Alex Lifeson effects

Adinfinitum said:
It probably is a Loft Phaser, not a Loft flanger, although I'd love to get my hands on both units and see what is what. As I said, I asked Terry Brown and he said the Loft Flanger, but to my ears, sounds like a combo phaser and flanger, or at least a flanger that has a phaser like sweep built it.

I was playing Spirit of Radio (the correct way this time) with a EHX EM (original Green unit) and by accident stepped on a Boss Phaser (if you saw my studio, you would understand stepping on stomp boxes is a professional hazard) and it sounded spot on.

I'm talking studio version because live sounds different and probably is the EM. In fact, I do remember hearing Lifeson say it was a phaser - it may have been when he gave those video lessons.
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He would know better than I. I only know I can't get that sound (studio version) with any flanger I've ever tried. Perhaps the Loft has phaser-like characteristics when the delay is very short. Live is definitely a flanger. Totally different type of sweep to my ears.
 
strat714 said:
Saw them in Lincoln. AMAZING, but way too LOUD!!! I would advise ear protection.
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I've seen them at least 12 times, and each time sounded very different from the others. Some shows were a reasonable volume, others insanely loud. Presto was the best concert I've been to fidelity-wise...ever, Power Windows the worst...ever. Highly variable, at least in the past. I haven't had the chance to see them in a very long time due to my gigs. Always a great performance.
 
I've seen them 16 or 17 times over the last 35 years (first was on the Permanent Waves tour). Mostly it's been what I would call normal convert volumes. I did see one show at an outdoor pavilion in Cleveland that was so loud that the kick drum literally lifted me off the floor! Ok, I'm exaggerating a little but it was WAY TOO LOUD. I was in the 16th row for that one. The subs were overpowering and the mix was terrible. I had to move back to save my ears and the mix out on the lawn was actually quite good. Too close is usually a recipe for a bad mix depending on the venue. I had 3rd row in Columbus for one show and again, it was all subs... 19th row center for Columbus next month - hoping for a balanced mix.

I have already heard a few audience recordings and seen two videos of complete shows from this tour. Alex's tone sounds better than he has for a long time! Does anyone know if Alex is using the AxeFX for amp tones this tour, or just effects? The backline is obviously just props.
 
Adinfinitum said:
It probably is a Loft Phaser, not a Loft flanger, although I'd love to get my hands on both units and see what is what. As I said, I asked Terry Brown and he said the Loft Flanger, but to my ears, sounds like a combo phaser and flanger, or at least a flanger that has a phaser like sweep built it.

I was playing Spirit of Radio (the correct way this time) with a EHX EM (original Green unit) and by accident stepped on a Boss Phaser (if you saw my studio, you would understand stepping on stomp boxes is a professional hazard) and it sounded spot on.

I'm talking studio version because live sounds different and probably is the EM. In fact, I do remember hearing Lifeson say it was a phaser - it may have been when he gave those video lessons.
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I've not heard of a Loft Phaser, do you have any info on that? I have a couple of Loft 440s and to me they definitely have the flanged Limelight solo tone. I'm willing to loan them for a noble purpose. I have not had much luck in nailing TSOR studio tone, nor has Alex copped it live in the many shows and recordings I've heard from all eras. I'd love to hear the multitracks of it to get a better sense of what makes it work, Alex has never been very specific on that tone, only that he also used a direct to the board track mixed in there.

BTW, seeing Rush in Greensboro *and* DC this week! Yeah!
 
tskidmore said:
I have not had much luck in nailing TSOR studio tone, nor has Alex copped it live in the many shows and recordings I've heard from all eras.
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Every live recording sounds like a flanger. Very different from the studio recording. If the studio is a Loft flanger, then that flanger sure sounds like a phaser. Even the Ultra phaser gives a much closer sweep than any flanger I've ever tried.
 
Yeah they were way louder than I expected in St. Louis too. I sat straight in line with stage in the seats right below the boxes at the back and it was cranking at first with too much low end and was muddy as hell for a few songs. They got it dialed in after 3-4 songs though and by the second set it was still louder than usual but perfect and it didn't make my ears scream at all like some concerts when it's just too loud to hear.
Alex's guitar tone and playing plus Geddy's voice weren't reflected very well in the videos posted and were even better in person. Alex's guitar stood out perfectly in the mix once the PA was dialed in and Geddy and Neil still punched you in the chest in a good way at the same time.
Based on my ears and previous Rush live stuff my brain told me that Alex is still using the same basic rig as the last tour with the Lerxst, Mesa and Coreblade but who really knows until we get a rig rundown? He had so many different sounds that night and they were all very accurate to the era.
I couldn't believe how many guitars he had- probably 12-15 at least and I could really hear the different tone of the white and sunburst Fusion. They really make those tones unique. I had binoculars to check everything out and he had more hardtail guitars than with tremolo too, which was surprising. I'm always amazed that he switches his own effects while playing some hard stuff and hitting the Taurus pedals and triggers. He is one amazingly talented player and I never heard a single missed note or mistake for three hours of playing as hard as he can. Geddy's voice was much better than I had hoped too. It was truly an amazing show!
 
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Dancing Frog said:
They make mistakes. They're just really, really good at covering them.
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Yeah I know, maybe I should have said "it appeared that they didn't miss a note". Ha! They can still kill it live better than most and it's too bad that Neil struggles with touring because I have read where Geddy and Alex are still into it. I'd love to see R42 where they played nothing but 1974-1984 as an encore to R40.
 
strat714 said:
Saw them in Lincoln. AMAZING, but way too LOUD!!! I would advise ear protection.
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I thought the same thing it Dallas. Would have been better if they had turned the house down a click or two. Maybe their soundman is getting as old as they are and needs to turn up his hearing aid a bit. :lol
 
Someone talked about "smooth sweep". If you want to contour the taper of a flanger, try this trick:

Place a modifier on the TIME. Set the source to SEQUENCER. Add a little damping.
Now you can craft any kind of sweep shape you want.
Use MIN and MAX in the modifier to set the depth.

You can also do this with the DELAY block MONO TAPE algorithm. It has a different sound than the Flanger block. Modify MOTOR TIME using an LFO or the trick above.
 
From Alex himself - an article in Guitar World a few years back discusses several songs.

Interview: Alex Lifeson Dissects 11 Key Rush Songs, from "Anthem" to "Test For Echo" | Guitar World

As far as "The Spirit of Radio", he had this to say:


“By the time we cut this, I was using mainly a Strat that I had modified by putting humbuckers in the bridge position. I also used the 355, which I used in the studio for the next couple of records. My amps were Hiwatts, the Marshall and the Twin. I also had a Sixties Bassman head and cabinet. The flanger on that song was an Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress, which I still have. I used the Boss Chorus Ensemble, and I had graduated to the Roland Space Echo, which replaced my Echoplex.”
 
Do any of the through zero flangers work for the swoosh? I ahven't had time to do this specifically but while I was working on replicating my old rig in the Axe last weekend, I messed around with the two through zeros and clicked across the barber pole flanger for a few seconds and all of them seemed to have some potential with a good tweaking. The through zero is great for two of our songs too- Life in the Fast Lane and Heavy Metal- it replicates the studio flanging well. I love the phasers in the Axe too so far.
In case you haven't seen it, someone also finally got a pic of his R40 rig and it's close to the last tour: http://forum.fractalaudio.com/axe-fx-ii-discussion/100572-lifeson-r40-rig.html It's great to have other Rush gear nerds on here to talk about this stuff!
 
Strumzilla said:
From Alex himself - an article in Guitar World a few years back discusses several songs.

Interview: Alex Lifeson Dissects 11 Key Rush Songs, from "Anthem" to "Test For Echo" | Guitar World

As far as "The Spirit of Radio", he had this to say:


“By the time we cut this, I was using mainly a Strat that I had modified by putting humbuckers in the bridge position. I also used the 355, which I used in the studio for the next couple of records. My amps were Hiwatts, the Marshall and the Twin. I also had a Sixties Bassman head and cabinet. The flanger on that song was an Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress, which I still have. I used the Boss Chorus Ensemble, and I had graduated to the Roland Space Echo, which replaced my Echoplex.”
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I've read that before. He also says an Echoplex was the only effect he used on "Anthem". He forgot about the prominent phase shifter. Hmmm.

I've owned two Electric Mistresses. Neither of mine sounded like that. It has pissed me off for years.
 
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