Re: [Harp-L] RP355 + Korg Pandora

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Boris Plotnikov wrote:
<In general I dislike digital FXs which don't
<use analog dry signal pass through, but one can be from ok to good (but
<never perfect). I tried to gig with Line6 POD HD only for a half year and
<gave up, tone sucks and cut much worse than direct plug to PA or to guitar
<amp, no matter what settings do you use (even bypass!).

Boris is one of the best harmonica players in the world right now, a great musician with great technique.  I'm not going to argue with him about the tone of digital devices such as the POD HD or the Digitech RP.  I'm simply going to invite anyone with interest to visit my website at hunterharp.com and hear for themselves the dozens of recordings I've made live and in studio with the RP.  You can decide for yourself whether the stuff sounds great or not.  I obviously think it sounds great. The posts contain detailed info on the gear used to perform and record the pieces. For the live recordings in particular, there is practically zero post-recording processing, so you're hearing what the thing really sounds like.

Two good places to start are:
http://www.hunterharp.com/live-from-alpine-wines-31-aug-2013-have-mercy/
This is a straight-up amped blues played on chromatic harmonica.  I use the RP for the bass line (looped) and the rhythm and solo sounds.

http://www.hunterharp.com/live-from-alpine-wines-31-aug-2013-little-wing/
This is a more modern sound, with pitch shifting and prominent delay, played on a C diatonic in second position.

Followed by:
http://www.hunterharp.com/all-hunters-downloads-in-one-place/
Almost all the live recordings on this page were done using a Digitech RP.

Like I said: I think this stuff sounds great.  If you think it would sound better played through different equipment, by all means use that equipment.  To me, the combination of low cost, great sound, and high portability that amp modeling devices offer is spectacular.

One final comment: I have spent literally hundreds of hours developing sounds for the Digitech RP series devices.  It takes time to learn how to make an amp modeler sound great with harp, because there is SO much going on in these devices, and I've put in the time.  If you're not willing to put in the time, you should either buy a license for my patch sets, or use something simpler.  There's plenty of great-sounding stuff out there.  I like mine best, but who doesn't?  We are all extremely fortunate to have such a wide range of good choices made to order for harp players.

regards, Richard Hunter

  


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