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Well, I guess it's time to go public with what I've been up to in the studio lately. I've been trying some experiments, and they're proving to be viable.
I know, I know, it's so unlike me - but I think it's finally time to put a laptop in the live rig.
My reasoning isn't lazyness, it's more enthusiasm for stuff that I simply can't do with the current live rig. For instance, I really want to play with mixing a live set on a quadraphonic soundsystem - but with my old Mackie mixer, there's simply no good way to do it. I mean, yeah, I could use the aux busses to mix four outputs, but I couldn't make an LFO run a synth noise around the room, or turn a single knob and have the whole mix turn 90 degrees, making it sound like the whole room just moved... plus, I've been doing more the last year or two with having more control over the whole signal at once, instead of just individual sounds.
GI Jody said something to me at a show once that really rung true. I don't remember what led up to the statement, but he basically gestured at the synths and drum machines and said "That's not your guitar." He pointed to the soundsystem and said "That's your guitar. All the synths and shit, those are just the pick."
So yeah. The synths are staying the same, but anything that doesn't get used in live shows is pretty much getting faded. I'm replacing my mixer flightcase (with mixer, Electrix effects, compression, sonic maximizer, etc, etc) with a ThinkPad running Plogue Bidule, my MOTU 828mkII rackmount soundcard, and a new Behringer BFR2000 MIDI controller with motorized faders. So far, the experiments are going well.
Anyway - it's a huge step backwards in terms of "completeness" of the rig, and it'll require a *lot* of work and testing before I can stand in front of an audience again. I figure it'll be about February before I can play live next, so I'll try to keep on top of documenting the progress here.
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