Performing with the D-BEAM

Started by supernicd, September 29, 2014, 04:49:14 AM

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supernicd

Another post here from Brak(E)Man inspired me to spend some quality time exploring the D-BEAM yesterday.  This is perhaps more useful and less of a gimmick than I initially thought.

One thing that struck me is that it is a little bit difficult to control at the point of when you first engage it.  So for example it's pretty easy to do a big dive bomb with a pitch shift down.  But to use it for something more subtle like vibrato, I found it to be a little jumpy when you first engage it (max distance from sensor) because you don't know exactly at what height above the sensor it will kick in or at what height you'll reach 1 semitone shift.  Maybe this is just a matter of practice...

Any tips here on how to smooth out the initial entry point when the lights first come on and the D-BEAM is engaged?

Also, I don't have a ton of experience with tremolo arms/whammy bars - I have only had one on a strat which I locked down years ago in favor of better intonation.  Can anyone offer a more detailed description of the types (S-TYPE, B-TYPE, F-TYPE, TRANS) than the short descriptions in the manual?  Is one better than another for situations where you want to have more fine control at the furthest difference from the sensor for more subtle modulations?
Strat w/ GK-3, Godin LGXT
VG-99, GR-55, GP-10
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Brak(E)man

here is another CD with lot's of dbeam ribbon and all other kinds of hands on manipulation.
just a guitar and a VG 99
warning though it's not easy listening





http://brakophonic.bandcamp.com/album/gitar

and if you listen you will realize that I'm not one for subtle ,
at least not on this CD
swimming with a hole in my body

I play Country music too, I'm just not sure which country it's from...

"The only thing worse than a guitar is a guitarist!"
- Lydia Lunch

supernicd

Some really neat and wild tones you're getting there!  Not subtle is a good description - perhaps even a bit understated. ;)  I'll have to listen to more of this when I'm in the right frame of mind for it - it's not every day type listening material for me.  It's cool though.

Yep, the kind of tips I'm looking for above definitely fall into the range of "a lot more subtle" than what you have going on this album!
Strat w/ GK-3, Godin LGXT
VG-99, GR-55, GP-10
---------------------------------------------------------------

supernicd

#3
I spent a little time yesterday with the advanced search tool here and digging through the 'archives.'  Man, there is some great knowledge here, buried deep, that I've never seen. :)

So a couple things I think I might try to tame the initial jumpiness/unpredictability with the D-BEAM (other than practice with it).

The activation range could be changed and padded a bit, maybe set to start at a low of 5 or 10 instead of 0, so that when the blue lights come on, it does not immediately start doing it's thing until the distance from sensor to hand/guitar neck is a little smaller.

Looks like this can also sense horizontal movements over a smaller range than the vertical, so perhaps using the horizontal D-BEAM and a much smaller bend range might work.

I had also calibrated the D-BEAM with my hand but was then using the guitar neck to engage it, and wondering if that made a bit of difference in how the sensor reacted.

I'll try them when I have a chance and see how it goes.

Also picked up a tip from rolandvg99 that the FC-300 can be switched into CC mode via an external foot switch and then you pick up an insane amount of new foot switches for your patch.  Wow! I know I'm about 10 years late to the VG-99 party and this may be old hat for many of you.  I'm like a kid in a candy store with this thing. ;)
Strat w/ GK-3, Godin LGXT
VG-99, GR-55, GP-10
---------------------------------------------------------------

supernicd

For the sake of closure, the method that worked the best for what I wanted to accomplish was to use the horizontal D-BEAM control.

So turn Assignable on for the D-BEAM, then in Control Assign, set the Horizontal assign switch to ON.  Set the target to Alt Tuning / [A] Bend / Bend, for example.  Then in ALT tuning settings, turn pitch bend on.  I set the bends to either +/-2.  It worked really well for this - for something like a subtle whammy bar usage (vs. a big dive bomb thing).  You don't need to worry about the height you hit it at.

However, if you increase the pitch bend range to something more like +/-12, the horizontal D-BEAM doesn't work out so well.  It seems to have fewer points across its range than the vertical sensor.  So with +/-12, you get discrete pitch changes moving across the range rather than a fluid bend.

Changing the activation range for the vertical control also worked, but not as well as the using the horizontal sensor for this particular thing.
Strat w/ GK-3, Godin LGXT
VG-99, GR-55, GP-10
---------------------------------------------------------------

Brak(E)man

Quote from: SuperNiCd on September 30, 2014, 10:38:06 AM
For the sake of closure, the method that worked the best for what I wanted to accomplish was to use the horizontal D-BEAM control.

So turn Assignable on for the D-BEAM, then in Control Assign, set the Horizontal assign switch to ON.  Set the target to Alt Tuning / [A] Bend / Bend, for example.  Then in ALT tuning settings, turn pitch bend on.  I set the bends to either +/-2.  It worked really well for this - for something like a subtle whammy bar usage (vs. a big dive bomb thing).  You don't need to worry about the height you hit it at.

However, if you increase the pitch bend range to something more like +/-12, the horizontal D-BEAM doesn't work out so well.  It seems to have fewer points across its range than the vertical sensor.  So with +/-12, you get discrete pitch changes moving across the range rather than a fluid bend.

Changing the activation range for the vertical control also worked, but not as well as the using the horizontal sensor for this particular thing.

thanx for the info ,
I've used both directions at the same time for diferrent Fx but never touched the activation range in the way you have,
more like a calibration if there's a way to make the ribbon control stick halfway then I'm home :)
swimming with a hole in my body

I play Country music too, I'm just not sure which country it's from...

"The only thing worse than a guitar is a guitarist!"
- Lydia Lunch

mateomasfeo


I find it easy and fun to use - sometimes with my hand, other times with the guitar neck,,,

Example - used on the intro and several places -https://soundcloud.com/dances-with-sheep/welcome-to-my-domain
Dances with Sheep on SoundCLoud

https://soundcloud.com/dances-with-sheep

supernicd

Thanks for sharing. :)  Welcome to my Domain does fall into my everyday listening kind of feel - love the indie rock vibe.  And nice example of the the D-BEAM usage there in the intro; that is about the range of subtlety I'm after.  Are all the guitars VG-99 on that track?
Strat w/ GK-3, Godin LGXT
VG-99, GR-55, GP-10
---------------------------------------------------------------

mateomasfeo

Quote from: SuperNiCd on October 06, 2014, 07:31:18 AM
Thanks for sharing. :)  Welcome to my Domain does fall into my everyday listening kind of feel - love the indie rock vibe.  And nice example of the the D-BEAM usage there in the intro; that is about the range of subtlety I'm after.  Are all the guitars VG-99 on that track?

Thanks for the listen and comments.

Yes, on that track all of the guitars are VG99.  What else could a man need? ;D

Dances with Sheep on SoundCLoud

https://soundcloud.com/dances-with-sheep

supernicd

#9
Quote from: mateomasfeo on October 07, 2014, 11:57:24 AM
Thanks for the listen and comments.

Yes, on that track all of the guitars are VG99.  What else could a man need? ;D

Given that my gear addiction syndrome has been flaring up lately, but I just can't convince myself to pull the trigger and buy anything, my current answer is... nothing. :)

The toys that can outperform the VG-99 at some particular thing (save for maybe the FTP) are very expensive, and none of them do all the things it can do in one seamless package.  So it has put my G.A.S. on hold.  At least for now.
Strat w/ GK-3, Godin LGXT
VG-99, GR-55, GP-10
---------------------------------------------------------------