Guitar pedal evolution. We were faced with the difficult decision to take off pedals from our pedalboard to make space for new ones. Too difficult. So we didn’t. Instead… we got a second board 😉
Temple Audio Duo 17 arrived to help us host 3 new pedals we have had our sights on for quite some time. And so we reconfigured the whole signal chain. And the MIDI chain. Again. These three bad boys are the VENTRIS reverb, IRIDIUM amp modeler and HEDRA triple pitch shifter/delay.
Guitar synthesizer ENZO (yellow machine) was moved to the new (smaller) board to make space for the VENTRIS reverb from Source Audio (last row, second from right). We have wanted to have a second reverb to overlay on top of Strymon’s BIGSKY and the VENTRIS filled the bill perfectly. Two reverbs in one box, each with 14 different engines, which can be run in parallel or series. In essence, we got 2 more reverbs, for awesome ambient soundscapes. The VENTRIS is placed downstream from the BIGSKY in the signal chain.Read more...
A hard-to-find, early interview with composer and guitar virtuoso Ralph Towner, rescued from the original issue of Guitar Player magazine of December 1975.
“I didn’t even know what a guitar was until I was 22… I went to a music store to buy a trumpet mute or music paper, something like that, and there was this salesman type there who sold me a classical guitar. I taught myself a little bit, and then wrote a composition for flute and guitar.“
All aboard the pedalboard… it’s boarding completed. No more space in our pedalboard after the addition of Meris ENZO synthesizer, Morning Star MC6 MkII MIDI controller and Mision Engineering EXPRESSIONATOR expression pedal controller. From the previous version, a few pedals had to be relocated and other squeezed closer together to make room. There are a total of 52 switches and 60 knobs on this pedalboard.
ENZO is an incredible sound machine, with four engines for mono synthesis, polyphonic synthesis, arpeggiator and a dry mode with tons of effects. With delay onboard, portamento, sustain and incredible filtering capabilities, the ENZO is an endless source of possibilities and inspiration. All reviews have ranked ENZO as the number one pedal of 2018. Here is a looped little tune that we did recently using all four ENZO machines:Read more...
Here is an update to the electric guitar pedal board that we started one and half year ago. Click on the image below to enlarge. (And go to the full post for a pic of the cable jungle underneath!).
In the top view, we can see some new additions: a Wampler EGO compressor (top right) replaces the mini EGO, and a Strymon BigSky reverb machine replaces the BlueSky. Also, the Neunaber Iconoclast speaker emulator, previously featured outside the board, is now on it (left).
There is also a some news about connectivity (arrows). Instrument inputs remain the same, with the switch that toggles between guitar #1 and #2 in between them. Above them, there are 4 outputs. Normal unbalanced outputs (left and right stereo channels) come right after the effects chain (minus Iconoclast). Below them, balanced outputs coming after the Iconoclast.Read more...
Volume 2 of the Chromatographies project is out in the Bandcamp website for download or streaming. The free download includes a digital booklet. There are also CDs available upon request.
Chromatographies is the jazz and ambient guitar project of Carlos Ibanez.
The Chromatographies project consists of solo guitar performances that alternate improvised guitar meditations with jazz guitar pieces. As in a live performance, each volume is arranged as a continuous suite with all sounds and effects made in real-time using stomp boxes.
The second volume follows the structure of the first one, with improvised compositions by Carlos Ibanez intermixed with renderings of pieces by Maurice Ravel (from an arrangement by Larry Coryell), John McLaughlin, Horace Silver and Ralph Towner.
Chromatographies is the new jazz and ambient guitar project of Carlos Ibanez.
The Chromatographies project consists of solo guitar performances that alternate improvised guitar meditations with jazz guitar pieces. As in a live performance, each volume is arranged as a continuous suite of single track recordings, and all sounds and effects are made in real-time using stomp boxes.
The first volume includes improvised compositions by Carlos Ibanez and renderings of pieces by Bill Connors, Victor Young, Charles Mingus and Ralph Towner.
Volume 1 has just been released at the Bandcamp website. The free download includes a digital booklet. There are also CDs available upon request.
Here it is our new Gibson Les Paul Standard HP 2017. A solid body electric guitar packed with features to achieve that great classic humbucker tone.
We have just used this blue beauty to record a few pieces in volume 1 of the brand-new “Chromatographies” project which has just been released at the Bandcamp website.
But more on that in a later post. In the meantime, here is a sample of some of the sounds we have got from this incredible guitar, a track called “Overload”.
It took time, but our new guitar pedalboard is here! The board itself is a Trio28 from Temple Audio Design fitted with an IEC AC Mains Micro Module (left) and a 4-way Jack Patch Module (right), all from Temple Audio Design.
As far as the pedals are concerned, from upper left clock-wise:
Another guitar effect pedal making its way into our pedal board, this is the blueSky reverberator from Strymon. To say that it’s absolutely stunning would be an understatement. Lush, gorgeous reverb that can go to infinity.
Here a small sample introducing the “mod” mode with infinite reverb morphing into Mingus’ Goodbye Pork Pie Hat and a crazy looped overdrive.
