Eddie Kramer Waves/Logic Tour is THE hot ticket this season!

[joelpatterson]

Walk, run and stumble over anything in your path to get a seat when it comes to your town! This might be the most inspiring and eye-opening hour you'll spend this year.

Mr. Kramer walks you through a Logic file of a rocking band that he tracked this spring at Abbey Road. And then-- a live guitar player adds three tracks, standing there before your eyes: when he finished the screamo distorty track complete with bottle slide and twisting tuning pegs the room went nuts!

So he starts with a pop quiz of which mic should a body use for which application, and then plays the tracks "raw," and then enables the series of brand new JJP Waves plug-ins to demonstrate how sizzlingly they work. The results were astonishing. The capabilities of Logic 8 are just, well, sick-- the footpedal options alone-- chaining any variety in any configuration-- your dreams, meet come true.

He took questions about technique and gear and answered all thoughtfully and candidly. Finally someone asked him what was the biggest difference between "then" and "now"?

"The haze in the control room."

[Masochrism]

I quite literally JUST missed this in LA. Just a couple of hours ago....

[SoundEng1]

Originally Posted by joelpatterson

Walk, run and stumble over anything in your path to get a seat when it comes to your town! This might be the most inspiring and eye-opening hour you'll spend this year.

Mr. Kramer walks you through a Logic file of a rocking band that he tracked this spring at Abbey Road. And then-- a live guitar player adds three tracks, standing there before your eyes: when he finished the screamo distorty track complete with bottle slide and twisting tuning pegs the room went nuts!

So he starts with a pop quiz of which mic should a body use for which application, and then plays the tracks "raw," and then enables the series of brand new JJP Waves plug-ins to demonstrate how sizzlingly they work. The results were astonishing. The capabilities of Logic 8 are just, well, sick-- the footpedal options alone-- chaining any variety in any configuration-- your dreams, meet come true.

He took questions about technique and gear and answered all thoughtfully and candidly. Finally someone asked him what was the biggest difference between "then" and "now"?

"The haze in the control room."

Im There!

[ronzie]

Joel, I'm jealous. I need stories like these to tell MY grandchildren.

Ron Allaire, Skyline

[nobtwiddler]

Eddie stopped in my studio yesterday to say hello on his way to Manahattan to set up the Waves demo.
It was good to see him, and chat for a few minutes, catching up.
Been a few months since we last hung.
Anyhow,
I think you guys will have a good time.
I'm sorry I couldn't make it....but someones gotta work!

[jamwerks]

Originally Posted by joelpatterson

The capabilities of Logic 8 are just, well, sick-- the footpedal options alone-- chaining any variety in any configuration

What exactly are these "footpedal options"? I'm a Logic user but have never heard of them?

All best.........

[joelpatterson]

Originally Posted by jamwerks

What exactly are these "footpedal options"?.....

There's a window called "Stomp," which calls up a tray with six openings. You can drop any one of dozens and dozens and hundreds of pedals into the slots, in whatever order you'd like. And then as far as what amp you'd like to play through, I think he might have said there were millions of options there.

The graphics are darn cute, too, the shadows on the knobs and everything, and some of the pedals show scuffing from years of wear. I'm of two minds about this-- it's very comforting to see these familiar faces... but it's also comical and absurd, in a way, I mean, come on, there is no light shining on anything, this is all a movie!

The sonics are pure stunningness, however, that's the bottom line. They've managed to capture the "quirkiness" of the real live deal. Watching it all, you sure get the feeling that a barrier has been crossed, whatever compromises and limitations you used to think of when you thought of "computer simulation" are gone, gone, gone.

[musicjon]

There's no "stomp" in my copy of Logic. Maybe it's Waves guitar stuff?

[Toad]

Originally Posted by musicjon

There's no "stomp" in my copy of Logic. Maybe it's Waves guitar stuff?

I'm pretty sure he's talking about Waves.

[Izzi]

Originally Posted by musicjon

There's no "stomp" in my copy of Logic. Maybe it's Waves guitar stuff?

The "Stomp" is GTR3 not Logic.

[TonyBelmont]

Originally Posted by izzi

The "Stomp" is GTR3 not Logic.

You are correct... GTR3's Stomp has 26 different pedals.

[joelpatterson]

I have no idea what I'm talking about... that's the problem!

[TonyBelmont]

Originally Posted by joelpatterson

I have no idea what I'm talking about... that's the problem!

[kittyboy]

So, gear-wise, were you most impressed by the guitar pedal thing?

[u b k]

joel, i had no clue you were there or i'd have said hi.

i was the one who lamented 13,000 plugin presets and asked him what, if anything, he missed about the days when sessions were 3 hours long and 2 songs got finished.

in all honesty, i didn't like what any of the plugs did to any of the sounds. every time they a/b'd, i preferred the unprocessed (and less loud) version.

it was amazing to have him in the room, though. i wish the questions weren't dominated by ones like "how do you eq a bass drum to sound big and full?" or "can i upgrade my waves platinum to the ssl bundle?" i kept thinking 'good god, eddie kramer is here and willing to talk about anything and people are asking about plugins.'

way of the world, i suppose.


gregoire
del
ubk
.

[joelpatterson]

Originally Posted by u b k

... every time they a/b'd, i preferred the unprocessed (and less loud) version...

They needed to pass out name tags so we would know who's who... or better, a specially reserved Gearslutz section.

I thought the processing was a little exaggerated to prove his point. Point being that EQ can have a drastic effect? Also, the wretched, boomy PA they set up, are you telling me that was the best system they had under the roof? Please....

Originally Posted by kittyboy

So, gear-wise, were you most impressed by the guitar pedal thing?

It did sound like a guitar going through pedals... seems like there's a two-fold set of issues. The first question, "does this stuff sound like the real deal?" is the false question that you're encouraged to ask-- if your answer is on the positive side of the scale, lucky you! You can get it for 1/100 what it would "really" cost you!

The question, "Am I prepared to say that a simulation of something is okay with me?" is the real, underlying, 3AM call. Only you can answer that one.

[Osumosan]

Originally Posted by u b k

joel, i had no clue you were there or i'd have said hi.

i was the one who lamented 13,000 plugin presets and asked him what, if anything, he missed about the days when sessions were 3 hours long and 2 songs got finished.

in all honesty, i didn't like what any of the plugs did to any of the sounds. every time they a/b'd, i preferred the unprocessed (and less loud) version.

it was amazing to have him in the room, though. i wish the questions weren't dominated by ones like "how do you eq a bass drum to sound big and full?" or "can i upgrade my waves platinum to the ssl bundle?" i kept thinking 'good god, eddie kramer is here and willing to talk about anything and people are asking about plugins.'

way of the world, i suppose.


gregoire
del
ubk
.

Wow. I wish I knew some of you guys were there. We should have posted about this BEFORE the event. Oh well.

Remember, this was promoted as a Kramer/Waves/Logic event, so there was going to be some interest on the non-Kramer side of things. I guess some people didn't really know exactly of whom they were asking questions.

By the way, I'm the one who got fired for suggesting a 414 on the snare bottom and asking what was the chain that gave Bonham's kick the gated feel, although I never meant to suggest he actually used a gate (!)

AND...I don't believe Mr. K really uses Waves in a real mixdown yet.

[kittyboy]

Originally Posted by joelpatterson

You can get it for 1/100 what it would "really" cost you!

Well, GTR3 is $800 bucks, which is 1/100 of...a lot.

[joelpatterson]

Originally Posted by kittyboy

Well, GTR3 is $800 bucks, which is 1/100 of...a lot.

Put it in perspective, you're getting 19 guitar amps, 7 bass amps, 22 cabinets, 26 pedals and about 100 zillion configurations of every mic on Earth point at those cabs... in a way...

[kittyboy]

Originally Posted by joelpatterson

Put it in perspective, you're getting 19 guitar amps, 7 bass amps, 22 cabinets, 26 pedals and about 100 zillion configurations of every mic on Earth point at those cabs... in a way...

Two questions if you don't mind:

1) was it the best guitar fx emulation you've heard?

2) if you didn't know it was emulation would you think "hmmm....emulation..."



Thanks!

[kittyboy]

The price varies, btw. Street for native w/o custom box is $380...

But several reviewers say the sounds are a bit hi-fi, glossy sounding, not so gritty...

[joelpatterson]

They just needed to enable the "grit" button, either "auto-grit" or one of the Jack Joseph Puig "grit presets."

To address your question, I don't feel like the twain are ever going to honestly, truly meet in this arena. It's always going to be a mockery, in a way, of the real thing. It was damn cookin' to hear the guy playing through all this software, I suspended my disbelief completely for the three minutes. Yeah, best emulation I've heard. I'd go further and say, this is as good as emulation gonna get.

[u b k]

Originally Posted by joelpatterson

The first question, "does this stuff sound like the real deal?" is the false question that you're encouraged to ask

...

The question, "Am I prepared to say that a simulation of something is okay with me?" is the real, underlying, 3AM call.

amen to that. there's 'good', and there's 'good enough'. both have their place.


gregoire
del
ubk
.

[smoore98]

I was on the front row last night in Nashville at the Sound Kitchen for this event. I was able to video the first hour before my battery ran out. I made it to the part where they started to track the guitars live.

There were a couple of things I heard which I think a lot of people would find pretty cool:

1. Eddie mentioned a movie that was supposedly going to be done about something that involved his stories of Jimi Hendrix. Perhaps a biography of Jimi?
2. They have found 10 hours of Woodstock footage that has never been released or seen by the masses that contains performances by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin, Carlos Santana, and some others. They will be releasing it along with the 40th anniversary edition of the Woodstock DVD in Blueray 7.1 next year,
3. When asked his favorite mistake in the studio, Eddie said it was Led Zepplin II on "Whole Lotta Love". Toward the end when you hear the echo of Plant singing "woman...you need.....love" and you hear the echo. The vocals were cut on track 8 and there was bleed from track 7 that they could not get rid of. So they turned it into an effect. He said "leave the mistakes. They become history." Just think of how easy it would have been to delete that unwanted sound today.

It was a great experience for me to meet a producer/engineer of this caliber. The fact that it was held at the Sound Kitchen was also significant for me. I have been in Nashville over 10 years and I have always wanted to go inside, but I never had the connections or a good reason. I was thrilled just to see what the rooms looked like and I am extremely thankful to the SK management, Waves, Apple, and Vintage King for hosting this.

Scott

[smoore98]

Oh, and I forgot to mention, Eddie said they are working on 5.1 surround versions of the hendrix catalog, but he could not say more than that.

Scott

[Glide]

Where is the schedule for his tour, or is it over and done with?

[WavesEvents]

9/18 Guitar Center Seattle Seattle, WA RSVP
9/23 Atlanta Pro Audio Atlanta, GA RSVP
9/25 West LA Music Los Angeles,CA - Sold Out
10/8 Long & McQuade Toronto, ON RSVP

Hope to see you there!

[smoore98]

I am putting up videos for those who cannot make it:

Eddie Kramer Waves/Logic Tour - Videos

Scott

[Oroz]

Originally Posted by smoore98

1. Eddie mentioned a movie that was supposedly going to be done about something that involved his stories of Jimi Hendrix. Perhaps a biography of Jimi?

I was watching your videos (thanks again for uploading them BTW) and I understood that this is actually a Beatles movie (video #1, around 5:26).

[smoore98]

Originally Posted by Oroz

I was watching your videos (thanks again for uploading them BTW) and I understood that this is actually a Beatles movie (video #1, around 5:26).

Yeah, I think you are right.
Scott