[Harp-L] Solo harp gig with Digitech RP350

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi all,

I performed solo today at the Farmer's Market in Weston CT.  It was a good gig, and I sold 36 CDs, about which I'll say more in another post.  This was my first solo harp gig with the Digitech RP350, and I want to talk about how that went.

In general, it went very well indeed.  I've noted previously that the RP350 has several very nice reverbs and a lot of good delays, and these turned out to be terrifically useful in performance.  I've set up a number of reverb-only patches and delay + reverb patches in my new set, and I was able to easily produce a wide range of different ambiences onstage by switching between delays and hall, plate, and room reverbs, and setting the effect level with the footpedal.  I will never do another solo acoustic gig without this pedal--for reverbs alone, it sounds great, and the footpedal is a terrifically convenient way to bring ambience in and out of the sound.

I also used my Akai Headrush looper pedal on this gig, and while it's a very limited device--maximum of 22 seconds loop for one layer, 11 seconds for multiple layer looping--I was able to get some great textures by playing a simple 2-chord pattern with one sound, looping it, and soloing over it with another sound.  I plan to get a better dedicated looper device--one that will handle, say, a minute or two of looping--very soon.  

I had to play at a relatively low volume level on this gig, so I didn't get much of a chance to hear how the more amped-up patches on the RP350 sounded.   Stay tuned for some Youtube vids on that topic.  In the meantime, I recorded the audio for this gig, and I'll check out the recording to see whether there's something worth posting there.

Regards, Richard hunter


author, "Jazz Harp"
latest mp3s and harmonica blog at http://myspace.com/richardhunterharp
more mp3s at http://taxi.com/rhunter
Vids at http://www.youtube.com/user/lightninrick