OT Distortion looping rig

[Rick Walker <looppool@cruzio.com>]

I took my new distortion/rhyhm oriented rig out
for it's first test drive in public last night and I'm really
pleased how it performed (or, guess how I performed with it)

I tried a lot of different combinations out and finally settles on this 
rig:

I feel like I may border on the self indulgent but I"m really, really
excited about the possibilities of this unconventional setup.

I wanted to document it, share it,  get feedback and suggestions
if anyone has the time.   I also want to know if anyone else has been 
thinking
along similar lines in the intent of the pedal board or if reading about it
kicks off any creative thoughts about cool ways to use it.

Here goes:

*_DESIGN:_*
For one,  I wanted the pedal board to be in the air and not on the ground,
so that I could manipulate all the noise with my hands and also so that 
it would
be a little more theatrical.

Towards that end,  I put a Line 6 DL4  on the ground for each of the
two mono lines I have in the pedal board (a mid/treble line of pedals 
and a bass line of pedals)
So that I could make initial loops (even if it was just a droney 
non-rhythmic guitar loop)
to free me to manipulate the timbre and rhythm of the resultant noise 
with my
Looperlative which was at the very end of the chain.


The pedal board itself is a large rectangular percussion table that I 
can put up high
enough to manipulate pedals standing up.   You can view how it looks here
(though the pedal configuration was a little difference as I was playing 
more experimental music
at the Luggage store in the performance in the video)
www.youtube.com/rickwalkerlivelooper

Here's what's on the board and then what that feeds into, finally

*_PEDAL BOARD #1 for Guitar and Treble Sounds (voice, metal percussion, 
noise blasters, megaphones)_

Instrument  ==>

Line 6 DL4 (on floor)  ==>

==> DOD Buzz Box (4 separate EQ bands of fuzz from smooth to earthquake)
==> Boss Slicer pedal
==> Digitech DF-7 Distortion Factory (most famous historic
         distortion models, digitally modelled in one unit)
==> Ibanez Demon Wah  ==>

 ==>  chest high **(for manual controlled amp modelling and overdrive as 
a rhythmic effect
                            and manipulation of acoustic feedback at low 
volumes)*
*         VOX DA-5 battery powered amp

==> Shure SM58 mic ==>Mackie 1202VLZ Mixer ==> Looperlative LP-1 in aux 
send one
_
PEDAL BOARD #2 for Bass sounds (bass guitar, guitar, low pitched drums, 
etc.)
_                 on same physical board as the treble sound setup

Instrument ==>

Line 6 DL4 (on floor) ==>_

_==> DOD Meat Box (separate sub octave fuzz, companion to the Buzz Box 
for bass)
==> Zvex Fuzz Factory
==> Alesis Ampliton (fantastic tremelo that I'm surprised more people 
aren't into)
==> Boss OD20 (Distortion Modeller w/ awesome Fuzz Octave and ability to 
cycle through 5 presets, rhythmically)
==> Boss FT-2 Dynamic Filter (a wonderful discontinued pedal that allows 
Envelope Filter control via
           an expression pedal----though I used my hands instead as I 
had run out of real estate on my board

==> chest high (for manual controlled amp modelling and overdrive as a 
rhythmic effect)
       ROLAND Micro Cube portable battery powered amp

**==> Shure SM58 mic ==>Mackie 1202VLZ Mixer ==> Looperlative LP-1 in 
aux send one


_
INTENT of the SETUP:
_*
I wanted maximal control of distortion and equalization on both sides of 
the rhythmic manipulators
(Boss Slice and Alessis Ampliton)

I have to say that the mixer section added to the Boss Slicer pedal is 
wonderful as you
can completely control both volumes of the initial sound and the 
rhythmically sliced sounds
so I could morph amorphous distortion sounds into rhythm sounds.

Also,  the Boss Slicer (which I originally disliked because it didn't 
have any customizeable rhythm
functions) allows for real time control of the envelope (both attack and 
length of slices)
and I used that a hell of a lot to morph from one rhythm to another.

Being able to send a rhythmic set of distortion sounds into the 
distortion modellers to then
be timbrally modified by the wah wah and dynamic filter pedals let me 
really sculpt the sound.

I ended up using really simple and constant rhythms (pure tremelo or 
contant 16th notes on the Slicer)
and got more variety out of manipulating the sound, envelope and 
frequency range of the resultant
sounds.

Additionally,  the Digitech DF7 has small bits of square wave bounded 
silence in between each model.
By sweeping it from lo timbred distortion models to hi timbred ones (the 
way it's set up from left to right)
made for really incredible glitching techniques or if I was careful,  
really accurate rhythmic manipulation of
the sound.

Both battery powered amps had the same function..............switch the 
digital effects or the amp modellings
on both of them results in glitchy rhythmic slicings that can be 
manipulated rhythmically.

I have to say that outside of noise sources,  (On strat tuned DDDDD (the 
sixth string snapped by detuning!),
human voice/kazoo (yes, kazoo, lol),  noise blasters,  toy megaphones,   
real megaphones and
programmable toy music box)   all I did was manipulate the timbre and 
rhythm of the distortion.

Oh yeah,  and I also had a huge marching bass drum with metal chains to 
junk up the sound
and a huge marching snare drum with metal chains which I used on one 
song to give it
some actual groove.


I'm really excited with this setup and there is so much to learn about it.

The wonderful people at Analogue Haven, rushed me out a
Devi Ever Eye of God (which has a photo sensor that allows you to control a
feedback loop for simple but wonderful psychedelic wash effects
and it arrived on the day of the gig,   but It had stereo ins and out 
and I couldn't get
it to work in mono.................
...............also,   I ran out of room on my board,  too,  so I didn't 
use it.
*

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