I was thinking, there are so many MIDI controlled pedals now, that you could build a board with the functionality of a modeller but the sound of analog.
It would be really expensive, but it could be done!
For example, with the release of Brothers, you could have a full Chase Bliss board and cover pretty much any sound you wanted; and you can control them all with their MIDI functionality, along with something like Disaster Area's MIDI switching units.
Fully recallable analogue effects. That seems like the dream to me.
It wouldn't even be impractically massive - you could have this fantasy board on a standard Pedaltrain 1 or 2.
Along with Chase Bliss, you've got Stone Deaf and Empress doing MIDI controlled analogue stuff.
No real focus here, just thinking aloud into the ether. Has anyone here done something like this? Any other companies that make MIDI controlled analogue effects? Is this practical or am I over simplifying?
EDIT: Reddit is useful:
https://www.reddit.com/r/guitarpedals/comments/56jo37/pedals_with_full_midi_control/
Comments
In theory, assuming the MIDI was implemented properly I can't see why it wouldn't work. I would imagine that a setup like that would be much more fulfilling if you were touring a fairly defined set of songs with fixed arrangements and sounds that you had completely dialled in.
I could see it being pretty frustrating if you were more oriented towards songwriting/improvisation/experimentation, since all those programmed changes could well mean that your rig became quite "locked down" and difficult to get new sounds from.
That, and there's stuff you can do with digital pedals that analog won't ever be able to duplicate. I wouldn't want to make arbitrary rules about what kind of pedals I was allowed.
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.
I think I disagree about it being 'locked down' - in the Chase Bliss pedals, for example, the middle preset switch isn't a preset; that's the one that obeys the knobs. So if you were improvising/writing/experimenting either live or in the studio; you'd just set each pedal to be in 'live mode'. If you then found a combination you like; you can assign it to a MIDI function on your controller and it's instantly recallable. If I'm understanding the capabilities properly...
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Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.
View my feedback at www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/1201922
What's the point?
It does a lot. I mean a lot and as it's so flexible with routing you can create sounds that would be tricky on a traditional board.
View my feedback at www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/1201922
Still, I do know what you mean. I still like my pedals for the gigs there is something very tactile about it.
So, @Jonathanthomas83 what was your setup pre-Helix? I'm interested.
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https://medium.com/@jonathanthomas83/built-my-dream-guitar-rig-now-im-selling-it-part-2-the-dream-rig-ce038e8f54fd#.3xsuj4zf8
That's my tribute to some of the greatest pedals I've ever had the pleasure of trying.
What I don't explain on that is that I'm running the delays (and reverbs) in a wet/dry setup and it sounded glorious.
View my feedback at www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/1201922
Really enjoyed reading that
back on topic - I like the idea of analogue effects with digital (midi controllable brain), it can potentially give the cork sniffers the sound they covet, yet still have the functionality and options of digital alternatives (strymons, SA, etc)
@Colourofsound - what sort of controller would you use if you built this rig? G2 on a board or a full midi controller with the pedals safe in a rack?
View my feedback at www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/1201922
But, to indulge in your question:
I would have it all on the floor, with as few pedals doing as much as they possibly can. I'd probably use a Disaster Area Designs Looper/MIDI controller, as that has the best functionality that I've seen in a compact floor unit that has both normal loop switching and MIDI control. Either that or a Boss ES5/8. Yeah a G2 would also do the job but in my opinion there are much more compact boxes that do the majority of the things the G2 does for a fraction of the price.
I'm not a fan of huge, overblown setups; for me it's guitar - board - amp and that's it. No racks or anything. The beauty of the Chase Bliss stuff in particular is their small form factor - whilst horribly impractical live (i'd be stomping both switches on CB pedals all the time!) I think they'd come into their own in a MIDI controller setup. You could have them on the top row of a Pedaltrain with your MIDI footswitch on the bottom and any routing boxes mounted underneath.
Not sure how I feel about the 'cork sniffers' comment - in all seriousness, it's about choice for me. I'd have digital pedals on a MIDI controlled rig like this too; it's the ideal world where you can pick and choose. As long as it supports MIDI
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So potentially 2 moog, 2 empress and 3 chase bliss is going to mean a split box, 1 empress box and 1 converted empress box for the chase bliss.
You then need a a really good controller to program it all - given that boss have now released an editor for the ES series and that midi is really well implemented (and you can have 5/8 non midi pedals withe order switching and parallel mixing) I'd be doing that route.
Doing this is a very expensive! (example moog mf104m + Empress + Chase Bliss + ES, boxes and PSU), will be heavy and a nightmare to program. I'm not sure I could face it and I think at one point or another I have had most of those pedals
Yeah, for sure! So impractical. Chase Bliss make their own converter box now; basically a backwards version of the Empress. So you'd need one of each if you wanted both.
I think restraint is the name of the game if you were to make this rig a realistic proposition. So, sticking to one brand of MIDI pedal, I think you could cover most bases with this setup:
- 4x Chase Bliss pedals
- Chase Bliss converter box (only takes 4 pedals, hence above limit)
- Boss ES5
- One or two non-MIDI pedals controlled by the ES5
So i guess I'd have Brothers, Tonal Recall, Wombtone and Warped Vinyl, and then I'd supplement that with a Malekko Sneak Attack and a Neunaber Expanse + EXP. And maybe a Bitquest, because Bitquest.
That's a pretty compact, recallable and versatile board, covering most bases I'd say.
EDIT - even though that's more pedals than there are loops in the ES5, you could have all the Chase Bliss pedals in one loop and Bypass them via MIDI
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Then you end up with strymon or empress etc..