My Gear, Pt. 2: You Thought this Madness Was Over

Happy day to all of you reading this blog post today! I'm very happy that you're gracing my page with your clicks, views, and whatnot. I decided to write this blog post for essentially one reason: it's foggy here in Arlington. When it gets foggy, I drink tea. When I drink tea, I write, I share... I blog. All that to say, I feel you should know the "gear" I am sporting these days, and perhaps why I sport it. We'll see how long my tea and my impulse lasts. Here is my gear, part two.

Danelectro Fab Flange: A Review

Greetings blogosphere! You likely saw the title of this post and cringed. Here, watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpfOUxIPkOk.

… No seriously, watch the video.

Pretty bad right? Well I don’t care! I flipping love the Fab Flange and will continue to use it in my music until the day I transform from the hip, indie lead player, to the mustached mandolin player who doesn’t really have a place. All joking aside, I will say this about the pedal- it adds noise, is cheap, and is actually a very poor quality flange pedal. But I love it. So be prepared, worship guitarists of the internet, for an overwhelmingly positive review on one of the worst pedals ever made!

How I Use the Fab Flange

I use the Fab Flange in the FX loop of my Strymon Timeline. Now, you might be wondering why I allow a Danelectro pedal on my pedalboard, never mind fogging up my $500 delay pedal’s signal. You ought to know that I am an immense fan of Jonny Buckland’s work on Coldplay’s “Ghost Stories”, particularly the first track on the album, “Always in My Head”. From the fact that he’s rawking the now-popular Silvertone 1484 (which has a beautiful recreation by JHS Pedals), to the fact his reverb could cut through the most bitter heart, I just love everything he does (even [as Rolling Stone described it] the most unsexy solo of 2014 on “True Love”). Aaaallllllll that to say, his overall sound is incredibly modulated, while not overly saturated. I use the Fab Flange to get these tones. Just check out Ghost Stories to get an idea of how my delay sounds.

Twist and Shout

There are three knobs on the Fab Flange: Regen, Speed, Depth.

Speed- The speed of the modulation. Nothing more, nothing less. I usually have it about 50-60%.

Depth- The depth of the modulation. Nothing more, nothing less. I usually have it at about 25-40%.

Regen- Hey, so imagine if you made Pikachu drink a cranberry Red Bull, shook him up, then stuck him in a knob. This is easily the most convenient and accurate way to describe the way the Regen knob. You probably won’t need it past 20%, if at all. I have it at about 10% most of the time.

Situationalism

Know when to use the Fab Flange. It doesn’t always sound good. On most Chris Tomlin stuff, you probably do NOT want to use it. On Bethel stuff, you likely do want to use it, as Michael Pope has a very modulated sound. The Fab Flange sounds incredible for overall ambience and swells. I usually use it once a set, which for me, warrants it a spot on my pedalboard. NOTE! Do not use the “infinity” mode on the Timeline when also using the flange. The modulation feeds into itself, warbling, ultimately sounding like a dubstep bass drop.

All in all, I have maybe 3 complaints about this pedal. Which is rare. And for only $15, it’s a steal. Go buy one.


Thanks y’all.

#antigearporn: Stop Normalizing Pornography

Hey all. Sorry my posts have kind of been off the wall lately. Here’s another one I want to run by you, with your permission of course. I'll also keep it short and sweet. This post will be themed around #gearporn (as can be seen in the image below) and the likes (i.e. #gearslut, #geargasm), or rather themed against them. While I am not entirely certain as to how this utterly disgusting social media trend started, I’m concerned with seeing the end of #gearporn.

Reason(s) I Covered Creep and Where is My Mind?

Psh, like I NEEDED any reason(s) to cover them!


Just kidding…

Well, I absolutely love Radiohead and their beautiful song “Creep”. I know even Radiohead hates Creep, but I frankly am quite inspired by it. I feel too many people write off Creep as some angsty anthem. It is, I suppose. But it’s more than that. I’m not even referencing the “I don’t belong here” part. It’s a really humbling lyrical piece. It tugs at us to be more than a relationship. That is what I like about Creep.

As for “Where is My Mind”, I can’t really say much except that it is an incredibly disorienting piece of music. For years as a young teen, I loved the song simply as some off-kilter freak show to scream along to. But earlier this year I heard the lullaby version on an episode of Criminal Minds, and suddenly my whole view of the song was changed. I heard more than out of tune vocals and obnoxious lead lines. I heard something really beautiful. I immediately wanted to do a chill arrangement of the song. But after really studying the second verse, I hated it. I mean I absolutely despised it.

Then a thought occurred to me to cover Where is My Mind in the key of E(ish), along with Creep. It turned into a pretty cool concept, I feel. The reason I decided to actually record them together as a fluid piece is because listening to the songs together makes me feel a little less insane. And yeah, we’re creeps and weirdos, but we do have a purpose on this earth. It’s to glorify Jesus. So please bear that in mind as you listen to the song. We aren’t here for nothing. All is not lost. We have brains, hearts, ears, and tongues which we should use to worship the Maker with.

Here's the link: https://soundcloud.com/tbato/creep-where-is-my-mind

Thanks y’all.

Unrelated Poem #1: To Know You

During class today I was flipping through an old notebook and caught this poem I wrote years back. It's nothing special, but I would appreciate the read. 

We are the champions

But not of the fight

We have a spring in our step

And in that delight

We don't push

We don't shove

But instead

We show love

 

As our time on earth fades

We'll be fine with our fate

We will praise You in Heaven

The place O so great

 

The place of affection for our Heav'nly King

And there, there forever our praises will ring

 

With a ding, and a dong of the so high church bell

We will love You forever, safe out of Hell

 

With a "Lord please forgive me, my life's wholly Yours."

Ascending to Heaven, with beauty galore

 

Life is but time

Time is but dust

Lord, in You

I surely do trust

When Not to Play

Nellie Bertram

"Oh, here's what happened. Seven forty-six, my alarm clock goes off. I hear it. Whack the snooze. Nine minutes. Bzz! Off it goes again. Whack! Seven more times I did that. Bzz, whack. Bzz, whack! By the time I got up, it was ten minutes ago. No willpower. That is my curse." -Nellie Bertram (The Office)

Pedal Review: EHX Soul Food OD

Salutations fellow pedalheads! Because I write a blog on worship and guitar pedals, I will, believe it or not, be composing several specific pedal reviews on pedals I feel merit a review. The subject of this review is the EHX Soul Food OD. I hope you enjoy!