biz's signal path was Re: Space Station - long, and complicated.

["Jonathan El-Bizri" <ssrndpty@hotmail.com>]

> >Hmm. I could have sworn I've done this before. I'll check when I get
home -
> >I think you can, but there's a trick to it.
>
>
> I'd love to know the trick.  When I upgraded from the 2112 to the
> 2120 they gave me a manual that didn't go over all the new features,
> like reverse delays.  When I complained to Digitech they said, "oh
> yeah."
>

Yes, there is no manual for the new features, as far as I can tell.
Unfortunately, I didn't go home last night, so I didn't get to figure it
out.

> >  >
> >>  I've been thinking about putting it in my Repeater's effects loop, 
>but
> >haven't
> >>  yet, due to it's mono input.  I bet it would be sonic mayhem.
> >>
> >
> >I have two mono effects on my repeater, and use the pan to control the
mix -
> >that way, you get two effects. Come to think of it, I pretty much have
all
> >my stereo fx sends set up that way :>
>
> Hmmmm that may be the way to go.  There's that Vortex in the mix too.
> Can't have everything, where would you put it (in your signal path)?
>
> Mark Sottilaro
>
>
>
>you're one of those Chapman Stick guys!  I know there are a bunch of
>you on this list.  I'd sure like to know about how you approach
>looping as a stereo instrumentalist, and how you route your effects
>chain.

I pretty much try to use them as separate instruments whenever possible; I
now have each side of the stick go into a separate channel on the repeater 
-
this way, I am able to record and loop a bass line, while soloing over the
top, or vice versa. The inputs are shared with an fx send on the mixer, so 
I
can loop effects from a cd player playing sound effects as well, or pretty
much anything. (However, unlike many other loopers, I don't 'play' the 
mixer
during a live show - it just sits hidden in my rack). I didn't have this 
set
up at the gig you saw a few weeks back.

As far as signal chain, if you are sitting comfortably, I'll begin...

The melody strings of the chapman stick goes through a volume pedal, into a
wah pedal and into a high pass filter (in a rackmount crossover), and into
the input on the 2120. I use the wah as a tone control, rather than a wah,
holding it in a fixed position, or moving it slowly. When playing with high
gain settings, the bass side of the stick will crosstalk, and the high pass
is meant to fix this. I doesn't work very well, but it's better than
nothing.

The bass strings go into the other channel of the crossover, with the low
signal going into a cheap footpedal compressor before being combined with
the high, and going into the second 2120. The chapman stick doesn't have
quite as much low end thump and boom as a regular bass, and the compressor
makes it stand out a little more. Again, it doesn't work all that well, but
it's better than nothing. I've also experimented with an octave pedal on 
the
low side of the crossover, but it just made mud.

Now it gets complicated. Using splitter cables and the fx sends on my 
mixer,
I am able to share a Vortex, Digitech 256, repeater and EDP between the two
separate sides of the stick, a cd player playing sound effects, and an emu
xl-7. The cd player plays cd-rs I burnt at home - for those of you who saw
the my last show, that was where the effected vocals and looped movie 
dialog
came from.

- The repeater's fx sends go into a vortex and digitech 256 along with
signals from emu xl-7. Using the panning controls on the repeater and emu, 
I
am able to choose which effect the signal gets sent to.
- The echoplex sits on an fx send on the mixer. Signals from the two 2120s,
and the cd player are fed to the echoplex..

The outputs for everything go into a patchbay sitting on the back of the
rack, and multed into the mixer. The patchbay is set up so I can give the
sound guy separate signals from all the gear, and let him worry about the
levels during a show. With so many sounds going on, worrying about the
levels of everything is more than I can handle and still be musical

The main outs on the mixer go back into a stereo compressor and BBE sonic
maximizer (and back into the patch bay) - this feeds my P.A., or I can give
the sound guy a processed, summed signal, should a split up signal be too
much for him.

Everything, apart from the pedals, are set up in a skb mini gig rig, which
is has almost every space filled; top, front and rear. I have all the power
for the footpedals and controllers wrapped in a cheap plastic snake from
Fry's Electronic, coming out of the rig. Despite a ridiculous signal chain,
it takes me less than 5 minutes to set up, from parking the car to sound
check. It looks like this:

http://www.dub-beautiful.org/archive/photo/2002/jan6-02/index2.htm

Stuff still to do:

- I need a pedal board for the pedals that just started mushrooming
underfoot - can anyone recomend one?

- I'd also like to know what effects people have found for changing the
>tone< of their instrument, not necessarily effecting the signal. After
watching David Torn's excellent video (thank you David!) a light went off 
in
my head, and I added the wah pedal, which made a >huge< difference in the
expressiveness of my tone (even though it's a pretty lame wah). Can anyone
recomend other cheap toys that 'affect' the signal, without 'effecting' the
signal? I can get all the effects I want out of the 2120s.

- I've been trying to control the repeater with an ART X-15, but due to the
repeater's poorly thought out midi response, you have to press each pedal
twice for every action. Can anyone recomend a good replacement pedal?
Pressing the repeater's buttons all the time is not working for me. What
does electrix recomend?

- Those 2120s effects loops are sitting unused :>
- Add a laptop running Live, and Reason.
- A few loopy bandmates :>

There you go :>

bIz