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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
OT: Question about stompboxing
OT: Question about stompboxing
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nacoran
7124 posts
Sep 12, 2013
8:42 AM
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Okay, I've got a little box that makes a nice noise when I mic it up and one of those D shaped tambourines (which may need it's own mic. I also picked up a pure gain pedal to switch the volume levels on my mic between two quick presets. I've got my little amp and a microphone that works.
So, the next question is, assuming I don't want to carry another amp to run the other mics into (my amp only has one input), what are the best options? Should I get a little 4 channel mixer to run into the amp? Should I (could I?) add inputs to the amp? Or should I wire a volume control in when I finish this stompbox up? (Right now I've got a regular mic just sitting under it.) At some point I want to add a loop pedal to the rig, so I don't want to buy something that won't support that later.
Any ideas?
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Nate
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isaacullah
2498 posts
Sep 12, 2013
10:49 AM
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There are any number of solutions to this problem. The cheapest/easiest is to just go to RatShack and buy a 1/4" mono to mono splitter (the kind used by Adam to run two amps from one mic). That will work just fine to run two mics to one amp, UNLESS there is a big impedance difference between your two mics. Then, the tone of the "hotter" one will be "bled" by the "colder" one, and it won't sound the same (these are all very untechnical terms for what's really happening). In that case, you will need a real mixer circuit. The simplest are "passive" mixers that use a little series resistance (typically only a few hundered to a few thousands ohms) on each leg of the mixer circuit to prohibit this kind of "bleeding". This is what is basically occuring on "dual input" amps that have only one preamp section (although the circuitry is actually bit more complex than what I've said here). Better still are active mixers that use buffer circuits to totally isolate each leg. These are good circuits, but they require a power supply. This is also what is basically happening on amps with two separate preamps (and a little more too, as the preamps give you seperate gain control, etc.).
Now, to make things a little more complex, you could be getting either of these three thing when you buy an "ABY" pedal, so you should look carefully at the specs of any of those kinds of pedals before you buy.
If I were you, I'd start with the cheap and cheerful Y splitter cable, and if that don't work, I'd buy a cheap battery-powered active mixer like this: http://www.guitarcenter.com/Nady-MM-141-4-Channel-Mini-Mixer-108721747-i1153423.gc
Hope that helps!
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Last Edited by isaacullah on Sep 12, 2013 10:52 AM
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nacoran
7126 posts
Sep 12, 2013
11:28 AM
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I'm thinking the mixer might be the way to go, so I can control all the volumes separately. 4 channels, 1. vocal/harp, 2. tambourine, 3. stompbox- I guess a loop pedal could go through the same one as the vocal mic. That leaves me with one channel still, so I have some room left if I think of something else.
I'm also trying to think of someway to make the tambourine a little more controllable. Maybe it's just a matter of practicing with it more. Maybe I'll make a pedalboard and mount it and the stompbox to it.
Yikes! Wow, it's really thundering here. Glad I didn't decide to walk to the store.
Hmm, maybe a mixer with a USB input... I've got a Blue Yeti already. I'll have to go check that out too. I'm not sure if it uses the normal signal, since it's got directional ability (just thinking out loud).
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Nate
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bluegate
7 posts
Sep 12, 2013
12:24 PM
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My son does a "One Man Band" thing and control of the instrument volumes has always been a struggle. I think the mixer would be a good solution. We originally used the stomp box horizontally with a mic, but now he mounts it vertically and plays it with a bass drum pedal.
He says it's more controllable and he doesn't have to mic it at all. He uses an ABC box into a looper. Since he can only play 1 instrument at a time he can switch between Harp, Guitar, and a Vocal mic that he uses for effects. He has a mono splitter for vocals and the input from the looper. Works well...
We had to play around with tambourine placement to get the right mix. We tried mounting near, far, vertically, etc. ended up mounting on the stomp box leg...
Here is a video of him and his rig... you can't see the tambourine but its mounted on the rear leg of the box.
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Rubes
755 posts
Sep 12, 2013
2:16 PM
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Yay! Bout time for another stomp box thread! Later I'll try to add something beneficial (just gettin the kids off to school),. but I will say that the small foot tambourine I use (Meinl) cuts thru the mix most times unless it's a really loud gig. I'll try to upload a photo later......of my current set up.....
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nacoran
7127 posts
Sep 12, 2013
5:09 PM
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Bluegate, very nice! He's got a good sound working there.
Right now I've got the stomp box separate from the tambourine so I can play one with one foot and the other with the other. I've got no guitar in the mix for right now, although when I'm with my band that's not a problem. I want to be able to play when they aren't available though. My stompbox is a lot smaller, but I like the sound when I've got it miked up right.
I didn't get out and busk this year. That was the goal, but I'm going to make sure I'm set for the spring, and that means getting this in some sort of working order so I can get all the parts working together and all the kinks worked out. It's funny the little things that make a difference. I'm tapping on the box with my foot, and shoes or no shoes makes a big difference in the sound.
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Nate
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bluegate
8 posts
Sep 13, 2013
7:31 AM
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Ah! The double foot stomp... Its quite the workout! Justin, (my son) idolizes Deak Harp, the King of the Double Foot Stomp, but his scrawny 13 year old frame just doesn't have the stamina to do it.
We have spent hours trying different tapping methods: Barefoot, Tennis Shoes, Dress Shoes, with a mic in a towel, with a mic in a pillow etc. Its amazing the different sounds you can get.
There is a guy that goes by the name of Shakey Graves that plays a drum/tambourine with bass pedals.
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nacoran
7130 posts
Sep 13, 2013
1:14 PM
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At one point, a while back I traded some harp lessons to a drummer for some drum lessons. Eventually he flaked out on me (he got thrush from his steroid inhaler and blamed it on harmonica) but I really enjoyed the drums. It's funny, I've had to avoid whole classes of instruments- guitars, pianos, etc. because I've got problems with the tendonitis, particularly in my wrists. (I also have to avoid twitch videogames- slow stuff is fine, and unless my wrists are flared up typing is fine.) It's actually one of the reasons I finally settled on harmonica. I'd always assumed drums would be the same, but I didn't have any problems (well, pain issues, it turns out I'm not a natural at moving my limbs separately from each other, but I was making progress.) He lent me his electronic kit, which was a nice solution for apartment living, but still took up a little too much space. If practice space and money wasn't an issue, I'd love to have a full foot drum kit, like the one Farmer makes.
I've discovered that if I'm using my toes to tap, my legs get tired, but if I'm using my heel, I can go forever. (I guess that makes sense, the muscle in the shin is a lot smaller than the back of the leg). I thought about getting real pedals, but I seem to get good tone without it, and that's just one more thing to carry around. A towel under the tambourine works well.
I also do some harp beatbox, or at least harp percussion, hard tongue slaps and lip pops. I'm hoping I can put it all together with a loop pedal eventually. When I first started playing harmonica I was messing around with recording tracks and I found I really liked the sound of chugging something on the low end of the harp and then playing a melody over the top, but I haven't gotten to the point where I can do that live yet.
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Nate
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bluegate
10 posts
Sep 18, 2013
2:47 PM
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Looks like we have 2 threads converging...
OT(ish) Creating a full OMB sound:
I saw something interesting at SPAH that we are currently working to implement. Peter "MadCat" Cane was using a modified hihat for percussion. He removed the lower cymbal and replaced it with a padded disc. It made a very nice "shoosh shoosh" sound when used without a mic. With amplification it was very bass drumish.
If that wasn't cool enough, he was able to pull the top cymbal off, throw down a plywood disc and use a plain hihat clutch for a completely different sound.
My sons stompbox (see above video) is hinged and opens like a suitcase. He is able to pack all of his harps, ABC box, looper, cables and tambourine inside. It makes a nice traveling package.
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joe
88 posts
Sep 18, 2013
9:52 PM
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another style of stompbox
i am not keen on the stompbox generally but this
has a quiet, rhythmic finesse which does not
overpower the performance
i have always thought that tapping the feet in a
performance is an unnecessary distraction to a
performance unless it is done for effect
joe
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UTC+10
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joe
89 posts
Sep 18, 2013
10:03 PM
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@nacoran
"I also do some harp beatbox, or at least harp percussion, hard tongue slaps and lip pops. I'm hoping I can put it all together with a loop pedal eventually. When I first started playing harmonica I was messing around with recording tracks and I found I really liked the sound of chugging something on the low end of the harp and then playing a melody over the top, but I haven't gotten to the point where I can do that live yet."
you will have seen the Power Tunings thread in which
Brendan P. uses mouth percussion for a loop machine
i think your ideas are great and i look forward to
hearing some audio
of course, out in the world we need to be able to
power the gear we use but surely that is possible in
this tehcno world
joe
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isaacullah
2513 posts
Sep 25, 2013
7:52 AM
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This here is the best commercially available footstompin product I've seen to date:
Too bad it's 500 bux. :(
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