strymon - The Ultimate Pedalboard Build Series - Episode VIII - Programming The Board - Strymon
The video explains how to set up a music rig to manage and control various effects for different music styles efficiently. The speaker uses the analogy of a painter's palette to describe how different effects and settings can be combined to create desired sounds. The speaker emphasizes the importance of organizing effects and settings in a way that makes sense for the user, allowing for seamless transitions between different music styles such as ambient, Americana, and fusion. Practical examples include Scott Henderson's method of organizing patches in a setlist order and Garbage's use of sequencers to automate sound changes during performances. The speaker also demonstrates how to use MIDI controllers and bank jump commands to manage effects and create presets for different music styles. The video concludes with a discussion on different philosophies for creating sounds, such as starting with a dry sound and adding effects or starting with ambient effects and working backward to the guitar sound.
Key Points:
- Organize effects and settings to match different music styles using a painter's palette analogy.
- Use MIDI controllers and bank jump commands to manage and control effects efficiently.
- Scott Henderson's method: Organize patches in setlist order for easy access during performances.
- Garbage's method: Use sequencers to automate sound changes, ensuring consistent sound quality.
- Different sound creation philosophies: Start with dry sound, ambient effects, or special pedals.
Details:
1. 🎸 Intro: The Final Episode Begins
- The final episode centers on utilizing a fully configured rig to make music, emphasizing its extensive capabilities and power, which might be overwhelming initially.
- The episode aims to manage and control the rig to make it intuitive for personal use, aligning with individual cognitive and physical workflows.
- Key objective: provide viewers ideas to create a setup that matches their unique brain processes.
- The term 'paint' is defined as a metaphor for creative expression or customization within the music creation process.
- The episode will demonstrate how to harness the rig's capabilities effectively, offering practical examples.
2. 🎨 Crafting with the Paint Palette
- The choice of colors on a paint palette directly influences the outcome of a painting, similar to how guitar effects influence music production.
- Having the right colors or effects is critical; if trying to paint with the wrong colors, adjustments are needed, akin to changing effects for different music styles.
- Different music styles require different 'paint palettes' of effects to achieve the desired sound, such as ambient, Americana, or Fusion.
- Seamless control over these elements is necessary to prevent disruptions in the creative process.
- For instance, ambient music might rely on reverb and delay effects to create a spacious sound, while Americana might use overdrive and compression for a more grounded feel.
- Fusion music could combine multiple effects like chorus and phaser for a complex, layered texture.
3. 🎛️ Simplifying Live Rigs: Lessons from the Pros
3.1. Scott Henderson's Simplified Patch Management
3.2. Billy Bush's Sequencer-Integrated Sound Management
3.3. Customized Approach to Sound Control
4. 🔄 Mastering Control: The Spill Mode
- Spill mode on mixing desks allows one fader to control multiple hidden faders, simplifying complex control tasks.
- Activating spill mode exposes all channels controlled by a single fader, providing detailed control before collapsing back to a simplified view.
- The MC6 Pro controller utilizes a 'Bank jump' command, enabling quick transitions between different preset banks or pages, enhancing control efficiency.
- This functionality allows users to toggle features on the top panel, effectively implementing a spill mode for streamlined operations.
5. 🛠️ Designing Custom Presets
- Organize presets by music genre such as ambient, Hendrix, fusion, rock, and Americana, allowing for targeted sound design.
- Each bank contains 24 presets; the first 12 slots are dedicated to combinations of pedals tailored to the bank's music style.
- Presets can utilize a varying number of pedals, from one to five, to achieve the desired sound.
- The MC6 Pro is used to control both the nine pedals underneath and the six pedals on top, optimizing control and flexibility.
- A dedicated page within each bank is reserved for essential controls such as Bogner red channel switching and tap tempo.
- The use of a 'bank jump' command facilitates seamless transitions between presets, enhancing live performance capabilities.
- Real-world example: In a rock genre bank, a preset might include a combination of distortion and chorus pedals to achieve a classic rock sound.
- Technical setup: The MC6 Pro's versatility allows for intricate control setups that can be customized per genre, streamlining the performance process.
- Practical application: Musicians can quickly switch between complex sound setups on stage, maintaining flow and audience engagement.
6. 🔧 Setting On/Off Messages and Jump Commands
- Utilize preset M for Brig with control change number 102 to set bypass engage.
- For turning devices on, set control change value to 127; for turning off, set it to zero, adhering to MIDI standards where 127 represents maximum and zero minimum values.
- Ensure toggle mode is correctly configured to alternate between position one and position two with each press, effectively managing device states.
- Configure multiple devices like Brig, Enman, Volante, Big Sky, Timeline, and Mobius for on/off control across a second bank, ensuring seamless integration.
- Implement a master preset to manage all pedal settings efficiently, using jump commands for quick navigation and control.
7. 🔀 Building Master Presets with Bank Jump
- Begin by naming your master preset clearly, such as 'testy testy', to ensure easy reference and organization.
- Activate the Warble effect from Brig by setting it as preset one and using bypass channel 102 to toggle it on and off.
- Configure the Big Sky MX to recall preset six, using the same bypass channel (102) for consistency in activation.
- Align Volante with a shorter duration preset, ensuring it turns on automatically to match the echo effect.
- Use the Morning Star ml10 X message on channel 15 to turn on pedals in the pre ml10 X setup effectively.
- Set Compadre to recall a highly compressed preset number two, streamlining its activation for immediate use.
- Implement bank jump commands to transition to bank two, page three, upon preset recall, optimizing workflow.
- This setup allows for experimentation with sounds, encouraging creative exploration and diverse soundscapes.
8. 🎶 Sound Creation Philosophies Explored
- Sound creation can follow one of three main philosophies: start from a dry guitar sound and add effects progressively, start with ambient effects and work back to the guitar, or start with a unique pedal and build around it.
- The first approach involves beginning with a clean, dry guitar sound, adding necessary elements like compression and distortion, then moving to modulation effects, delays, and finally reverbs to define the sound's width and depth.
- The second approach begins with reverbs and delays to establish ambient sound, particularly useful in ambient music, and works back to the core guitar sound, incorporating delays, modulations, and effects.
- The third method starts with a unique pedal effect, focusing on building a sound around its specific characteristics.
- For practical application, players can experiment with starting points to discover which philosophy best suits their creative process.
- The process of sound creation involves choosing patches and adjusting mix values, which can be saved as presets for consistency across performances or sessions.
9. 🎵 Conclusion and Teaser for the Finale
- The segment features celebratory music and applause, creating an emotionally engaging atmosphere that signals the conclusion of the event.
- Although no specific spoken insights or metrics are available, the music serves to emotionally connect with the audience, enhancing the overall experience.
- The segment acts as a transition towards the finale, effectively building anticipation and providing a sense of closure to the event.