Forrest L Norvell
GearIQ 205
Joined Apr 2020
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half-assed dilettante from San Francisco whose only advantage is screwing around with music for about 30 years now
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Create your EquipboardDAWs 6
Amplifiers 2
Effects Pedals 8
This thing could not sound more 80s if it tried. You basically get a bitcrusher for free whenever you use any of the digital effects because it sounds like it's, like, 12-bit resolution internally. The overdrive and distortion are pretty gnarly, but if was my first multi-effects unit and there are a couple patches I made on it that I love and so I'll probably never get rid of it.
I might get the Empress delay plugin at some point because it's so ridiculously powerful and configurable, but I have used the Line6 a ton and all of its modes sound so good they sometimes make me want to cry. Also, its built-in looping and triggering capabilities are all I've ever really needed for my guitar.
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This thing is totally bombproof and deeply satisfying to use. I saw Pitchblende use two of these in series and while that was, in retrospect, sort of gratuitous, when they needed to stomp on that second pedal and really take it over the top, it was extremely gratifying.
Studio Equipment 10
Pitch that handclap down about three semitones and have like half of early 90s techno. Now that all of the samples in this sample-based rackmount unit are available via sample packs, there's no particular reason to use an R-8M, unless you have a particularly discerning ear and can (claim to be able to) hear Roland's sonic signature.
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Dealing with this thing with floppies or sending over MIDI is sad and tedious, although it's been a few years since I tried. Gonna guess compatible SCSI drives are not super easy to find these days. The envelope filters on this thing are super clutch, though. I should really give this another try because I have a much better idea of what it can do that a DAW can't, or not as well.
The clock is nice, as is having many isolated MIDI channels, but the software for this always confused the hell out of me. Not even getting into Galaxian.
This is a very good one and I learned most of what I know about compression as a mixing tool from working with this.
This was the central console for my doomed band's practice studio. It was / is bulletproof and has almost no sound characteristics of its own, which is exactly what I want for a live mixer. No crunchy pots, either, which I appreciate probably too much after my years DJing.
Mine has 16GiB RAM and the SSD has been mostly full for several years, but it also has a usable keyboard and I refuse to give it up until I can afford one of the new ones with the OK keyboards. Keyboards are important!
Keyboards and Synthesizers 16
There are so many sounds, and if you have a decent patch librarian that understands its sysex format it's actually not bad for creating sounds, and if you have something with a lot of spare knobs it's not bad for performance. The minimal UI is incredibly intimidating, though.
The DX engine makes amazing noises, but good luck designing patches for it. Also the keyfeel on this thing sucks. It has velocity sensitivity and aftertouch, but there's no weighting and it feels like you're bending plastic forks.
But again, Yamaha FM sounds are the sounds of the 80s, and if you need some sparkle or pluck, it's tough to beat a DX-7.
It's a lot! But so small! I'll update this review or write another one when I've actually figured it out.
Everything about this screams that it was made by teenage design, from the Dieter Bohms styling (this thing could have been in a Braun catalog ca. 1987) to the ridiculously overpowered synth engine, to the random extra features like the expansion port, the Unity motion controller, and the the "haptic subwoofer"(?). I also really like the idea of the "bring your own screen" peripheral design. Also just got this, really looking forward to mastering it, someday.
With three oscillators (including resonators and a pretty powerful granular implementation), a bunch of LFOs, and almost too many routing and modulation options, this is about as close as it gets to putting Massive X in a box. I ended up picking up a Minifreak in part because the Minifreak is more constrained and therefore accessible. But the Iridium is a beast and worth what it costs.
Dealing with this thing with floppies or sending over MIDI is sad and tedious, although it's been a few years since I tried. Gonna guess compatible SCSI drives are not super easy to find these days. The envelope filters on this thing are super clutch, though. I should really give this another try because I have a much better idea of what it can do that a DAW can't, or not as well.
Headphones 3
Probably the most important music-making tool I've ever owned.
Guitars 3
Mine is from 1976 and has the original high-quality humburckers. It sounds really nice and is my favorite electric guitar of all time. I paid $650 for mine, which seemed and seems like a good deal for such a classic instrument.
I hope whoever thought to put a humbucker in a Strat got a fat bonus. It doesn't really sound like a Stratocaster, but that's OK, because it sounds great. The bridge and tremolo arm are not that great at holding tune, but I can get pleasingly shoegazery pitch bends out of it without having to deal with the finickiness of a Jaguar, which is nice.
