Difficult Decisions
Nearly every day, I receive a question like “I have a Custom Slender Flatoblaster with Fleemore Dunkin pickups. What brand and values of pots and capacitors should I buy to get a killer sound for Jazz Country Electro Fusion Metal Ambient Rockabilly?”
I’ve tried to be clear in my posts and videos evaluating guitar electronics, that these things are really subjective and a matter of personal preference. I could tell you that I like CTS brand EP0086 500k audio taper pots for both volume and tone, and Orange Drop 715P .01uF tone capacitors, and these work really well for me. But, you may buy these same components and hate them. More
Jordan Rudess Plays the KRONOS
I just got back from the 2011 NAMM show. There was a great buzz about the KRONOS throughout the show- a really nice way to celebrate the announcement of the product.
It was truly inspiring to see and hear some great musicians playing KRONOS, including Korg’s own Steve McNally, Jack Hotop and Rich Formidoni. But the highlight for me was getting into the packed standing-room-only demo room while Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater talked about his inspirations and masterfully improvised on the KRONOS.
I captured this video on my handheld camcorder. Unfortunately it’s only using the built-in mic, so the audio isn’t great. And people kept bumping into me! But in spite of that, Jordan’s musicality and skill shine through, as do the fantastic sounds and capabilities of KRONOS. Enjoy!
I think in this picture, I was saying “sorry about that voice stealing bug we heard during your playing- I just tweaked the stealing algorithm, so it’ll be fixed in the next update!” 
Thankfully, he was very understanding, and was asking Rich “When can I get one? No seriously, when?”
Korg KRONOS Workstation Revealed
At long last, the KRONOS workstation is being unveiled at this year’s NAMM show. This is the successor to the acclaimed OASYS, which was released back in 2005 . As some of you may know, I work at Korg Research & Development. I’ve spent nearly 10 years (that’s a quarter of my life!) working on the technology that lives inside this beast!
The big “nine” in the teaser announcement hinted at the number of synthesis engines in the KRONOS. In addition to the seven outstanding engines from the OASYS (HD-1 high definition PCM, AL-1 analog modeling, CX-3 organ modeling, STR-1 plucked string physical modeling, PolysixEX analog modeling, MS-20EX analog modeling, and MOD-7 waveshaping VPM), there are two exciting new synthesis engines:
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Happy New Year!
Wow, another year is already over!
The last few months have been pretty quiet here at planetz, as I’ve been insanely slammed at work.
I have so many planetz projects started, but have had so little free time to finish anything. Hopefully that’ll improve in the coming months.
Here are some of my current projects that are either nearly done, on the way, or in the planning stages:
- a comprehensive audio/video comparison of the Vox AC15HW1 and AC15C1 amps
- a video how-to installing an on/off LED in a Proco RAT pedal while preserving true bypass
- lots of pedal DIY stuff including an overdrive pedal inspired by the Fulltone OCD
- some more guitar tweaking videos like push/pull pots, TOM bridge replacement, etc.
- a comprehensive audio/video comparison of pickup magnet types
- perhaps even some woodworking stuff- restoring an old rusty Rockwell band saw, building a set of drawers for the kids, etc
Wishing you all the best for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2011.
Rock on!