Conference napalm::commusic_v1

    I saw a midi-controllable eq at Union Music. I think it is made
    by ART (the people that brought us the proverb and proverb200).
    If I remember correctly, it is 3 equalizers in one box. I think
    it is parametric. Check it out.
    
    Mark

    
    Re: EQ
    
    Akai has a box that has I think six EQs, each seven band or so,
    that is MIDI.  Call LaSalle, they sell Akai.
    
    RE: patch changer
    
    Peavey makes one, the RMC2000 or something like that.  I think ADA
    also has one.
    
    

    
    re: patch changer
    
       Depending on what you are talking about, the DMC MX-80 is a MIDI
    patchbay which is programmable *50. otherwise there is a company
    called Voyce which markets a MIDI patcher which attaches to the
    back of one of your boards which transmits MIDI instructions, or
    you can get an Alesis MidiPad (I think that's the name)  which is a 
    handheld keypad.
    
    /pjh

    Yamaha just advertised a MIDI EQ in the front of this months music
    technology.  Yamaha seems to be generally good about not announcing
    products ridiculously in advance of their shipment, so it will probably
    be availible shortly.  It does, however, look pretty professional
    (expensive).
    
    Roland has a digital, MIDI EQ, which has been available for a while,
    also in the pro price range ($1400?  I haven't asked)
    
    An interesting feature of both of these units is a digital bus for
    ``noiseless'' interconnection with other effects (faders, 'verbs,
    etc.)
    
    Steph

    re: .0, .3
    
    WJB neglected to mention that he is a guitar player and thus the DMC
    is not really the kind of thing that would suit him well since he
    would be best served by getting a foot-controlled patch changer.
    
    There are several such devices on the market, and most of them
    are fairly reasonable price.  I have no experience with any of them and
    don't even remember who makes them but you should check out the
    American Musical Supply catalog (chances are you already get it if you
    subscribe to GP or Keyboard magazine). 
    
    I can't really give you any specific recommendations, but I would
    suggest you get one with the following capabilities:
    
    	1) Multi-channel - that is, each patch can be programmed to send
    		a DIFFERENT program change # on EACH channel.  This is
    		vital if you have anything with fixed programs (MIDIverb,
    		SPX, Proverb, etc.) which MANY signal processing devices
    		have these days.
    
    	2) Soft pedals - no this isn't a pianissimo thing like on the
    		piano ;-)
    
    		What this means is that you should have about 4 pedals
    		that can assigned any patch in memory.  I think 4 is
    		about the minimum I'd get, although that'll make for a
    		pretty big pedal (but you really don't need but this one
    		pedal really).
    
    	3) 12-24 program memory - I think it should have a minimum of
    		about 12 programs that it can store.  12 is plenty, much
    		more than 24 is probably overkill.
    
    BTW Bill, if I may say so, I think this is an EXTREMELY intelligent
    move to make.  Awhile back I came to the conclusion that all future
    changes to my rig must be a step in this direction.  
    
    Do it right, and you're likely to find that your rig becomes MUCH
    simpler and easier to set up (and easier to do stereo too).  Ultimately
    my setup routine is going to be
    
    	1) Midi controller on the floor, rack and amps in the back.
    
    	2) Plug guitar and MIDI controller into rack, plug amps into
    	   rack.
    
    	3) plug rack and amps into power
    
    	4) GO!
    
    None of this wiring up individual stomp box crap.  One rack can perform
    the functions of several dozen boxes and it's higher quality stuff, and
    much easier to carry, setup and breakdown.
    
    Best of luck,
    
    	db
    
    

    
    Thanks everybody!
    
    Re: eq prices...sheeeesh!
    
    Re: db
    
    Yeah, if it works out the way I want, it'll be:
    
    1) plug guitar and midi controller into rack
    2) plug speakers into rack
    3) go!
    
    sounds logical, no?
    
    Bb

    > Sounds logical, no?
    
    Yep. 
    
    I probably have a reputation in this conference for being anal
    rententive about ONLY getting rack-mounted stuff, and this is
    the reason why I'm like that.
    
    No more of these cheesey noisey stomp box things.  A MIDI controller
    controlling a rack is the ULTIMATE stomp box!  To me, if your serious
    about putting together a nice rig, those stomp boxes are a waste
    of money and a step in the wrong direction.
    
    Welcome to the world of MIDI.   MIDI is the ultimate musical swiss
    army knife.  You can do almost anything with it.  Glad you've seen
    the light.  I've been thinking about posting something in GUITAR
    to try and convince people to stop blowing money on stomp boxes.
    Some folks seem downright addicted to them.
    
    	db

    BTW Bill,
    
    I came down pretty hard on stomp boxes, but there is a way to use
    them without sacrificing much in the way of simplicity.
    
    I have some devices which of necessity must be on the floor (wah,
    pan, volume, etc.)  I'm planning to build them all into a custom
    pedal board.  Sorta like a "rack on the floor".  So it's more like
    I plug the guitar into the floor rack, and the floor rack into
    the remote rack, and the remote rack into the amps.
    
    Some of those connections require more than one cord (my full rig
    is stereo, and when I go fully MIDI there will be MIDI cords in
    addition to audio cords).  Whenever I have two or more cords in
    a connection, I wrap them together (except power cords of course)
    into a snake and label the ends.
    
    Despite the fact that I have both a guitar and keyboard rig, I can
    usually setup and breakdown faster than the drummer.  There's very
    little time spent plugging things in.
    
    	db

    
    	The most frustrating thing our guitarist found when he went
    to a completely MIDI controled guitar setup was that...the pickup
    selection on his guitar was still non-MIDI.  Really.  He had the
    GP-8, SPX-90 and other stuff setup to instantly change from the
    clean, chorused Strat sound to the crunchy, overdriving metal sound,
    but he still had to take his hands off the strings to change the
    axe from single coil to humbucker...next generation I guess!  There
    are several amps on the market now that have MIDI controllable 
    pots, channel switching, etc.  I imagine they'll become a must
    in the years to come.
    
    

    RE: .9 yes that's true but...hitting the switch or volume on the guitar
    shouldn't interfere with playing at all...I use them constantly
    without any major hangups, actually that's one function I'd personally
    prefer to see left manual...
    
    dbII semi-midiot

    At times I have used the "stereo feature" of my guitar as a sorta
    "channel switching" device.  That is, each pickup goes to a different
    channel.  The way I run it is that one pickup (lead) goes to the
    Boogie amp, and the other (Rhythm) goes to the JC-120 (clean amp).
    
    Must admit that I really enjoyed just flicking the switch on the guitar
    to all the pedals, but it was limited.  I often considered putting in
    a switch that would allow me to reverse the channel assignments and/or
    send a mixed output to both channels, etc.
    
    I used this setup at Springjam and several people walked up to me after
    our set and marvelled at the versatility of my Carvin guitar (which
    I often tout for its versatility).  They'd say, "man you'd just flick
    the pickup selector and it would sound totally different."
    
    In fact, that marvel of versatility was the result of the stereo
    feature, not any intrinsic variety of tone in the guitar.
    
    	db