RE: the power of limits

["max valentino" <ekstasis1@hotmail.com>]

I am really enjoying this thread on the power of limitations (in gear).  
And 
it is ironic that I am going through on of these "gear-downsizing" periods 
right now.
Sometime ago I read an interview with Eno where he was discussing he 
rather 
simple and out-of-date set up.  He said that the tools he uses he knows 
very 
well, and while they may be limited, he would rather work within a limited 
but known universe than the infinite.  In other words, he would rather 
have 
a couple of boxes he knew very well, and have just a handful of tricks or 
tones than a gazillion options....
I found this true with my set up also.  The more processors I threw into 
the 
mix, the more I used...or should I say tried to use!  This would bring 
upon 
a terrible state of option anxiety ("hmmm that's cool, but what if I 
changed 
this, and added that, and then tweaked this other thing?")
After going through a bunch of rack and floor processors and pedals, now I 
am back to a fairly easy to manage setup: Godin A4 bass, Raven Labs 
Mixer/DI, Raven Labs Inst. Pre, Lexicon Alex, Lexicon JamMan,and sometimes 
tossing in a DL4 just for fun.  The Raven stuff is used mostly for it's 
transparent sound quality, and the two aux loops.  The Alex is way out of 
date: single effects, 16 bit, NON-MIDI...but it has a quality which is 
unique and musical.  And the JamDude...well, we all know about this!  It 
is 
a simple, albeit limited setup, which challenges my creativity in 
ingenuity 
(and it sounds better than a lot of  stuff all hoked up!).  I find I am 
creating effects "manually"..that is with my hands: mutes, false 
harmonics, 
playing drums on the bass,(...alright I am still sticking aligator clips 
all 
over the bass and using an Ebow, but...) and combining these manual 
techniques with sometimes subtle,sometimes extreme electronic treatments 
(yes, have been able to write some fairly extreme patches with the 
limitations of the Alex).  For loops the JamBoy works superbly, in a 
simple 
way.  No I can't do crossfades, or undo functions like the EDP, or any of 
the cool stuff on the 'peater, but I have found I can make seamless 
atmospheric loops (no clicks) by just relying on my snse of time, my 
abilities, and this rather simple setup. And I am able to do some really 
incredible "song form" loops without MIDI or a drum machine (just the faux 
drums played on the bass).
And it is alot easier to cart around (1 4space rack!).
Since I unburdened myself from all the other processors and pedals my 
signal 
is cleaner, tone is better, and I am enjoying looping and music making 
even 
more.
It's all about creativity...not gear!  But having said that I do envison 
an 
EDP sometime soon.....
Max

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