Strymon has posted some shots of their demo pedalboard from the 2010 NAMM show last week. Looks like there is a previously unannounced reverb and also a chorus on there. From the site: “Introducing the Strymon blueSky reverberator and the Ola dBucket chorus / vibrato. We are swamped trying to get these done but we promise we’ll have more details, pictures, videos in the days to come. Please stay tuned and check this section of the website often!”
Also,here is a closeup of their upcoming Orbit flanger which will feature thru zero flanging among other things.
Teenage Engineering was out in force at 2010 NAMM showing off some impressive new features of their OP-1 portable synth / multifunction device. They showed their new “tape” mode which acts as a virtual 4 track tape recorder. Their OLED graphics are beautiful … just beautiful. I chance to speak with their graphic designer and compliment him on the interface design.
from their site: “instantly let you record anything you do on the OP-1 to any track of the built-in Tape feature. Record your sound tweaks or beats in real-time. Change speed during recording, or record backwards. Split, lift and join. Make a loop or record a section with Tape Step Recording. You have twelve minutes recording time in normal tape speed and 4 tracks to put your magic on.”
Moog was showing off their newly unveiled update of the Taurus bass pedals. They looked great in person and it seems as if the design draws heavily from the Little Phatty line of synths. As an owner of the Little Phatty I can say that the bass sounds in the Taurus III are going to be astounding. Taurus II will be a limited quantity product with less than 1000 units produced.
From the moogmusic site: “Long requested by many of our very best customers and used by the likes of Rush, The Police, Genesis, Led Zeppelin, Phil Collins, Asia, Weezer, and many more. This is a one time opportunity to own a new set with a new warranty but one absolutely faithful to the original Taurus I sound.“
“… We liken the Strymon OB.1 to a studio-friendly Swiss Army Knife… something any player could turn to in a pinch to work his/her way out of a tonal rut. While we enjoyed some Compression setting more than others, the OB.1 offers up near endless possibilities for the ‘tweakheads’ among us that love to spread out on the floor and dial in the perfect tone … “
Damage Control is currently running a $79 special promotion on their Liquid Blues pedal. It’s a dual tube parallel path distortion pedal and I personally own, use and love one in front of my Marshall plexi. This thing usually runs for $199, grab one NOW while they are still in stock! All you have to do is become a fan of Damage Control via their facebook page here.
My long-standing dilemma on how to control the power to my studio monitors is finally over. Now, powered monitors are great, but since none of them really have easily accessible power switches I have been struggling with how to turn them on and off. I found and purchased this for $12 at parts express and it works great. I had been reaching down to my power strip under the workstation desk for probably 3 years now to turn on my powered monitors. Now i’ve got this little remote on my desk and it works great! The system consists of one outlet (which I connect to the power strip that has my monitors connected), and a wireless remote. I also didn’t have room on my desk for a big rack power strip / switch. So, for all of you with this same dilemma, get this little gadget.
Strymon has just announced a preview of a new delay pedal on their web site blog. It’s called the BBD and is a DSP based implementation of an analog delay with true bypass and tap tempo.
from the site: “BBD takes the compact aluminum chassis and form factor developed for the OB.1 and crams in a TON of DSP horsepower … more than has ever existed in such a compact pedal. We love analog delays but at the same time they pose some serious limitations. So, we decided to take a super powerful SHARC DSP and dedicate to doing one thing and one thing only … delivering the best analog bucket brigade delay sound ever.”
Wolfgang Palm of PPG fame has started a myspace page and posted many fascinating blog entries about the history of PPG and his career afterwards. Palm is highly regarded as a pioneer in digital wavetable synthesis.
