I quarantined with a Beebo, a ZOIA, and a Microcosm.
Simply put - I played a bunch of gear last year. I noticed for myself, I had lost interest in drive pedals and was being hit by the need to get more in-depth.
But not like, break out a soldering iron type of in-depth and make the world’s next best Tubescreamer clone now featuring more meh.
Pedals like Beebo and Zoia specifically really did allow me to understand more of the fundamentals of what is happening under the hood of many modulating sounds that have enthralled me over the years from other makers. I had become quite well-versed at programming midi for devices like a Line 6 HX Stomp or a Morningstar MC8 for instance - but the virtual patching and internal adjustments that you can do in Beebo/Zoia is unparalleled.
So many random experimental ideas and ways to control another effect could be explored. Even random moments of an issue presenting itself in a larger midi environment could be solved with clever midi filtering in either of these devices. I could now virtually build my own synth or just have a cool guitar preamp/cab with my choice of customized effects - without a laptop or a VST let alone a DAW!
Talk about the flyrig potential with just a KeyStep!
The Microcosm itself is just an amazing little beast. Sometimes, when something is so good at doing a thing you never knew you needed - you don’t really question it too much.
Best to enjoy the awesomeness I say.
As of this writing, Poly Effects released firmware 3.5 for Beebo while Empress Effects recently released 2.0 for Zoia. Hologram Effects as well has a recent update for the Microcosm that improves the experience/integration.
When you find the right gear for yourself that both inspires you and challenges you the right ways it really can lead to amazing tonal discovery :)
Gear Therapy
Sometimes new gear can you take somewhere unplanned and that’s ok.
In fact, maybe we need to as artists - need to be pushed out of our comfort zones and even forced to relearn ourselves and our changed world - separately from gear.
I know, I know - meta stuff but it does tie in, I promise.
As pictured above, this all lives on my desk now and is designed around recording since Covid/remote/isolation/etc. I briefly did not want to make music, the world seemed on fire and I had to do for others more than myself.
The need for music was undeniable and slowly, my mind needed an outlet in the form of a new toy to learn. That toy needed some other toys, of course - that’s how gearheads operate after all.
This time was different for me, I had a new sound and a new goal in mind. I also wanted to be my own artist, not a bandmate but my own boss as it were and this adventure felt tangible. Empowering with the technology that seemed designed for people who think and work like I do.
Pictured above and now considered indispensable for my writing and sound design:
-Elektron Digitakt
-Elektron Digitone
-Akai MPC One
-Bored Brain Terminal
-Empress Effects ZOIA
-Poly Effects Beebo
-Hologram Effects Microcosm
-Arturia KeyStep37
-12-channel USB Audio mixer
-DSM & Humboldt Simplifier
-DJ Tech Tools Midi Fighter Twister
-Midi Solutions Midi Merger Box
This recording set up, for now, allows me to make tracks and work out songs in my DAW but also let me live jam and bring in external gear/instruments/pedalboards easily into this ecosystem.
All this electronic learning in the last year has made me love playing guitar even more than I had in recent years.
It’s just good to create again and so much more to come.
Hold that note!
Long sustaining notes on the verge of feedback were an ideal that required a certain amount of volume and gain to get consistent for your parts.
I opted for these types of tricks even though I had an E-Bow nearby if I wanted.
There was something primal about that loudness and going up to the cabinet speakers to push your guitar as close as possible.
Somehow that would give me more of that sound I craved.
E-Bow to Ego - EHX Super Ego that is.
There was a definite limitation to what was possible with the feedback tricks I used to relish. Eventually I tried using an e-bow more and more to maximize control and increase the possibilities.
With 2 modes to choose from, I opted for the higher pithed harmonic mode and practiced my fake violin style techniques. There was an interaction between the e-bow, the string, and ultimately the magnets in the pickups themselves. You would get a maximum dynamic when sliding over the pickups and it would spike easily if not careful.
I had gotten used to using an MXR Dyna Comp as an always on pedal and this style of effect obviously helped the spiking and reliability however a few central problems still existed:
The E-Bow is essentially monophonic, it is one note at a time. By nature, it cannot by itself do simultaneous multiple notes.
The E-Bow is handheld, slightly fragile device. I found it hard to switch between it and a pick in the same song let alone put it down quickly and securely.
These types of issues made me think there would always be limitations until someday, there weren’t any.
When EHX started offering Freeze devices with endless sustain, I had moved on and did not think about possibilities and improved technology. The Super Ego entered the picture and I was able to try it in a local guitar store. This singular box unlocked the concept I had in my head - play rhythm guitar parts with a sustaining synth pad as a layer underneath.
Now, I did not need to ask a keyboard player to do these simple parts, I had control over them first hand.
Or foot.
Definitely first foot.
Part of the fun of the Super Ego is to sustain a chord, of find a way to use the auto triggers to follow you through a proper chord progression. The biggest fun for me was to sustain that chord into other effects - maybe some fuzz but definitely some modulation and more.
Enter the FreqOut!
Digitech has made a number of amazing and coveted devices beyond just the Whammy or their Space Station. In recent years they have put out unique items like the FreqOut which essentially offered what the E-Bow offered for single note lines/sustain except with more overtone/harmonic options and a simple foot based control.
No more switching things with my hands, pick to E-Bow and back again for the rhythm riff. No fun as the BPMs click upward and much room for error live -
This would now become my single note fake Sustaniac from the pedalboard! If paired with the Super Ego, I would be really getting somewhere I figured and truly cover all my needs.
The variety of tone options has been great for dialing in a timbre specifically however a major detail I never see mentioned is that you can create controlled feedback in an ampless headphone only environment. To me, this seems to be a huge selling point for people looking to replicate feedback and such without an amp, possibly going direct into a DAW.
Personally, I would recommend using this pedal after a compressor in order to still maintain control over the rise/fall settings versus squash those dynamics.
An Added Feature!?
There are numerous pedals offering sustain and freeze features these days - the above groundbreaking devices have led the way for other companies to expand on the original concept and offer additional features based on the ways in which we combine our effects.
EHX took their SuperEgo+ to new heights of awesomeness with onboard additional effects to make for a worthy update. A basic frozen note could be rather static and most often a chorus, a phaser, or moving filter even would give that sound a texture the original SuperEgo alone could not. Additional stompswitches allow for a great amount of control to dial in your tones.
Delay and pitch focused pedals like the Red Panda Labs Particle 2 have a granular delay engine that incorporates the ability to freeze chords and notes - but to also have control over the grains themselves. Density controls and a multitude of modes incorporate Pitch and LFO aspects for a range of evocative spatial sounds. Aside from extensive delay options, time stretching effects, pitch shifting and granular effects - you get a robust freeze as well!
One of the most fun and deconstructive of the newer devices released in 2020 is the Hologram Electronics Microcosm. By deconstructive, I am saying you can play into it and be able to predictably, controllably get something you would never have had access to previously. The closest I may have come was running a Chase Bliss Audio Mood into a Boss MD-500 Slicer and reverb mixed to taste. All that and it still has a 60 second looper that can work independent of its phrase sampler, which itself acts a bit like a freeze/sustain.
How deep did you want to go?
Additional products have entered the market that allow even deeper control of effects, in fact - you build them one virtual circuit at a time.
Empress Zoia and Poly Effects Digit/Beebo offer extensive control even if its a learning curve - the rewards will be abundant. There is much to say about both devices but a key take away if that they both offer freeze/sustain/granular effects with a massive amount of options and controls.
Think of them as digital modular synths; as their own unique environments that still play nice with other effects.
More to come on these with future posts!
Getting Granular about Grains
As I went deeper into the freeze and sustain category, I started coming across more and more pedals offering granular delay effects as part of the offering. Notably, I am enjoying the Particle V2 from Red Panda as a solution for when I want granular delay and freeze effects but am limited on space.
Ok, it’s not just about space.
I really do love this pedal and find it offers more than just one trick for your tones. The depth of midi control/integration also sold me for times when I use an HX Stomp and Morningstar MC8 in my primary rig.
Even more magic happens if you get clever with your midi cc expression settings.
Stereo Amplifiers And Thinking Double Mono Instead?
Remember your first practice amp?
Was it a brand you only saw once and that once was on that amp?
Did it never really sound all that clean? Did the distortion feedback like crazy past 6 on the dial?
Whether it was for bass or guitar, one thing is usually true - the amp basically sucked.
I barely remember my first amp…
…but I remember my first half stack loudly.
it was a Marshall 1960 slanted cab with a used JCM900 in the era of my friends having Mesa Dual Recs.
The beast was phenomenal - even more so with a tube screamer in front to tighten it up like so many of us do to chug and pinch harmonic our way to awesomeness.
Combo Amps are the real workhorse.
City living might mean getting the best headphones on the market and going digital to an extent.
When I was gigging the most in NYC, I usually used a 100 watt Marshall Valvestate of my own. If available, I would use an amp from a venue’s back line. Many times it was just easier to do that and not make a frenemy of the person working the soundboard for the evening.
As a result of not having a steady amp always, I opted to go pedal based for my distortions and overdrives. I even aimed for having a board that gave me everything and only needed minor tweaking on the amp EQ itself.
There was also a reverb pedal at the end of the chain going into the front of the amp because the 4 cable method was not always feasible on a small stage or during a short set to justify the longer set up time.
All of those amps were mono!
One day I was experimenting with an Electro Harmonix Memory Man in a large room at Ultrasound Studios in NYC. There was an amp I had never tried before but knew some of my friends loved or hated via beer drenched post jamming chatter.
Stereo for me used to mean using 2 different amps, one left and one right to create a washing over you fullness if you did it right. “Instant Edge” but not really.
I still hadn’t found what I was looking for.
Roland Jazz Chorus
Cleanest amp ever. For me at least. Some call it sterile and I call it a warm palette that I don’t need to change tubes every so often. Cold weather and travel affected my tube amps more than anything which pushed me to solid state with the Marshall Valvestate but the JC-120 from Roland is stereo. As a delay fanatic - stereo in one amp meant less to carry to gigs!
Soon, the realization was clear - one amp, stereo for my delays and choruses.
Cool.
Beyond Stereo Logic
Aside from the fact that a true stereo spread was not exactly there as when I used 2 amps - I was pretty thrilled with the sounds and clean palette I had available. From time to time, I would swap in and out a variety of drive pedals and could truly hear them with distinction.
An amp with a preamp gain section usually adds color and a tube compression which is fantastic and beloved for all the right reasons. In those years, I had a belief that the clean tone needed to be pristine as possible in order to make your heavy tone that much more crushing by contrast.
Back to the point -
The Roland JC for me has become a way to technically have 2 different tones live, in one place. Using a Line 6 HX Effects and with clever routing, you can run different signal paths with real time control.
Plug in your 2 cables to the amp from the Left and Right outputs on the back - you can go mono into the front, no issues there. Within the HX Edit software or from the HX Effects front panel, you can easily adjust everything to your spec.
For example -
I will route a Compressor (as a mono FX block) to a split stereo path, one side might go to an Industrial Fuzz and the other might go to more a Compulsive Drive. Inside the routing path I will make sure the paths go 100% to the left and 100% to the right in order to keep them separated once they reach the stereo inputs of the amp.
Drive pedals are one thing to vary for sure between the 2 signal paths but what if you add a unit like the Mimiq from TC Electronic! Suddenly now you can increase again the stereo spread but this time via an algorithm that seemingly fakes the feel of a second player shadowing your playing but with subtle dynamic changes to fool our ears.
-PedalEffected.com
Analog Stompboxes and Digital Multi Effect Units - let’s integrate!
So, you’ve been effected for a long time now…
There really is no better way to introduce you to all things PedalEffected than to jump into the fundamentals of pedals, effects, and why we love to tinker.
Tinkering is just one aspect of this love affair.
Let us not forget chats with friends and fellow musicians over our favorite gear and why - let alone the gear we may have grown up idolizing from past recorded greats. There were many best guesses on how we mere mortals could get closer to their larger than life tones.
Many of us had cut our teeth on basic amps and similarly basic pedal effects. These were mostly analog in origin and were usually a series of one-trick ponies for a song or 2 in our sets. Not every song needs a wah pedal engaged but the need to plan ahead for it is why it is on our pedalboards, just a step away from us at all times.
Maybe you think it unfair to single out a wah pedal? Maybe it is!
Below I will expand on which digital units I have come to love and which standalone (mostly analog) units that I cannot get away from depending on the gig.
My Current Favorite Digital Multi Effect Units
Line 6 has made some of my most favorite solutions for what seems like 20+ years. The HX Stomp can be an excellent recording friend as well as part of a very easy fly rig as it can do effects, amps, and also go direct to a PA system - truly flexible!
The HX Effects in my opinion is more of a favorite for me when I am going into an amp and want to get a comprehensive amount of options from across the history of effects that Line 6 has captured. Many of these modeled effects are no longer available, let alone available cheaply.
Boss created the impressive MS-3 as another pedalboard solution that can give you access to the majority of their famous effects, including the discontinued Slow Gear and also the modern Slicer found in other, more expensive units as well from them.
All of these boxes offer an incredible amount of options - from routing your chain and accessing many random effects for the once or twice a month you may need “that” tone.
Back to that wah pedal statement above -
How many of us use a volume pedal, a wah pedal, maybe even also an expression pedal for certain effects? That’s a lot of real estate taken up by things we may not use in every song, every night.
PedalEffected advocates picking what matters to you most - do you have a favorite reverb unit and do not think a digital multi effect unit can ever match that tone for you?
Maybe it can’t!
And that’s ok - pedals are modular for exactly this reason. We pick and choose what to swap in and out as needed. Choose your own adventure!
For me, with a Line 6 style unit, I can press different “banks” and essentially have a different virtual pedalboard that will become active. Depending on my settings, this can be anything - my expression controller can become different wah pedal types let alone wahs at different points in the virtual signal chain. I like to use my expression pedal for controlling delay feedback levels and even distortion levels aside from what we usually think about for them as volume or wah type controls.
In theory, sometimes I like my wah pedal before distortion but I do also like to get synthy and put wah after distortion. Sometimes I want my Phase 90 before a Plexi style amp or sometimes I want it just running on the right channel through a stereo amp after a delay line.
Because, why not?
These multi effect units actually can solve that for us all with the tap of a foot live in real time- no switching cables around and no need for redundancy like having multiple of the same pedal in order to have it available for that one song a night. I have known people who have had multiple delay pedals and multiple Phase 90s just to cover all their bases.
Most of the top units sold today include free editing software and robust options for how you can integrate these solutions to your existing situations.
Personally, I like carrying less gear around and consolidating what is on the stage in front of me. It is a lot harder to break your favorite expensive toys if you stop taking them everywhere you go!
Let’s be real, Digital cannot always do it all
A big aspect of the digital landscape is the simplicity and expansiveness of sounds and features offered but there is also a tone difference which can be noticeable to some. As mentioned earlier, you need to think about what sounds best to you and what aspects of your sound and performance matter.
An odd thing I have noticed over the years is that a good many of the Line 6 synth effects are monophonic only and that does not usually work for me. Companies like Meris have made a number of amazing units, notably the Enzo, which very fully cover those polyphonic needs on guitar, bass, or keyboard.
In recent years when I have designed my pedalboards I have tried to ask myself 2 main things when I add stompboxes side by side to a digital multi.
Is this something I will need on all night long and maybe do not need to waste a “block” in the multi unit?
Does this pedal do something or sound a certain way I cannot achieve with a multieffect, therefore I NEED IT!?
In question 1 above I tend to think of the years I used a compressor and a noisegate, always on. I used them as separate pedals and saved room on the multi effect for when I wanted tastier things like a chorus or a delay.
Line 6 HX Stomp for instance has limitations in the software/hardware; you can use roughly 6 assigned blocks at a time which can be frustrating if you are someone who likes to gain stack or just have options ready to stomp.
As I turn to question 2, I want to mention several pedals that stand out for me and why I would want to use them regardless of a multi effect unit.
Earthquaker Devices Plumes - not just another Tubescreamer! This would be a choice pedal for those who really care about transparent overdrive and boost.
Z Vex Mastotron - for those looking to get a pure analog fuzz with options! The Pulse Width and Impedance controls alone make this a unique pedal for true tonal bliss.
Boss MD-500 - while this unit is not analog, it is a total space saver paired with the Line 6 HX Stomp. I use this to free up many blocks that would have gone to modulation effects. This unit also has the Slicer built in with the ability to create user patterns.
Random tip: The Slicer can be used to create a sequencer out of your static chord parts. You can program your own rhythms and assign pitch specific shifting amongst other goodness.
Electro Harmonix SuperEgo - hands down, the best freeze/sustain instant synth pad device around. Use this in conjunction with modulation and you have a layer to play over that will have people wondering where your keyboard player is hiding.
Random Tip: Use this pedal with something like the above MD-500 from Boss to create shimmer and movement out of static micro granular synthesized pad effects alone. Run it stereo!
Thank you for visiting and please be sure to follow on social media for updates on new blogs, new photos and new pedal discussions!
-PedalEffected.com