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I'm going to give my $0.02 on Philip's questions,
since I can answer most of them, and also in direct protest of the fact that I
posted a clear and simple set of questions re: the separation and amplification
of "bass register" signals in a looping guitar rig, and have gotten basically
*1* semi-related response. (THANKS David Kirkdorffer!!!)This list used to
be a great place to float questions around the kind of technical issues that we
loopers face. Seems like there's either a lot of noise, a lot of spam, or
a lot of "taking" but not as much "giving" as there used to be.
Change the world by changing one person at a time,
starting with yourself, right? :)
Comments below, Philip!
Doug
I figured I would get some beats together and
sync some bass and guitar loops to them and sing a bit. Sort of a Beck (not
Jeff) kind of sound. It seems pretty straightforward, but my infrequent
dabbles in MIDI have taught me that things MIDI are ever quite as easy as one
thinks they should be (for me anyway). I need some recommendations for gear
and advice. If any of this is redundant, answered in an FAQ, an archive or
another site please point me in the right direction.
I love Beck! I'm working in a duo right now
(just me and a percussionist, using and SPD-S and a Repeater), and we're
working on originals that feel/sound a lot like Beck and/or Soul
Coughing. I'm psyched!
1)In the FAQ for the EDP, it said
that the EDP could be synched to a sequencer etc. Does anyone have any
recommendations for a drum machine or a sampler (I haven't decided which to go
with) that could store a bunch of beats, and to which I could sync an
EDP?
Of course, this depends greatly on what you want
to accomplish. In a general sense, any sampler/drum machine that can
either send MIDI CLOCK out (if you want the EDP to "slave" to that device)
and/or accept MIDI CLOCK in (if you want the device to slave to your EDP
loops). As you might guess, I've replaced various rhythm machines I've
used with a real, live friend who plays drums (and captures them in a
Repeater). He's our "clock master". He sets the base loop times by
locking in a base loop to drive the songs.
You might look at the Electribe-ER1. I loved that drum
machine while I owned one. Very versatile (and Beck-ish) tones out of
it, and it synchs to MIDI or sends out MIDI clock, either way you want.
It does NOT do traditional drum kit sounds, though - so demo one before you
buy.
2)Does the EDP permit switching between several looped guitar or
bass lines--could I have record a loop and call it up later on in the same
tune, or is it lost as soon as I stop using it? (Eg. could I record the guitar
riffs in "Mama Said" as loops, stop them when the song gets to the "But I'm
always on the run . . . " bit, and start one or two of them back up after the
chorus still synched to the drum track or sampled beats?--Not that I'll be
covering LK)
Yes, this is one of the fundamental features of
the EDP. You can divide your available seconds of loop time (driven by
how much RAM is installed in the EDP) into multiple loops, and switch between
them. Using SwitchQuantize, you can have the loops switch only at loop
or cycle boundaries, so you can have your loops switch "in time" with the
beat, but not have to hit the NextLoop button at precisely the right
time.
3)If I am synching an EDP to a sequencer or sampler, what
kind of foot controller should I use? Would it be possible to control a midi
preamp, a g-force and the EDP with the same controller?
You want a good MIDI foot controller. Yes,
a good one will control all those units (and more). I shouldn't give
advice here, since I use the Behringer FCB1010, and many consider it a
"budget" foot controller. But, it manages to control my 2 EDPs, a Roland
GP-100 preamp/multifx unit, and a G-Major (sometimes). With the G-Force,
you may want something more full featured though. The FCB1010 might be
considered the low end, and you might look at the Ground Control Pro as a more
expensive, full featured solution. There are other recommendations
in the archives. Search for "foot controller" or "footcontroller" in the
list archives.
4)Can I have output from a vocal microphone or the sampler looped on
the same EDP I use for the guitar, and treat those loops just like the others?
Do I need separate EDPs for different sources?
Yes, you can. The EDP has a good dynamic
range, and you can loop any sound source with it, and not lose sound
quality. The issue becomes what you use to amplify the resulting
signal. If you're looping your guitar tone (from a preamp) AND voice,
you have these two different signals which aren't properly amplified by a
single device. Through a guitar amp, the guitar would sound good, but
the vox would suck. Through a full range speaker, the opposite would
probably be true.
Some people use guitar "modelers", and loop the
guitar signal *AFTER* the preamp and poweramp/speaker simulation. In
that case, the guitar singal and the vocal signal WOULD sound ok through full
range speakers, since the guitar is already "modeled" through guitar speakers,
and won't sound shrill and flat through the full range speakers.
In the duo I'm working on, I use my EDPs solely
for guitar (including my "bass range" stuff, resulting from either pitch
shifted guitar, or 1/2 speed octave-down loops), and amplify them through a
traditional guitar amp. This was the root of my questions earlier this
week. I'm interested in how others do this, without muddying their
guitar amp singal with "bass range" sounds. We use the Repeater to loop
the SDP-S (drums) and vocals, and amplify that with full range PA
speakers.
5)Has anyone got an EDP for sale? (Please contact me off the
list)
That's where I can't help you. They will
pry my EDPs from my cold, dead hands some day (if they're
lucky!!!!)
Thanks,
Philip
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