100th post!



Here's the first official [view] release in a while:

http://www.controlvalve.net/

Control_Valve is a good and growing online repository for concise experimental/noise works, and it's pink.

Here's a direct link to the zipped release ctrl_vlv_027 in the event time has passed and I've fallen off the front page: ZIP file download package ...because, naturally, this is all about me.

In other news, I've noticed a lot of traffic revolving around specific mixing console search terms. It occurs to me that a mixer shoot out would be a worthwhile endeavor, but in the same moment it occurs to me that there are practically infinite variables that work against such a collection. The root idea was just A/Bing preamps with something along the lines of an SM-7 hung in front of a tube amp and not moved between takes, at which point the logistics of it begin to take a slide. On the whole, the entire process sounds like a pain in the ass, unless I'm at the point in which I've already got several serviced mixing desks hooked up. This will happen, but it's going to take some time.

Sort of like my languishing ring modulator comparison library project.

Maybe I'm just bitter because my recent parts order has been loaded on a truck for delivery for over 24 hours now and I know I will not receive it until tomorrow at earliest (probably the worst day of the week on the getting stuff done scale).

Played a set last night, this seems like as good a time as any to dip into the original intent of these pages, talking about gear (from the on the surface standpoint). I'll also break my established landscape image orientation habit. (well, it appears the stretch involved in retaining my format width makes the nested portrait image look much more low resolution than it actually is, probably won't be doing that again.)


This is my current live set up.

From the top down:
Stereo transistor fuzz
Alesis 3630 compressor
Roland SMX-880
Shure ST 6300 type 2 (2x)
Grass S4 tube pulse generator
Peavey EQ-27

This is what it sounds like:
[view] - live, 27 March, 2011 @ Aminatas by crochambeau

Probably something of an acquired taste.


Here's where the rubber meets the road. There are several feedback loops going on here, some of which are nested in a count the triangles sort of way.

Pulse feeds EQ.
EQ splits output into three feeds, to a line mixer channel and "Aux in" on each 6300.
Each side of the 3630 is fed from "Link B" total summed output from one 6300, the signal is returned to the "Link B" input which bears no manual level control (amplitude being controlled at the 3630)
PA output of the 6300 has a level control, each 6300 feeds one side of the stereo fuzz, which in turn feeds two line mixer channels.
6300 Link A output feeds SMX-880 directly
Each side SMX-880 XLR output feeds channel 1 of the corresponding 6300.
XLR "transmit" output of each 6300 feeds channel 2 of the other.
The image above also shows the 1/4" output of the SMX-880 feeding its own 7/8 channels, but those were spare cables, unplugged to allow connection to the PA system.

Having but a single rolling rack as a live set-up is enjoyable compared to the heap of shit I used to carry, but the low frequency department is not highly represented which is something of a problem in the long run..

An abscessed tooth really puts me off the map, being able to see straight seems to be a crucial element to my process. I'm back now, will probably take me a short while to get back into the swing of things.


I played a show last weekend, in my less than fully functional state, which led to a few modifications to my approach. First: I never got around to digging into my TOA RX-212, so my Fender 4216 was rotated into the set up. Second: I forgot the PSU for the tube Tektronix 161 and 162 modules seen center rack, meaning an entire branch circuit of my set-up was inoperable, and I could have essentially left a rack at home.

The first bottleneck was the clincher, as four oscillators, distortion, pair of ring modulators and the H-3000 is more than enough to pave a huge set. A huge sound seems to reveal headroom issues with the Fender desk however, as all presence and clarity was brutally stripped from the wash leaving an undefined murk coming out of the speakers.


I think this is shortly before I removed the tape machine from the equation, since the Fender console does not support simultaneous 1/4" and XLR output feeds I had run XLR output to the Otari for recording and daisy chain its outputs to the PA. Troubleshooting my sound quality, demanded removal of the tape deck, which was no great tragedy since my set was less than satisfying up to that point.

As it turned out, the Otari was not the problem, and only through ripping out my low end and leaning on HF (with the aid of a mechanical alarm bell) was I able to move around a little bit in the audio realm.

More fuel to repair the TOA, and inspiration to crack the case on the Fender and see what I can learn.

(Thanks to Heather Chessman for second pic)

Somewhat off the strict topic of the inner workings of gear, here's some video of my outer use (without which the inner workings would be inconsequential):

Many thanks to Jared Liebenau for shooting, uploading and generally being a pillar of support of the "scene".