Please jump on over to www.digitaldin.com to see the new version of my blog, which is now incorporated into my new Digital Din Publishing site. All the posts from this blog have been imported to the new one.
Thanks for visiting!
7.22.2013
7.03.2013
My Telecaster - Modded to the Extreme!
So anyway, my MIM (Made In Mexico) Standard Tele, which I earned with Fender sales back when I worked for a major music store in 2002 or so, has been getting the Frankenstein treatment almost since the day I received it. I started by swapping out the plain white pickguard for the cool pearloid black one you see in the photo - and I didn't stop there.
I think now that the only parts left on the guitar that are original are:
- Neck
- Body
- Nut
- Bridge plate
Everything else has been upgraded.
The pickups and electronics are one of the latest upgrades; I kept the original MIM pickups for a long time, and I had previously put in a 4-way switch. This allowed for standard Neck/Neck+Bridge/Bridge switching PLUS a 4th position for Neck+Bridge with Series (rather than Parallel) wiring. From Rothstein Guitars, I provide you with a well-worded understanding of the upgrade:
Adding a 4-way switch to a Tele is one of my absolute favorite mods. Without any visual differences to the instrument you get a totally different and really really useful 4th sound, namely bridge and neck pickups in series. Normally, when 2 pickup are combined in position 2 of a Telecaster, they are wired in parallel. This is a fine and very classic Fender sound. The nice thing about the 4-way mod is that you don't lose this sound, as the classic parallel sound still remains in position 2. However, you gain this really beefy tone with the added series connection in position 4. It provides a noticeably thicker and louder sound that is a bit darker as well. In esssence, you've taken the 2 single coil pickups and combined them to become a humbucker in this position. I like to kick this position in for solos.Visit that page for wiring diagrams and further information.
So, the pickups always sounded good, but my GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) kicked in, and I got a set of No-Caster Tele pickups. (The No-Caster was an early 50's model of the Tele, so-called because Leo Fender had to remove the original name, "Broadcaster," from the labels due to a trademark lawsuit over the name. Hence, the guitar had no "name" on it other than Fender, and became known as the No-Caster.) My new pickups are faithful recreations of the pickups in that guitar, down to the winding, wire style and gauge, and cloth covered wiring. And they sound fabulous.
When I was upgrading my Tele Bass (for another post) I came across a company called "ToneShaper." They create pre-wired, modular systems for replacing controls on popular guitars. Wanting to upgrade to better quality electronics, I figured I'd take the leap; they even had a setup that allowed for the 4-way switching - AND the reversed electronics I favor (putting the switch for the pickups at the bridge end of the control plate, more like a Strat, and the volume knob at the neck side of the plate.) And the guitar sounds STELLAR - between the clean, improved wiring, and the excellent pickups, it sounds like a million bucks.
So what else have I changed out? Well, the tuning machines were average, and I HATE poking my fingers with the E-string when stringing, so I got a set of Fender locking tuners. SO much easier to re-string. Also, they stay in tune better, and have better tuning action. And they dropped right in, with no modification, and you can barely see a difference. Very "OEM" upgrade.
I also put a set of Graphtech saddles on the bridge, and put a custom neck plate (with classic 80's Fender artwork) on the guitar. I also got a pair of knobs to replace the original flat-tops - they feature a glass jeweled top in almost exactly the same color as the guitar; normally I don't like flashy knobs, but they look totally money. Finally, a set of straplocks to keep the thing from falling to the floor...
All in all, this guitar is finished. Plays well, sounds amazing, and has custom features and plenty vibe to spare.
...Next (?)
1.28.2013
Digital Din About to Come Back Online
Digital Din Studio is finally almost completely moved into its new location; I've been working hard to get things set up and operational so I can get back to work (but it unfortunately has to take the backseat to prepping the old home for sale and caring for my 2-year old.)
In any case, here's some photos of the progress!
Here's the new desk setup. A nice thick tabletop from Ikea, mated to a pair of 12-space racks on casters, makes for a much wider, more accommodating desk than I previously had. It also puts the vocal channel strips (Focusrite, dbx, Alto) and other mic processing a lot closer and more easily accessible. In the right rack case, I have my computer and the battery backup power supply for it, as well as the central power station, which houses a surge protector and separate outlets for all of the sub-racks. This allows me to power up without doing the "power switch dance" from rack to rack.
Also note my relatively new Adam monitors (they ROCK) and my homemade "grok box" cube monitors (based loosely on the Avantone MixCube monitors). All controlled by the Mackie Big Knob, right under the dual 19's. And my computer keyboard wears the cool shortcut key stickers for SONAR that I recently got.
Just to the left of the desk is my main mixing board, the Mackie Onyx. It also acts as my interface, using Firewire to send the audio to my computer.
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This is my newly reconfigured "Drums submix" rack. My Ashly stereo mic mixer is at the top, for submixing the tom drums into a stereo mix; underneath is a set of Urei gates, and compressors from Symetrix, Aphex and RNC.
To the right of the mixing desk is my keyboard/MIDI setup; they have covers on them in the photo, but underneath is the Alesis QS8.2 (88 keys, weighted hammer action) and Korg MS2000 (Analog Modeling Synth). On the left is an Access Virus (on loan from Din Within co-conspirator Josh). There's a line mixer underneath so I can send everything to the main mixer on a single pair of stereo cables for convenience.
That's a lot of strings. 4 basses, 1 guitar - 36 strings. The one in the front is my modified Galveston 12-string bass. Then comes my custom 6-string fretless by bass-builder (and friend) Karl Hoyt, and its younger fretted sister (which I affectionately call the "Monkey Bass" due to its inlay at the 12th fret). Then, the old workhorse - the 6-string PBC 356GTB bass which did all the heavy lifting during the Second Story gigging years. Finally, my nifty Gibson Les Paul Robot Guitar, which sounds great and saves me a lot of time by tuning itself. :-)
And the drum set is totally set up; it's an old (80's vintage) Pearl Export Kit which I acquired from a longtime friend. I added the 8" and 10" rack toms (it was originally a 5-piece) and put new top and bottom heads on the entire kit. The stock snare is off to the side, the current fave is the Peavey Radial Pro. Most of the cymbals are Sabian, and the whole kit is racked up on a Gibraltar 3-sided rack (two curved bars, one straight one across the front.) A set of DW Double Bass Drum Pedals provides the kick. This is not a "high dollar" kit, but it sounds like a million bucks - the time I spent carefully cleaning, seating heads, and tuning the drums to their "home pitches" was absolutely worth the effort.
Finally - here's the guitar/amp corner; the door to the left opens to a small storage area that I plan to treat with foam and use as an "iso-box" for guitar amp recording. My modified Fender tube amp, Line6 mini Franken-combo, and Vox mini combo are all ready to mic up, and out of frame is my Ampeg VH140C combo and Josh's Line6 2x12. I also have a Line6 Pod 2.0 and M-Audio Black Box with foot pedal, which are both easily accessible from behind the main desk.
More to come as I make progress cleaning the place up!
In any case, here's some photos of the progress!
Here's the new desk setup. A nice thick tabletop from Ikea, mated to a pair of 12-space racks on casters, makes for a much wider, more accommodating desk than I previously had. It also puts the vocal channel strips (Focusrite, dbx, Alto) and other mic processing a lot closer and more easily accessible. In the right rack case, I have my computer and the battery backup power supply for it, as well as the central power station, which houses a surge protector and separate outlets for all of the sub-racks. This allows me to power up without doing the "power switch dance" from rack to rack.
Also note my relatively new Adam monitors (they ROCK) and my homemade "grok box" cube monitors (based loosely on the Avantone MixCube monitors). All controlled by the Mackie Big Knob, right under the dual 19's. And my computer keyboard wears the cool shortcut key stickers for SONAR that I recently got.
Just to the left of the desk is my main mixing board, the Mackie Onyx. It also acts as my interface, using Firewire to send the audio to my computer.
.jpg)
This is my newly reconfigured "Drums submix" rack. My Ashly stereo mic mixer is at the top, for submixing the tom drums into a stereo mix; underneath is a set of Urei gates, and compressors from Symetrix, Aphex and RNC.
To the right of the mixing desk is my keyboard/MIDI setup; they have covers on them in the photo, but underneath is the Alesis QS8.2 (88 keys, weighted hammer action) and Korg MS2000 (Analog Modeling Synth). On the left is an Access Virus (on loan from Din Within co-conspirator Josh). There's a line mixer underneath so I can send everything to the main mixer on a single pair of stereo cables for convenience.
That's a lot of strings. 4 basses, 1 guitar - 36 strings. The one in the front is my modified Galveston 12-string bass. Then comes my custom 6-string fretless by bass-builder (and friend) Karl Hoyt, and its younger fretted sister (which I affectionately call the "Monkey Bass" due to its inlay at the 12th fret). Then, the old workhorse - the 6-string PBC 356GTB bass which did all the heavy lifting during the Second Story gigging years. Finally, my nifty Gibson Les Paul Robot Guitar, which sounds great and saves me a lot of time by tuning itself. :-)
And the drum set is totally set up; it's an old (80's vintage) Pearl Export Kit which I acquired from a longtime friend. I added the 8" and 10" rack toms (it was originally a 5-piece) and put new top and bottom heads on the entire kit. The stock snare is off to the side, the current fave is the Peavey Radial Pro. Most of the cymbals are Sabian, and the whole kit is racked up on a Gibraltar 3-sided rack (two curved bars, one straight one across the front.) A set of DW Double Bass Drum Pedals provides the kick. This is not a "high dollar" kit, but it sounds like a million bucks - the time I spent carefully cleaning, seating heads, and tuning the drums to their "home pitches" was absolutely worth the effort.
Finally - here's the guitar/amp corner; the door to the left opens to a small storage area that I plan to treat with foam and use as an "iso-box" for guitar amp recording. My modified Fender tube amp, Line6 mini Franken-combo, and Vox mini combo are all ready to mic up, and out of frame is my Ampeg VH140C combo and Josh's Line6 2x12. I also have a Line6 Pod 2.0 and M-Audio Black Box with foot pedal, which are both easily accessible from behind the main desk.
More to come as I make progress cleaning the place up!
1.16.2013
Long time gone...
So... yeah, it's been a while since I've posted here. A lot has changed in my life, as well. The big one is that my daughter was born, which - cliches be damned - changed everything. And now, my family is still experiencing the upheaval of a move to (what should be) our final homestead. The new digs are only about 5 miles from our old house, and the new home has everything we have ever wanted, and more, including...
...an awesome place for my home studio.
Yes, Digital Din has moved once again; this new home marks the sixth place that my studio has resided, in one form or another. From its humble beginnings in the small front bedroom of my townhouse, through a divorce, many moves, a very brief stop in a duplex on a lake, and the most recent basement location, it's been a pretty wild ride. My studio has primarily been for my own projects, but I've also recorded songs for a singer-songwriter, a young band, a comedian/singer, a small choral group, and a couple of other small-scale projects.
The new place is, thankfully, not subterranean - it's over the oversized garage, and even features a kitchenette, a full bathroom, its own climate control system, and a separate entrance. I'm mostly moved in, but it still looks like a tornado hit.
The hope is, now that the studio will be instantly accessible, not dreary, and able to be used most anytime I need to, that my musical output will increase substantially. My main musical goals are for three separate projects:
...an awesome place for my home studio.
Yes, Digital Din has moved once again; this new home marks the sixth place that my studio has resided, in one form or another. From its humble beginnings in the small front bedroom of my townhouse, through a divorce, many moves, a very brief stop in a duplex on a lake, and the most recent basement location, it's been a pretty wild ride. My studio has primarily been for my own projects, but I've also recorded songs for a singer-songwriter, a young band, a comedian/singer, a small choral group, and a couple of other small-scale projects.
The new place is, thankfully, not subterranean - it's over the oversized garage, and even features a kitchenette, a full bathroom, its own climate control system, and a separate entrance. I'm mostly moved in, but it still looks like a tornado hit.
The hope is, now that the studio will be instantly accessible, not dreary, and able to be used most anytime I need to, that my musical output will increase substantially. My main musical goals are for three separate projects:
- Complete writing and recording the new Din Within album
- Complete the re-mixing, mastering, etc. of the never-released Second Story album
- A special vanity "cover" project that I'm not yet releasing details on
So, a quick partial tour of the evolution of Digital Din over the years seems in order. Photos of the new studio coming soon...
Mark I - Blackwood. Humble beginnings. (1999-2004). The desk stayed with me through every setup until the current one; it's finally been replaced. It isn't a music desk, but it works very well as one; rack gear fit into the opening perfectly, once I installed the rails. Also note the cheap keyboard controller, my longtime Behringer 2642 Grey-face mixer (also on the chopping block now) and the old Fostex 8-track digital recorder. That behemoth of a computer is a 486/33...
Mark II - Williamstown (2004-2007) - Where most of the Din Within album was recorded. The arrangement changed over time, but this was where I started getting more serious about learning how to record better tracks. Traded out the stereo speakers for a pair of "real" (Alesis Monitor One) studio monitors, and had a lot more room, being in the basement (which was carpeted but not finished.) Captured some very good tracks here!
Got a real drum kit, too! This is a classic 80's Pearl Export kit; it was owned since new by a close friend. He sold it to my drummer in Second Story, who used it in our practice space for a long time. I bought it from him. It's now a 7-piece kit, with all matching black satin heads, tuned up and sounds awesome.
Got a nicer keyboard, too. My piano-action Alesis... Note the all-important bottle of Wild Turkey... ;-)
Mark III - Williamstown pt. II (2007) I had a pretty sweet setup at my bachelor pad - Didn't stay there very long though. But I had the entire back bedroom, plus a separate room I could use for iso/drums/vocals/whatever. After going through all the trouble to move and set up, I only lived in this house for about 3 months. Shortly after buying, I moved in with my fiancee (now wife) and eventually moved the heart of the studio to her house, where I mastered the Din Within album. I recorded the last of the Din Within vocal tracks here, though.
I have very few photos of the studio in its most recent location, my house in Glassboro for the last 6 years. But lots of cool recordings have been done here, and I've really got the gear standard up to a professional level; some very cool microphones, nice outboard gear, updated (and fully legal) software, kick-ass computer, several guitar and bass amps, all the gear to record the drums, and more. It never ends, though. And it just meant there was that much more to move...
So, that's the story so far. Looking forward to filling you in on the details at the new location. Thanks for reading!
10.10.2011
Ransomed Soul 20th Anniversary Video
Our 20th Anniversary Concert, mentioned in an earlier blog post, went down on June 11 - 20 years, almost to the day (June 6) after our very first public performance as a band, at Bonnie's Roxx in Atco NJ (long since closed down, razed to a parking lot, and remembered as a much better venue than it actually was.) The concert was held at the Auction House Arts and Music Center in Audubon, New Jersey - an excellent venue run by some very cool folks!We played just about every song we ever wrote together, including a few that had only been played live one or two times, so they were "new" to even some of our most dedicated fans. Among the relatively unheard songs were Father and Buried in the Bottle. We also brought along a sampler, which allowed us to play old audio clips from the archives, including introductions from our friends Mark and Cheryl (lifted from when they played our song on their college radio station), and clips from call-ins to when we were on the radio at GSC (Rowan) - several people who were in the audience for the concert were surprised to hear their voice from almost 20 years ago!
We also used the sampler for our new intro clips for our song Liquid Faith, featuring some of the many insane statements of Glenn Beck (his lunacy replaced that of Robert Tilton, whom we had samples of back in 1993-94, carefully timed on an audio-cassette to sync up to our live performance). Finally, we had a couple random "Easter Eggs," like the original "I did that on purpose!" ending for Break Down the Wall - a humorous outtake that appeared on our original 5-song "Seeds of Time" cassette -- but was omitted on "Timeline."
Another fu
n moment - one of our last songs featured a surprise cameo by our friend Kevin, who performed the whispered "Goodbye" on the studio version of The Hunt - we got him to reprise if for the concert (though he didn't know it was coming.)A playlist of our entire 2 hour concert is posted at YouTube across several separate videos, linked together for ease of watching uninterrupted. Enjoy!
(We sure did!)
10.06.2011
On Selling Your Stuff (aka regrets)
When I was 16 years old, my parents got together and purchased an electric bass for me as my combined Christmas/Birthday present (my birthday is two weeks before Christmas). It was a big deal; we weren't "made of
money" by any stretch, so it meant a lot to me - and changed my life, musically. My dad is also a bassist, so he was able to "vet" the purchase with knowledge of getting a "good" bass for the money. It was an Epiphone (by Gibson) Rock Bass, a four-banger with J-bass pickups and a slim neck. While a relatively humble instrument, Dad picked out a really good one with excellent resonance, clean electronics, and he set it up to play well. I played that bass for many years, onstage and in rehearsal, with several different bands. Some songs I wrote during the period only felt "right" on that bass. I later upgraded it with a set of EMG pickups and it sounded amazing.
When I felt like making the jump to a five string, I found a fiver made by an (at the time) unknown brand called "Samick" at a local music store for $350. It was nifty, with a modern body style, J/P config active pickups, a pearlescent white paint job, and cool Saturn inlays on the fretboard. Again, played the hell out of that bass, and also upgraded to EMGs, this time with 18v electronics and their BTC circuit. Sounded, played killer.
In times of low income, or desire for new gear, regretfully I sold these "firsties" to other folks. They both went to good homes - the four-string went to a co-worker who wanted to learn to play bass, and the five-string to an online bass forum friend, who bought it as a backup bass (but later admitted that it took first-call duties over his formerly "main" axe because it played and sounded so good.)
Now that I'm older and have a bit more spendable cash, I really wish I had both of those basses back. I almost have contact with the old co-worker (I'm friends with his friend and have emailed his spouse on Facebook, but not gotten directly in touch with him) and I've tried to locate the email address of the guy who bought the Samick (but lost the original email trail in a computer crash several years ago).
Recently, the band where both basses got lots of play re-formed for an anniversary concert (see my last blog entry for details). The show was a great time for both us and the audience; I'll post links to the YouTube clips soon. I really would have loved to have both of those basses for the show, but I had neither. So I recreated them; I got a black Epiphone just like my old one (but not quite as good) and found a Samick that was pretty close; I played the Samick for the show. It had the feel and sound of the old white one, but I still wish I had the old one back.
I went through all that to say this: gear has to be sold to make way for new gear. But if at all possible, try to hang on to your substantial "firsts," even if they're cheap Epiphones, Samicks, or otherwise inexpensively obtained instruments. I can say from experience that you'll probably regret it.
money" by any stretch, so it meant a lot to me - and changed my life, musically. My dad is also a bassist, so he was able to "vet" the purchase with knowledge of getting a "good" bass for the money. It was an Epiphone (by Gibson) Rock Bass, a four-banger with J-bass pickups and a slim neck. While a relatively humble instrument, Dad picked out a really good one with excellent resonance, clean electronics, and he set it up to play well. I played that bass for many years, onstage and in rehearsal, with several different bands. Some songs I wrote during the period only felt "right" on that bass. I later upgraded it with a set of EMG pickups and it sounded amazing.
When I felt like making the jump to a five string, I found a fiver made by an (at the time) unknown brand called "Samick" at a local music store for $350. It was nifty, with a modern body style, J/P config active pickups, a pearlescent white paint job, and cool Saturn inlays on the fretboard. Again, played the hell out of that bass, and also upgraded to EMGs, this time with 18v electronics and their BTC circuit. Sounded, played killer.In times of low income, or desire for new gear, regretfully I sold these "firsties" to other folks. They both went to good homes - the four-string went to a co-worker who wanted to learn to play bass, and the five-string to an online bass forum friend, who bought it as a backup bass (but later admitted that it took first-call duties over his formerly "main" axe because it played and sounded so good.)
Now that I'm older and have a bit more spendable cash, I really wish I had both of those basses back. I almost have contact with the old co-worker (I'm friends with his friend and have emailed his spouse on Facebook, but not gotten directly in touch with him) and I've tried to locate the email address of the guy who bought the Samick (but lost the original email trail in a computer crash several years ago).
Recently, the band where both basses got lots of play re-formed for an anniversary concert (see my last blog entry for details). The show was a great time for both us and the audience; I'll post links to the YouTube clips soon. I really would have loved to have both of those basses for the show, but I had neither. So I recreated them; I got a black Epiphone just like my old one (but not quite as good) and found a Samick that was pretty close; I played the Samick for the show. It had the feel and sound of the old white one, but I still wish I had the old one back.
I went through all that to say this: gear has to be sold to make way for new gear. But if at all possible, try to hang on to your substantial "firsts," even if they're cheap Epiphones, Samicks, or otherwise inexpensively obtained instruments. I can say from experience that you'll probably regret it.
4.18.2011
Blast from the Past - 20th Anniversary Concert Event
From 1990 to 1994, two of my best friends and I performed in an all-original, progressive hard rock/metal power trio called Ransomed Soul. Those were some of the most fun musical years of my life; I was in college, in my early 20's, in much better shape, and fully enjoying the moment. We had the common pipe dreams of "getting signed," and spent every waking moment doing things for the band. In fact, my college achievement (and subsequent job prospects once I graduated) probably suffered a good bit thanks to Ransomed Soul. But I don't regret it. Over the years, we composed at least 20 songs together, and played loads of clubs all over South Jersey and Philadelphia.
It was incredibly frustrating at times; we were playing a fairly complex, "thinking-person's" brand of hard rock, which didn't exactly find a very strong foothold in an market where teased hair, spandex, and simplistic rock anthems were the norm; plus, towards the end, the new "Seattle Sound" was starting to take hold and was effectively pushing us out. It wasn't at all uncommon for us to play unsatisfying, unpaid gigs to seedy rooms of 4 people -- 3 of which came in the van with us (and the other one was drunk and heckling us).
But that is the original music scene for most of us, so I'm not complaining (much).
Yes, we took ourselves awfully seriously - we wanted desperately to create music with a message that meant something, and wanted the music to be intellectually interesting, yet catchy. And of course, we wanted to impress everyone with our stellar chops (which, in retrospect, were only moderately stellar.) Certainly, if we had it to do over again, we'd probably scale back the pretentiousness a bit - but your early 20's are a time when you're sure that you know everything; I just like to think that we dove in headfirst, taking full advantage of our own naiveté.
Why the name? I'm not 100% sure, we just sort of liked it. Scott actually wrote a song called "Ransomed Soul," and we decided that it made for a cool band name, too. We'd previously flirted with names like "Valkyrie" and "Solitaire" but figured they were too common to not be taken. Ransomed Soul was never a religious band, but people often confused us for one; the concept of a "ransomed soul" or "soul held for ransom" is often found in religious songs and writings. Unfortunately for us, the name -- while original -- also was very rarely spelled correctly on marquees or club posters. Some of the unintentional misspellings were laughable (but most were just annoying.)
We played our first real "gig" at the venerable (ahem) Bonnie's Roxx in Atco NJ; a rock/metal club with the infamous "party cage." Wait, what? Explanation: The club was "all ages," so younger patrons could pay the cover and see some live music - but Bonnie's also had an area of the club which had a floor-to-ceiling chain-link fence "cage" with a single entrance, manned by its own dedicated bouncer. Those who were of legal drinking age (or who had a very good fake ID) could get into this separate area, where they could both see the bands AND consume a selection of adult beverages. It was also common for the frontman of particularly frizzy-haired bands to climb the fence as part of their posturing. That, and swing around the support pole that sat just off dead-center in the middle of the stage.
Good times.
We played at Bonnies on at least a dozen other occasions; other venues included the Fastlane in Asbury Park NJ (no, we didn't run into Bon Jovi or Springsteen), Reds in Margate, the 23 East Cabaret in Philly, and a bunch of other bars and clubs, mostly seedy. A particular favorite was Miller's Inn in Tuckerton NJ - we'd get there with our gear, and while we were loading in and setting up, the pole dancer at the bar would be collecting dollar bills and occasionally slipping a "peek-a-boob" for particularly generous patrons. Then the
lights would go out, the dancer would get dressed and leave, and the rock show would begin. Truly an experience.We also played lots of shows on campus at Glassboro State College (now Rowan University), including winning a "battle of the bands" and performing several Earth Day concerts and other benefits. We had interviews on the air on the college station, too. It was altogether a really fun time, and we were so rock and roll!
Our last gig was at a short-lived rock club called "Six Shooters" in Atlantic City. Despite my having just purchased a brand new bass rig, the turnout was so small and response so lukewarm that we just decided, while we were packing up, to pack it in for good. It was a good run, but the time had come to move on to other projects - we were just tired of beating the pavement and only ending up with bloody knuckles.
Mike (Drummer), Scott (Guitarist) and I continued to remain the best of friends, and we even occasionally got together over the ensuing 16 years to jam, hang out, and reminisce. We even had a jam session at the surprise 40th birthday party our wives planned for Scott and myself. That jam was so much fun, we decided to celebrate our band's 20th anniversary with a "real" full-scale reunion concert.
So... we've scheduled it, and we are looking forward to a fun night with old friends, and hopefully some longtime fans hungry for a fresh dose of live "RS" music. Details are below, and you can also visit our Facebook Event page for the Reunion Show. Some photos and other info about Ransomed Soul can be found at our Facebook Ransomed Soul Band Page.
If you're in the region and want to enjoy a fun, old-school, slightly tongue-in-cheek performance of earnest, progressive-tinged hard rock, performed by a couple of 40-somethings with nothing to prove anymore, why not come on out? It promises to be a really good time.
Ransomed Soul 20th Anniversary Reunion Concert
Saturday, June 11 · 8:00pm - 11:00pm |
3.17.2011
Les Paul Robot Guitar
One of my acquisitions during my downtime was one of the Les Paul Studio "Robot" Guitars. People's opinions of this guitar's usefulness vary pretty widely around the net, but I quite like it, especially in the studio. And since they were essentially on clearance, I got a USA-made Les Paul for under a grand, with all the rights and priveleges pertaining thereto... AND got a guitar that can fricking TUNE ITSELF.
"Big deal," you probably say. "I can tune my guitar just fine." Well, sure! But it's pretty handy, I gotta say. Especially if you're constantly retuning to different tunings for different songs - for instance, this thing would be awesome if I was a guitarist in a cover band. To silently, quickly retune to drop-D while the singer was addressing the crowd would be useful, no? No waiting for the guitarist to stomp on a pedal tuner, and trying to fine-tune with all sorts of stuff going on? And it does all six strings at once, which I know you can't do. So it's efficient and cool. And I gotta admit, it's hard not to grin while watching the tuners spin whilst doing their thing.
Another aspect that gets overlooked: re-stringing. It has locking tuners, and a mode where you simply get the string on the post, hold it in place, and the guitar automatically winds the string up to pitch! No more bleeding fingertips from the damned high E string, no more of the string slipping off the post.
Finally, the guitar has a built-in intonation mode. You play the note at the 12th fret, then play the 12th fret harmonic - the guitar then tells you how many turns on the intonation screw to make to get the string properly intonated. C'mon now, that is cool.
Now, would I have spent the original $3000+ price for this guitar when it first came out? Hell, no. But for the very slight upcharge from a standard Les Paul Studio, it was a no-brainer. I did sell my heavily modded Fender Toronado to fund the purchase, which was bittersweet, but since I'm not a guitarist, I couldn't really justify having both (since I still have several other guitars as well). But I've been very happy with the Les Paul - it's a very resonant, great sounding guitar, plays really well and is lots of fun to play with.
2.04.2011
Update! It's been a while...
Sorry - to anyone who bothers to read this blog - for the long, long delay in new postings. A lot has been going on in my musical life, and I should have some new things to post about.
- I've completely upgraded the computer and software in Digital Din (my studio)
- My project Din Within has recorded a track for a tribute album to the band Yes
- I've been recording an EP for a local band called "The Fynline" - a nice group of teenagers from my hometown
- Josh and I have continued to write and record for our second Din Within Album
- I commissioned and received an awesome new 6-string bass from Karl Hoyt - the one-of-a-kind "Monkey Bass"
- I have acquired not my original Ransomed Soul bass, but an "exact replica" on eBay -- and am in the process of modding it to be like my original bass
- I've also done the same with a 5-string Samick bass - it's black instead of pearl white, and has a slightly different headstock, but it's pretty close!
- The above two points are particularly relevant because we're planning a 20-year reunion concert for the band Ransomed Soul - coming this Spring!
Not music-related - but one other major thing; my wife and I are expecting our first child in a matter of weeks (if not days!) So... that's had me pretty preoccupied.
So, hopefully, I'll get back on the bandwagon and post some new stuff!
--mark
6.16.2009
Some recording for a friend
I did some recording last Thursday with my friend Jeffrey Fields; he had a couple new songs he wanted to demo, and we got one tune done during the course of the evening. He plays a loose, casual folk or "Americana" style with acoustic guitar and vocals, occasional harmonica, etc.
The session went fairly well, even though I was pretty unorganized; we recorded his vocals and guitar together to get an intimate, live feel - though that made it pretty tough to do any "punches" or re-tracks if we needed to. He nailed a great version after a couple takes, and it sounded quite good.
We then made a few small additions; a subtle tambourine and kick drum during the chorus, a small ride hit on the last chord - and he let me drop in a simple vocal harmony on the chorus as well.
When all was said and done, I think Jeffrey enjoyed the experience and liked the results. And I enjoyed working with someone new. I hope to get together with him again soon to track the other tune. This time around, we may try separate tracking, maybe even a metronome, just to leave options open. But ultimately, it's his project, so we'll do what he wants! ;-)
The session went fairly well, even though I was pretty unorganized; we recorded his vocals and guitar together to get an intimate, live feel - though that made it pretty tough to do any "punches" or re-tracks if we needed to. He nailed a great version after a couple takes, and it sounded quite good.
We then made a few small additions; a subtle tambourine and kick drum during the chorus, a small ride hit on the last chord - and he let me drop in a simple vocal harmony on the chorus as well.
When all was said and done, I think Jeffrey enjoyed the experience and liked the results. And I enjoyed working with someone new. I hope to get together with him again soon to track the other tune. This time around, we may try separate tracking, maybe even a metronome, just to leave options open. But ultimately, it's his project, so we'll do what he wants! ;-)
4.09.2009
A Stupid CD Distribution Tip for Independent Musicians and Bands
I'm a progressive music lover and an independent prog musician, and I know that there are a lot of others like me. So, I figured this is a tip worth sharing with everyone, based on my experience. It might seem like a common sense move, or you might be averse to "partnering with the 800-lb. gorilla of the internet," but I'm here to tell you that I found this to be a worthwhile "sell-out" if you want to call it that.
That's right, I recommend that you sell your CD on Amazon.
On the surface, it kind of sucks, compared to the alternatives. Whereas CDBaby (an AWESOME company, sell your CD there too!) doesn't charge a "service fee" and, for my CD (Din Within's "Awaken the Man", which sells at $12) pays $8 per CD - the "Amazon Advantage" Program, essentially a "consignment" program, charges an annual fee AND only pays $5.40 per CD. But here's the thing, and again, it seems obvious: Amazon gets you out to such a incomparably HUGE audience - and more importantly, GROWS that audience with every sale (a feature that CDBaby can't really match, as much as I love them.)
Amazon's unique technology (Other customers who bought this also bought...) is the big sell here. Even though our album was released almost a year and a half ago (November, 2007) the sales have continued to INCREASE month-to-month, and lately, those increases have been exponential. More and more people are finding my music because other people who previously bought "Awaken the Man" also bought Spocks Beard, or Steve Wilson, or Phideaux, or Marillion, or... you get the idea - and now OUR album is being displayed on THEIR pages as a recommendation for "if you like this, you'll also like..." And people clearly do, because our monthly sales have gone up ten-fold over the last 6 months. And the album is 1 ½ years old!
When I considered signing up for the program, I really debated for some time on whether it would be worth it; in retrospect, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. It seems a little corporate, especially for an "underground" music genre like Prog, but the distribution and legitimacy that it affords my little independent release is more than worth the reduced take we get on each copy.
Just my $.02.
Bonus tip: once your sales are consistently up a little bit, it pays to let them know you have a minimum number you're willing to send as restock. I get Purchase Orders for 1 copy occasionally, and I send a "stock-up request" to up it to a minimum of 10, 20, etc. and they always oblige. It doesn't make sense to pay shipping on one copy when I only get $5.40 per copy through them...
I'd also like to include a shout-out to Kinesis and Syn-Phonic, who are Progressive Rock Music Distributors; both have been extremely supportive by purchasing our CDs wholesale and selling them at the Prog festivals they go to!
That's right, I recommend that you sell your CD on Amazon.
On the surface, it kind of sucks, compared to the alternatives. Whereas CDBaby (an AWESOME company, sell your CD there too!) doesn't charge a "service fee" and, for my CD (Din Within's "Awaken the Man", which sells at $12) pays $8 per CD - the "Amazon Advantage" Program, essentially a "consignment" program, charges an annual fee AND only pays $5.40 per CD. But here's the thing, and again, it seems obvious: Amazon gets you out to such a incomparably HUGE audience - and more importantly, GROWS that audience with every sale (a feature that CDBaby can't really match, as much as I love them.)
Amazon's unique technology (Other customers who bought this also bought...) is the big sell here. Even though our album was released almost a year and a half ago (November, 2007) the sales have continued to INCREASE month-to-month, and lately, those increases have been exponential. More and more people are finding my music because other people who previously bought "Awaken the Man" also bought Spocks Beard, or Steve Wilson, or Phideaux, or Marillion, or... you get the idea - and now OUR album is being displayed on THEIR pages as a recommendation for "if you like this, you'll also like..." And people clearly do, because our monthly sales have gone up ten-fold over the last 6 months. And the album is 1 ½ years old!
When I considered signing up for the program, I really debated for some time on whether it would be worth it; in retrospect, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. It seems a little corporate, especially for an "underground" music genre like Prog, but the distribution and legitimacy that it affords my little independent release is more than worth the reduced take we get on each copy.
Just my $.02.
Bonus tip: once your sales are consistently up a little bit, it pays to let them know you have a minimum number you're willing to send as restock. I get Purchase Orders for 1 copy occasionally, and I send a "stock-up request" to up it to a minimum of 10, 20, etc. and they always oblige. It doesn't make sense to pay shipping on one copy when I only get $5.40 per copy through them...
I'd also like to include a shout-out to Kinesis and Syn-Phonic, who are Progressive Rock Music Distributors; both have been extremely supportive by purchasing our CDs wholesale and selling them at the Prog festivals they go to!
1.03.2009
Second Story featured on a Podcast
We got a nice shout-out on a PodCast just recently; Second Story's "Return to Youth" opened the "Adventures of a Walker Dependent Music Fan" Podcast. Check out the show notes here, and visit the PodSafe Network to listen to the show!
Thanks to the show host, Gerry (sp?), for featuring us!
Thanks to the show host, Gerry (sp?), for featuring us!
11.24.2008
Second Story - You heard it here first
To be included on the Second Story release - our tribute version of Queensrÿche's "One and Only" that we recorded back in 2000 or so; the album it was to be on was never released, and we were quite proud of how it came out. If we do a full CD release, it will probably be on "Thin Twisting Line" as a "hidden" track, but we'll get the licensing from Harry Fox so it's legit.
Cool, the album isn't even mixed yet and there's already a BONUS TRACK! ;-)
Cool, the album isn't even mixed yet and there's already a BONUS TRACK! ;-)
11.22.2008
Second Story - 'The Silent Giants'
"The Silent Giants" is possibly Second Story's most ambitiously "proggy" song. It's one of the longest tunes we had in our set, and it features full instrumental solos from John, Tom and Scott. It has distorted chordal figures on the bass, about 12 different guitar tracks, contrapuntal vocals (think "Gentle Giant"), lyrics steeped in metaphor, Mellotron keyboards, and much much more. We loved playing it live, as it also rocked pretty hard.
As you can imagine, it was with trepidation that I began work on it. When we originally tracked in Indre Studios, we had a total of about 34 tracks available per song - I'm pretty sure that this tune used ALL of them.
What I found most curious, despite my worries - the song actually mixed quite easily! I was able to get a really good drum sound for the vibe of the tune, Danielle's vocals sound really good, and with a little bit of judicious volume envelope swells, the vocal parts should also be great. I did a bit more fun stuff with the effects, particularly on some of the vocals. But again, you'll just have to wait and see (hear, actually.) ;-)
As you can imagine, it was with trepidation that I began work on it. When we originally tracked in Indre Studios, we had a total of about 34 tracks available per song - I'm pretty sure that this tune used ALL of them.
What I found most curious, despite my worries - the song actually mixed quite easily! I was able to get a really good drum sound for the vibe of the tune, Danielle's vocals sound really good, and with a little bit of judicious volume envelope swells, the vocal parts should also be great. I did a bit more fun stuff with the effects, particularly on some of the vocals. But again, you'll just have to wait and see (hear, actually.) ;-)
11.20.2008
Second Story - ''Dancing on the Hill"
This was a tune I was very worried about, based on how the other mixes of it had come out. It's a complicated tune, even though it may not sound like it. The drum beat is somewhat disjunct, the bass line (distorted and played with Funk Fingers) is a bit "blurry" and some of the other parts of the song (keys, guitar) have some unusual rhythmic things going on. When it worked, the song had an undeniable groove and a very original sound. Unfortunately, the previous mixes we've had of this song sounded sloppy, uninspired and just plain bad.
I've long had the feeling that the success or failure of mixing this song might be the "make or break" moment of whether or not I took this project to completion. Meaning, if I couldn't make this track sound good, there was probably no point in bothering with the rest of the album - it'd be too demoralizing.
Luckily, I think (and Scott agrees) that the song is sounding AMAZING. I was able to tweak the drum sound and really phatten it up. The bass tone, which the other engineers could NEVER seem to get right, is punchy and "gooey" - all at the same time. Some judicious audio track "nudging" helped fix some timing errors that I blame on the varied equipment used to dump the songs to digital, which may have caused some of that disjunctedness that we couldn't seem to shake in the other studios. Danielle's vocals just jump out at you and beg for attention. I've done some cool things with panning and effects - there's a really cool bounceback delay that I used in several places that really adds to the tune. And I even added a sound effect sample (Extra points if you can guess what and where it is.)
So the project will go on. "Dancing" sounds really good, so I think there's a good chance that everything can be mixed to our satisfaction. More to come!
I've long had the feeling that the success or failure of mixing this song might be the "make or break" moment of whether or not I took this project to completion. Meaning, if I couldn't make this track sound good, there was probably no point in bothering with the rest of the album - it'd be too demoralizing.
Luckily, I think (and Scott agrees) that the song is sounding AMAZING. I was able to tweak the drum sound and really phatten it up. The bass tone, which the other engineers could NEVER seem to get right, is punchy and "gooey" - all at the same time. Some judicious audio track "nudging" helped fix some timing errors that I blame on the varied equipment used to dump the songs to digital, which may have caused some of that disjunctedness that we couldn't seem to shake in the other studios. Danielle's vocals just jump out at you and beg for attention. I've done some cool things with panning and effects - there's a really cool bounceback delay that I used in several places that really adds to the tune. And I even added a sound effect sample (Extra points if you can guess what and where it is.)
So the project will go on. "Dancing" sounds really good, so I think there's a good chance that everything can be mixed to our satisfaction. More to come!
11.18.2008
Second Story - 'Abducted'
So, once I was able to start mixing with the REAL drum tracks, the first song I started working on was the first one in the queue (they're alphabetical). So, Abducted it is!
Abducted was one of Second Story's simpler songs; a basic A-B-A-B sort of affair, it has some very cool unique things going on. For one, John's repeating hypnotic keyboard bass line in the choruses are hooky as hell. Also, I played the verses using the Funk Fingers (see an earlier blog post if you don't know what those are.) Tom played the hell out of the verse groove, particularly. And Scott had a nice recurring melodic line. Also curious is the lack of any vocals in the "chorus" - the intent (with John's bass line and Tom playing "four on the floor") was to simulate a dance floor. After all, the song is about being Abducted by the groove. So the groove says it all in this one.
So I did a bit of work on the tune, and Scott came over and listened to my early "alpha mix." He had a couple of interesting suggestions, and we did a little bit of fun experimentation, particularly on some vocal effects. There are also some interesting "surprises" that will reveal themselves when the song is finally released - but I'm not giving out any spoilers, so you'll just have to wait.
(evil grin.)
Abducted was one of Second Story's simpler songs; a basic A-B-A-B sort of affair, it has some very cool unique things going on. For one, John's repeating hypnotic keyboard bass line in the choruses are hooky as hell. Also, I played the verses using the Funk Fingers (see an earlier blog post if you don't know what those are.) Tom played the hell out of the verse groove, particularly. And Scott had a nice recurring melodic line. Also curious is the lack of any vocals in the "chorus" - the intent (with John's bass line and Tom playing "four on the floor") was to simulate a dance floor. After all, the song is about being Abducted by the groove. So the groove says it all in this one.
So I did a bit of work on the tune, and Scott came over and listened to my early "alpha mix." He had a couple of interesting suggestions, and we did a little bit of fun experimentation, particularly on some vocal effects. There are also some interesting "surprises" that will reveal themselves when the song is finally released - but I'm not giving out any spoilers, so you'll just have to wait.
(evil grin.)
11.17.2008
The Second Story Project
So, I have to say that it's interesting to resurrect a project that once was - for all intents and purposes - dead. Here's the back story:
My previous project, Second Story®, was a female fronted neo-prog group that played in the Philly region from 1996-2004. We recorded our original, self-titled album at Eyeball Studios early on; it comprised mostly material that Scott and I had written before John or Danielle had joined the band. (In fact, 5 of the songs had been previously recorded with our original singer, Zaughn.)
We gigged a bunch behind that album, all the while writing new material. We began recording our second full-length album - to be called "Thin Twisting Line," from a song lyric on it - in January 2001. To steal a phrase: What a long, strange trip it was to become.
We booked an entire week at Indre Studios in Philly, a large-scale, well-known (and expensive) studio in the area. All of us took a week off from work to allow us to all be there the whole time. Based on our familiarity with the material, our previous studio experiences, and the expected professionalism of the studio, we figured we'd probably have time left over at the end.
Boy, were we naive.
The first of many things that went wrong? Less than a week before the starting date, the studio manager called: "Patti LaBelle wants to come in to do rehearsals the week you're booked. Can you bump?" So, I called the rest of the band, and we were able to accommodate her. For a price, of course - the liner notes of the album, if we complete it, will contain the line "Thanks to Patti LaBelle for providing the tape reels for our recording session." Yeah, we don't move for anybody for free - not even Patti LaBelle. And three brand new 2" tape reels cost well over $600.
So, as you can imagine by my tone, we didn't finish the project in the 7 days we allotted. We didn't even get half of the tracking done, never mind mixing. AND, to make matters worse, John and myself, who both worked for an music software firm at the time, came back to the next work week to find out that we both were getting laid off. So, in the middle of this fabulously expensive studio foray, John and I lost all of our expendable income (and our living income, too!)
To make a very long story a little shorter, we were able to manage sporadic trips back to the studio over the next several months, but it took a couple of long, agonizing years to actually complete the tracking. Then we moved to mixing. That ended up being even more disappointing; after the vast amount of time that had passed - after the great deal of time, energy, and money that had been spent - the mixing of the album went quite badly. The resulting album sounded disjunct, loose, and just weak. We left the studio completely spent and totally demoralized.
After some time passed, we decided to take those tapes to a new studio to re-mix with a new engineer and fresh ears. After some aggravation getting the tapes transferred to a format that worked, we let Vic at Giant Steps have a go at it. His mixes were considerably better, but they still didn't capture what we had hoped for, and we knew we couldn't release the CD and be proud of it.
Not long after that disappointment, the band quit being active in performance or songwriting, and the album has been essentially shelved since our "disbandment" in 2004. But we've always wanted to complete the album, if only to have something to show for all the time and money.
So over the last year, I've been collecting the things I need - and the time and experience - to do the mixes myself. The original studio tapes were in multiple formats; the drums were recorded on 2-inch 24-track reel-to-reel, while the rest of the tracks were sync'd on a trio of 8-track digital tape machines (DA-x8 machines by Tascam).
I picked up a DA-38 for a few hundred bux on eBay; however, a 2" 24-track machine is about the size of a large refrigerator, and about twice the weight. And, they usually run for between $10-20k. So, unless one fell from the sky, I couldn't reasonably obtain one of those, especially not for a one-off project. And a lot of studios don't have them anymore, since the advent of ProTools and other DAW systems.
So, considering that I'd have a hard time converting the 2", I was planning on doing the mixing based on the tracks on the digital tapes only - the recording engineer had put rough drum mixes (kick/snare/kit L/kit R) on the tapes to save wear and tear on the 2" machine. Unfortunately, I quickly found that it wouldn't be a good solution - the 4-track drums on the digital tapes were totally inadequate.
Luckily, I found a guy who runs a studio in Millville, and he has a 2" machine. He dumped the tracks down to individual tracks on a DVD for me, so now I've got everything! I've dumped all the 8-track digital stuff down to SONAR, and now with the addition of the original 2" drum tracks, I can really get at these mixes.
Okay, so it begs the question: "Why will it be different?" I mean, we had two professional engineers at two different studios attempt (and fail) to mix our album.
Here's why:
;-)
My previous project, Second Story®, was a female fronted neo-prog group that played in the Philly region from 1996-2004. We recorded our original, self-titled album at Eyeball Studios early on; it comprised mostly material that Scott and I had written before John or Danielle had joined the band. (In fact, 5 of the songs had been previously recorded with our original singer, Zaughn.)
We gigged a bunch behind that album, all the while writing new material. We began recording our second full-length album - to be called "Thin Twisting Line," from a song lyric on it - in January 2001. To steal a phrase: What a long, strange trip it was to become.
We booked an entire week at Indre Studios in Philly, a large-scale, well-known (and expensive) studio in the area. All of us took a week off from work to allow us to all be there the whole time. Based on our familiarity with the material, our previous studio experiences, and the expected professionalism of the studio, we figured we'd probably have time left over at the end.
Boy, were we naive.
The first of many things that went wrong? Less than a week before the starting date, the studio manager called: "Patti LaBelle wants to come in to do rehearsals the week you're booked. Can you bump?" So, I called the rest of the band, and we were able to accommodate her. For a price, of course - the liner notes of the album, if we complete it, will contain the line "Thanks to Patti LaBelle for providing the tape reels for our recording session." Yeah, we don't move for anybody for free - not even Patti LaBelle. And three brand new 2" tape reels cost well over $600.
So, as you can imagine by my tone, we didn't finish the project in the 7 days we allotted. We didn't even get half of the tracking done, never mind mixing. AND, to make matters worse, John and myself, who both worked for an music software firm at the time, came back to the next work week to find out that we both were getting laid off. So, in the middle of this fabulously expensive studio foray, John and I lost all of our expendable income (and our living income, too!)
To make a very long story a little shorter, we were able to manage sporadic trips back to the studio over the next several months, but it took a couple of long, agonizing years to actually complete the tracking. Then we moved to mixing. That ended up being even more disappointing; after the vast amount of time that had passed - after the great deal of time, energy, and money that had been spent - the mixing of the album went quite badly. The resulting album sounded disjunct, loose, and just weak. We left the studio completely spent and totally demoralized.
After some time passed, we decided to take those tapes to a new studio to re-mix with a new engineer and fresh ears. After some aggravation getting the tapes transferred to a format that worked, we let Vic at Giant Steps have a go at it. His mixes were considerably better, but they still didn't capture what we had hoped for, and we knew we couldn't release the CD and be proud of it.
Not long after that disappointment, the band quit being active in performance or songwriting, and the album has been essentially shelved since our "disbandment" in 2004. But we've always wanted to complete the album, if only to have something to show for all the time and money.
So over the last year, I've been collecting the things I need - and the time and experience - to do the mixes myself. The original studio tapes were in multiple formats; the drums were recorded on 2-inch 24-track reel-to-reel, while the rest of the tracks were sync'd on a trio of 8-track digital tape machines (DA-x8 machines by Tascam).
I picked up a DA-38 for a few hundred bux on eBay; however, a 2" 24-track machine is about the size of a large refrigerator, and about twice the weight. And, they usually run for between $10-20k. So, unless one fell from the sky, I couldn't reasonably obtain one of those, especially not for a one-off project. And a lot of studios don't have them anymore, since the advent of ProTools and other DAW systems.
So, considering that I'd have a hard time converting the 2", I was planning on doing the mixing based on the tracks on the digital tapes only - the recording engineer had put rough drum mixes (kick/snare/kit L/kit R) on the tapes to save wear and tear on the 2" machine. Unfortunately, I quickly found that it wouldn't be a good solution - the 4-track drums on the digital tapes were totally inadequate.
Luckily, I found a guy who runs a studio in Millville, and he has a 2" machine. He dumped the tracks down to individual tracks on a DVD for me, so now I've got everything! I've dumped all the 8-track digital stuff down to SONAR, and now with the addition of the original 2" drum tracks, I can really get at these mixes.
Okay, so it begs the question: "Why will it be different?" I mean, we had two professional engineers at two different studios attempt (and fail) to mix our album.
Here's why:
- I'm not on a timetable due to budget constraints - I can take my time
- I fully understand the "vision" - meaning, I KNOW what it's supposed to sound like
- I really want it to sound good this time. It means a lot to me (and my bandmates)
;-)
10.16.2008
The Rig from Hell, Part II: The ADA Preamplifier, and why it's so freaking awesome...
One of the key components in my "rig from hell" is the ADA MB1 preamplifier. It's well over 10 years old, and the company that made it no longer exists (as I understand it, their factory burned to the ground and they just cut their losses and closed up shop rather than rebuild) - but I love what it does for me; I even own a backup that lives in my studio rack.It's an electronically controlled unit that allows you to create 256 recall-able preset tones (it also comes with some of its own factory presets). Lots of EQ control is a given, with multi-band and parametrics galore; but one of its nicest features is that it's actually a "dual" preamp - your signal passes through (at your option) 1 or 2 onboard circuits: a solid-state preamp as well as a tube-based preamp. So you can combine those two characters to create a very unique blend. And the tube preamp also has overdrive, so that adds to the sonic stew.
Also quite useful (essential, in my case): dual effects loops, which are switchable within your presets. It also has a built-in chorus effect and built-in compressor, both useful tools for bassists.
It also features Bi-Ampable outputs (alongside a standard full-range output) which I used when running the full rig with both cabinets. When I'd play smaller rooms, I'd bring just the 2x10 and run full-range through that.
The ultimate key, though, was that the preamp is MIDI-controllable. That means that I could use a MIDI floor pedal to choose between presets on the MB1, either between songs or mid-song, to change the sound that I was playing. ADA even made a simple pedal that worked well, but my Ground Control pedal was much more advanced (read about that in a future post.) So whether I needed a straight-ahead bass sound, a distorted grinding tone, a chorus-laden tubey sound, or one of many others, I had to but step on my pedal. And different presets used various effects, too - some used the effects loops, some bypassed them. So already I have lots of tonal flexibility, and I haven't even delved into the many other pieces of gear in the rack.
Next issue: Various Bass Effects Units in the Rig From Hell
10.15.2008
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