redeveredev
New Member
Hi all,
As the title suggests I'm thinking of replacing my rig with an axe-fx, but my use cases are... very different...
I use my rig (a Helix Rack and Nord Modular G2) for 3 purposes:
1. Running the entire backline for my band (bass and guitar; of which I play neither live, I am actually the singer!!)
2. Running a split-pickup hexaphonic guitar into. (The helix only has 4 total signal paths so I do processing in the computer before it hits the amp modelling in the helix (this is all very much in beta and am prototyping it still))
3. Recording: I'm a lunatic who runs linux so most of the go-to amp sim plugins aren't available - so I run through the hardware.
The live rig operates like this:
Guitarist plugs into input 1 on the helix and uses the first two signal paths; bassist plugs into input 2, and uses the second two signal paths.
Guitarist has an fx chain consisting of two amps (the lowest CPU cost amps I can manage), one cleanish, one very fuzzy. prior to splitting the signal the is a ratchet (aka stutter, buffer repeater, retrigger, etc) effect, a monophonic pitch shifter for octave effects, and a whammy effect. The whammy effect is controlled by the Nord modular G2 - feeding the helix MIDI CC data to make the whammy move in different ways depending on what button the guitarist presses on his MIDI controller. For example - when he press a certain foot switch the whammy swoops up to +12 in about 600ms, and when he presses another it swoops down to -36 in about 1000ms. I am wanting to move this to separate expression pedals but one thing at a time. The Nord also acts as a reverb and freeze/sustainer because at this point the first DSP chip on the helix is totally maxed out.
The bassist has a simpler setup: two amps again, one clean, one crunchy: both have wahs on them controlled by a single expression pedal (one wah pre-amp one wah post-amp). One of the chains has a pitch shifter set at an octave up. We need a harmoniser for a new song but we're maxed out on the second DSP chip now.
My hexaphonic rig doesn't really exist yet - still building the actual guitar - but I noticed the axe-fx has enough audio inputs for each string... potentially I could use the axe-fx as the final stage in processing and summing for this setup? If it allows me to run separate signal chains from each input and sum them into two amplifiers (at least, more is always nice but two is minimum for me - or one that can run in stereo.) I would be using external processing for this rig anyway (building a 6 channel pitch shifter using either a Daisy Seed or a RPI), so the axe-fx wouldn't have to handle EVERYTHING I throw at it - but if it were able to act as the centre piece of everything my life could be made so much easier!
So I guess my question is - can I do this on the axe fx? I'd love the form factor of the FM9 but realistically I think I'd need to extra processing power. Does it have the following effects:
1. ratchet / retrigger? - or a delay that can be twisted into a retrigger effect like some of those old boss pedals
2. freeze / sustain? - or a reverb with a freeze switch, or the ability to feed a delay back onto itself, with an amplitude envelope that controls the volume as to keep the sound sustaining (how I'm currently doing it)
3. 6 signal paths? - I understand I'm not going to be running 6 amp sims and cabs in parallel, but being able to add a few little effects to each string would be nice before summing it into the amp.
4. Can the ADSRs be triggered by MIDI CC? Not the biggest deal breaker but I'd have to invest in some expression pedals!
If you got this far thanks for reading
Cheers,
redev (James)
As the title suggests I'm thinking of replacing my rig with an axe-fx, but my use cases are... very different...
I use my rig (a Helix Rack and Nord Modular G2) for 3 purposes:
1. Running the entire backline for my band (bass and guitar; of which I play neither live, I am actually the singer!!)
2. Running a split-pickup hexaphonic guitar into. (The helix only has 4 total signal paths so I do processing in the computer before it hits the amp modelling in the helix (this is all very much in beta and am prototyping it still))
3. Recording: I'm a lunatic who runs linux so most of the go-to amp sim plugins aren't available - so I run through the hardware.
The live rig operates like this:
Guitarist plugs into input 1 on the helix and uses the first two signal paths; bassist plugs into input 2, and uses the second two signal paths.
Guitarist has an fx chain consisting of two amps (the lowest CPU cost amps I can manage), one cleanish, one very fuzzy. prior to splitting the signal the is a ratchet (aka stutter, buffer repeater, retrigger, etc) effect, a monophonic pitch shifter for octave effects, and a whammy effect. The whammy effect is controlled by the Nord modular G2 - feeding the helix MIDI CC data to make the whammy move in different ways depending on what button the guitarist presses on his MIDI controller. For example - when he press a certain foot switch the whammy swoops up to +12 in about 600ms, and when he presses another it swoops down to -36 in about 1000ms. I am wanting to move this to separate expression pedals but one thing at a time. The Nord also acts as a reverb and freeze/sustainer because at this point the first DSP chip on the helix is totally maxed out.
The bassist has a simpler setup: two amps again, one clean, one crunchy: both have wahs on them controlled by a single expression pedal (one wah pre-amp one wah post-amp). One of the chains has a pitch shifter set at an octave up. We need a harmoniser for a new song but we're maxed out on the second DSP chip now.
My hexaphonic rig doesn't really exist yet - still building the actual guitar - but I noticed the axe-fx has enough audio inputs for each string... potentially I could use the axe-fx as the final stage in processing and summing for this setup? If it allows me to run separate signal chains from each input and sum them into two amplifiers (at least, more is always nice but two is minimum for me - or one that can run in stereo.) I would be using external processing for this rig anyway (building a 6 channel pitch shifter using either a Daisy Seed or a RPI), so the axe-fx wouldn't have to handle EVERYTHING I throw at it - but if it were able to act as the centre piece of everything my life could be made so much easier!
So I guess my question is - can I do this on the axe fx? I'd love the form factor of the FM9 but realistically I think I'd need to extra processing power. Does it have the following effects:
1. ratchet / retrigger? - or a delay that can be twisted into a retrigger effect like some of those old boss pedals
2. freeze / sustain? - or a reverb with a freeze switch, or the ability to feed a delay back onto itself, with an amplitude envelope that controls the volume as to keep the sound sustaining (how I'm currently doing it)
3. 6 signal paths? - I understand I'm not going to be running 6 amp sims and cabs in parallel, but being able to add a few little effects to each string would be nice before summing it into the amp.
4. Can the ADSRs be triggered by MIDI CC? Not the biggest deal breaker but I'd have to invest in some expression pedals!
If you got this far thanks for reading
Cheers,
redev (James)
