AWAY.  The new
loop will feature the original signal with the delay effect - ie two
effects in one!  Wow!

4.  OTHER COOL STUFF TOO.

You get full contol over feedback, so you still get to remove bits of the
loop by dropping the Fb to 1 for those bits.  Or use a combination of Fb
and chop to go from looping to playing off a delay in a "seamless" manner.
And lots of other things;  hey, this is after one day's experimentation!

Now this seems to provide a lot of the features so beloved of EDP users
(perhaps even more! :)  - feedback control, multiply and divide (and not
just in a fashion dictated by loopsize, but freeform), loop+delay.  All
that's required to make it ideal would be the rotary that gets to Fb 16
more easily and  a loop bypass - as things stand you'll need to use an AB
box to stop everything you play being looped.  Any chance of a
quick'n'dirty mod for changing the Bypass pedal function to loop input
bypass rather than loop output, Bob?  :)

Michael