New Gear stuff

[Pez]

Another small tidbit, Brad has completely abandoned singing backing vocals, no microphone to be seen in front of him at any point during the set. Joe and Phoenix also seem to have scaled back the amount of backups they're doing.

 

I noticed this on a few shows but hes clearly seen singing into a mic with everyone else during the medley on RAR.

[sharwood1]

I noticed brad doesn't do the keybored parts on BID and WFTE..

Robs kit is the same except for double pedal. He has lowered he's crashes a bit and I noticed he's zildjians are different. It looks like where he's 18" was there's a different a custom which is bigger then the one where he's 19" was which is still the same a custom projection. He may have the 18" on the right and 19" on left now..

[Coizu]

I noticed brad doesn't do the keybored parts on BID and WFTE..

I am pretty sure that's because of his back. He played both parts in Tucson IIRC.

[Astat]

 

I noticed this on a few shows but hes clearly seen singing into a mic with everyone else during the medley on RAR.

Literally the first time I've seen a microphone in front of him all tour. Actually, looking at the setlist, that's the only song in there that he would sing backups on anyway, so I guess it's not too big of a deal. I just definitely remember not seeing him do that the first few shows.

 

I noticed brad doesn't do the keybored parts on BID and WFTE..

Robs kit is the same except for double pedal. He has lowered he's crashes a bit and I noticed he's zildjians are different. It looks like where he's 18" was there's a different a custom which is bigger then the one where he's 19" was which is still the same a custom projection. He may have the 18" on the right and 19" on left now..

Yeah, Brad hasn't been doing the keyboard parts since he hurt his back. I think it's because he doesn't want to climb the stairs up to where Mike's keyboard is (he's been staying on the lowest level of the stage at all times the last few shows).

 

I noticed that Rob's ride cymbal looks a little smaller than what I remember, I know he had a 21" ride at one point but it looks like he may have gone down to the more "standard" 20" one.

 

Some more guitar stuff:

-Brad's playing guitar on Blackout now, which is funny because there isn't actually guitar in it (he used to play keys/drums on it)! He just strums an E octave at an eighth note rhythm during the last part of the song.

-During the encore, Brad's playing a PRS on several songs that he typically would play a Strat on: Until It's Gone, A Light That Never Comes, and Lost in the Echo. He played these songs on a Strat for the first couple shows of the tour, but switched at one of the Russia shows. I'm guessing it's related to the issues he was having with the EBow on the No More Sorrow intro to UIG - an EBow works a lot easier on a guitar with humbucking pickups. Still, that doesn't explain why he wouldn't switch to the Strat after UIG, he has plenty of time to...might be another back injury-related thing, he may want to minimize his guitar changes.

Edited June 9, 2014 by Astat

[Pez]

Some more guitar stuff:

-Brad's playing guitar on Blackout now, which is funny because there isn't actually guitar in it (he used to play keys/drums on it)! He just strums an E octave at an eighth note rhythm during the last part of the song.

 

Yeah I was listening to the Blackout Multracks yesterday and the day before, It sounds like this might actually be in the studio version. Towards the end of the song is the additional instruments track, you can hear a heavily effect processed guitar which could well be playing what Brad is playing now. Thats just my opinion tho.

[Pez]

Mikes rig as per instagram post.

 

 

Keyboard: Nord Stage 2. Interesting thing is its lacking a lot of the traditional Nord red colouring. Ive seen full black with no red versions of this keyboard but nothing like this. It might be a custom one or someones gotten fancy and pain/matte gaffed this (not the first time either of these things have happened to some of their gear am I right Astat...)

Two iPads running what looks like the Lemur app but I maybe wrong. Post iPad 3s as the white lightning bolt to 30pin connector is a giveaway.

4 Pintech pads, 2 either side.

Maschine Mk2

Not sure if that's the touchscreen thing Mike/Joe have been promoting but its definitely showing the Ableton Live 9 session viewer in which as reported, is running everything for them these days. Its a powerful tool once you know how to use it (I've been experimenting with it alot lately, so much fun).

 

No idea what that is on the upper right of his keyboard tho. Its the only thing I cant put a name too. Ideas?

 

[JanekZech]

No idea what that is on the upper right of his keyboard tho. Its the only thing I cant put a name too. Ideas?

 

It's just a computer mouse, a Kensington Expert Mouse to be exact.

http://www.kensington.com/us/us/4493/K64325RR/expert-mouse%C2%AE#.U8_HLvl_tI4

 

He probably uses it to control Ableton.

[anotherhardcorefan]

Oh shit. I don't even understand one single post on this thread.

Btw, what part of "gear" is the lights of various colors that . uh. I can't explain it but I hope u understand..

For eg the warped.tour was a day show, with no lights. The night shows like rar and all look very tacky, coz of the lights. Idk how it was back then in 2001-02, but i dont think it was like this? If indeed, it won't have been as tacky as now. Cant they do it like then, or the projekt revolution 2004 shows? ( from what i remember camden was great in this) these were more.boombastic than the current spotlights and stage lights lol

I dont have any idea what i just said BTW

[Wark]

This video might explain stuff for you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaJqaSR9LNM

[Pez]

Oh shit. I don't even understand one single post on this thread.

Btw, what part of "gear" is the lights of various colors that . uh. I can't explain it but I hope u understand..

For eg the warped.tour was a day show, with no lights. The night shows like rar and all look very tacky, coz of the lights. Idk how it was back then in 2001-02, but i dont think it was like this? If indeed, it won't have been as tacky as now. Cant they do it like then, or the projekt revolution 2004 shows? ( from what i remember camden was great in this) these were more.boombastic than the current spotlights and stage lights lol

I dont have any idea what i just said BTW

 

Lights and everything can be covered in this thread, but the main focus is more so the instruments etc that LP use to make the music. Lights, concert speakers, staging, video screens etc comes under the production/backline department. The band would have a say in what they get but they wouldnt care as much as what guitar they're using on what song.

You kinda lost me there at the end with the end of that post. But I do agree that lighting in the day is really hard to pull off. Arenas, night spots on festivals is where your going to have a better performance with the backing of viusal awesomeness.

LP do still do spot lights like 2004, just differently. 2004 Projekt rev mainly used long distance follow spots where you could see their shadow in the background on a set for example. These days those spotlights are on a truss line above the band. Most times before the show, you'll see about 4 guys climb up to the truss line above stage and sit in what looks like a car seat. They sit there for the entire show and operate the spotlights down on an angle so you get less shadows on sets/video screens. Ive been one of those spotlight operators before, not the best of jobs and SUCKS if you need to go toilet really bad mid show.

[sharwood1]

For all those drum geeks like myself I've noticed during the MTV fandom awards Rob has a new Crash Cymbal mounted just above he's ride and floor tom.. im not sure if it was there in the last few shows or what song he uses it for. And he's ride is defiantly smaller then it yous to be

 

 

Edited July 29, 2014 by sharwood1

[Astat]

Found this backstage pic of Brad's new rig over at MSC today, so credit to them. Time to get nerdy on this shit!



This is a typical dual-unit rig where there's a backup for everything, so just ignore one side of it. I'm using the right side as a reference point:

-On top of the road case, you can see a box for a Dunlop Volume X. While you can't see this pedal anywhere in the picture, I would assume Ben uses it from backstage to control Brad's volume swelling effects (the first chorus of Guilty All the Same, for example).

-Below that, kind of tucked in on top of the first piece of rack-mounted gear, you can see Brad's old Voodoo Lab Ground Control board. I'd assume this is being used as a MIDI switcher like it always has been, but it's controlling patches on the Axe-FX II now, instead of the old setup of one board serving as the "master controller" controlling the patches and a second acting as a "slave" board with the preamp changes programmed into it. Much simpler setup now since both effects and amp models all come out of the Axe-FX II.

-Next is a Furman power conditioner. Basically a fancy surge protector. Woohoo.

-The middle portion of the rack is all wireless stuff. The big box with the Audio Technica logo is the main "antenna" for the wireless receivers. The 4 screens below that are individual receivers. One channel is always Brad's main PRS guitar, one is always his main Strat, and his other guitars are bounced around between the two remaining channels. Below the receivers is a Whirlwind 4-channel multi-selector, which is used to switch the wireless signals when necessary so there's always only one guitar "on" at a time (you wouldn't want feedback from the other guitars hanging out in the rack backstage!). Brad is still using the same wireless system he's had since at least 2003.

-Below the Whirlwind selector is the new Fractal Audio Axe-FX II unit. This holds nearly all of Brad's effects patches, all of his amp sims, and all of his EQ settings. The old T.C. Electronic G-Major? Gone. All those Boss pedals he's had in his rack for years? Gone. The Randall MTS preamps he's had since 2007? Gone. Even the Drawmer Dual Gate is gone, which was just added on the last touring cycle! I thought for sure Brad was still using that on Points of Authority, but evidently the Axe-FX II has a similar effect in it somewhere.

-Next is another new piece of gear, an RJM Music Effect Gizmo. This is just a really fancy loop switcher, basically a replacement for the old GCX Audio Switcher Brad had been using for years. This may have been an upgrade out of necessity, as the Axe-FX II is so advanced, I don't know if the old GCX would have been 100% compatible with it.

-Below the Effect Gizmo are the only two remaining pedals in Brad's rig, both of which are new on this touring cycle. The one on the left appears to be one of the ISP Technologies Decimator pedals (there are a couple variants of them), which is a really nice noise gate (much better than the old Boss NS-2's Brad had been using for 12 years!). On the right is an Electro-Harmonix HOG2 (they released a newer version of the HOG last year, and it looks like Brad didn't hesitate to upgrade). The band must REALLY like the sound of the HOG, because I know the Axe-FX II is capable of modeling the sound of one. Having the HOG also allows for a more intuitive interface, as Ben can manipulate the silders on it in real time to adjust the settings on Brad's pitch-shifted effects.

-At the very bottom of the rack is a Matrix GT1000FX, which is a power amp. Brad's sound obviously has to go SOMEWHERE after it goes through his rack gear, and since he uses amp models instead of actual amps, he needs a power amp in there to drive his speaker cabinets. He used to use a Randall RT 2/50 for this purpose, but with all of his MTS stuff getting tossed after the Living Things tour, I'd imagine they didn't think twice about replacing the power amps too.

Overall, it's a MUCH simpler rig than what Sean was dealing with towards the end of his tenure with the band, but it's also one that relies on a lot more technology than the old one.

[BrandonYancar]

My Dad has an Axe FX Ultra (previous version to the II) and my GOD does that thing do so much. It's cool to see the stuff they use now compared to the something like the MTM cycle.

[Pez]

-On top of the road case, you can see a box for a Dunlop Volume X. While you can't see this pedal anywhere in the picture, I would assume Ben uses it from backstage to control Brad's volume swelling effects (the first chorus of Guilty All the Same, for example).

 

With that said, in the webcast today Brad is definitely using one of these on stage. So my guess is Ben might use it to control all his swelling in GATS but also takes it on stage for the WFTE solo.

 

-The middle portion of the rack is all wireless stuff. The big box with the Audio Technica logo is the main "antenna" for the wireless receivers. The 4 screens below that are individual receivers. One channel is always Brad's main PRS guitar, one is always his main Strat, and his other guitars are bounced around between the two remaining channels. Below the receivers is a Whirlwind 4-channel multi-selector, which is used to switch the wireless signals when necessary so there's always only one guitar "on" at a time (you wouldn't want feedback from the other guitars hanging out in the rack backstage!). Brad is still using the same wireless system he's had since at least 2003.

 

Just out of curiosity, what frequency band do these wireless kits run in? I know a lot of older kits run between the 700 and above frequencies. The reason I ask is because come January 2015, our fuck tard of a government sold everything above 694 MHz to mobile phone companies like Telstra and Vodaphone so they can operate their 4G network. If LP was to tour and they run in that 694 MHz and above band, its gonna cause interference issues and they can use these band boys. So do they hire 4 channels of UHF (that's just brads rack not including Mikes/Daves rig + vocal mikes + In ears) and run them into the Whirlwind? I was just thinking about the other day considering my company just went through a massive buy back scheme (nightmare) of anything above 694 MHz.

 

And while your here, wih the wireless packs jumping from GTR to GTR, how are they attached? Simply taped onto the GTR strap??

 

Lastly, input from me. While watching the webcast, it seems like Joes Lemur might be a thing of the past. He's cearly using an iPad for his samples now but running the Lemur app. Not sure on the model but its not a mini, and it sports the lightning bolt connection so it must be post iPad 3.

[LPMaskMan]

Yes, it looks like Joe uses an iPad with Lemur program.

Mike only uses his Maschine during his solo?

[Astat]

Yes, it looks like Joe uses an iPad with Lemur program.

Mike only uses his Maschine during his solo?

I believe Mike's using the Maschine for "one-shot" samples that don't need to be manipulated (i.e. drum samples), and the iPads running the Lemur software for synth-y stuff that can be manipulated (the top screen has the pads to play the samples, the bottom screen has the faders to manipulate the settings on them).

 

-Brad's using his rarely-seen blueburst Custom 24 for Rebellion, as it's in Drop C tuning. Mike is actually still in Drop D on that song, as he only plays the lead melody part.

-Mike appears to be using a guitar in D# A# D# G# C F tuning on Final Masquerade (one half step higher than Drop D), as it looks like he's playing the low Eb chords as open strings on the Camden webcast. Not sure why he isn't just using his Drop D guitar with a capo on the first fret...

Edited August 18, 2014 by Astat

[JanekZech]

Mike only uses his Maschine during his solo?

On the top of my head, he also uses it for Blackout (the vocal samples in the beginning), Runaway, Wastelands (the synth part during the quiet bridge) and New Divide (for synth bass during the bridge and outro). Brad might also use it on Waiting for the End, I'm not sure.

 

 

I believe Mike's using the Maschine for "one-shot" samples that don't need to be manipulated (i.e. drum samples), and the iPads running the Lemur software for synth-y stuff that can be manipulated (the top screen has the pads to play the samples, the bottom screen has the faders to manipulate the settings on them).

Do you know what songs he uses the iPads on exactly? I think I saw him using them on Castle of Glass during the buildup to the drop but apart from that, no idea.

[Astat]

 

With that said, in the webcast today Brad is definitely using one of these on stage. So my guess is Ben might use it to control all his swelling in GATS but also takes it on stage for the WFTE solo.

 

 

Just out of curiosity, what frequency band do these wireless kits run in? I know a lot of older kits run between the 700 and above frequencies. The reason I ask is because come January 2015, our fuck tard of a government sold everything above 694 MHz to mobile phone companies like Telstra and Vodaphone so they can operate their 4G network. If LP was to tour and they run in that 694 MHz and above band, its gonna cause interference issues and they can use these band boys. So do they hire 4 channels of UHF (that's just brads rack not including Mikes/Daves rig + vocal mikes + In ears) and run them into the Whirlwind? I was just thinking about the other day considering my company just went through a massive buy back scheme (nightmare) of anything above 694 MHz.

 

And while your here, wih the wireless packs jumping from GTR to GTR, how are they attached? Simply taped onto the GTR strap??

 

Lastly, input from me. While watching the webcast, it seems like Joes Lemur might be a thing of the past. He's cearly using an iPad for his samples now but running the Lemur app. Not sure on the model but its not a mini, and it sports the lightning bolt connection so it must be post iPad 3.

I believe they do have 4 different frequencies on Brad's rig. Like I said, one is always his main PRS, one is always his main Strat, and they swap the rest of the guitars between the other 2 channels as needed. The Audio-Technica system he uses has that "multi-diversity" antenna on it or whatever it's called, which I assume can scan through all available frequencies and find clear ones on a show-to-show basis. Even my low-end AT wireless that I use occasionally can scan frequencies for openings, it just doesn't have nearly as many to choose from.

 

As far as I can tell, the packs are just taped onto the straps.

 

I'm still puzzled by Joe's rig. Mike went into detail about how the "brain" of Joe's current rig is a Microsoft Surface tablet in the interview his just did with Tim Ferris...yet the tablets we've seen him with lately appear to be iPads.

Edited August 19, 2014 by Astat

[Pez]

I believe they do have 4 different frequencies on Brad's rig. Like I said, one is always his main PRS, one is always his main Strat, and they swap the rest of the guitars between the other 2 channels as needed. The Audio-Technica system he uses has that "multi-diversity" antenna on it or whatever it's called, which I assume can scan through all available frequencies and find clear ones on a show-to-show basis. Even my low-end AT wireless that I use occasionally can scan frequencies for openings, it just doesn't have nearly as many to choose from.

 

As far as I can tell, the packs are just taped onto the straps.

 

I'm still puzzled by Joe's rig. Mike went into detail about how the "brain" of Joe's current rig is a Microsoft Surface tablet in the interview his just did with Tim Ferris...yet the tablets we've seen him with lately appear to be iPads.

 

Cool thanks

 

My understanding is the Surface which sits between his trigger fingers is doing all his scratching and what not. He's switched to Traktor which I believe is a Microsoft Surface friendly program. The iPad on the other hand has just replaced the Lemur. Maybe that's linked up with Ableton as Mike's Maschine would be?!? I know Joe's rig used to be split into two sections. The DJ scratch and then the sample section.

[Astat]

Couple more updates:

-The wah on Guilty All the Same's solo is actually controlled by Brad's tech from offstage using the same expression pedal he uses on Waiting For the End. Not sure why Brad does it himself on one song and not on another, but it is what it is.

-Thanks Jonas for taking awesome pictures at the NY Summit! This pictures shows that Brad actually does still use the Devi Ever Shoegazer fuzz pedal for Burn it Down, and that at least one of the rigs has a Boss NS-2 instead of the ISP Decimator: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/vs0g0zh6d3avhl9/AADEf6r6uGQtEzmfizCbwNkla?dl=0#lh:null-DSC05460.JPG

-In another picture, it appears that Brad does still have the TC Electronic G-Major in his rack, which is weird because it definitely isn't anywhere to be found in the pic from Red Bull Sound Space that was previously posted? https://www.dropbox.com/sh/vs0g0zh6d3avhl9/AADEf6r6uGQtEzmfizCbwNkla?dl=0#lh:null-DSC05465.JPG

[[AndOne]]

-Thanks Jonas for taking awesome pictures at the NY Summit! This pictures shows that Brad actually does still use the Devi Ever Shoegazer fuzz pedal for Burn it Down, and that at least one of the rigs has a Boss NS-2 instead of the ISP Decimator: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/vs0g0zh6d3avhl9/AADEf6r6uGQtEzmfizCbwNkla?dl=0#lh:null-DSC05460.JPG

The tech said that this is the only thing they cant replace with an virtual amp.

[Coizu]

This is kinda offtopic but I guess it fits here the best:

I am by no means an expert when it comes to live music but don't you want to avoid as much latency as possible in a live environment? How come using iPads is working for them? Especially for triggering samples like Joe does. The input lag on the latest iPad generation is about 80ms. Isn't that way too much in order to be on point?

[GlassCastles]

Look at how often Joe screws up. They clearly don't work for them.

[Astat]

This is kinda offtopic but I guess it fits here the best:

I am by no means an expert when it comes to live music but don't you want to avoid as much latency as possible in a live environment? How come using iPads is working for them? Especially for triggering samples like Joe does. The input lag on the latest iPad generation is about 80ms. Isn't that way too much in order to be on point?

The specifics of this are way beyond my level of comprehension, but there's a LOT of stuff you can do with coding on Apple devices to adjust latency levels. I highly doubt the software OR hardware LP uses for their more tech-heavy stuff is just stock stuff that the general public can purchase. Mike is apparently a genius when it comes to computers, and Joe is into all kinds of crazy shit like circuit bending, so I'm sure between the two of them they have enough brain power to figure out how to make their devices do what they want. Joe's DJ tech Warren is really good with this kind of stuff too.

[Coizu]

The specifics of this are way beyond my level of comprehension, but there's a LOT of stuff you can do with coding on Apple devices to adjust latency levels. I highly doubt the software OR hardware LP uses for their more tech-heavy stuff is just stock stuff that the general public can purchase. Mike is apparently a genius when it comes to computers, and Joe is into all kinds of crazy shit like circuit bending, so I'm sure between the two of them they have enough brain power to figure out how to make their devices do what they want. Joe's DJ tech Warren is really good with this kind of stuff too.

While I all believe that they are tech savvy the latency is a technical restriction of capactitive touchscreens (which are used in pretty much every smartphone and tablet). The "normal" APIs you have to program these devices have already a latency of ~300 ms. The 80 ms delay is already when used on the lowest level and without switching out the hardware itself (which is pretty much impossible on apple devices or tablets/smartphones in general) you can't lower it.

To be precise: the latency is not about the software recognizing the input as an actual input. It is the time the touchscreen needs to process the input and send it over to the operating system. I don't think that any tweaks can lower it.