So, as usual for this fall, brother glop has sparked an interest in learning about but not necessarily totally understanding nor even actually building a tube amp kit. The affordable & popular kits & service by www.tedweber.com seem to be the way to go for kits. I've emailed asking a few questions & have gotten back quick replies. I even inquired about a generic or somewhat generic solution to adding an effects loop to existing kits. He replied stating he's been giving that much thought. The thing about weber kits is that you get parts & a schematic. That's it. Other more expensive kit providers provide instructions & such. For this me, staring at a pile 'o parts & a schematic would not be the ideal way to learn. And if you read some of the stuff on the kit building forum or look at pics of amp kit builds in progress it looks rather daunting. Then through the complexitiy & nature of the do it yourself kits you have to become a tinkerer & make decsisions about how & where to place things or cope with things and troubleshoot things like hums & buzz & such. I guess that is part of the core hobby of it.
Why my interest? Well I'm intrigued by a kit that clones, or tries to anyway, Marshall's original amp or head which was the JTM 45. VH-1 has this documentary series going on & they had one on Hendrix. I watched it when it was first on but didn't notice that which I noticed last night when I watched through it again from a 2nd recording that my DVR happily did for me. I realized in the concert footage that there stood proudly JTM 45 heads. Yeterday I drooled over that amp building seminar thing & how it takes a Mojo JTM 45 kit such & turns it into the Marshall JCM 800 "on steroids" as one reviewer called it. Halen used the JCM 800 in 80's tour such as 5150 tour & such. So that's a JTM45 45 watt amp instead of a horridly loud for home 100 watt thing. Then stick a Weber MASS Lite attenuator on the 45 watt thing makes a vintage great amp tolerable at home listening levels. I would definitely desire the hot rodded JTM 45 but that would have to come with time, practice, & asking myriads of questions.
I found some cool clips of the Weber JTM 45 at:
http://www.leftee.net/Leftee_Gain.mp3
http://www.leftee.net/Villanova.mp3
http://www.leftee.net/WindCries.mp3
So I thought welp, I know nothing about circuits or understanding them. I can solder simple things together. So I began looking about for simpler kit things that help teach the novice about stuff... Found a couple of good resources so far...
http://members.tripod.com/~gabevee/papers.html
http://www.ax84.com/?pg=associateprojects
Just to read some stuff is interesting in itself. Will I actually try a kit any time soon? Probably not as the simplest & smallest kits start at like two hundred something dollars. I've got mouths to feed & such. laff. I think I would enjoy becomming kit builder, for simple amps & heads, for others where they buy the Weber kit & I put it together for them at a going rate builder price...whatever hundred or few that may be. First that requires my learning stuff & understanding it. But it also requires someone wanting to pay for the kit amp & then pay additional for someone to build it. I'm sure it happens occasionally but not very often. Purple Sound Makers R Us. laff.
Until later comes turn it up to wires, & connectors, & chassis, & transformers, oh my...
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
iMojo for JTM45 Becomming a JCM800
There's fantasy camps for everything in the world...
Why not one for building tube amps...
http://news.harmony-central.com/Newp/2006/Egnater-November-18-Seminar.html
The Mojo JTM45 head kit of course is $900.00. I'm sure the course is way crazy expensive as well. And then there's the travel & hotel & yaddas.
Until later comes, turn it up to JTM45 becomming a JCM800 on steroids.
Why not one for building tube amps...
http://news.harmony-central.com/Newp/2006/Egnater-November-18-Seminar.html
The Mojo JTM45 head kit of course is $900.00. I'm sure the course is way crazy expensive as well. And then there's the travel & hotel & yaddas.
Until later comes, turn it up to JTM45 becomming a JCM800 on steroids.
Monday, November 27, 2006
iSpeaker Mojo - Ugh....
It goes without saying that for every class/category/level of widget or wadget you might buy there's usually more than anyone would want to count number of manufacturers that make such things. And the obvious is that advertisements & online product descriptions try to woo & wow & almost brainwash the potential buyer. And because I'm middle-aged obvious man I had to state the obvious above obviously. And, as I learned earlier this year from personal yadda yaddas & blah blahs that it is human nature for groups of people, or categories of people, to naturally conform to what leaders or others do or they conform to some norm or standard & hence products become the 'hot item' or 'must have' thing of the moment or you won't be able to survive another second. Kind of like how Jim mentioned in his political speal about how the politicians want to make you think that if you don't vote on a something or someone the way they want you to the world, or the state, will come to an immediate end.
How did the SUV vehicle boom start anyway? Who knows? I'm quickly reminded of the outtake at the end of the movie Cars where Mater is coaching Hummers & other SUVs to get out into the dirt & go off-roading for the first time in their existence. One yells "But I've never been offroad before!"
When Terra & I went on our honeymoon in Mexico we were walking about puerto Vallarta in both the new & americanized touristy part as well as meandering through some back streets. We just wandered randomly by some back street tiny hole in the wall tortilla factory where one could walk in & buy tortillas hot off the line! We sampled some & they was great! A modern example is that of Krispy Cremes hot off the line! Yum! Sorry heart & gut & arteries!
So I did mention previously that I might, just might, pursue upgrading me two speakers in my overpowered monster of an amp that's more suited for live gigs than dinking around at home. And I've also spoken of the THD Hot Plate which is way expensive and the Marshall Brake which is even more ughage! Anyway...So I began hunting around for possible speaker choices to consider. First off I realized that there are only few models that are in the needed 80 to 100 watt range. The reason is most guitar hero types use 4x12 cabs so the speakers don't need to be as beefy. It's almost frustrating for the combo amp types. But it's also nice so as to not have to sift through myriads of speaker spooge & hundreds of different opinions. As I said, I don't care if I plug into some grey box or an, the fruit, orange with apples for pickups & it sounds decent. I don't care about the details nor the settings. I just want the fantasy turn it on & sound good clean, surfy, swirly, bluesy, EVH rhythm, & Satch or Vai or Hoey or George Lynch, or Gilmour lead. I also realized that the world has migrated to the well known manufacturers such as Celestion or Eminence speakers. They have a long history of course & there will always be debates & arguments & personal preferences that decide the popularity of things. And respect is due to such speakers that have created some of the greatest sounds on recordings. But does what most people get just cause Eddie did it, or does it, or any axe-person got it or has it mean it's the thing to conform to. NO I SAY! Do not conform to conformity dag narn it.
So, like the wandering about back streets in Mexico, I somehow found myself doing a search on www.gearslutz.com. Not that I like the name much but real people, not trying to hype the marketting crud, write their preferences & such. I came to find the little hole in the wall place called www.TedWeber.com. One quote on the aforementioned gear place.com states "I would say anything that doesn't have Celestion printed on it. Weber VST make bloody fantastic speakers at great prices." So that sparked interest in what Weber has to offer. I even emailed to get a suggestion. Again, due to wattage, I'm limited to about 4 choices there as well. I think my main decision will be warm sound or 'uncolored' whatever that means. I poked around a bit more & encountered a much more affordable attenuator as well which I inquired about.
If a coin were to decide a speaker choice between a Weber model or a Celestion Classic Lead or some Eminence model I probably wouldn't notice a difference & wouldn't care either way because I couldn't tell the difference between playing a spoon or a knife.
So Glop, how's the wall o' transistors & resisters & flux capacitors coming along? Please include in the wall several speakers that somehow randomly make contact with the speaker cable connectoids for random amounts of time. Hey stop, what's that sound? It's now a Celestion, now it's some stock speaker crud, oh now it's a TedWeber & now it's some orange spooge thing. And now I'm playing through a cheese cloth based speaker with corn on the cob as the coil.
Untils later comes turn it up to something that makes sound.
How did the SUV vehicle boom start anyway? Who knows? I'm quickly reminded of the outtake at the end of the movie Cars where Mater is coaching Hummers & other SUVs to get out into the dirt & go off-roading for the first time in their existence. One yells "But I've never been offroad before!"
When Terra & I went on our honeymoon in Mexico we were walking about puerto Vallarta in both the new & americanized touristy part as well as meandering through some back streets. We just wandered randomly by some back street tiny hole in the wall tortilla factory where one could walk in & buy tortillas hot off the line! We sampled some & they was great! A modern example is that of Krispy Cremes hot off the line! Yum! Sorry heart & gut & arteries!
So I did mention previously that I might, just might, pursue upgrading me two speakers in my overpowered monster of an amp that's more suited for live gigs than dinking around at home. And I've also spoken of the THD Hot Plate which is way expensive and the Marshall Brake which is even more ughage! Anyway...So I began hunting around for possible speaker choices to consider. First off I realized that there are only few models that are in the needed 80 to 100 watt range. The reason is most guitar hero types use 4x12 cabs so the speakers don't need to be as beefy. It's almost frustrating for the combo amp types. But it's also nice so as to not have to sift through myriads of speaker spooge & hundreds of different opinions. As I said, I don't care if I plug into some grey box or an, the fruit, orange with apples for pickups & it sounds decent. I don't care about the details nor the settings. I just want the fantasy turn it on & sound good clean, surfy, swirly, bluesy, EVH rhythm, & Satch or Vai or Hoey or George Lynch, or Gilmour lead. I also realized that the world has migrated to the well known manufacturers such as Celestion or Eminence speakers. They have a long history of course & there will always be debates & arguments & personal preferences that decide the popularity of things. And respect is due to such speakers that have created some of the greatest sounds on recordings. But does what most people get just cause Eddie did it, or does it, or any axe-person got it or has it mean it's the thing to conform to. NO I SAY! Do not conform to conformity dag narn it.
So, like the wandering about back streets in Mexico, I somehow found myself doing a search on www.gearslutz.com. Not that I like the name much but real people, not trying to hype the marketting crud, write their preferences & such. I came to find the little hole in the wall place called www.TedWeber.com. One quote on the aforementioned gear place.com states "I would say anything that doesn't have Celestion printed on it. Weber VST make bloody fantastic speakers at great prices." So that sparked interest in what Weber has to offer. I even emailed to get a suggestion. Again, due to wattage, I'm limited to about 4 choices there as well. I think my main decision will be warm sound or 'uncolored' whatever that means. I poked around a bit more & encountered a much more affordable attenuator as well which I inquired about.
If a coin were to decide a speaker choice between a Weber model or a Celestion Classic Lead or some Eminence model I probably wouldn't notice a difference & wouldn't care either way because I couldn't tell the difference between playing a spoon or a knife.
So Glop, how's the wall o' transistors & resisters & flux capacitors coming along? Please include in the wall several speakers that somehow randomly make contact with the speaker cable connectoids for random amounts of time. Hey stop, what's that sound? It's now a Celestion, now it's some stock speaker crud, oh now it's a TedWeber & now it's some orange spooge thing. And now I'm playing through a cheese cloth based speaker with corn on the cob as the coil.
Untils later comes turn it up to something that makes sound.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
iAmplifier Gizmoidalage & Gadgetoids
Update 10:00 pm 11/26 - Welp whilst switching around tubes to see if I could isolate the hum issue in amp I tried to straighten a pin on one o' the tubes & snap. So my conjecture is that hum is probably due to way old tubes so ordered some to try. Not a bad thing. I also chose to pursue a newer tube set by Electro Harmonix rather than the Groove Tubes that everybody & their brother sells. End update.
This ramble has been a couple of days in the making but I think I'm content with the wisdom of the result. I had the usual Friday off after downing the Triptophan & other standard Thursday goods. I finally got around to changing my Fender's strings for the purpose of providing to Gloppage dude for the pedal mods as there are points in the mod process where the pedal needs to be checked. Anyway...I finally, I know it's a miracle, plugged my Crate amp in. Silly me...I expected it to work just fine after several years of dormancy in closets. It worked some of the time. Other times the left speaker has an annoying hum that indicates something is not happy somewhere. Anyway...I did finally try out the Phaser I bought. It's swirly cool ma'an. I also plugged in the yet to be modified Super Distortion pedal. Cool as well. But as I've spoken before, and that which I realized yet again, the amp is not designed for quiet or for close quarter living situations with neighbors; I'm not sure why I chose to buy such a powerhouse way back when but I was naive then. So between the speaker hum, which I will blabble about in a minute, & the loud factor, I allowed myself to enter a period of depresso discouragement. And that's pretty typical for me in regards to musicdom over the years....Try something, don't like it or something's wrong, throw a pity party about it. As far as the left hummage goes I did pull out & reseat the 4 tubes & made sure that they all glowed when turned on. They weren't purple though. Oh well. So the speaker still hummed. I noticed that at least for a few moments applying pressure upon this metal overhang heat absorber plate thing the hum went away. But it comes back so I need to dink about with it a bit & possibly call Crate on Monday.
Back to the original subject which I haven't really mentioned yet & that is I started considering should I bother with an attenuator like the THD Hot Plate or sell the overpowered, but well reviewed, amp & get a low wattage studio type practice amp. So I spent a few hours on Sat. night researching myriads of 15-30 watt amps available for an amount much lower than a Hot Plate costs. It's puzzling to me that manufacturers of these amps do not supply an Effects Send/Return jack on such amps. I was really sold on the Spider III 15 Modelling amp until I read that they don't include effects loops. I was also looking at the Orange CR-15 amps. I still want to try one but no effect loop. And as I write this I conjecture that an effects loop is not included so as to try to lead buyers to choose a more expensive amplifier that has one. And boy the Orange amp prices jump radically from the CR-15. Ugh. I went to bed last night with a possible few models to try to go try if any stores within the Santa Cruz/Santa Clara counties might have one to try. Still discouraged though.
I mounted my computer chair this morning once again to continue to look around & I stumbled upon some good wisdom that helped me conclude that I will keep me loud thing & try to obtain a Hot Plate off Craigslist or EBay. The wisdom is here:
http://www.guitarnuts.com/amps/myths.php
Now not so blah & negative about things. Sometime next year I might invest in some Celestion speakers to replace the Crate stock speakers.
The only thing positive about the smaller lower wattage things is that they do offer headphone jacks that mute the speaker. That's a big plus as the bulk of the time I would just be dinking around & need to keep annoying Terra to a minimum.
Until later comes, turn it up to Effects Loops.
This ramble has been a couple of days in the making but I think I'm content with the wisdom of the result. I had the usual Friday off after downing the Triptophan & other standard Thursday goods. I finally got around to changing my Fender's strings for the purpose of providing to Gloppage dude for the pedal mods as there are points in the mod process where the pedal needs to be checked. Anyway...I finally, I know it's a miracle, plugged my Crate amp in. Silly me...I expected it to work just fine after several years of dormancy in closets. It worked some of the time. Other times the left speaker has an annoying hum that indicates something is not happy somewhere. Anyway...I did finally try out the Phaser I bought. It's swirly cool ma'an. I also plugged in the yet to be modified Super Distortion pedal. Cool as well. But as I've spoken before, and that which I realized yet again, the amp is not designed for quiet or for close quarter living situations with neighbors; I'm not sure why I chose to buy such a powerhouse way back when but I was naive then. So between the speaker hum, which I will blabble about in a minute, & the loud factor, I allowed myself to enter a period of depresso discouragement. And that's pretty typical for me in regards to musicdom over the years....Try something, don't like it or something's wrong, throw a pity party about it. As far as the left hummage goes I did pull out & reseat the 4 tubes & made sure that they all glowed when turned on. They weren't purple though. Oh well. So the speaker still hummed. I noticed that at least for a few moments applying pressure upon this metal overhang heat absorber plate thing the hum went away. But it comes back so I need to dink about with it a bit & possibly call Crate on Monday.
Back to the original subject which I haven't really mentioned yet & that is I started considering should I bother with an attenuator like the THD Hot Plate or sell the overpowered, but well reviewed, amp & get a low wattage studio type practice amp. So I spent a few hours on Sat. night researching myriads of 15-30 watt amps available for an amount much lower than a Hot Plate costs. It's puzzling to me that manufacturers of these amps do not supply an Effects Send/Return jack on such amps. I was really sold on the Spider III 15 Modelling amp until I read that they don't include effects loops. I was also looking at the Orange CR-15 amps. I still want to try one but no effect loop. And as I write this I conjecture that an effects loop is not included so as to try to lead buyers to choose a more expensive amplifier that has one. And boy the Orange amp prices jump radically from the CR-15. Ugh. I went to bed last night with a possible few models to try to go try if any stores within the Santa Cruz/Santa Clara counties might have one to try. Still discouraged though.
I mounted my computer chair this morning once again to continue to look around & I stumbled upon some good wisdom that helped me conclude that I will keep me loud thing & try to obtain a Hot Plate off Craigslist or EBay. The wisdom is here:
http://www.guitarnuts.com/amps/myths.php
Now not so blah & negative about things. Sometime next year I might invest in some Celestion speakers to replace the Crate stock speakers.
The only thing positive about the smaller lower wattage things is that they do offer headphone jacks that mute the speaker. That's a big plus as the bulk of the time I would just be dinking around & need to keep annoying Terra to a minimum.
Until later comes, turn it up to Effects Loops.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
iPickups & wires & coils & magnents...oh my...
Just taking a Thanksgiving evenin' to write out some drivel & rambles to wind down from a day of boyzages being very trying.
This ramble began yesterday by brother glop sending me a YouTube link to some EVH wannabe who has several posts on YouTube playing & teaching here & there things about EVH tricks on the fretlands. He posted one clip of just his guitars & equipment & settings. The last guitar he mentioned was his Ibanez which turns out to be the same model of Ibanez that I have...Here's a pic I found...
The video dude mentioned that he has Steve Vai Evolution pickups for the neck & bridge. That intrigued me as I've always wondered if the stock Ibanez pickups should be replaced. So that began a journey all about the net of inter to see what peoplez had to say about the DiMarzio Evolution pickups. First wall I ran into was that there are two types of pickups which are referred to as "Regular" or "F-Spaced." And of course I couldn't find a thing about whether the s540 that I have takes regular or F-Spaced in the neck & bridge positions. I finally gave up trying to figure it out & emailed the YouTube video guy & he nicely replied & mentioned that they were F-Spaced. Whew. Glad to have that answer. I'm sure I could've taken it into Guitar Showcase over the hill to have someone figure that out for me. So long story short....I could go with the Satriani setup of a DiMarzio PAF Pro in the neck & a DiMarzio "FRED" in the bridge. Or I could go with the Vai Neck Evolution for the, duh, neck pickup & Bridge Evolution for the, again duh, bridge position. Reviews are comparable for these pickups so for this pickup illiterate it's like flipping a coin. So I'm just going to stick to the PAF Pro & FRED thing. I don't think I'd be able to tell the difference between either configuration. There's always, don't like it, sell it on Craigslist or see if DiMarzio will take 'em back.
Until later comes turn it up to replacement pickups.
This ramble began yesterday by brother glop sending me a YouTube link to some EVH wannabe who has several posts on YouTube playing & teaching here & there things about EVH tricks on the fretlands. He posted one clip of just his guitars & equipment & settings. The last guitar he mentioned was his Ibanez which turns out to be the same model of Ibanez that I have...Here's a pic I found...
The video dude mentioned that he has Steve Vai Evolution pickups for the neck & bridge. That intrigued me as I've always wondered if the stock Ibanez pickups should be replaced. So that began a journey all about the net of inter to see what peoplez had to say about the DiMarzio Evolution pickups. First wall I ran into was that there are two types of pickups which are referred to as "Regular" or "F-Spaced." And of course I couldn't find a thing about whether the s540 that I have takes regular or F-Spaced in the neck & bridge positions. I finally gave up trying to figure it out & emailed the YouTube video guy & he nicely replied & mentioned that they were F-Spaced. Whew. Glad to have that answer. I'm sure I could've taken it into Guitar Showcase over the hill to have someone figure that out for me. So long story short....I could go with the Satriani setup of a DiMarzio PAF Pro in the neck & a DiMarzio "FRED" in the bridge. Or I could go with the Vai Neck Evolution for the, duh, neck pickup & Bridge Evolution for the, again duh, bridge position. Reviews are comparable for these pickups so for this pickup illiterate it's like flipping a coin. So I'm just going to stick to the PAF Pro & FRED thing. I don't think I'd be able to tell the difference between either configuration. There's always, don't like it, sell it on Craigslist or see if DiMarzio will take 'em back.
Until later comes turn it up to replacement pickups.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
iSignature Series
I was wandering through a local music store yesterday. And whilst looking here & there I overheard two of the sales persons talking about some guy coming in trying to get the store to carry the $70.00 guitar picks that he either manufacturers or is just trying to sell. It sounded like the guy actually suggested just placing them by the register & people will just gobble them up. I heard the guys say that the dude mentioned something like "These are the picks that Satriani uses." $70 guitar picks. Yeah, uhm, okay....I guess. I turned to the sales guys and jokingly mentioned to them "That's like the whole signature series concept of guitars & amps." I told them about how Gibson & Guitar Center recreated Clapton's ES-335 & joked about how it costs like $12,000. You could choose to get a reissue for 1/4 the price & sound just the same as the Clapton model. One of the guys mentioned that Fender was replicating a Fender that was used by some guy named Rory Gallagher. It was a Sunburst type of guitar that through it's life all of it's finish & paint had worn off the body except for patches of flames here & there. So we were joking about how there must be professional "drag a guitar around the parking lot" persons who work at Fender. They take a perfectly good & nice guitar & go out to the parking lot & drag it around for a while till the body's paint is worn off. Here's a link to Fender's rendition:
http://www.fendercustomshop.com.au/customartistseries/0150080.php
So one could buy a 3 color sunburst fender of similar color. Drag it around a parking lot for a while & then break off one of the tuners & replace it with a different color one.
Signature series? Who cares? Reissues that sound pretty darn close to original for 1/4 the price? Gimmie.
Until later comes turn it up to reissue.
http://www.fendercustomshop.com.au/customartistseries/0150080.php
So one could buy a 3 color sunburst fender of similar color. Drag it around a parking lot for a while & then break off one of the tuners & replace it with a different color one.
Signature series? Who cares? Reissues that sound pretty darn close to original for 1/4 the price? Gimmie.
Until later comes turn it up to reissue.
Friday, November 17, 2006
iCannotComprehend...
Quick entry. I know that's not possible from this hyper typing me...
Way back many stuffy noses ago I would hear of people camping outside a theatre to be the first to view movies like Star Wars sequels & such. Ok, that doesn't seem to bizarre. And I've seen people camp out to try to get tickets to a concert. I can understand that as well. What I cannot fathom is people spending more than 1 24 hour period doing that. It's just a concert or movie. It's not one's life. The world will not end if you see the movie a week or two after it opens. You won't die if you're in the 50th row rather than in the front row for a concert.
So the paradigm for camping out for something has been raised up to a very neurotic level in my opinion. People camping out for days to buy....a video game console, PS3. As I write this I'm hearing a couple of co-workers talking about a riot at some store over the thing. Also heard was some began lining up on Wednesday outside a target store. They were told that Target was not going to honor their place/position in line & that the 'official' line would begin at 10 am today. The Wednesday folks didn't get the clue. And so there were two long lines each containing people wanting to storm the usual few doors a Target store has. Anybody ever hear of placing an advance order online & then waiting the needed time for it to arrive? Does it really matter if you get it on the 1st day or the 14th day after it starts to sell? No. Will one die having to wait? No.
And then I hear on the news that people are spending 4,000 to 10,000 to buy a unit on Ebay.
Until later comes, turn it up to neurosis.
Way back many stuffy noses ago I would hear of people camping outside a theatre to be the first to view movies like Star Wars sequels & such. Ok, that doesn't seem to bizarre. And I've seen people camp out to try to get tickets to a concert. I can understand that as well. What I cannot fathom is people spending more than 1 24 hour period doing that. It's just a concert or movie. It's not one's life. The world will not end if you see the movie a week or two after it opens. You won't die if you're in the 50th row rather than in the front row for a concert.
So the paradigm for camping out for something has been raised up to a very neurotic level in my opinion. People camping out for days to buy....a video game console, PS3. As I write this I'm hearing a couple of co-workers talking about a riot at some store over the thing. Also heard was some began lining up on Wednesday outside a target store. They were told that Target was not going to honor their place/position in line & that the 'official' line would begin at 10 am today. The Wednesday folks didn't get the clue. And so there were two long lines each containing people wanting to storm the usual few doors a Target store has. Anybody ever hear of placing an advance order online & then waiting the needed time for it to arrive? Does it really matter if you get it on the 1st day or the 14th day after it starts to sell? No. Will one die having to wait? No.
And then I hear on the news that people are spending 4,000 to 10,000 to buy a unit on Ebay.
Until later comes, turn it up to neurosis.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Can you hear the purple in the image?
It's set to display here at 60% size to fit in the Blogger's way narrow space. Actual size is at:
http://www.pplministries.org/PurpleJamz.bmp
I had to impatiently watch Windows Media Player's X Marks the Spot visualization to screen capture the purpleness. I wanted to paste some kind of real lightning bolts but no time & didn't really know how to make it look well. Anyway, can you feel the purple?
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
A brief tale of a famous one...
Just lettin' my fingers ramble out a fictional stuff....
I once was not even imagined yet. Then I became a design on paper. A set of crafy persons carefully took the design set forth & brought me into existence. And I was sent forth to a new home with all sorts of my kind in all sorts of shapes, colors, & sizes(1). We were all hanging out together. And there I stood proudly waiting. Hey look at me, I'm over here. But nobody noticed me. So I kept watching & waiting. Well there's a fine chap over there. What's he doing over there? He's talking to the people & pointing at the various other things here with me. What's he doing now? Oh he's trying someone else out but he doesn't seem to like that one. Some fellow I'm used to seeing everyday here tells that chap something & he points at me. What? He's coming over towards me. Hey hi there. Why don't you try me out? Nobody has in a while & I'm kind of bored just sitting here. He looks at me some more and...and could it be? "Oh you won't be disappointed sir" I say. He turns me on & I show him what I can do for him. He seems to play very well. Whoa, he's really pushing me hard now. I'm being pushed to my limits. Must hang on. Must...must show him I can do this for him. Whew...he stopped. What a rush that was. Hey! Wait! Where are you going? Didn't you like me? What's he doing? I guess I don't sound as good as I thought I did. What's he doing over there? He's looking around searching for something but what is he looking for? Yo! Buddy! Stop looking...I'm what you need! Oh come on give me a chance! I won't disappoint! These other Joe's can't handle you. Wait a minute, what are they doing over there? They keep looking at & pointing at me. Someone is coming over to me but why? To shove me in a corner or just dust me off. Leave me alone! But he's grabbing me & taking me over to that dude who tried me out. I'm FRREEEEEEE! See ya suckers. I'm going to make history with this dude. Who am I? I'm a mystery & the envy of millions but you can call me Brown...Super Lead Brown.
1) Creative liberty taken. Ed actually purchased the head from the Rose Palace when he was 14. The head was used as a house amp there. This is according to:
http://www.valleywebs.com/van-halen/Magic.html
I once was not even imagined yet. Then I became a design on paper. A set of crafy persons carefully took the design set forth & brought me into existence. And I was sent forth to a new home with all sorts of my kind in all sorts of shapes, colors, & sizes(1). We were all hanging out together. And there I stood proudly waiting. Hey look at me, I'm over here. But nobody noticed me. So I kept watching & waiting. Well there's a fine chap over there. What's he doing over there? He's talking to the people & pointing at the various other things here with me. What's he doing now? Oh he's trying someone else out but he doesn't seem to like that one. Some fellow I'm used to seeing everyday here tells that chap something & he points at me. What? He's coming over towards me. Hey hi there. Why don't you try me out? Nobody has in a while & I'm kind of bored just sitting here. He looks at me some more and...and could it be? "Oh you won't be disappointed sir" I say. He turns me on & I show him what I can do for him. He seems to play very well. Whoa, he's really pushing me hard now. I'm being pushed to my limits. Must hang on. Must...must show him I can do this for him. Whew...he stopped. What a rush that was. Hey! Wait! Where are you going? Didn't you like me? What's he doing? I guess I don't sound as good as I thought I did. What's he doing over there? He's looking around searching for something but what is he looking for? Yo! Buddy! Stop looking...I'm what you need! Oh come on give me a chance! I won't disappoint! These other Joe's can't handle you. Wait a minute, what are they doing over there? They keep looking at & pointing at me. Someone is coming over to me but why? To shove me in a corner or just dust me off. Leave me alone! But he's grabbing me & taking me over to that dude who tried me out. I'm FRREEEEEEE! See ya suckers. I'm going to make history with this dude. Who am I? I'm a mystery & the envy of millions but you can call me Brown...Super Lead Brown.
1) Creative liberty taken. Ed actually purchased the head from the Rose Palace when he was 14. The head was used as a house amp there. This is according to:
http://www.valleywebs.com/van-halen/Magic.html
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
A moment of the reminder of simplicity...
I mentioned forgetting simplicity in a previous post. Nephew Hopo, aka Jim, mentioned this in a comment to one of my posts:
"I like the flexibility my Line 6 gives me. But I don't like the fact that I have to tweak knobs for a long time to get a great sound, whereas my friend spends 20 seconds on his Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier and gets the sound he wants."
Now that's what I'm talking about.
My reply is I'm sick of knobs & buttons. Anyway back to simplicity. Now tell me this isn't weird...When I got home last night I noticed Terra had emptied a small but good sized box. I have sitting on the floor a too small of a box with the Phaser I got along with the two pedals brother Glop will be modifying soon. Anyway, so I took the bigger box & put the gizmoids in it and then moved on with the night's food events. Fast forward about an hour. So last night I was enjoying, & at times not enjoying, helping tired cranky boyzages with homework at the table. I looked down in the direction of where I placed the box o' stuff & right smack dab in the middle of the box is the logo for Tastefully Simple which is a mail order foods supplier. That just zapped me & confirmed simplicity, rather than Line 6 or otherwise complexity, is the way to go for this me in this time. And then later that night I ventured into the kitchen for a treat of a frozen nature & on the counter was some book or something that was from Tastefully Simple & on it was this quote:
“In cooking, as in the arts, simplicity is a sign of perfection." ~Curnonsky~
So I continue to chew on simplicity. Speaking of chewing, onward to the kitchen.
Until later comes, turn it up to chewy...(Not the wookie)
"I like the flexibility my Line 6 gives me. But I don't like the fact that I have to tweak knobs for a long time to get a great sound, whereas my friend spends 20 seconds on his Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier and gets the sound he wants."
Now that's what I'm talking about.
My reply is I'm sick of knobs & buttons. Anyway back to simplicity. Now tell me this isn't weird...When I got home last night I noticed Terra had emptied a small but good sized box. I have sitting on the floor a too small of a box with the Phaser I got along with the two pedals brother Glop will be modifying soon. Anyway, so I took the bigger box & put the gizmoids in it and then moved on with the night's food events. Fast forward about an hour. So last night I was enjoying, & at times not enjoying, helping tired cranky boyzages with homework at the table. I looked down in the direction of where I placed the box o' stuff & right smack dab in the middle of the box is the logo for Tastefully Simple which is a mail order foods supplier. That just zapped me & confirmed simplicity, rather than Line 6 or otherwise complexity, is the way to go for this me in this time. And then later that night I ventured into the kitchen for a treat of a frozen nature & on the counter was some book or something that was from Tastefully Simple & on it was this quote:
“In cooking, as in the arts, simplicity is a sign of perfection." ~Curnonsky~
So I continue to chew on simplicity. Speaking of chewing, onward to the kitchen.
Until later comes, turn it up to chewy...(Not the wookie)
Monday, November 13, 2006
iStardom & iLegends
A long while back I learned this little wisdom that a star/performer is remembered most for their most recent production. Their current value/worth is judged & based solely upon that with little to no regard to previous works or their life's collective body of creations. And the more famous & popular a star is, the more scrutiny they must endure by the media. It amazes me how much investment these people make just to 'make it' or get to 'the show' & more often than not, after they get to a peak they come crumbling down in an avalanche & boom it's all over. I remember several years ago Chris Rice was hosting some major music awards show & he just bluntly, & accurately stated to the audience, that 90% of them would not be back the next year. One of Jack Nicklaus' quotes in some golfer's quote book I had said something like "It's amazing to be considered the best when you only win about 30% of the time."
It's amazing how much energy fans & media put towards a someone one moment. And the next those same people are going "So & so who?" I chuckle to myself when I think upon the shows about one hit wonders or "Where are they now?" kinds of things. And the reason I chuckle is because I ask myself "Was it worth it to try to get there & be there?"
And yes this Monday ramble would not be complete without touching upon things of legends without mentioning the example of EVH. What do I think he's remembered most for in this time in history? For being an addict, narcissist, off the deep end, for poorly taken photos at some Elton John party thing, for a strange phone call he made to Howard Stern & presently hanging with a seemingly questionable collection of people, & unable to have long term relationships with family or long time band members. But there are some who look beyond his current 'image' & the current news about him & just want to think of him as being 'great' & being a 'hero' or 'legend.' People in this category probably could not understand what it is I have written in my prose stuff about him & think I'm crazy or I'm dissin' a legend. I'm sure even EVH wouldn't get it or he would think I'm just slammin' him like everyone else. Yes his contributions to music & guitar & equipment have been extraordinary. But that was then. Now I see a mess of a very gifted musician. If I could choose 1 band to be in for life, it would be The Ventures. Not because of their guitar playing. But because they are just simple down to earth guys who have stood the test of time & probably didn't care much about popularity & stardom.
There's many a version in email or on the net that is about asking one to name the last n people to have accomplished xyz & such. I got such an email from a friend this morning. And it included: "The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners...The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care ."
Until later comes, just be simple.
It's amazing how much energy fans & media put towards a someone one moment. And the next those same people are going "So & so who?" I chuckle to myself when I think upon the shows about one hit wonders or "Where are they now?" kinds of things. And the reason I chuckle is because I ask myself "Was it worth it to try to get there & be there?"
And yes this Monday ramble would not be complete without touching upon things of legends without mentioning the example of EVH. What do I think he's remembered most for in this time in history? For being an addict, narcissist, off the deep end, for poorly taken photos at some Elton John party thing, for a strange phone call he made to Howard Stern & presently hanging with a seemingly questionable collection of people, & unable to have long term relationships with family or long time band members. But there are some who look beyond his current 'image' & the current news about him & just want to think of him as being 'great' & being a 'hero' or 'legend.' People in this category probably could not understand what it is I have written in my prose stuff about him & think I'm crazy or I'm dissin' a legend. I'm sure even EVH wouldn't get it or he would think I'm just slammin' him like everyone else. Yes his contributions to music & guitar & equipment have been extraordinary. But that was then. Now I see a mess of a very gifted musician. If I could choose 1 band to be in for life, it would be The Ventures. Not because of their guitar playing. But because they are just simple down to earth guys who have stood the test of time & probably didn't care much about popularity & stardom.
There's many a version in email or on the net that is about asking one to name the last n people to have accomplished xyz & such. I got such an email from a friend this morning. And it included: "The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners...The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care ."
Until later comes, just be simple.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
iForgot iSimplicity For an iMoment
I did glance over something I wrote in me blog & that was "...has returned me to the concept of simple." I so easily got stuck in drool mode about things of Pod XT/Live/Pro that iForgot that I'm going for starting simple. I guess I liked some of those Pod XT sound clips. I'm a gadgetoid & a gizmoidal consumer. But then I started looking at reviews. And like most multi-conquer the world units, most say they take a LOT of tweaking. That's what I must avoid for I've fallen into that trap before and just aimlessly pushed buttons & turned knobs. If less is more then it seems to follow the less buttons to push & the less knobs to turn means more in regards to simplicity.
One reason I was looking at Pod-dom things is due to the fact that if I want to change the time based effects on my Q2 in the middle of a song I can't at the moment. Down the line I'll have to enjoy a MIDI foot controller to send patch change signals to the Q2. No big whoop to do or get. It's just have yet another widget to find...on Craigslist no doubt.
So iPromise myself to remain true to iSimple. I promise to pretend that I'm EVH in the late 70's & I have my pedal board of, as Ed described it, 'MXR garbage.' Why don't they make an EVH signature plywood & duct tape pedal board? chuckle.
Till later comes, turn it up to iSimplicity.
One reason I was looking at Pod-dom things is due to the fact that if I want to change the time based effects on my Q2 in the middle of a song I can't at the moment. Down the line I'll have to enjoy a MIDI foot controller to send patch change signals to the Q2. No big whoop to do or get. It's just have yet another widget to find...on Craigslist no doubt.
So iPromise myself to remain true to iSimple. I promise to pretend that I'm EVH in the late 70's & I have my pedal board of, as Ed described it, 'MXR garbage.' Why don't they make an EVH signature plywood & duct tape pedal board? chuckle.
Till later comes, turn it up to iSimplicity.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Dear Edward....Yet again...
iWrote this iRamble the other iNight...Copyright (c) 11/4/2006. It's iMine.
Dear Edward....Yet again...
(See also http://www.pplministries.org/DearEVH.htm)
Everybody wanted some & they sucked the life from you (1)
Everybody needed some, what wuz you supposed to do?
You've poured your life into your art but the buisness and media was cruel & shrewd
There must have been quite the stress & pressure to produce for the suckers in their suits
It all must have taken a toll & I don't doubt that is true
At times you must have felt you lived in a circus or life was a crazy zoo
How often did you have to compromise for the hits & dollars instead of creating what you wanted to?
When you return to the heart of the art & the yet to be created tunes
What comes to your being & travels through?
What within you begins to steep & brew?
Who were you way back when in '78-79 & what now is your reality & truth?
What is dead & old that needs to be pruned?
What awaits to begin anew?
What is your current outlook & view?
Where's that Van Halen I sound & living to play live attitood?
Have you ever listened to your songs without all the vocal chart topping sexual drivel & spooge?
Behind all those words & uh-huh's & screaming yeahs is the real you; that's who
So I noticed you tributed the Who & they ask Who are you? We really wanna know
You have created & innovated & performed & you've done your time & paid your dues
I'm not writing these iRambles for entertainment nor to amuse
I do hope however that they strike a nerve or a chord within you & that you would note the que
Have you been thrown off the bull for the last time or are you ready to go sittin' in the chute?
Do you stare at the mud at your feet or do you hold your head up high & dream beyond the moon?
Play & record for yourself & not for the dollars or for anyone else for you are 1 of the very gifted few
1) Reference to how the world continually wanted something from you whether it be another song, another signature series something, another album, another hit, another change of image, another sound change, another tour, another interview where they end up twisting your words around.
Dear Edward....Yet again...
(See also http://www.pplministries.org/DearEVH.htm)
Everybody wanted some & they sucked the life from you (1)
Everybody needed some, what wuz you supposed to do?
You've poured your life into your art but the buisness and media was cruel & shrewd
There must have been quite the stress & pressure to produce for the suckers in their suits
It all must have taken a toll & I don't doubt that is true
At times you must have felt you lived in a circus or life was a crazy zoo
How often did you have to compromise for the hits & dollars instead of creating what you wanted to?
When you return to the heart of the art & the yet to be created tunes
What comes to your being & travels through?
What within you begins to steep & brew?
Who were you way back when in '78-79 & what now is your reality & truth?
What is dead & old that needs to be pruned?
What awaits to begin anew?
What is your current outlook & view?
Where's that Van Halen I sound & living to play live attitood?
Have you ever listened to your songs without all the vocal chart topping sexual drivel & spooge?
Behind all those words & uh-huh's & screaming yeahs is the real you; that's who
So I noticed you tributed the Who & they ask Who are you? We really wanna know
You have created & innovated & performed & you've done your time & paid your dues
I'm not writing these iRambles for entertainment nor to amuse
I do hope however that they strike a nerve or a chord within you & that you would note the que
Have you been thrown off the bull for the last time or are you ready to go sittin' in the chute?
Do you stare at the mud at your feet or do you hold your head up high & dream beyond the moon?
Play & record for yourself & not for the dollars or for anyone else for you are 1 of the very gifted few
1) Reference to how the world continually wanted something from you whether it be another song, another signature series something, another album, another hit, another change of image, another sound change, another tour, another interview where they end up twisting your words around.
iYikes - Things of Line6 Pod products
So I'm having a wrestling match within. The purist in me wrote my iRant about amp modelling vs. recording a live or live-like sound. The purist in me also thinks along the lines that if you record something with a certain sound, that same sound should be reproducible with a live amp without depending on sound engineers to tweak buttons & knobs & effect settings. The gizmoid drooler in me is now taking a deeper ponderance into things of Pod XT. Not the Pro or the Live model. The regular kidney shaped Pod XT. After writing my iRant nephew Jim mentioned he had a Pod XT Pro. Out of curiousity I went about the netlands & found some .mp3 sound clips of peoples patches they use for Pod XT. Those are at:
http://www.project80s.com/podxt/podclips_sounds.htm
http://www.robtognoni.com/line6.htm
There are some good sounding patches out there.
Jim also mentioned that Weezer toured & played their instruments through their Pod stuff & had no amps on stage. I have burned into my brain images of concerts where a band is overshadowed by stacks o' amps & guitar dudes going up to their amps with their guitars & finding that sweet feedback spot...I almost want to say that to have no amps for a live show is just darned wrong. But who am I to criticize right. It all falls back onto what the player & band think sounds good & fits their band & image & such. These days if plugging into an orange & then running that into a mixing board works for ya in the studio & on stage then go for it.
I'll be in my iCorner now.
- iMe
http://www.project80s.com/podxt/podclips_sounds.htm
http://www.robtognoni.com/line6.htm
There are some good sounding patches out there.
Jim also mentioned that Weezer toured & played their instruments through their Pod stuff & had no amps on stage. I have burned into my brain images of concerts where a band is overshadowed by stacks o' amps & guitar dudes going up to their amps with their guitars & finding that sweet feedback spot...I almost want to say that to have no amps for a live show is just darned wrong. But who am I to criticize right. It all falls back onto what the player & band think sounds good & fits their band & image & such. These days if plugging into an orange & then running that into a mixing board works for ya in the studio & on stage then go for it.
I'll be in my iCorner now.
- iMe
Monday, November 06, 2006
iPurplez
So I strike a harmonic at you in your general direction. Why? Because they're there to share & one must be aurally blasted frequently by them to sustain life. Why? Because brother Glop has stated many times that a UCSB professor was infamous for the final exam question being Why? And the only answer was “Because.”
So the title is iPurplez. Why? Well it’s due to the popularity & marketing bondage the world feeds upon where there's iThis & iThat & iWhatever. So I just added my own i-word: iPurplez. But what does that really mean...really? It’s kind of along the same lines as the entity known as “The Blue Man” of The Blue Man Group. It’s not why. It’s not because. It's not something but it's not nothing. It's the stuff between something & nothing perhaps. It's not fiction & it's not reality. It's the stuff that lies between fiction & reality. It's the stuff between the lines & the moments of not playing between notes & chords. So as part of the journey of this iPurplez I look back upon some of my iProse that iWrote about things of purple. These are some purple excerpts....
Make It Sound Purple - iWrote 5/3/2005
Mr. soundman, make it sound purple (1)
In the corner I often sit in silence to vegetate & drool
And I pound on my blue Ibanez as an expression tool
"I've been had" is a joke nickname for my guitar brand
Of the blue & shark tooth inlay guitar I hold in my hands
My fingers wander along & babble in the fret land
To actually record something of worth, ha ha I seem to laugh
It's hard to not think of one's creations as useless trash
I would be one in the crowd of millions across the world's strands
It doesn't matter though for it is just an outlet to pound upon "the man"
But my fingers somehow continue to dance upon the fretlands
Who knows what will become of my simple guitar purple hands
- (1) When I took the recording class at Cabrillo College the instructor mentioned how a band he was recording said "Make it sound purple ma'an."
Purple & Haze – iWrote 5/29/2005
The purple & haze can do whatever it wants for that seems fair
Let the haze be purple & the purple be haze here & there
I'd be glad to take some of my purple haze & share
In the purple haze of life I sit here in my chair & I stare
Purple Lane – iWrote 5/10/2005
Life in the purple lane
Drifting here & there in the haze
Life in the purple lane
It's purple & haze kinds of days
Life goes on in the purple lane
Life is as life does in the purple lane
Haze is as haze does in the purple game
People are hazy when they are purple
If there was purple rain in the purple lane then we might start to hydroplane
It might be safer to just take a purple train
To avoid the stress of the purple lane strain
Life in the purple lane
Purple's Deep – iWrote 5/10/2005
Have you ever journeyed into purple's deep?
Have you ever journeyed into deep purple as you go to sleep?
Or does it take great courage to make the purple leap?
The law says that what you sow you will reap, so if you sow purple what deep will you reap?
Perhaps you'd feel safer if you would just go wait in the purple jeep
Excuse me while I just go fall down into a deep purple heap.
So the concept of iPurplez is based solely upon that phrase "Make it sound purple ma'an." It's like trying to see with your ears & to hear with your eyes & get beyond the boundaries of the boxes that we get stuck in as we go through iLife. If you watch a butterfly there is no pattern or boundaries to it's flight. It just goes where it desires.
So until later comes, be the purple peoplez.
So the title is iPurplez. Why? Well it’s due to the popularity & marketing bondage the world feeds upon where there's iThis & iThat & iWhatever. So I just added my own i-word: iPurplez. But what does that really mean...really? It’s kind of along the same lines as the entity known as “The Blue Man” of The Blue Man Group. It’s not why. It’s not because. It's not something but it's not nothing. It's the stuff between something & nothing perhaps. It's not fiction & it's not reality. It's the stuff that lies between fiction & reality. It's the stuff between the lines & the moments of not playing between notes & chords. So as part of the journey of this iPurplez I look back upon some of my iProse that iWrote about things of purple. These are some purple excerpts....
Make It Sound Purple - iWrote 5/3/2005
Mr. soundman, make it sound purple (1)
In the corner I often sit in silence to vegetate & drool
And I pound on my blue Ibanez as an expression tool
"I've been had" is a joke nickname for my guitar brand
Of the blue & shark tooth inlay guitar I hold in my hands
My fingers wander along & babble in the fret land
To actually record something of worth, ha ha I seem to laugh
It's hard to not think of one's creations as useless trash
I would be one in the crowd of millions across the world's strands
It doesn't matter though for it is just an outlet to pound upon "the man"
But my fingers somehow continue to dance upon the fretlands
Who knows what will become of my simple guitar purple hands
- (1) When I took the recording class at Cabrillo College the instructor mentioned how a band he was recording said "Make it sound purple ma'an."
Purple & Haze – iWrote 5/29/2005
The purple & haze can do whatever it wants for that seems fair
Let the haze be purple & the purple be haze here & there
I'd be glad to take some of my purple haze & share
In the purple haze of life I sit here in my chair & I stare
Purple Lane – iWrote 5/10/2005
Life in the purple lane
Drifting here & there in the haze
Life in the purple lane
It's purple & haze kinds of days
Life goes on in the purple lane
Life is as life does in the purple lane
Haze is as haze does in the purple game
People are hazy when they are purple
If there was purple rain in the purple lane then we might start to hydroplane
It might be safer to just take a purple train
To avoid the stress of the purple lane strain
Life in the purple lane
Purple's Deep – iWrote 5/10/2005
Have you ever journeyed into purple's deep?
Have you ever journeyed into deep purple as you go to sleep?
Or does it take great courage to make the purple leap?
The law says that what you sow you will reap, so if you sow purple what deep will you reap?
Perhaps you'd feel safer if you would just go wait in the purple jeep
Excuse me while I just go fall down into a deep purple heap.
So the concept of iPurplez is based solely upon that phrase "Make it sound purple ma'an." It's like trying to see with your ears & to hear with your eyes & get beyond the boundaries of the boxes that we get stuck in as we go through iLife. If you watch a butterfly there is no pattern or boundaries to it's flight. It just goes where it desires.
So until later comes, be the purple peoplez.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
An Analog To Digital Rant & Rave...
There's a saying that you can't believe a picture you see in this high tech age due to all the photo munging products out there. Now a days you probably can't tell if the amp you hear on the recording is live or not live.
I've learned a new term amplifier modelling. You get some device you play through into your computer & it models various types of amplifier sounds/settings. Yes I'm sure there's the "brown sound" setting as well. Ok guitar synthesizer stuff is ok & it's been around a long time & that's what Alan Holdsworth & I'm sure many others such as Trevor Rabin from Yes do. But for any guitar hackie to just plug into something & sound like their favorite guitar riffer is almost blasphemy to the art of live sound. The box for my MXR Phaser even has on the front of it "Live to play live." How processed & computerized & overprocessed does the world need to become? Just listen to a phrase on Van Halen I & then listen to whatever it is you want to call it on Balance. Ugh. Sorry when it comes to amps & settings it should take one's entire being & sweat & blood to create & lock in their sound. I haven't gotten there yet but I smell that I'm close...maybe. Am waiting on a couple pedals to arrive so brother glop can modify them with the mod kits I ordered.
But to be fair to the gadget gizmoids out there, I do confess that I have a Hughes & Kettner Red Box which I will probably use. It can simulate a 4 speaker cabinet or a 2 speaker combo amp. And the reason is due to not having a 'studio' like environment in which to place an amp in an ideal spot with mics in another ideal spot. But at least it's dedicated to 1 purpose which is taking existing post gain amp sound & allowing one to go directly into mixing or audio capture device and sound like a mic'd cabinet. I could rationalize & justify it away but I won't. I have a kind of gizmoid that is in the category of this rant. >>>addition added 11/3 - The red box is like my running my amp's 2nd speaker output into a speaker cabinet so perhaps I'm not cheating afterall. <<< So onward with my iRant.
So this brings me to my next item & that's home digital audio recording. It's not a new concept but with computers being media oriented now a days many music gizmo companies are trying too find their niche in the market of USB & Firewire based products. To me that's cool. I started looking at USB based gadgets & I noticed for example the, ugh don't make me write this...'amp modeller' Line6 TonePort UX2 USB thing. Filled with lots of gizmos
& gadgets. But does any one of the features excel in any one area? Well it's limited by the very nature of the limitations of USB ports. Who knows. If I'm bowling I need to use a bowling ball. If I'm golfing I use A club for A shot. So the goal is quality audio recording through some interface on computer that is not based on the, usually stock & poor quality audio card. Why not get something that's dedicated to just converting the sound to digital & storing it on computer for shaping later? So in looking at reviews I found this interesting thing called Firebox that is Firewire based. Can I drool now? Now that's more like it. What's it for? Capture audio with quality mic preamps.
Before going through my Brother Glop induced journey I would've probably gone "Oh wow, & no way man!" about the Line6 thing. And I can see why people migrate to such things & that's because they don't have the time or resources to do the needed work to find their sound at home to record with. It's just a tool that gives the myriads something easy to work with. No I don't have much time & of course I'll need a Hot Plate to do anything at home...if ever. I'm wondering how many people just instantly settle for USB based stuff which does have a throughput limit but some may never reach that level of audio data. What do I know?
To be fair, perhaps the popular things like the Line6 help encourage & motivate 'cats' do jam out stuff for themselves that they might not have tried to do otherwise with mics & various other recording methods. For the good & tight sounding players that's good. For the not so good or out of tune or off key folks handing out the 'Hey look what I tried to do" CD at Christmas to friends & family, perhaps ease of recording isn't the best idea. And I'll throw myself into that grouping as well unless I can prove otherwise in time. laff.
And I shouldn't talk until I've recorded something of any kind.
I'll get off my binary soap box now.
Until later comes turn it up to Firewire.
I've learned a new term amplifier modelling. You get some device you play through into your computer & it models various types of amplifier sounds/settings. Yes I'm sure there's the "brown sound" setting as well. Ok guitar synthesizer stuff is ok & it's been around a long time & that's what Alan Holdsworth & I'm sure many others such as Trevor Rabin from Yes do. But for any guitar hackie to just plug into something & sound like their favorite guitar riffer is almost blasphemy to the art of live sound. The box for my MXR Phaser even has on the front of it "Live to play live." How processed & computerized & overprocessed does the world need to become? Just listen to a phrase on Van Halen I & then listen to whatever it is you want to call it on Balance. Ugh. Sorry when it comes to amps & settings it should take one's entire being & sweat & blood to create & lock in their sound. I haven't gotten there yet but I smell that I'm close...maybe. Am waiting on a couple pedals to arrive so brother glop can modify them with the mod kits I ordered.
But to be fair to the gadget gizmoids out there, I do confess that I have a Hughes & Kettner Red Box which I will probably use. It can simulate a 4 speaker cabinet or a 2 speaker combo amp. And the reason is due to not having a 'studio' like environment in which to place an amp in an ideal spot with mics in another ideal spot. But at least it's dedicated to 1 purpose which is taking existing post gain amp sound & allowing one to go directly into mixing or audio capture device and sound like a mic'd cabinet. I could rationalize & justify it away but I won't. I have a kind of gizmoid that is in the category of this rant. >>>addition added 11/3 - The red box is like my running my amp's 2nd speaker output into a speaker cabinet so perhaps I'm not cheating afterall. <<< So onward with my iRant.
So this brings me to my next item & that's home digital audio recording. It's not a new concept but with computers being media oriented now a days many music gizmo companies are trying too find their niche in the market of USB & Firewire based products. To me that's cool. I started looking at USB based gadgets & I noticed for example the, ugh don't make me write this...'amp modeller' Line6 TonePort UX2 USB thing. Filled with lots of gizmos
& gadgets. But does any one of the features excel in any one area? Well it's limited by the very nature of the limitations of USB ports. Who knows. If I'm bowling I need to use a bowling ball. If I'm golfing I use A club for A shot. So the goal is quality audio recording through some interface on computer that is not based on the, usually stock & poor quality audio card. Why not get something that's dedicated to just converting the sound to digital & storing it on computer for shaping later? So in looking at reviews I found this interesting thing called Firebox that is Firewire based. Can I drool now? Now that's more like it. What's it for? Capture audio with quality mic preamps.
Before going through my Brother Glop induced journey I would've probably gone "Oh wow, & no way man!" about the Line6 thing. And I can see why people migrate to such things & that's because they don't have the time or resources to do the needed work to find their sound at home to record with. It's just a tool that gives the myriads something easy to work with. No I don't have much time & of course I'll need a Hot Plate to do anything at home...if ever. I'm wondering how many people just instantly settle for USB based stuff which does have a throughput limit but some may never reach that level of audio data. What do I know?
To be fair, perhaps the popular things like the Line6 help encourage & motivate 'cats' do jam out stuff for themselves that they might not have tried to do otherwise with mics & various other recording methods. For the good & tight sounding players that's good. For the not so good or out of tune or off key folks handing out the 'Hey look what I tried to do" CD at Christmas to friends & family, perhaps ease of recording isn't the best idea. And I'll throw myself into that grouping as well unless I can prove otherwise in time. laff.
And I shouldn't talk until I've recorded something of any kind.
I'll get off my binary soap box now.
Until later comes turn it up to Firewire.
Let's Play Remove The Vocals....
Been hiding in another realm for a bit....But yes I emerge victorious. So what have I to purple about this first November entry begins with a simple, cool, free audio product called Audacity. It's a digital audio editing product that software developers all over the world contribute to developing. As a guitar honkey there are songs that have great song parts to listen to or even play along with. But then comes the interuption of some singer contributing their 'Oh-Yeahs' & 'Uh-huh's' & baby this & baby that & all the other not so wholesome lyrical content. If I could wiggle a finger & have something magically happen it would be to have fav songs in their published form but with all vocals muted or faded out. Forget some black box that tries to remove vocals for ya. Forget covers or cover bands or karaoke. I'm talking about the real original thing baby, oh yeah, & uh huh, & come on. So back to Audacity, I've been playing around with taking cool fav things & using the Silence tool to silence the parts I don't want to hear. And then I've been applying fade outs & fade ins & removing the silent periods I created. So you take a 4+ minute song & do this munging & you end of up a couple minutes of just raw music, or in my case, guitar carnage.
So that leads me to the realm I was hiding in. I realized that to manually repeat this process is a pain & it gets old quick. And for this dad with bizzy beez, anything to speed along such things is a must. I realized that, hey, I could write a software tool to take my .wav files with the silence periods & apply the needed fade ins, fade outs, & do the silence removal. It took a long while to find some code examples for getting at the raw audio samples in the .wav files. But after fiddling with all the codeims I have my tool. You would think some simple tutorials on wav file processing would be available on the net of inter. Not really. Cool thing about Audacity is that since it's public for developers to contribute to you can get the source code. That was a help as well in fingering out how to apply a fade to a block of audio data. And brother glob helped me to undertand what interlaced media mean. So I've emerged from my obsessive abyss about getting this thing done so I can use it as desired..I should try to add the tool to Audacity for my own use that way it's all in one place. But that would require my trying to figure out how to follow the model already in place. All I really need to do is tell Audacity to select a region, fade it out, select another region & do a fade in, then select the silent period & delete it.
Go Audacity!
Until later comes, turn it up to binary.
So that leads me to the realm I was hiding in. I realized that to manually repeat this process is a pain & it gets old quick. And for this dad with bizzy beez, anything to speed along such things is a must. I realized that, hey, I could write a software tool to take my .wav files with the silence periods & apply the needed fade ins, fade outs, & do the silence removal. It took a long while to find some code examples for getting at the raw audio samples in the .wav files. But after fiddling with all the codeims I have my tool. You would think some simple tutorials on wav file processing would be available on the net of inter. Not really. Cool thing about Audacity is that since it's public for developers to contribute to you can get the source code. That was a help as well in fingering out how to apply a fade to a block of audio data. And brother glob helped me to undertand what interlaced media mean. So I've emerged from my obsessive abyss about getting this thing done so I can use it as desired..I should try to add the tool to Audacity for my own use that way it's all in one place. But that would require my trying to figure out how to follow the model already in place. All I really need to do is tell Audacity to select a region, fade it out, select another region & do a fade in, then select the silent period & delete it.
Go Audacity!
Until later comes, turn it up to binary.
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