On Jan 7, 2006, at 2:41 PM, monk wrote:
1. What are the individual floor and rack units that RF used on his most recent
soundscapes tour?
rack: eventide 8000a, switchblade 16 channel, GP-100, (4) Eventide 3500's (2 dropped by restaurant workers trying to be HELPFUL at the Ram's Head - we had to take them apart, in front of the crowd, and re-seat the chips. and then they worked) - and his power amp, that was pretty much it. There was a motu peice in there that John used for things. John Sinks took his big rack (the lunar module, famed for years of road use w. KC) and put it all into 4space skb's (re-named the solar voyager) - so we could use my little Eddie Mini Van Halen for the last tour. RObert ended up quite liking Eddie Mini Van Halen - I think the list needs to know that.
floor: Rocktron All Access, the Roland 13-pin splitter/A/B selector, the 4 roland volumes, Gr-1, Gr-30. The GR-1 has the expanded stuff. well actually that one's on my bench right now. Peterson Strobe tuner. (2) Bag End loudspeakers. Apple G4 17" laptop & projector.
2. For what purpose does RF use each of the four volume controllers on the
floor, next to the Rocktron All Access?
each one controls different parts of the loops, and the various loops. there's one master volume; then he can blend the upper or lower 3500 pair loops with 2 more pedals, then lastly the 8000a, which accepts either stereo loop as he toes them down. so, there's like 3 loops basically going at all times, and he can shoot either of the 2 main loops into the 8000a when desired creating the big loop. a lot of control in that system and he works it like houdini... actually that's a basic understanding of it - w. the switchblade, loops and systems are sometimes put in different places in the signal series however that's basically how it works. The TC's are gone, they were getting old and aren't supported any more. Also no Whammy pedal in the soundscape rig.
3. Is there a general looping technique that RF tends to use currently when
creating soundscapes? I ask because RF's recent soundscapes seem much less
repetitive (i.e., it's harder to pick out individual loops in his current work,
whereas on the soundscapes of the mid-1990s, it seems easier to identify
repeated phrases). As an amateur looper, I'm curious to learn any looping
techniques that would make the output less blatantly repetitious.
see above answer
4) Listening to his latest soundscape CD (Love Cannot Bear), I was again
wondering how he creates his incredible string sounds. At first glance they
sound just like average synth string patches but then they are so dynamic
and organic ... my string sounds are boring compared to that. I guess he
uses Roland guitar synths for that and somehow enhances the original sounds,
maybe using Eventides or something.
