Musician Gear & Tech Discussion

Ok, come on people. I had someone remark that we do not have enough trip toy effects on our gear. (that hit me right near my sun spot)

What is the weirdest type effect that you ever used that you thought was worthwhile?

(I saw Fuel at the Tradewinds in NJ and they had a band open for them, we jokingly called "the amish rockers" and they had a Mellotron I think it was called. It sounded so good, I wanted to stop time and bask in the psychedelic like warm sunlight on the holo deck.. lol)

I had another guy mention that we have no light show. (I asked him if he thought he was at a Pink Floyd concert to which he remarked, "good idea man.") ((???!!?!??!??!?!?)

Anyone know of anything I can use to make a visual trip toy? All I have is a film projector and some really weird footage.

Now we aren't going to go get a blow up pig to fill with helium, but I could use with some really wild suggestions. Give me anything that comes to mind, even if I don't use it exactly, it might give me a better idea yet.

Say whatever you want, even negative that's fine by me. I consider all opinions even if they do not coincide with mine.

"All hands to battle stations, this is not a drill" lol

Are you serious?

You have 50 effects on your voice alone!!!

No but seriously, I have a ton of effect pedals, and they only go so far. Too many effects make a crowd yawn. They're better served sparsely. If you really want to get THAT trippy, get a keyboard player with a fat synth. The effects in those things are beyond what guitar effects can do.

I'm thinking he means more on the visual side not the music Right?
Seems like all the cool stuff fog, foo pots, lasers etc have either been done to death or are illegal in public venues. That is a tough one Capn'
short of passin out mushrooms I just dont know. some of the old guys did some really off the chain stuff like Cooper. Being of small statue and athletic I had day dreamed about doing some wire work. Ya know backflip over the Lead man or some stupid crap like that.. How bout balloons a few with free drink tickets or some thing?

LOL I mean vocal, guitar AND visual stuff.

And Shred, I don't have 50 effects on my voice. LOL But thanks for playing, "Name that effect".

Actually, I use a Leslie simulator and a Digitech DSP 128 with a few key ingredients to make it truly spacey on the vocals and just fiddle with the input potentiometer until it feels right. The Digitech is primarily just for reverb. I hope I didn't bust your bubble.

The guitar, on the other hand, is dripping with effects from Guitar Rig 2. I tell all my buddies, do not use it. It's like crack, once you smoke enough of it, it owns you outright. You'll be selling your first born child to get more. I know I picked up a guitar not too long ago at a friends' show and it sounded so unlike my sound, I wanted to throw up and shake in the corner.

I don't think I will be changing my guitar rig anytime soon, but I would love to have some ideas on something more I could utilize vocally.

I would love to have a Mellotron, but the price is out of this world. LOL
Alternate ideas? AS of now I have none. I have been trying to track down the amish guys to see wtf that thing was, but to no avail.

The visual trip toy? So far all I have is someone said I could use a projector to show a windows media player type "visual" on a projection screen behind me. Is that what everyone else does? Seems pretty weak to me.

And Sans, I don't need to give away free drinks. Half of these people just start to sway every time we play. I surmise they are high on more than just life. LOLOLOL I notice that not too many of them are drinking either. It's a double edged sword to be sure. I hope they aren't driving after the show.

Oh and hey, I found out what is with my amp head. I found one on craig's list oddly enough. http://cnj.craigslist.org/msg/637111555.html

Please give me any suggestions/comments/etc you feel like slinging onto the hot plate. You can be sure they will be read and throughly discussed, even if ultimately they are discarded, veto'd or immediately utilized.

And next upload (which happens to be right around the corner), I'll put up something with less vocal effects on it. I just don't see why, when you can have glorious mind bending goodies, but I have a tune we play much cleaner you might enjoy a little more than my usual.

SHRED, so what is the good synth/keyboard for that stuff? I haven't a clue.

PS: Fog Sucks, it makes me cough. Same Answer for smoke machines. Lasers are just weak. I like stuff that compels me to gaze upon it and become lost for a while and sounds that make me want to shed a psychedelic tear.

Hum stare, lost hows about topless dancers Would not work to well in the last venue we played

Never work with children, animals or scantily clad women.

Capt I have an old Ross Distortion Phaser pedal. You can set a guitar in front of the amp and get it in feedback mode and manipulate the speed on the phaser to get the sound of a space ship. I hadnt done this in years but a few nights ago I hooked it up and both of my kids came running to see what I was doing. So I guess it made some kind of impression on them.

Well, I've dressed as a wizard on stage...then there was the time I bleached the beard & dyed it purple for a Fat Tuesday hippie jam-band gig...LOL...as you can see in me pic, here.

I kept it like that for 6 days, but then I had to shave it. It GLOWED under flourescent lights, or out in the sun.

I've seen that material that changes colors used before in outfits for bands...dunno what it costs, though. That would look pretty trippy.

You could hand out 'shrooms at the door, for "visual effect"...LOL

One band I was in years ago used to hang gauzy print material on framework to cover all the equipment...it looked very pro & slick in the footlights, & you couldn't see the speakers at all.

Thanks for the ideas folks, but I think about as far as I am going is to use the projector and show a Windows Media Player light show. I wish I could figure out how to show the same one over and over though. (it's new every time)

As for handing out stuff at the door? I don't fing think so. It'd be just my luck for some kiddie to perk out and need to be hospitalized.

No forget them, more than half of them are tweaking severely when they show up. I don't want to be the instrument of anyone's distress.

http://www.windycitynovelties.com/glow- ... 957582#261
http://www.flashingblinkylights.com/ass ... ng9r2r7690

Ok just an idea, but get some of those neon glow plastic bracelets and crazy glue them along a pair of drumsticks. They have 6” and 9” up to 22” available and come as a straight tube. The are light and small enough and a 6” will probably fit perfect between the tip and handle part. Some neon green, orange, red, purple, yellow, moving that fast would have a trippy appearance. Have the lead guitar and keyboard player wear the bracelets as well. With all that light moving around, it would probably be rather captivating and I haven’t seen it done yet. You could sell any extras at the door.

You could use luminous paint, & whatever you painted would glow in the dark when you turn off the lights between songs, or for effect. Combine w/a black light strobe - cool!

That's a pretty cool idea, Lalong.

I hate to say it, but we were just messing with Christmas lights all over the place. (If ya hang em right, they look interesting and with use of a rather big strobe light, it could be Zomething Veerrrrry Innnteresting!)

Well upon further searching they actually make glow in the dark, lit and even laser light drumsticks, so the jury rig wouldn’t be necessary. http://store.drumbum.com/skuSTK-20.html
Also glow in the dark guitar picks.
Most bars are already dark, I’m surprised I have never seen any of this stuff used before.

Some sweet ideas guys. You could use several of camera strobes as a replacement for the now outlaw foo pot. faced toward the crowd or away from the crowd into some mirrors for a larger splash of bright light. I know you can get display strobes but most I have seen are activated by sound or on a set beat. A guy good with electrical stuff could probably put a foot switch on these.

[quote="Captain Scott"]I would love to have a Mellowtron, but the price is out of this world. LOL
Alternate ideas? AS of now I have none. I have been trying to track down the amish guys to see wtf that thing was, but to no avail.

Capt,
You really do not want a Mellotron. They are very cool things, but you can do the same thing today with a "run of the mill" synthesizer.

I had the good fortune to see one of the greatest "Mellowtronist" of all time,"Mike Pinder", playing with the "Moody Blues" at the Fillmore East, back in the good ol' late 60's. It was cool at the time, but didn't sound any better then my obsolete synths that I'm still using.

For the record, a Mellotron is a big ol' organ lookin' thing that generates its sound by means of pre-recorded "linear" Magnetic tape samples. I've heard it said that Mike Pinder's needed several hours of adjustment prior to a performance! Best to leave them in the museum.

Those old Moodies records still sound great , so I'm glad someone went to the trouble to invent the damn thing!

Howlin'