Covid is not slowing down the deluge of modern guitar releases. Today is one of the days Bandcamp gives all of the money to the artists so if you like any of these grab it now.
Mulit-effects/amp sim floor pedals are not new. What makes the Neural DSP Quad Cortex Quad-Core Digital Effects Modeler/Profiling Floorboard (say that three times fast) newsworthy is its incorporation of an iPad type touch screen and its capture technology. From Mitch Gallagher’s concise, comprehensive demo, the device seems well thought out and elegantly simple. Unfortunately there seems to be no info on the onboard effects, but the board does allow you to capture the sound of both amps and effects. From the Anderton’s video, the effect capture seems pretty impressive. What do you think?
Leo Abrahams has led what is possibly the ideal modern guitarist’s life: touring Russia performing improvised solo shows through a laptop; playing with Brian Eno AND Bryan Ferry, not to mention Imogen Heap, Jarvis Cocker, and Paul Simon; as well as co-writing or arranging a variety of film soundtracks, including Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones and Steve McQueen’s Hunger. Last year he was part of two terrific recorded projects, Visitations, a series of guitar duets with Shahzad Ismaily; and Krononaut (listen to tracks below), a record of improvisations with drummer Martin France, bassists Tim Harries and Shahzad Ismaily, Arve Henriksen on trumpet, and Matana Roberts on saxophone. For more background I recommend our first interview here, and our later conversation here .
The pedal world is rife with cryptic stompbox names that give no clue to what the pedal is or does. While the name on EarthQuaker’s new pedal, Astral Destiny, doesn’t specifically mention that it is a reverb, it’s description “An Octal Octave Reverberation Odyssey” does accurately represent the feelings this device will evoke: a literally awe inspiring trip through the cosmos. There are plenty of pedals with “shimmer” functions out there, but with its octave up and down options, and its stretch feature, which doubles the reverb length while adding an adjustable pitch bending effect, Astral Destiny carves out its own place in the firmament. A must for ambience lovers, it is also just a great sounding reverb. Thankfully it allows presets, as you are quite likely to find at least eight sounds you won’t want to lose. (See “more” for specs).