My Ambient Guitar Gently Sleeps

[Gizmotron]

Thanks. That's the pog2. On a clean gtr it give you an organy tone, and with distortion it's more synthy.

Very cool, James.

You are my hero.

[Steve983]

Here's my latest creation, more Mooer madness with the EHX Synth9

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5Q-YPI6zDY

[jamesmanzi]

^^^

Very nice James. Who is Edith Salmon?
By the way, I'd be interested to hear about your approach to recording, I assume that was a single track/take? Any plugins used?

Thanks again for your kind words.

Only the spellcheck gods know the true face of Edith Salmon. I was trying to text my girlfriend Debbi whose name is not Edith that I was "on my way home with salmon." Spellcheck did the rest.

Single take, although a few clunky minutes removed with a crossfade. I record in Logic, and with this ambient stuff I've been doing lately, outside of some compression at the output I've been doing all my processing with pedals before things go into the computer. I've been using a Focusrite Sapphire interface since last summer.

[jamesmanzi]

Very cool, James.

You are my hero.

Aw, shucks.

[jamesmanzi]

I hope to use the Superego+ with more subtlety as I get to know it better. For now it's fun doing really heavy-handed stuff with the effects (like the pitch transposer here). And I still can't get enough of the stuttery Grazer nonsense - the Grazer is in the effects loop of the Superego+ here.

I wish I had come to the pog2 and the Superego years ago. These are the effects I've been looking for my whole life.

[Steve983]

I've finally got around to uploading my latest tunes to Bandcamp, any comments welcome - thanks.


https://stevesmith2.bandcamp.com/album/ocean-songs

[jamesmanzi]

Some stray thoughts before turning in for the night.

[Gizmotron]

Some stray thoughts before turning in for the night.

I like this, James. I really enjoy the slowly evolving textures like this. Perfect for the last piece of the night.

[Steve983]

^^ Yep, me too, like it.

[jamesmanzi]

Thanks again for the kind and encouraging words.

[jamesmanzi]

Been quiet with the holidays and some work travel. While I'm getting back up to speed, I dug up this lovely piece of pure Frippertronics. This was my test run, seeing if this podcast idea would work, if I could sustain a soundscape for 15 - 20 minutes at a time. I kinda love this piece.

https://casuallyabandoned.podbean.co...-the-universe/

[Gizmotron]

Been quiet with the holidays and some work travel. While I'm getting back up to speed, I dug up this lovely piece of pure Frippertronics. This was my test run, seeing if this podcast idea would work, if I could sustain a soundscape for 15 - 20 minutes at a time. I kinda love this piece.

https://casuallyabandoned.podbean.co...-the-universe/

Very, very nice, James! And yes, very Frippian.

Isn't it marvelous to feel the power and joy of playing in this style? The looper, the tone, the classic Fripp approach to layering...it all just feels so darn cool.

[jamesmanzi]

Isn't it marvelous to feel the power and joy of playing in this style? The looper, the tone, the classic Fripp approach to layering...it all just feels so darn cool.

Yes. I don't know how big the audience is for the Frippertronic stuff outside of existing Fripp fans and other ambient guitarists, but I could make these sounds forever and be happy.

[jamesmanzi]

And on that note, I've just sifted thru my favorite stuff from last year and collected it all into three volumes of like-sounding stuff.

Vol 1 is the Frippertronic stuff, with a helping heap of Mel9.

https://casuallyabandoned.bandcamp.c...-vol-1-45-hats

[Steve983]

All sounds good James, I'll have more of a listen to the Bandcamp volumes later.

[jamesmanzi]

thanks

[jamesmanzi]

Built a new guitar out of wood and parts and stuff. Finished it late Sunday night.
16.jpg

Took it out ambiating last night.

https://soundcloud.com/casuallyaband...ue-12919-813pm

[Steve983]

That guitar certainly looks like one of a kind. Did you build the body from scratch? Very nice track.

[jamesmanzi]

That guitar certainly looks like one of a kind. Did you build the body from scratch? Very nice track.

Thanks. Body from scratch, neck from the Strat that I converted to a baritone last year. Seymour Duncan humbucker.

This is how it started.

1.jpg2.jpg5.jpg

[Gizmotron]

Thanks. Body from scratch, neck from the Strat that I converted to a baritone last year. Seymour Duncan humbucker.

This is how it started.

1.jpg2.jpg5.jpg

Speaking of the Baritone sub-theme, I am really enjoying my PRS. Such a great sound, these Bari's.

[jamesmanzi]

A little baritone ambling from last night. Pulling myself out of a creative dry spell by stripping things back and rebuilding. Just playing with the Dig delay the past few days. I kind of just dropped it into the works when I got a few months back, and never really took the time to fully explore it on its own, to hear what it could do without 7 other boxes feeding it. So this is just Dig and Big Sky, playing very slowly, letting things ring out and being deliberate about what notes and phrases to get played... meditative and droney.

https://casuallyabandoned.podbean.co...ay-to-the-sun/

[Gizmotron]

A little baritone ambling from last night. Pulling myself out of a creative dry spell by stripping things back and rebuilding. Just playing with the Dig delay the past few days. I kind of just dropped it into the works when I got a few months back, and never really took the time to fully explore it on its own, to hear what it could do without 7 other boxes feeding it. So this is just Dig and Big Sky, playing very slowly, letting things ring out and being deliberate about what notes and phrases to get played... meditative and droney.

https://casuallyabandoned.podbean.co...ay-to-the-sun/

Very nice. I see what you mean...it really is stripped down. It is a nice effect.

You are making me want to play and that is a good thing.

[Steve983]

[QUOTE=jamesmanzi;879293]A little baritone ambling from last night. Pulling myself out of a creative dry spell by stripping things back and rebuilding. Just playing with the Dig delay the past few days. I kind of just dropped it into the works when I got a few months back, and never really took the time to fully explore it on its own, to hear what it could do without 7 other boxes feeding it. So this is just Dig and Big Sky, playing very slowly, letting things ring out and being deliberate about what notes and phrases to get played... meditative and droney.

[url]https://casuallyabandoned.podbean.com/e/2619


That's a great sound, I'm really tempted by the Strymon Dig.

[jamesmanzi]

Now that I've actually given it some time, yeah, I really like it for what it can do on its own, rather than just dialing up a generic delay to give some depth at the end of the chain (which is all I had been doing).

But while we're on the subject of Strymon delays, I think I decided last night that the Boss SY-300 synth, which has been off my board and hardly missed since December, is getting packed up and traded in for an El Capistan.

[jamesmanzi]

I don't own any of Chase Bliss's very expensive pedals, but they all look amazing. This Blooper may be the first one I spend Chase Bliss dollars on:

https://www.gearnews.com/namm-2019-c...B9-nk2KEONFsJk