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Looper's Delight
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At 1:03 PM -0700 7/19/06, Paul Richards wrote:
>//Actually, I'd liken it more to a car that doesn't have seats: It'll
>drive and it'll get you where you need to go, but the ride may not be
>comfortable. //
>
>That's plain silly. Maybe like a car that doesn't have fold-down back
>seat.
That's not silly, that's charitable. To be truthful, for my purposes
it's more like a car with no seats, *and* a blown head-gasket: I'm
not even sure if it's going to get me where I need to be (and it'll
be a darn uncomfortable ride getting there, if at all).
If you're just a coffeehouse guitarist looping a few rhythm chucks
over which to lay a solo (and this is nothing against coffeehouse
guitarists -- there are some damn fine ones out there), then a looper
with no feedback is gonna work just fine.
However, if you're using looping for ambient soundscapes,
Frippertronics, or anything with continually shifting textures, then
the feedback control is absolutely essential. Otherwise, as Charles
mentioned, you're going to end up with layer upon layer upon layer
until you've got a huge rolling mess. The feedback is what allows
the older layers to fade away as new material is added upon them.
That's one reason why a lot of us chucked the RC-20's in favor of the
DD-20 (of which I have two, BTW). Although, in true "robbing peter
to pay paul fashion", you end up gaining feedback but losing the
ability (for the most part) to set loop length on the fly. Agh!
As I said in my previous message, to each his own. However, don't
minimize the importance of feedback, or insinuate that just because a
tool doesn't contain a particular function that it's not a needed
function ("If we ain't got it, you don't need it").
>Sounds like some folks have a hard-on for Boss/Roland.
Not really. IMNSHO, Boss/Roland, like many big manufacturers will
occasionally put out products which are utterly brilliant, and
occasionally products that are utter shite. On the more irritating
side, they also have a tendency to monkey with things incessantly.
Sometimes this results in something cool; or sometimes this whacks
out an otherwise excellent product (in my case, I'm thinking VG-8 to
VG-88, or PS-3 to PS-5, for instance). Sometimes they *just* miss
the mark -- as I feel they did with the RC-50 -- which is what makes
it all the more infuriating sometimes. Sometimes they can be fixed,
either by of future update or a third party. The Blues Driver, for
instance, is a great design, but is hampered by Boss' cost-cutting
use of cheap crappy components. Listen to the Keeley-modded BD-2
though, which replaces the stock junk in the box with higher quality
components, and it just sings.
After a while, you learn that newer is not necessarily better with
Boss, so you merely assess what's in front of you. Occasionally what
they've done is cool. Occasionally what they've done is completely
messed up.
You've got to look at what's actually there, not the stupid name on the
box.
>The RC-50 is an amazing product for $500 USD. A few years ago and
>you'd be lucky to touch anything with that much capability for 5 big
>ones.
As pointed out earlier, the Repeater was out a few years ago and I
got mine new for less than 5 big ones. Howzabout the Jamman? DJRND2
or Cycloops? Used PCM-42? Boomerang? EDP's been around forever,
and you could get one for not that much more (eh, don't talk to me
'bout stereo though). All have their plusses and minuses, but five
bills is a good median number and stuff has been coming out around
that price/feature point for quite some time.
What I'll give you is that the RC-50 is a major step forward just
because it's produced by a major well-known name in pedals, and that
by its very nature is going to give looping a big boost. However, to
finally have that and have the product come sooooooo close, but then
in the end to *just* miss the mark -- that's what is so frustrating.
I guess maybe we just wait for the RC-70 then...?
--m
--
_______
"I want to keep you alive so there is always the possibility of
murder... later"