http://www.sourceaudio.net/site.php/blog/ Expressive Guitar Effects en salesinfo@sourceaudio.net Copyright 2010 2010-07-29T17:37:44+00:00 http://www.sourceaudio.net/blog/post/online-jam-session/ http://www.sourceaudio.net/blog/post/online-jam-session/#When:16:37:44Z Source Audio peoples...We want to hear you play!   Recently we promoted the Soundblox Tri-Mod Wah, a senior member of our line of bass effects, by creating a multitrack videosong using it's slew of filter sounds sent through a bass and accompanied by only a drumtrack.  The end result was a fairly infectious groove.  You can check it out below:     So, to hear you play we've extended the outro of the song and put it up for download here (see the instructions below).  We want to see YOU play!  Send us videos of you taking your favorite Source Audio pedal and shredding it to pieces.  Absolute funky mayhem.  We will make sure to post your videos here on our website as well as on our Facebook Page, so be sure to bring the pain.  It can be on bass, guitar, electric bagpipes, whatever you'd like.   Talkbasser Bryan R. Tyler set the bar high showing us the goods with his Soundblox Bass Envelope Filter prototype plugged into a beast of a bass:     THE INSTRUCTIONS 1. Download the extended track of "Bass In Your Face" through this feed (by clicking the "down" arrow): 2. Record a video of yourself playing along using a Source Audio pedal of your choosing. 3. Upload your video to YouTube. 4. Email us a link your video to will@sourceaudio.net and we'll post it for you! 5. Give us your address so we can send you a Source Audio T-Shirt! Tips and Tricks 2010-07-29T16:37:44+00:00 http://www.sourceaudio.net/blog/post/new-england-talkbass-get-together/ http://www.sourceaudio.net/blog/post/new-england-talkbass-get-together/#When:19:30:21Z Perhaps the most populated forum for bass players on the web, Talkbass is a corner of the internet that plays host to endless conversations between bass players form all walks of life.  For Source Audio, Talkbass has been a great place for us to talk shop with other musicians and to get feedback on our existing pedals as well as ask some questions about what features to put in our upcoming releases.   At the end of June, a few TB'ers organized a get together for the New England crowd that gave us the perfect opportunity to swing by and show off some of our new and old gear. We brought by our Soundblox Tri-Mod Wah and Soundblox Pro Multiwave Distortion and also the new Soundblox Bass Envelope Filter.  Here is a video and are some pics from the event:     One of the many racks of basses found at the event. Tweaking the settings on the Soundblox Bass Envelope Filter Really brings out the purple does it not? Getting funky...   To join in on the conversation, check out the Source Audio Club on Talkbass.com! News 2010-07-22T19:30:21+00:00 http://www.sourceaudio.net/blog/post/my-morning-jacket-to-headline-2010-voodoo-experience/ http://www.sourceaudio.net/blog/post/my-morning-jacket-to-headline-2010-voodoo-experience/#When:03:18:45Z At this point in music history, nobody has an excuse to not be "experienced". First, of course, we need a focused definition of the word "experience". It that means to fully envelope onself in the music making-creating-appreciating world, I think we are already there! The 2010 Voodoo Experience takes place in New Orleans, on Holloween weekend. The craziness will feature Muse, Ozzy, MGMT, Deadmou5, Paul Oakenfold, as well as Source Audio endorsees Galactic and My Morning Jacket. Carl Broemel and Jim James of My Morning Jacket have been among our earliest supporters, and of course we are very proud as we have always dug their tunes. Not only do they tour non-stop, but they are always creating and never stop growing. Yes, you could say that they are indeed experienced! And, Jim James lyrics and beautiful singing make that alone a reason to embrace the band. However, I am sure you will find numerous reasons to love them as a band, as we have discovered as well. Here's a few clips of theirs that I love - check them out! And here they are live on Letterman with members of the Boston pops! Artist / Heroes, News 2010-07-21T03:18:45+00:00 http://www.sourceaudio.net/blog/post/the-best-of-phish-tour-2010-and-how-mike-gordon-gets-that-cactus-sound/ http://www.sourceaudio.net/blog/post/the-best-of-phish-tour-2010-and-how-mike-gordon-gets-that-cactus-sound/#When:17:32:45Z "Play it cactus!"   I remember being at a Phish show when was about 17 years old and hearing guitarist Trey Anastasio scream into the microphone what I thought was "play a cactus!" to bassist Mike Gordon.  Immediately afterwards, his bass took on a spindly, thick and bouncy sound that led right into "Boogie on Reggae Woman" by Stevie Wonder.  I still have a tickle in my brain where my mind was blown that day by what, to me, remains an absolute truth that this is precisely what a cactus would sound like.  As it turns out, Trey was saying "play it Cactus", which is a nickname for Mike possibly alluding to his stationary stance on stage.  Regardless, I've always wanted to know what was behind that cactus sound and now here at Source Audio, we've had the incredible opportunity to help manufacture it.   For many fans of Phish, this years summer tour has been one of the best in their over 25 years of performing together.  Seasoned, relaxed and grooving, Phish is combining old tricks and fresh ideas in a way that has kept their fans in a state of elated anticipation for what's next.  Standing at the center of this new energy is Mike Gordon who, by all acounts has been playing really, really well lately.  Having always been recognized as a key cog in the Phish machine and as a top-notch bass player, Mike is now becoming as much an attraction for Phish fans as his long heralded guitarist counterpart Trey Anastasio.  In preparation for this tour, it's quite clear that Gordon hit the woodshed and got his chops in shape big time.  At Source Audio, we've also become acutely aware that Mike prepped for this tour with some serious gear acquisition.  Having done some research into the bass effects market, Gordon and his tech approached us at Source Audio at the start of Phish's summer tour back in June to take our line of bass effects pedals for a test drive.  Ever since, Mike has included in his stage rig our Soundblox Pro Multiwave Distortion and our upcoming Soundblox Bass Envelope Filter and we've got to say, he's been positively ripping them up. Below is a great photo of Mikes 2010 rig from Pro Audio Stars wonderfully detailed article:   We've kept our ears to Phish's performances this summer to look for signs of Mike and his Source Audio pedals and we are hearing some incredible music making from this quartet.  At times it can feel like Phish's on-stage synergy is something a national treasure and we are absolutely delighted to have our pedals be a part of that magic.  To celebrate, here are some of our favorite videos from their 2010 summer tour to date.   6/23/2010 - The night that we brought Mike an updated model of the Soundblox Bass Envelope Filter, Phish tore through a cover of Robert Palmers 'Sneaking Sally Through The Alley" that featured a righteous jam at the end that let the BEF shine.  Bonus:  see Mike stomp his BEF, which sits on the floor for this show, at about the 2:54 mark during their Doobie Brothers-esque vocal jam.   6/25/10 - Phish plays a tasty as tasty can be rendition of '2001'  (Deodatos funky 'Sprach Zarathustra' from the 1979 film Being There...that's top notch nugget of Phish trivia right there!).  This time, they peppered in some Michael Jackson and Mike Gordon brought the house down with what sounds like the Soundblox Bass Envelope Filter set to a 2 Pole Filter setting.   6/29/2010 - Phish delivers 'I Am The Walrus' to their fans for the first time.  Their performance is fantastic and spot except for some gaffes climbing that scale during the outro.  Great Audio in this video...sounds like the mixer feed off of LivePhish.com 7/1/2010 - Hear that cactus sound in Phish's version of the Stevie Wonder classic 'Boogie on Reggae Woman'.  Previously, Mike used the Akai Deep Impact and the Lovetone Meatball to get this sound and they are both still in his set-up.  However, the high end in this tone sounds to my ears like a low-drive singleband octave setting on the Soundblox Pro Multiwave Distortion.  No one knows but the man himself...and maybe his tech.   7/2/2010 - Watch yourself and make sure you don't blow those speakers with the thundering bass this camera captured for Phish's seminal classic 'You Enjoy Myself'.  This is clip comes from the end of the epic jam with a little Soundblox Bass Envelope Filter solo (sounds like it's on a Triple Peak envelope filter setting) that gets Trey to try out his dancing shoes.   7/3/2010 - Any Phish fan can find something to appreciate in this close up of Trey Anastasio as he practices his sorcery during 'Bathtub Gin'.  The man exercises his Will on huge masses of people on a near nightly basis.  You can witness the headspace he gets in to make that happen with this video.     7/4/2010 - Phish celebrates the Fourth with some Rage Against the Machine.  Love it.  Also, enjoy the history lesson from the Harpua intro.     For more details and dates for their Summer 2010 tour, check out Phish's website. Artist / Heroes 2010-07-19T17:32:45+00:00 http://www.sourceaudio.net/blog/post/steven-wilson-porcupine-tree-and-much-more/ http://www.sourceaudio.net/blog/post/steven-wilson-porcupine-tree-and-much-more/#When:03:24:46Z One would think that with Porcupine Tree, Steven Wilson would have all the room and resources which he would need to fully explore all of his musical interests. Surrounded by stellar musicians and having complete artistic freedom, the band has spent much of  2010 on tour in support of “The Incident”, an epic 2 disc release. But Steven is not only one of the most prolific artists of the day, and a true progressive musical thinker always looking ahead on a courageous quest of what is “new”, but what is most astonishing is his inexhaustable supply of musical ideas. Steven's various projects combine elements of acoustic folk guitar, metal, progressive, pop, and ambient/electronica/trip hop into a genre that really doesn't have a proper name. And Steven is not only limited to traditional musical sounds, either: Steven is just as influenced by organic and mechanical sounds, which he freely uses in his music - as he reveals in this in-depth interview. Steven utilizes a rich and diverse palate of acoustic and electric guitar tones – adding a Source Audio Soundblox Multiwave Distortion for live use. In addition to Porcupine Tree, Steven is involved with a number of other exciting projects. He formed Blackfield with the popular and influential Israeli singer Aviv Geffen, who met Steven when he invited Porcupine Tree to play in Israel in 2000. Since then, they have created two cd releases and a dvd, and have toured together. Here's a sample of their collaborative efforts called "Hello". Steven and Tim Bowness have produced 6 releases with their collaboration No Man, which Melody Maker has called “conceivably the most important English group since The Smiths”.  The duo project started as a ambient/groove/electronica/pop sound, but has diversified with contributions from diverse players such as Robert Fripp, Brian Eno, and other members of King Crimson, Japan, and notable trance artists). Here’s a choice selection, titled “Truenorth". Stey tuned here for more news on Steven - as he has an enormous well of music to dive within. Knowing him, as I write (and as you read) this, he's busy writing and recording something new. And rest assured, it will be tremendous. Artist / Heroes, Music Reviews 2010-06-18T03:24:46+00:00 http://www.sourceaudio.net/blog/post/trombone-shorty-guitarist-pete-murano-plays-the-classic-pro-distortion-and-/ http://www.sourceaudio.net/blog/post/trombone-shorty-guitarist-pete-murano-plays-the-classic-pro-distortion-and-/#When:18:25:13Z Sadly, it’s been a few years since I’ve visited the old town of New Orleans, but lucky for me, a guy they call Trombone Shorty brought a hot and spicy taste of “The Big Easy” to me.  Last Tuesday, in front of a sold out Paradise Rock Club in Boston, MA, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews and his jet fueled band performed an incredible set of explosive of rock, jazz, R & B, and hip-hop influenced music that Mr. Shorty likes to call, “Supafunkrock”.  This guy is a smoking horn player/singer/songwriter with a fascinating back-story. Troy Andrews grew up in the Treme neighborhood of New Orleans. Yes, the same Hurricane Katrina rattled neighborhood that serves as the setting for the new HBO series, Treme—the birthplace of Louis Armstrong and, in the opinion of most knowledgeable folks, jazz music itself.  So a love and appreciation for great music was infused in him from the days of diapers—he confesses; “This neighborhood, period, was the most influential thing in my life.” Now at the ripe old age of 24 he’s released his first major label record, Backatown, for Verve Forecast.  It captures perfectly a rich mixture of musical styles reflecting not only the sound of New Orleans, but also the sound of America. A Young Trombone Shorty plays his horn for rock legend Bo Diddley. The two hour plus set was as much a party as a concert, Trombone Shorty and the band weaved together a seamless mix of funky gems like “Something Beautiful” and “One Night Only (The March)” from the new record with some great cover versions of Marvin Gaye’s, “Let’s Get It On” and The Isley Brothers’ “Shout.” It was also great fun hearing the band reference a diverse set of tunes from a wide range of American artists like The Black Eyed Peas, the Violent Femmes and, of course, Louis Armstrong. But at the heart of this party was tremendous musicianship—the crowd was treated to some fantastic collective grooves as well as solos from every member of the group. We are also very happy to report that Pete Murano, the band’s dynamic lead guitarist plays through Source Audio pedals.  Given the wide range of Pete’s tone needs, the Soundblox Pro Classic Distortion serves him well by fattening up his riffs and solos with its broad palette of fuzz and distortion possibilities. Pete also uses the Soundblox Tri-Mod Wah and the Hot Hand ring to coax some wild wah effects. With the ring fastened to the headstock of his guitar and the Wah set to Multipeak 03, Pete achieves some very guttural, almost vocal effects. Check out this short clip shot during their sound-check to get a feel for the very cool Vocoderesque sound the pedal creates. Listen close and you’ll swear you hear Peter Frampton asking, “Do you feel right?” You’ll also get a taste of Pete’s killer blues drenched guitar playing. (Sorry for that quality of the picture, there wasn’t a lot of light on the stage at this hour.) I also highly recommend checking out this video, it’s a great interview piece with the man himself, Trombone Shorty. Enjoy. Artist / Heroes 2010-06-11T18:25:13+00:00 http://www.sourceaudio.net/blog/post/mountain-jam-live/ http://www.sourceaudio.net/blog/post/mountain-jam-live/#When:20:30:15Z You don't need to get in your car, in a plane or on a Greyhound bus to enjoy the great musicianship taking place at Mountain Jam live right now in Hunter, New York.   Not in the mood for "Breakfast in bed for 400,000" as exclaimed by the infamous Wavy Gravy at Woodstock? I understand you completely.   Just click here and start enjoying the show now!   Featuring Source Audio players Gov't Mule, Lettuce, and Toots and the Maytals.   You can also check out the Mountain Jam Homepage right here. Artist / Heroes, Music Reviews 2010-06-05T20:30:15+00:00 http://www.sourceaudio.net/blog/post/gibby-haynes-of-the-butthole-surfers-spotted-with-a-soundblox-pro-classic-d/ http://www.sourceaudio.net/blog/post/gibby-haynes-of-the-butthole-surfers-spotted-with-a-soundblox-pro-classic-d/#When:17:26:47Z       Have you seen this man? We just got word from the folks at 30th Street Music in Manhattan that Gibby Haynes of the iconic punk/psychadelic/art rock band The Butthole Surfers was in their store shopping for a new dirt box and walked out with the Soundblox Pro Classic Distortion. Gibby was, as the story goes, particularly impressed with the ProCo Rat inspired distortion type, El Raton.  Gibby is known to run his vocals through a fairly elaborate effects rig which he controls from the stage. I personally have never heard vocals through the Classic Distortion, but I'm damn curious to find out how it sounds. Gibby's purchase is great news to the entire Source Audio crew, we proudly add him to the list of boundary pushing musicians using Source Audio pedals. You've got to love the Butthole Surfers, they never conformed to the sound of the times—the sound of the times conformed to them!Personally, I remember the 80s and the stranglehold mainstream radio had on the airwaves. It certainly wasn’t like today when music comes from a million different places, catering to every imaginable taste. In the bad old days, if you didn’t like what popular radio played you were out of luck. Thank God for college radio, the place where bands like The Butthole Surfers, The Dead Kennedys, Sonic Youth, Black Flag or Fugazi reigned. Station budgets were minimal and the reception was invariably fuzzy, but the music was great. Usually loud and fast, with subject matter far removed from the predictable tales of top 40, the music of college radio may have sounded stupid and obnoxious to many, but to us it was bold and exciting. The Butthole Surfers, with their name alone, sent a clear message that they were not in the game to sell truckloads of records. Songs like “22 Going on 23” off of Locust Abortion Technician or “Bar-B-Q Pope” from the Surfers’ debut EP are pure and exhilarating works of art, untarnished by aspirations of commercial success. As most of us know, commercial radio changed drastically in the early 90s and the Butthole Surfers, ironically, ended up selling a lot or records. Particularly, their 1996 release, Electriclarryland that reached number 31 on the Billboard 200 chart with its song “Pepper” (a tune that made it to the top of the Modern Rock Chart). Gibby and the boys obviously had their day—sometimes, adventurous spirits are rewarded. So are we excited that Gibby Haynes purchased one of our pedals? Hell yeah, we are!!!  Anybody who works in musical equipment business will tell you that conservatism rules and “vintage” is the eternal buzzword. Don’t think that we haven’t heard it from all directions that analog beats digital processing every time, or that wah filters are controlled by pedals, not rings. We love the music and technology of the past, but we always keep in mind that there was actually a time when effect pedals like the Fuzz Face, Octavia and Big Muff Pi were considered out-of-step and unusual. The only thing that keeps the ball rolling is forward thinking musicians and sound engineers. So we appreciate the fact that a rock pioneer like Gibby Haynes is turned on by what we do. We also look forward to hearing him perform through the Classic Distortion! Here's a blast from the past, the Surfers covering Donovan's "Hurdy Gurdy Man." This is one bad trip of a video - I absolutely love it!!! Artist / Heroes 2010-06-03T17:26:47+00:00 http://www.sourceaudio.net/blog/post/cool-mike-keneally-interview-in-the-june-2010-issue-of-guitar-player/ http://www.sourceaudio.net/blog/post/cool-mike-keneally-interview-in-the-june-2010-issue-of-guitar-player/#When:13:24:54Z         There is a great interview in this month’s (June, 2010) issue of Guitar Player magazine with Mike Keneally, one of the great guitar architects of our time. Mike is widely known for his work as Frank Zappa’s “stunt guitarist” in the late 80s, as well as his many avant-jazz-rock solo records. The GP interview focuses on Keneally’s latest solo release, Scambot 1. We at Source Audio were happy to hear a large dose of the Soundblox Multiwave Distortion scattered through the album. Mike used the Multiwave to produce some interesting synth-like guitar sounds. He explained: “[The Soundblox Multiwave Distortion] produces very peculiar and unconventional distortion sounds, and depending on how you set the controls you can get multiple octaves and weird phase-cancellation effects that result in overtones popping out like crazy. We used it as an out-board effect, running the already recorded guitar tracks out to it and recording the processed sound onto a separate track, then blending them in various ways. In some cases, I manipulated the controls in real time as the track was playing through the pedal.” Mike was kind enough to let us include a clip from Scambot 1 on his artist page on our website, the song is called “We Are The Quiet Children”. It’s a nice representation of how he incorporates the Multiwave into his sound. You’ll hear the pedal on the sustained harmonic feedback lines in the song’s introduction. If you know the Mulitwave, you will clearly hear it’s signature sound—nothing else sounds like the Soundblox Multiwave Distortion.  The “We Are The Quiet Children” sound clip is only a small sample of Scambot 1’s vast musical offerings. We highly recommend you check out the entire record.  It’s a sprawling, eclectic yet cohesive mix of avant-jazz, rock and pop. The thread that holds all these elements together is, of course, Keneally’s graceful musicianship. In addition to being a fantastic guitar playing, Mike is a fabulous keyboardist and singer. In Zappa’s band he held down multiple duties, playing lines on the guitar and keys that were originally recorded with other instruments, anything from horns to the marimba. Another very notable Keneally project is a record of Steve Via compositions adapted to the acoustic piano. The album—Vai: Piano Reductions Vol. 1—was recorded upon request of Mr. Via, another Frank Zappa band alumni.  For a taste of Mike’s piano playing, singing and song writing, check out this video for the Scambot 1 single, “Hallmark”. It’s melodic and complex piece of Beatlesque pop with a great jazz instrumental outro. Here's another video highlighting Mike's incredible playing both on guitar and keyboards. It's a 2008 live recording of his song, "My Dilema". Very cool stuff, check out the simultaneous guitar and keyboard riff!!!  Artist / Heroes 2010-06-03T13:24:54+00:00 http://www.sourceaudio.net/blog/post/creating-the-soundblox-classic-distortion/ http://www.sourceaudio.net/blog/post/creating-the-soundblox-classic-distortion/#When:15:29:28Z Ghosts in the Machine The five-year listening study behind the Soundblox Classic Distortion     Referred to as the “best distortion box ever” by both vintage tone champion Adrian Belew of King Crimson and neo-shredder Herman Li of DragonForce, the newly released Soundblox Classic Distortion by Source Audio is showing that analog soul can be captured on a digital chip.   A veritable Ghost Trap a la Ghostbusters, the Soundblox Classic Distortion houses eleven recaptured spirits of prevalent distortion sounds resulting from a five-year listening study of stomp boxes and tube amps.  Sounds from the Big Muff Pi, Fulltone Distortion Pro, Tone Bender, Fuzz Face, ProCo Rat and Octavia can all be selected at the turn of a knob on the Soundblox Classic and then further tweaked by a graphic equalizer, two drive knobs, midrange knob and an output knob.    In addition, Source Audio has provided the option of tweaking the old sounds even further via an expression pedal morphing function, MIDI input connection and a jack for the Hot Hand motion-sensing controller.   Source Audio, now in it’s fifth year as a company, is a true nod to the marriage of music and technology.   Having formed as a spin-off from the well-known semi-conductor company Analog Devices, they were able to request a customized state-of-the-art Digital Signal Processor, the SA601 chip, to pursue their music-centric interests.  The two sets of ears in the listening study, VP of Engineering Jesse Remignanti (former audio systems and software engineer at Analog Devices) and Chief Scientist Bob Chidlaw (former senior engineer at Kurzweil Music) sat down to discuss the listening study, the process of creating the Soundblox Classic Distortion and a few other topics for the audiophile at home.   The need for a pedal that housed multiple quality distortion tones was clear to Jesse Remignanti, a veteran guitarist of the New England music scene.  One of his challenges for the creation of the Soundblox Classic Distortion was to design an interface that could work seamlessly on-stage.  He muses, “I’ve seen some guys who have anywhere from six to ten pedals on their board which are just distortion…jumping from one pedal to the other and doing a toe-tapping dance to get one sound to another sound.”  He continues, “It’s easier to just have it called up on a preset or use the expression pedal.  It’s useful for anyone from the pro musician to the guy who’s doing cover tunes and needs a different sound because they’re doing Metallica and then The Cars.”   For Chidlaw, a collector of tube amps, the challenge was to create digital sounds from scratch that matched his standards for analog sounds, which were quite high at the beginning of the project. “When I started at Source Audio, I was a real tube amp snob” states Chidlaw matter-of-factly.  “The only distortion I would use was real distortion from a tube amp.  I would sometimes modify amps to get more gain.  Turning up the gain on a Marshall JCM-800 was one of my little moves.”   To truly capture some of the most notable distortion sounds in the fuzz pantheon, Bob and Jesse would have to explore the world of stomp boxes and as they dug deeper, Chidlaw’s tastes began to open up.  “I had built solid-state distortion devices before.  I really had just rejected them all by this point 5 years ago.” He reflects,  “But then we bought a distortion pedal, the Fulltone Distortion Pro and I thought, ‘wow, this actually does sound quite nice.’ Then when we really started getting into the Classic Distortion we started acquiring a lot more pedals.  I personally bought far too many for my growing collection.  I really came to see the charm in solid-state distortions.  It really gives you something that a vaccum tube can’t.  You can’t get that sound from a vacuum tube amplifier.  It can’t be done.”   In mapping the digital sounds to be placed in the Soundblox Classic Distortion,  Chidlaw had to create each algorithm from the ground up, attempting to capture the essence of each distortion tone.  “An algorithm is a recipe of how the sound is processed…There’s a lot of trial and error; a lot of tweaking… I just have to use my ears to try to compare what the digital system is doing with what the real analog pedal is doing.”    He continues, “You can’t really point to a sound as it goes by. Try to hear just what it is that makes a particular fuzz have it’s own sound.  What is in the sound? All you can say is ‘doesn’t that sound kind of harsh in the high end?’ and maybe it does or maybe it doesn’t strike you that way… If you’re making something analog, you can say ‘I’ll use some of these transistors that were very cheap back in the day when this thing was built’ but what is the digital signal processing equivalent of a cheap transistor?  Not at all obvious…”   The timing of the release for the Soundblox Classic Distortion is fairly fortuitous, coming at a time of heightened expectations for musicians.  As modern music fans gain more access to more music across a longer timeline, they seem to gravitate toward either the eccentric or the tried and true.  A look at the Billboard Top Ten shows a reissue of Exile on Main Street by the Rolling Stones alongside the likes of Lady Gaga and LCD Soundsystem.    The aim of the Soundblox Classic Distortion is a near precise match for the needs of the modern performer in that it can call up the guitar tone from The Rolling Stones’ ‘Satisfaction’ in one moment and then in the next, it can create a never-before-heard sound.     “It gives you some really interesting effects” explains Remignanti, “because you could get an in-between sound from two completely different pedals.  You could switch from the Rat Tone to the Tube Drive or something just by rocking the expression pedal.”    Chidlaw adds, “You can get some more bizarre things happening in the middle of those morphs.  You could say there is only twelve selector positions on the Classic Distortion, but if you use the morph control, you’ve really got hundreds of more possible selector positions by just, sort of, freezing the morph. Sixty percent of the way between this and this and you’ve got this new sound that’s in there.”    The versatility of the Classic Distortion can be traced back to that signature chip, the SA601 Digital Signal Processor.  The power of the chip allowed the Source Audio engineers to push the pedal into new territories for a distortion stompbox.  When asked about the graphic equalizer, another of the pedals unique features, Remignanti says simply “We had enough room in the processing and in the interface to add a seven-band EQ and it’s programmable for each preset.  You could have the same distortion effect with three different EQ settings and get totally different sounds out of it.  So, it’s a very nice, flexible feature…[It’s] not something commonly seen on distortion pedals.”   Matching the considerable uniqueness of the sounds, the aesthetic and layout of the Soundblox Classic Distortion have a simple and modern feel.  Remignanti explains, “Our goal with the overall design was to make them simple in terms of the interface and the overall appearance but also modern looking.  We tried not buy into the whole retro thing in our main design philosophy for the housings and the look of the pedals.  [As for] the interface, we tried to keep it to as low a number of knobs and controls as possible, but still allow the user to get a lot of features and a lot of different sounds.”     For more information on the Soundblox Classic Distortion, please visit: http://www.sourceaudio.net News 2010-06-01T15:29:28+00:00