My Saxophone Pedal Board Setup

want to know how to build a pedal board for saxophone? #sax #saxophone #jazz #music #fyp

[@jimpiela]

Hi friends, I didn't expect this video to get such a large reaction, thanks for being here! Consider subscribing/etc. it really helps out my small channel. I want to clarify a few things: First, pedals are one part of my ever expanding musical expression toolbox; I use them on maybe 10% of my performances, if that. I should have made clear in the video that I value strong musical and saxophone fundamentals - take a gander at one of my many unaccompanied saxophone videos - and expansion of expression such as pedals only amplifies your musical and instrument technique. Garbage in garbage out, as they say. I made this video originally to answer some of the questions my peers had about this setup; if you're still learning the instrument your focus should be on your tone and playing before buying a bunch of effects you don't need. Second; I really want to promote a great conversation around the use of effects. Criticism is welcome, but trolling and sh*tposting is not, especially when it's clear you haven't watched the video or engaged with the topic. Thanks!

[@todayontheinternet9576]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/fKmnf6mBi8yYn7ssi=stj23wXudIjdwzsR&t=170 I can't tell if this is pedal or post prod after effects, but with the advent of AI, we could start seeing real time pedal effects processing for adding user defined 'flavor' which in the next decade or so, could be pretty wild (and yes, the first thing will probably be real-time AI autotune which will suck).

[@alesantos4258]

Hey! I wanted to ask you what is needed to start using pedals with the saxophone? My boyfriend is a saxophonist and he has been very excited talking to me about using pedals but he doesn't have it yet, soon its gona be his birthday and I wanted to give him that as a gift but the truth is that I don't even know what should I buy lol 💕

[@yvesbajulaz]

i good place to start is a delay pedal, analog delay or tape delay pedal

[@jaspern.7702]

EHX QTRON 1:25 EHX Small Clone 4600 Full Chorus 2:14 Mantic Vitriol Distortion 2:58 Meris Hedra Harmonizer 4:20 EHX SuperEgo 5:27 TC Electronic Flashback 7:13 Earthquaker Dispatch Master reverb 8:27 Small clone w/ Dispatch Master 8:58

[@joebowbeer]

0:13 Shure wireless mic 0:50 EHX Q-tron autowah 1:46 EHX Small Clone chorus 2:42 Mantic Vitriol distortion 3:23 Meris Hedra harmonizer 4:58 EHX Superego+ freeze 6:47 TC-Electronic Flashback delay 7:42 EarthQuaker Dispatch Master reverb

[@briancole2557]

Hi Jim, i have the tc elecronic flaskback 2 delay pedal and i play saxaphone . I tried taping on mic to create the delay setting but couldnt get it to work as you demonstrated..what effects are you holding down...im missing something ..would appreciate your advise. Brian

[@CurtisBrewerMusic]

Love your pedalboard! But even more, you sound amazing!

[@connorsobieri245]

TCelectronics has an AMAZING harmony pedal that is really easy to work with that will do a lot of the things mentioned on multiple of this musician’s pedals. Would recommend checking it out to anybody looking for a harmonizer

[@divers-brause8095]

Hi, what piece of gear do I need to connect my pedal to xlr mic ? Thanks

[@littledickyjones8251]

I have been listening to a lot of Eddie Harris lately…

[@danpinsonsax]

I’ve been using a TC Voicelive 2 for everything but nice to see what other players are doing. I’m going to check out some of the electronics you’re using. I always tell sound guys to set the EQ flat and no effects!

[@sircuizine626]

idk what the hate is around using pedals and sax together, i LOVE making weird noises and this is totally a unique way of reaching it. i think my favorite pedal here you showed tho was the superego+, seems so practical and for sure theres a lot you can do with it.

[@jimpiela]

thanks for the kind words!

[@joewheelock9010]

Hey Jim! Thanks for the walkthrough, and great board! I noticed you have a distortion pedal and no noise gate - do you ever run into issues with feedback from distorting your mic signal in a live environment? Any tips there? Thanks so much!

[@jimpiela]

I do yea - gotta be extra careful with your volume, usually I keep the distortion and monitor volume pretty low. good luck!

[@nerodoth4714]

That sound is great! If you like experimenting with pedals on the sax i reccomend checking Bon Iver's ___45____ especially live versions, those are beautiful and they're using a single pedal called Messina made only for them.

[@julianford5654]

I never thought about any of this🤯🤯🤯🤯. Great video! Awesome demonstrations! Thank you! 🙌🏾🙌🏾

[@PatrickHaeslerMusic]

Great little tour! That Pog+Superego combo is sweet. We need more horn players giving pedalboard tours. I should put one up one day🙈

[@jimpiela]

Agreed! Would love to see what you and others are running and why

[@the_sax_dude]

Duuuude! Agreeed so hard! I’d love to see what you’re running Pat! Next Third Ave gig? 😉

[@岩佐浩章-o2q]

サックスをゴミエレキギターみたいな使い方するの辞めて欲しいwwwwww

[@mishabeast]

Thanks for sharing. You have a nice touch on the pedals! Saved and will explore more in-depth

[@jimpiela]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@rd40082]

Great ideas. I connect my wireless microphone to a guitar multi effect. I am Going to imitate some of your ideas

[@thekarmafarmer608]

would love to hear you play Davis`s Sidecar 1 with the Meris Hedra.

[@robbiecapp7719]

Thanks for sharing. Can you say more about the Qtron and setting? I've got one (the 70s original, as opposed to the micro) and I haven't been able to tame it yet. It feedbacks, it picks all the key noise ... I tried to put a limiter after, nothing. What do you do? Also your sound is 100% wet. Beautiful. Any hint is much appreciated.

[@jimpiela]

Thanks for the kind words! so I have actually been having some of the same issues with mine lately, it needs repair/replacement (I know the power connection is going). Maaaybe repair tech or somebody who knows pedal circuitry? Even when it's working properly, I have to adjust settings on it in every dif room I play. I'd start with trying to solve the feedback problem first - turning down your monitor/using headphones or in ear monitors. good luck, and feel free to share your results! Would love to hear one of the original 70s units in action

[@erniencinas71]

Nice video Jim. I having been using guitar effects with my sax for a few years now. Your effects chain is not what I expected with you starting with your Qtron. I know you are probably playing the effects through an audio interface. In my own personal experience, I feel the pedals are easier to control when playing through audio interface and headphones. I found that playing through an amp tends to feedback with pedals like the Qtron. I finally invested in an intramic and this changed my overall sound and feedback issues with effect pedals. I always get props from guitar players and other musicians when they hear the funky sounds I add to my sax. Don’t always play with my effects on for every song but definitely use my pog2 or harmonist pedals when I need to sound like multiple instruments and not just one sax player. Would be nice if you could share some of your settings you used for your Qtron and harmonizer. Thanks again 🎷

[@jimpiela]

Thank you! Definitely easier to control with the interface but I very rarely have feedback issues when playing live - I keep the monitor relatively low and make sure the Qtron and distortion don't increase my volume too much. I'm in the market for a new mic so I'll take a look at intramic, thanks!

[@chrisgreenejazz]

Great clip and extremely informative. One question, however. How do you keep bleed from other instruments from going through your wireless microphone and being affected by your pedals while on stage? I’ve been fooling around with an octave pedal, and every time the lead singer walks near me his voice would go through my microphone. Any tips?

[@jimpiela]

hmmm... without seeing the setup in action it might be tough to diagnose, but maybe switch out mics? something with a super small pick up range (SM57) will probably help, but yea there's always a bit of bleed. Other commenters have also been talking about the intramic system - but i have no experience with it. Good luck!

[@chrisgreenejazz]

@@jimpiela it’s a Shure wireless wind mic.

[@jimpiela]

​@@chrisgreenejazz Their Beta 98H a assume (it looks like that's the only one they make)? I'm also assuming it's noticeable to front-of-house not just in on-stage monitors? Shoot i've played shoulder-to-shoulder with vocalists and other horn players - some bleed with the delay effect but never enough for audience to notice (you can hear it in the video at about 7:25). I even pulled up my logic files for this vid to see how much bleed there was when I was talking; relatively little. I'll definitely be fiddling around with this next time I do a live setup, but for now sorry I can't be of more assistance! BTW checked out your stuff you got a new follower great to connect 👍

[@rbroderick]

Always glad to see others using pedals on sax. 👍

[@jonathanpwheat]

Great video and cool setup. Real quick. When I hear street performers with a backing track, there always seems to be some level of compression in their sound to give it a bit of an edge. Do you run any type of compression when playing live or recording?

[@jimpiela]

Thanks! I'm not running compression live on my side, although I wouldn't be surprised if more knowledgeable sound engineers did on their end. Recordings - I'm only mixing home brew stuff for myself, will use if needed. I could see compression helping with live stuff in certain circumstances, although dynamic control is built into the instrument😎 if you do some experimentation with one let me know how it goes! Hope this helps!

[@J-Crash]

1:24 went from alto sax to muted trombone or trumpet lol

[@MARKLINMAN1]

Post a video on how to set up a pedal board, thanks in advance.

[@jimpiela]

will definitely consider! If I'm being totally honest, there's way better vids about this from guitar/synth players that have more experience with the tech side. For use with a mic, make sure to add some sort of preamp to the start of your chain. Consider using the best pedals, patch cords, and power supply you can get your hands on; otherwise, my ordering is exactly the same as any guitar/synth player would use. then play around with it a ton. Thanks for watching, good luck!

[@MARKLINMAN1]

@@jimpiela that I know, I am a bass player as well and have a pedal board set up, I figure for the sax players. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@laurencepatterson5956]

Super helpful thanks

[@eliot7397]

4:55 3:30

[@TNSon2010]

Hi Jim, thank you for sharing your experiences with the analog FX pedals applications, very insightful. I'm going to apply these pedals on my sax. I really like the guitar's distorted FX-like sound from your sax. It's thick and stable. I agree with you that we need to control our signal processing and FX to get our desired sound before it goes to the mixing board. I am a vocalist (of my originals) and a saxophonist. Some of my songs required the sax parts for the intro and the solo and I must perform them before/after the singing. Therefore, I do move around the stage. I use a Shure wireless Mic like yours for easy moves. My question about the pedal setup. From the wireless Shure receiver (acting as a preamp), a line-out/XLR cable is connected to the pedal board input, then the pedal board output will be a 1/4" line-out directly connected to the Mixing Board? Or it will connect to the XLR cable box before connecting to the mixing board using the XLR? By setting up the pedal board connected to the Shure Wireless Receiver device, I must then have the receiver device right next to me and the pedal board on the stage. Am I correct? Again, thank you for the video you shared with us. Appreciate it and wish you the best of luck.

[@ianbuschmann7577]

Hey Jim, KZbin suggested this video to me, and I am glad it did! I've been wanting to start using pedals in my playing, however when I have in the past in a live environment, I get consistent feedback, and am not audible at the same time. I do use a shure wireless mic setup, would you have any recommendations on a solid pre amp? Thanks for the informative video.

[@jimpiela]

Welcome, I'm glad you're here! As I mentioned, I use the wireless unit itself as a preamp - so I hesitate to recommend anything that I haven't personally used. There are a ton of pre-amp pedals out there, though; head to the local guitar shop and start playing around! As far as the issues you're having with it - it's hard to diagnose without having the setup in front of me. Keep in mind that if one thing goes wrong in the chain, everything goes wrong. I've had to take my setup apart several times and test every cable, pedal, and power cable. Good luck!

[@MrDavidBHarris]

Excellent control of your tech to make musical expressions. Also very clear explanations , well done.

[@jimpiela]

Thank you very much!

[@feliperodriguez5993]

Es increíble,se gastan millones para tener un saxofón de alta calidad después pagas 8000 dólares y luego te compras un pedal de 200 y lo hechas a perder.

[@carlomuscat]

Awesome video, Jim!

[@napamchang7574]

It's amazing 😊 🎷

[@jimpiela]

ty glad you enjoyed!

[@denirosax]

Thanks Jim!

[@jimpiela]

thanks for checking it out!

[@ginabean9434]

Nice demo. Love the superego + use with the sax.

[@jimpiela]

Thanks for listening!

[@FlyingSax57]

Hi Jim! Very interesting. I’ve been using a pedal with my saxophone about 45 years ago when I was part of a dance orchestra (I guess not many were using pedals with saxophone at this time!). It was a kind of Whoah Whoah pedal with a little bit of distortion. My frustration was that it sounded so good , that the audience was looking at the guitarist as HE would do the solo!!….

[@jimpiela]

This is awesome thanks for sharing this story! Would love to know more about your inspirations at the time

[@abrajmek_zalilov]

And how about lo-fi, bitcrushers or some "robotised" voicing pedals? Thanx, Jim!

[@jimpiela]

I'm out of space on the board!! 😂 thanks for checking it out 👍

[@owlmatrix6794]

do u use an amp or speaker to project the sound and what was the mic u used ?

[@jimpiela]

not in this case, signal is going directly to my DAW. This vid I'm using a shure b98, but have since upgraded to an AMT wireless system

[@2005rosebud]

do they make a varitone sound type pedal like Eddie Harris used way back?

[@jimpiela]

hmm, not sure! You have a favorite Eddie Harris track with the varitone? Would love to check it out

[@스시-w4c]

hi jim , i have question, If you use the effect board directly from the wireless system, is there no noise problem or loss? Don't you have a feedback problem in the gig on a small stage? Especially when using distortion-oriented effectors. I would be very grateful if you could answer the question. have a goodday,

[@jimpiela]

Hmm, tough to diagnose without being in the same room, but I generally don't use this setup on small stages; your acoustic sound is going to overpower your amplified sound, and your effects won't be heard. Turn down any pedal that amplifies your sound (distortion) and most keep monitors on the low side (or use in-ears). hope this helps!

[@스시-w4c]

@@jimpiela thanks i will try

[@ginabean9434]

Now let's use the shure mic with full distortion on the board and a stage wedge monitor😀...

[@ginabean9434]

...it all goes well with headphones, but gains fx with open microphones create feedback like crazy. The solution is called Intramic.

[@jimpiela]

The mantic has a volume knob which will keep it in check but yeah, in-ear monitors ftw haha

[@XIIMonkeysMusicGroup]

Intramic wins every time! I no longer use open mics. My effects is now a Helix Rack with Meris and Lexicon effects in its stereo effects loops.

[@bccoregon]

You should open with a sample of a sax melody with effects as per performing. Then your potential listeners can decide if its good enough to watch to learn. But all such videos I find open with a lot of talk and then slowly go from one 100% strength effect to the next, sounding like an alien in a movie. Hard to imagine such distortion making a sax sound better. So I jump around a bit to see if I might hear a sample of how an effect might add to my own sax sound, but alas.

[@simoneserantoni2452]

Hy Jim, how do you connect your microphone to pedal board?

[@jimpiela]

Just a patch cable from the wireless unit

[@jodianna1240]

Very good presentation about your pedal board most recent layout. You use everything very tasteful. More video's, your genuine personality shines through like a beacon.

[@jimpiela]

Thank you very much!

[@jodianna1240]

@@jimpiela You betcha! I bought my Tron for many songs on guitar and never thought to use it on saxophone 's. Excellent!

[@Eduard_Kolesnikov]

Envelope filter yeah! Good video 📹 man

[@jimpiela]

appreciate it 😎

[@johnfilardi]

Recommend a reverb pedal thanks

[@jimpiela]

the Dispatch Master from EarthQuaker devices at 7:44: perfect for what I use it for! Nice and warm, not at 'tinny' like you can get with some verb pedals

[@SeanFuller]

OMG! I've gotta get some pedals! Nah!

[@skaholic_tv]

Which is a better digital pedalboard or analog pedalboard?

[@jimpiela]

I'd go analogue for better response and tone. Digital is nice if you want to experiment with a bunch of sounds tho. good luck!

[@skaholic_tv]

@@jimpiela thank you for your response

[@normalizedaudio2481]

I don't like playing with that crap.

[@darz3829]

Why bother with the sax? Just attach a microphone to the pedalboard and get all the distorted artificial sounds you can stand. That way you don't have to shlepp a heavy instrument around, plus not spend years of practicing an instrument. Plus, since every band has vocalists but not a sax it's obvious that audiences prefer vocalists.

[@jimpiela]

Thank you for commenting on this video. You have created a false dichotomy, in where high quality tone creation and unconventional effects are mutually exclusive; which they are not. This should be obvious if one were to watch this or any of my other videos. Further, saxophonists (and almost every other type of instrumentalist) have long embraced unconventional tone manipulation. In fact, i would argue that it's one of the earliest parts of the saxophone in the jazz tradition: "Whinnying noises, smears, slap-tounging, barks, growls, novelty effects...were all a part of the shared vocabulary of the pre-Hawkins saxophone idiom" (Gioia, the History of Jazz, p. 131). My exploration on this topic was heavily influenced by musical effects used by John Cage (prepared piano), John Coltrane (multiphonics); and electronic effects used by Michael Brecker, Miles Davis, Kenny Garrett, and Joshua Redman. Stop trying to gate keep and troll others here.

[@darz3829]

@@jimpiela You have advocated the use of modifiers for the sax. I simply offered an alternative to getting rid of the middleman (the sax) to achieve artificial sounds. So it seems you are perhaps jealous of my ability to best your approach. By the way, that quote is inaccurate. When Coleman Hawkins played with Fletcher Henderson's band he played WAY differently than he did in his lounge era. So the quote shouldn't have used the term "pre-Hawkins idiom". And I should point out that those early sax noises did not use tone manipulation via electronics, just plain saxophones. Finally, my comment is as valid as yours. The difference is that you are attempting to CENSOR mine. That is a sure sign that your argument can't stand up to scrutiny.

[@jimpiela]

For more information and context about the quote i used, please read The History of Jazz by Ted Gioia, 3rd ed. P. 131. For more information about censorship and content moderation, please read the youtube TOS. For more information about logical fallacies, specifically "no true scotsman," "moving the goalposts," and "appeal to authority" please visit your local library. Music and music expression is for everyone, and I welcome musical exploration beyond traditional bounds. It is with this in mind that I again I ask that you stop trying to gate-keep or troll here. You have already deleted your previous comment in which you lost this argument, and you have clearly not watched the content presented; this leads me to believe these comments are in made in bad faith. I welcome a robust dialogue, but further unconstructive or patronizing comments will be removed at my discretion. Thanks!