"Mark Christensen's lead guitar conveys real danger." – All About Jazz
So, what is going on here? It’s actually pretty straightforward and super-flexable. First, the pedalboard:
The pedalboard can be used as a standalone rig for more basic needs. For more complex needs we add the rack (controlled by Behringer FCB1010 foot controller sending PC, CC and note messages):
Amps are either a Trace Elliott combo (for smaller gigs) or a SWR amp and 8X10 cab (for larger/louder).
Meet “the Grateful Dead of the Northeast Basement IDM Scene”.
The entirety of the “Regional Science Fair at the Mill, 05/04/01” bootleg is the current offering on the RSF SoundCloud page. This is one of the best examples of the band at the height of it’s initial run; the sound of the band in it’s happy place. Also features special guest appearance by Darren Case on sax.
Turn your thermostat up to 105 degrees, grab a cup o’ Purple Jesus and look nervously at Pub Safe and it’s the next best thing to having been there.
DAT, ADAT, Minidisc, Cassette, VHS; I am surrounded. Using my free time to sift thru the archive of my work from the last 35 years. So many forgotten moments, sessions, whole projects even, lost in the hazy mist of memory.
Until now. Among the projects being (re)discovered:
All of these will eventually be transferred to a DAW/drive for long term storage and who knows? Some of it might see the light of day in some form or another. Actually, the Regional Science Fair gigs might make their way onto the band’s Sound Cloud page in case there’s anybody who wants to relive that mayhem. More on that soon.
One would think that suddenly having most social options and locations off the table would free up a lot of time for creativity. Many of my friends seem to be kicking productivity into overdrive. Me? Not so much. This is also with a reduced work load/week. I seem to be paralyzed by the expanse of options. So I am trying to move obstacles out of the way, organizing, cataloging, and prepping. Making space for when I can focus again. Sounds logical and simple; feels anything but. More soon, I hope.
…might need a little tweaking.
[Sigh]
Not a big surprise.
…is done and ready.
The current guitar board sit rep:
Every sound I will need or have been known for, for any situation or setting.
GTR -> EHX Freeze -> Digitech Ricochet -> switcher*-> Line6 M9 (for basic delays and modulation) -> Veretex Boost (with expression pedal – not pictured – for volume control) -> Boss DD-8 (for glitching and miscellaneous weirdness) -> TC Electronics Wiretap (for recording parts of interest) -> Pigtronix Infinity 2 (looper) -> dry out to amp 1 (usually Marshall 8020) / loop out to volume pedal 2 – not pictured – -> Akai Headrush -> amp 2, monitors or direct boxes for FOH
* switcher settings: 1. Clean direct, 2. TC Hypergravity compressor -> Veretex Steel String drive -> Walrus Audio Slo reverb, 3. Catalinbread SFT overdrive, 4. Catalinbread Galileo overdrive, 5. Paul Trobetta Tornita (Kitchen Sink) fuzz
… and the orange box is a countdown timer/clock
It was 10 years ago today. The completion of Guitar Craft, the birth of the Guitar Circle(s) and the eve of one of the most personally significant and effecting concerts I have ever played, the repercussions of which I am still feeling today.
Things are shutting down left and right. Schools, non-essential businesses and pretty much any public event or gathering space are now closed, thanks to COVID-19. That means (what few) gigs I had are now cancelled and I am officially a studio rat. Here’s hoping I can be productive.