[Harp-L] Rotosim

["John F. Potts" <hvyj@xxxxxxx>]

I'm an electric player, but these days, I haven't been using effects  
very much other than reverb or delay (I don't like playing dry). I  
used to use effects more,  but lately I've learned that a player can  
get very wide (and some pretty wild and dramatic) variations in  
electric tone just with differing degrees of a tight cup on the mic  
and changing the size and/or shape of the oral resonance chamber with  
different combinations of varying breath pressure and/or attack and  
altering the stream of the airflow. Most effects (other than reverb  
or delay) seem to inhibit the effectiveness of these techniques and  
so i haven't been putting anything in the signal chain that gets in  
the way.

 However, i do like the leslie/rotary (organ) sound for harp in the  
right spots, and one can't get that effect or anything like it  
without a device.

Anyway, I just got a DLS Rotosim pedal.  Very harp friendly and  
sounds good with all my amps. Besides sounding cool, it  allows me to  
play background parts (comp) on some material that ordinarily would  
not sound right with harp, and also provides a different voice on  
material I would ordinarily play on.  Has to be used selectively,  
though.  Too much of an otherwise good thing can be too much.  Of  
course, there's a little more room/opportunity to use it if the band  
doesn't have a keyboard.

Besides being  very adjustable and easy to use, it does not "mask" my  
basic tone.  I can still vary/color my tonal presentation with  
technique and the Rotosim (leslie) effect is applied to whatever I'm  
playing instead of completely defining my tone. Also has true bypass.  
Very cool, very responsive. and, most important, the other musicians  
I'm playing with like it. Like any effect, it will sound somewhat  
different depending on what mic you use, and you may have to readjust  
the tone controls on the amp a little, but I'm pretty happy w/it.   
Relatively expensive ($299), but the quality and performance seems  
commensurate w/ the price.  Highly recommended.

JP