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Looper's Delight
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There are only two cures for me on this one: 1) giving up all electronics completely and going to strictly my acoustic, or 2) finding the holy grail of rack gear that replaces everything in my 8 space rack now...like maybe just two processors (top of the line Eventide and Lexicon) and a stereo, single rack mount looper (I'm waiting for this one to come out)....probably about a $8,000 rack. But to your point, I do get some pleasure from acquiring the gear, tweaking it, learning about it, spending hours on creating a graphical interactive tour on my website, etc, etc. In my 25 years of playing guitar, I have gone through multiple systems - combo amp + pedal effects, combo amp + rack effects, powered speakers + rack effects, non-powered stereo speakers + rack effects and power, pedal effects inside a rack + combo amps...and I've gone through this series several times, everything from 2 space racks to 20 space shockmount racks that lit up like Christmas trees. At some point in time, you just have to play, which is the practical solution between these two cures for me. One day, something may click in my head, and I'll show up for a gig with my acoustic guitar, a pig nose amp, and a Boss RC-20. And then I'll focus on just the notes, rather than the "dressing" around the notes. The effect madness, albeit fun, is sort of liking looking out a window pane. What you see is the notes. You can put all sort of fancy designs around the window pane on the molding, use stain glass to colorize the view, or alter the glass to distort or completely mangle the view, but in the end it's still the notes on the other side of the window. At this stage in my life, I'm not content with just the unaltered view through the window. I prefer an altered view of reality, the sci-fi, fantastic escape from reality. :) One day I may become obsessed with the purity of the view through the window pane. This is what I admire about you guys who show up with a laptop and a microphone in your hand, using nothing but your voice...no effects, etc. That to me seems very liberating and empowering. For now, I am voluntarily and happily (sadomasochisticly) enslaved by the rack. ************************************************************************ ************** Krispen Hartung http://www.krispenhartung.com info@krispenhartung.com View improvisational / real-time looping videos: http://www.myweb.cableone.net/chagstrom2/music/kris-hartung/catalogue.ht m#videos Interactive tour of my gear: http://www.boisemusicians.com/gear.htm -----Original Message----- From: Jeff Evans [mailto:jeff@sccadv.com] Sent: Monday, February 21, 2005 10:30 AM To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com Subject: When does it end? I'm curious to hear if anyone else has the same bittersweet dilemma: Revolving Gear Syndrome. On one hand, it would be really nice to just have a set-up, and stick with it. I think of all the additional time and energy I could be spending on playing, if I could just leave my rig alone. On the other hand, I find a lot of inspiration in the gear itself. New sounds have an affect on my playing, and generate new ideas. It's also pretty fun to troubleshoot the inevitable issues that arise from adding a new device. Where will it work best in the signal path? Series or Parallel? Does this device require another device in order to get the most out of it? Can I figure out a way to get the same sound with the stuff I've already got? Will it be the straw that breaks my back? etc. These questions require a lot of thought, sometimes. I happen to like thinking, so it's all good - but I'd also like to read a good book, you know?