Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2003 7:40 am Post subject: Wireless
Hi Daved, a quick question,
Does Robben ever use a wireless setup, instead of a 'normal' guitar lead into his amp(s) and effects?, and if not, has he/you considered it and decided not to go down that technical avenue for whatever reasons.
With the reasonably varied number of venues and different power sources you must come across I just wondered if this was an option for either safety or convenience?
Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2003 7:45 am Post subject: May be
Hi Simon, for me , and i tried some , it "kills" the sound in a way.
Actually i have a cheap shure system, i like it sometimes, i can go and play for the people, right in front of them, but the sound is not quite the same
and sometimes it disappears in a real odd fraction of time. . bl
Joined: 08 Aug 2003 Posts: 943 Location: Terra Firma, Ether Sea
Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2003 10:39 am Post subject:
No, Robben never uses wireless. I don't know if he has ever tried, but I am pretty sure he has at one time or another and I don't offer it to him as I believe he would not be happy with it.
He is very critical about his tone/sound and my experience with him and my experiences with wireless tell me they would not mix well.
First let me review my thoughts on wireless.
It is fine, sometimes necessary, for some artists. Jack Charles, with Quarterflash used them, as did Tommy Girvin with Eddie Money for a period of time till he went back to amps and footpedals only. Many others I have worked with, such as Alex Skolnick with Testament, went thru their wireless phases.
Brion James and Melvin Brannon with the Dan Reed Network NEEDED to use wireless. DRN was a highly choreographed band with a lot of physical stage presence incorporated in with their playing. In fact, I designed and built leather straps, bolted to their guitars, so that they could literally throw their axes in circles around their neck & shoulders. A 'landline' would never have held up and would only have tangled and impeded their performances.
All of these players, with the exception of Tommy, used heavy FX and such to process their sounds (as was very popular in the late 80's & early 90's) and were not that critical of natural 'tone'. Their tones were generally highly manufactured and often actually incorporated the 'deficiencies' of wireless.
Even Joe Satriani and Stu Hamm tested out various wireless systems at one time or another when I worked with them in the early 90's. But every one of these players who ultimately rejected the wireless systems ran into one main problem... compression.
In the processed sound of the 80's and early 90's, compression was not really a problem, but was actually utilized to define the sound of groups like Boston and Loverboy.
But for those who wanted to hear the true tone and performance of tubes and wood at work, compression, like digital, became a problem.
Now, the freedom of wireless can be a wonderful thing, and with the advent of diversity and such, those systems have become very reliable. BUT, one thing they have never been able to totally eliminate is compression. VHF or UHF, they may tell you that they are compression free, but the discerning ear will tell you otherwise, which only makes sense as forms of compression are pretty much necessary for radio transmission. And this ALWAYS becomes a problem with guitar players who want their sounds to be as natural and process free as possible. I have heard some artists say, "Well this doesn't bother me because I can just doctor it up with my signal processing". But, let's be honest, now your just processing the processing, adding to the problem.
Makeup on top of makeup never becomes natural.
Now, in Robben's case, we've experimented with various cables, brands, wiring configurations, and lengths till i've developed what he is most content with. It's not perfect, as we realize everytime we go into the studio and I run his guitar thru one cable directly into the amp head, but it is the most natural sound we've been able to put together and still provide him with minimal signal deterioration thru the FX that Robben wants to use. Compression and loss of amp/guitar tone is a big no-no for Robben, and though those things may be minimal in todays modern wireless systems, they would STILL be present enough to bother him. _________________ B C-ing U!
( }:-Daved
"This boy's diseased with rhythm!" -Bing Crosby (Road To Rio, '49)
Joined: 26 Nov 2003 Posts: 916 Location: Fairhope, AL
Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2003 11:35 am Post subject: wireless
Daved,
This is just one thing that never ceases to amaze me. Robben has an incrdible ear. I don't know if I could ever hear the very subtle differences you are talking about. The more I play, the better my ear gets, but it's still light-years behind that. but you are right, Robben is not the kind of player that needs wireless, because he really doesn't move around a lot. He just stays pretty much in one place and makes magic. BTW, this may have been asked before and I missed it, but how long have you been with Robben now?
Frank
Joined: 08 Aug 2003 Posts: 943 Location: Terra Firma, Ether Sea
Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2003 11:59 am Post subject: Re: wireless
frank0936 wrote:
This is just one thing that never ceases to amaze me. Robben has an incrdible ear. I don't know if I could ever hear the very subtle differences you are talking about.... BTW, this may have been asked before and I missed it, but how long have you been with Robben now?
I've been working with Robben since about March of 1999. Check out my bio in the "Introductions" section for more complete info.
My work with artists like Joe Satriani, Carlos Santana, Robben, and others has proven to me time & again that what sets this caliber of player apart from most others is their amazing ability to hear sounds and qualities of tone that even dogs can't hear. I have some amazing stories about their almost magical abilities wherein they've proven to me over & over that they hear things I'll never hear (but then, if I could, I'd probably be able to have their gigs, wouldn't I?).... but I sure can admire, and envey, their gift to do so! _________________ B C-ing U!
( }:-Daved
"This boy's diseased with rhythm!" -Bing Crosby (Road To Rio, '49)
Joined: 18 Jul 2003 Posts: 24 Location: Western NC
Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2003 10:11 pm Post subject:
Daved, I loved the Dan Reed Network that I heard, never saw anything else from them but was so i pressed by the few tracks that I did hear, did they just die on the vine like so many great acts? _________________ www.bigblockdodge.com
Joined: 08 Aug 2003 Posts: 943 Location: Terra Firma, Ether Sea
Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2003 11:32 am Post subject:
HHB wrote:
Daved, I loved the Dan Reed Network that I heard, never saw anything else from them but was so i pressed by the few tracks that I did hear, did they just die on the vine like so many great acts?
DRN was a great band that should have gone a lot further than they did. Other than their native Northwest, where they were the most loved of 'local bands', they went virtually unrecognized in the States. However, they were HUGE in Europe.
I've always felt this was because they were highly visable in Europe, but basically ignored by the promotional machines here in the States. Moncrieff (our soundman) and I ALWAYS checked the building marques when arriving at the venues and most of the time DRN were not posted. There would be little or no promotion inside the venues till about 20 minutes before the band arrived for soundcheck, and then someone from the lable would show up to staple a few posters on the wall, then leave.
I will always remember one east coast gig we did, in Philly I think, where we played to less than 50 people in a huge club (capacity of easily 1200 people, I would think). Afterward, as I packed gear, a pretty young local girl came up and asked me, "Why don't you guys advertise?". I asked her what she meant and she told me, "I LOVE this band! But, even tho I come to this and other local clubs all the time, I had absolutely NO idea that The Dan Reed Network was going to be here till 2 nights ago when the DJ here on disco night played their single, Ritual, and happened to mention that the band who recorded the song would be playing here live tonight. And, obviously by the lack of attendance, no one else knew either!"
In my opinion, management and the lable (Polygram/Mercury) pretty much dropped the ball. What promotion they did get here at home was mostly word of mouth and I think that got buried under the overwhelming comparisons to Living Color, Prince, and Lenny Kravitz who were all doing extremely well at the time.
By the way, I just noticed the other day that a re-release of their first album (the one I'm on *wink*) is again available thru their "official" website. _________________ B C-ing U!
( }:-Daved
"This boy's diseased with rhythm!" -Bing Crosby (Road To Rio, '49)
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