Upon further analysis I have realised that some of the things I want to do with this blog will require some sort of video/audio accompaniment. So this blog is going to be multi-platform but mainly written.
Also, I've decided to rechristen the blog as "The Amazing Sounds Of Orgy" after the Radiohead B-Side of the same name.
I'm still trying to find my feet with all of this so stick with it, it's about to get fun.
Any questions? No? Good, on to today's agenda.
The Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man; the little (pretty big actually) grey box that has changed my life.
America had won the race to the Moon just seven years earlier and "Space" was the word (two years later the word would be "Grease" but that's a whole other story).
Space fever swept the nation and even left it's mark upon popular music. As tubes gave way to transistors and Robert Moog produced the first commercially available synthesizer, the possibilities were endless and music soared into the stratosphere.
The Tornados had invented their own genre of Space Rock with their hit single "Telstar", opening the door for the psychedelic bands of the late '60s; notably Pink Floyd. It's use of distorted sound effects and swirling, twisting noises evoked a feeling of other worldliness that perfectly matched the child-like fascination with which the world regarded space. Using tape echo effects pioneered by the likes of Les Paul and Sam Phillips of Sun Records in the mid '50s and later Hank Marvin of the Shadows, they created some truly Sci-Fi sounds.
This is a very concise history of the tape delay effect so you'll have to excuse me but essentially it works like this: one loop of tape runs continuously between two tape machines. One machine records the audio signal (guitar, vocals, etc.) and the other replays the same notes, creating an echo effect.
Jump back to 1976 then and delay effects are more popular than ever. Tape echo units such as the Binson Echorec and Roland's Space Echo have been used to create some of the most ground breaking and staggering sounds in music history.
Electro-Harmonix are just about to launch the first ever solid-state analogue echo in the form of the Memory Man. Developments in transistor technology and the advent of the Bucket-brigade device has allowed them to produce an echo unit that doesn't use magnetic tape to delay the signal.
It is smaller, more reliable, can be mass-produced on a much larger scale and allows for longer delay times and even more control over the sound.
Regarded for it's warm, organic sound, the Deluxe Memory Man has become a much-loved classic amongst guitar players. Its ability to modulate the sound gives its delays a unique shimmer that allows them to sit beautifully in a mix whilst cranking the feedback levels can create a screaming oscillation that can introduce very interesting timbres and gritty textures.
The Memory Man has been popularised by U2 guitarist, The Edge who used nothing but two of these units and two Vox AC30 amps to record the first three U2 albums. One of the highlights of the film; It Might Get Loud, is when The Edge is talking about his first encounter with the delay pedal and there is a brief clip of him creating some marvellously squelchy echo sounds whilst looking out onto a beach. If you have seen it you will know what I'm talking about.
"So why so much focus on this one pedal? This isn't a blog about gear."
Correct, but I just had to write about this little box. It's my desert island pedal and the one thing I would save in a fire. Why? Because it has completely revolutionised my playing and the way I approach music and composition. This is no exaggeration.
It's hissy, it's noisy, it's finicky and it uses a lot of power but the sounds I can create with it resonate with me in a way that I couldn't possibly explain. So I won't attempt to.
Thanks again for reading, I think I'm starting to get the hang of things. Let me know if you like it, dislike it, whatever and follow me if you like what you have read so far.
Suttykins.
No comments:
Post a Comment