Some Stuff You Can Do with the Earthquaker Devices Arpanoid

Demo of the Earthquaker Devices Arpanoid used as a studio/compositional tool with examples from finished recordings.
The music in this demo comes from two original albums:
Cloudwatcher (2018) elliotknapp.bandcamp.com/albu...
Prismatic (2017) elliotknapp.bandcamp.com/albu...
www.elliotknapp.com
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This video is not intended to be a full user manual rundown; it's meant to provide some Arpanoid examples in the context of actual recordings that may inspire you to take the pedal in different directions or give you new ideas of your own. I'm (clearly) not a professional videographer or pedal demonstrater--I'm an independent musician who wants so share my enthusiasm for this inspiring equipment.

[@rlese1447]

Finally a demo that gets what this arpanoid can do! This pedal is my secret weapon.

[@thepedalzone]

Best demo of the Arpanoid I’ve ever seen! Great job! I need one now ❤️

[@ElliotGKnapp]

Wow, thank you! I think it probably helps if you have time to make an entire album with a pedal before filming a demo XD

[@NoCoverCharge]

That Is high praise coming from this dude ..Stefan

[@randommuiscchannel1049]

Impressive, very impressive... I need to watch this again. Thanks for taking the time to help us mere mortals understand this tricky pedal

[@PedalFriends]

This is just absolutely beautiful and amazing and I love it. I would listen to this all day every day.

[@ElliotGKnapp]

Aww, thanks! Album (Cloudwatcher) is on Spotify and d/l-able on Bandcamp for your pleasure!

[@stevesmith3990]

I have been tempted by this pedal for a while. I'm worried that it might drive me nuts but I think it has a lot of creative potential! Listening to your music on Bandcamp now - thanks so much!

[@ElliotGKnapp]

Thanks Steve! I hear you on going crazy with it! One thing I didn’t mention in the video is that the sequence starts when the next deal perceives input, which might not always be when you want it to be. If I were going to try to use it live, a gate in front of the Arpanoid would be pretty useful. In the studio, though, most of the eccentricities are pretty easy to get used to!

[@3str]

Thanks for doing this - awesome demo!

[@danilowertenauer3020]

Wow, this is wonderful! Very creative and inspiring!

[@ElliotGKnapp]

Thank you!

[@nickbalding3185]

Inspiring demo, great job!

[@pedalscapes]

Superb demo, thanks 😎

[@analogmusiccompany]

Great demo, very creative use of the pedal

[@ElliotGKnapp]

Thanks for checking it out!

[@dodgedforgottenn]

Great demo!

[@Hambiscuits]

Really, really cool!

[@ioannist.5568]

This one should have tap tempo and a stereo output.

[@stephopalopal]

Super sweeET!! Big hugs from Big Mama aka Stephopalopal of New Orleans Louisiana..music and Peace~

[@ElliotGKnapp]

Thank you! Headed your way next week...any must-see music venue recommendations?!

[@Cle44139]

Great video on finding the sweet spots -- thanks for the work & insights

[@ElliotGKnapp]

Thanks Josh!

[@johnhorrobin8560]

Can you tell me if there is a v3 out for this or is v2 the latest, there is no mention of v3 anywhere but I think it exists Dec 2018 I am thinking of getting one In The UK thanks J Horrobin UK

[@stephopalopal]

@@johnhorrobin8560 saw your channel..Ooh looks really good..Wanna see more when I have time ..Have a beautiful creative sweeET day!! From New Orleans Louisiana ..StephopalOpal aka Big Mama of music and Peace

[@johnhorrobin8560]

@@stephopalopal I do not have a channel you have the wrong person Not interested

[@stephopalopal]

@@johnhorrobin8560 no worries..were someone else..name a bit similar and my friend and I are both musicians..No need to reply bk..Wrong being.Have a good one.. I Apologize for the confusion.

[@davidarchibald3755]

Thanks

[@randommuiscchannel1049]

Every time I watch this video.. I am one step closer to purchasing .....

[@ElliotGKnapp]

Thanks so much man, I'm glad you like it. Like you say...it's a tricky but rewarding piece of gear!

[@williamb2845]

Great video. One of my visions as a performer would be to have more seamless transition between songs. I HATE dead space or useless banter between songs. With some practice, you could create some awesome segues with this device.

[@ElliotGKnapp]

William B totally!

[@PolskiAmbient]

yesssss!!!

[@Diagonals_]

Dude..how did you get that upward sort of synth-trill sound starting at ~ :26? That's amazing. Do you just have the rate up all the way and you're hitting one note? I own one and love it but I wasn't always sure I could practically use it in songs. This video has made me reconsider that thinking. Awesome video!

[@olivedotcom]

Listening to this with headphones makes me wish the pedal was stereo

[@octoechos]

6:11 💜💜

[@tlav1875]

Your recording and mixes sound beautiful, not to mention the compositions. Would you be so kind as to describe your recording rig (apps, interfaces, DI setup, how you mix?). I want my recording quality to be like yours. Thanks!

[@ElliotGKnapp]

Tom Laven Thank you! For this album I used surprisingly little aside from pedals-the J48 stereo DI and ProRMP shown, a Scarlett 6i6 interface, an SM57 for cab miking, and Logic. I rough mixed the album myself (levels and panning in Logic, lots of ramped stompbox effects) and sent it off to my friend Rohan Sforcina at Head Gap Studios for the final mix and mastering. What you hear in this video is a mixture of raw tracks, rough mix, and a little bit of final mix when there are lots of parts. The professional touch adds a lot, though sometimes it’s a subtle glue of EQ and compression. What I like about this approach is you get to do it how it sounds good to you, so if you can please your own ears first, the pro engineer knows what to work toward and the final mix is more about polishing. I have a lot more outboard gear and mics for the project I’m working on now...we’ll see if it makes any difference!

[@mattdrummond3552]

@@ElliotGKnapp Lovely video and thanks for the description of your process. Very great work

[@jbjb9691]

the part at 6:10 is *awesome*!

[@ElliotGKnapp]

Thanks! It's from toward the end of "Puffy" on my album Cloudwatcher.

[@jbjb9691]

@@ElliotGKnapp Got it playin on Spotify now. Great !! And nice cover art too, the cloud waving 'bye' to the lady (I think) in the valley.... Reminds me a bit of Gong's "Angel's Egg" cover, and Puffy has a bit of a Steve Hillage flavor - I mean that as a compliment, but you clearly have your own awesome individuality on that piece :-). from a 'pedal' point of view, what you sieved on Puffy is breathtaking... I thought one would need a super-arpeggiator like the Tararira to do all that, but your technical mastery and how it translates into thoughtful and beautiful art makes me want to go for the Arpenoid instead. Great work, mate, and thanks for all your work as a composer and for the community 👍 A question if you don't mind: since you can't specify a key, how does the pedal 'know' what notes to play, like is the first note you play always considered the root for the major and minor scales?

[@mykhedelic6471]

Gentle dissonance, I AM fine with that. =)

[@jbjb9691]

The background looks like the Meddle vinyl cover.

[@PsychedelicCheeseburgers]

Cool video and really shows the versatility, but I wish you would have shown the entire effects chain, with the DI box and re-amp box and I assume the secondary effects loops on the clean signal side of things and everything else going on so we could see how some of these effects truly happen. Sometimes when all you see on the screen is a single Arpanoid it's a bit misleading because there's more going on to get those effects from the split signal side.

[@ElliotGKnapp]

Thanks, I understand what you're getting at. Rewatching with that in mind, I can say that most of the time what's shown on screen is reflective of what's actually happening soundwise the main exception is when it says "Full Mix" (or when the full mix is obviously playing), but there are a few other brief moments. You'd be surprised how much weird sound you can get out of an ebow right on top of the pickup, which is what you often hear in the "dry" sound.

[@PsychedelicCheeseburgers]

@@ElliotGKnapp Interesting, thanks for explaining. I just thought I was hearing a lot of layered effects and the text on screen mentioned the DI box or the Re-Amp box or a clean signal or whatever a couple of times and I wasn't exactly sure what was going on with those layered sounds that made it all sound like how it did. It's possible that since I've never used any of these things before I just don't recognize what might be obviously going on to someone who has used them! But for instance at 1:59 it says we're hearing 2 Arpanoid ostinatos at the same time? Does that mean you used 2 Arpanoid boxes, or just that you recorded two parts and mixed them together like when you say "full mix" at certain parts in the video? Sorry for my confusion/ignorance! I guess it wasn't always clear to me when it's just a mix of multiple tracks... I also got confused at 5:55 when it mentions the dry signal, but the pedal on screen shows the dry knob all the way down, so I thought you were referring to the dry signal as split off using the DI box? I guess I got confused by how up-front the DI box and Re-Amp box were at the start of the video, I thought you were using them for a lot of the sounds we're hearing throughout, but if not, then I guess that means the device itself is even more powerful than I realized if it's doing most of these sounds with just what's on-screen. Anyway, thanks for reading my comment and responding!

[@ElliotGKnapp]

@@PsychedelicCheeseburgers Thanks, I've been down the DI/reamp rabbit hole for a long time so this helps me understand where you're coming from better. I think the key takeaway is that the stuff depicted in the demo is for studio use, not live. The Arpanoid has only 1 output, so if you've got dry signal coming out, it's hard-mixed with the Arpanoid effect. The only way to do what's depicted in the demo live would be to split your signal before the pedal, sending one to the Arpanoid (and any after effects) and the dry through any desired effects, then either re-combine those two signals to one amp, or send to 2 amps. That would be a serious rig!

[@ElliotGKnapp]

@@PsychedelicCheeseburgers And yes, often times it's multiple different parts, each effected by an Arpanoid. If it were live, each part would need its own Arpanoid. I can see how it's difficult how each part is composed when there are a lot together at once, since it's a full arrangement from the album it's a lot of parts to keep track of.

[@PsychedelicCheeseburgers]

@@ElliotGKnapp Thanks again, just wanted to say how much I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions!

[@markjohnson1020]

Allow me to be the millionth person to say “I wish it had tap tempo!”

[@AndyAcker]

Came here to say that! Fingers crossed for a v3 with tap and expression jack.

[@BillyRogan]

I’d love to get more in to running effects in this way.. can you explain a little more how to do that and where to start? Maybe a video? Thanks for this great video

[@ElliotGKnapp]

BillyRogan absolutely, but what exactly do you want to know about? Reamping recorded parts through effects?

[@PsychedelicCheeseburgers]

@@ElliotGKnapp I would personally love it if this video were expanded to show all the details of the signal splitting and re-amping and stuff that went into some of the effects where what you see on the screen isn't all that's going on.

[@ElliotGKnapp]

@@PsychedelicCheeseburgers I appreciate another vote for a "DI and Reamping Techniques" video but am not sure when I will get there! The key thing about this demo is that most of the sounds were recorded FIRST to create an album (Cloudwatcher), and I had to do some archaeology in Logic to recall all of the settings shown. If I were documenting all of the pedal settings while making the album, I probably never would have finished! Additionally, it would be tough to easily depict how the sausage is made, since it didn't happen live--the process was often: record 2 clean tracks using the DI and pres (one Arpanoid, one dry), come back later and reamp the Arp through an amp or with effects, and/or sit on the dry signal track for months, then choose how to effect it based on what's happening in the rest of the composition and mix...glacial. A video like that would be more like "Making An Album," whereas this video attempts to illustrate ideas of how you might use the Arpanoid in the context of compositions or an album without a full-on album instruction manual. I'll hopefully get around to some technical DI/reamp/recording videos eventually, but I have a long backlog of demo and other video ideas...the problem is that they sit on the priority list below 1) Work a full time job to be able to afford gear to make music and demos with, and 2) Make more albums. It'll take time but I'll get there...thanks for watching and caring!

[@PsychedelicCheeseburgers]

@@ElliotGKnapp Thanks again for your response! Since it doesn't seem like a video on reamping is coming soon, maybe you could briefly answer a question I had about it? I use a Scarlett 2i4 audio interface right now, and when I record my guitar I plug into that. My speakers (JBL LSR305s) are also plugged into the balanced outputs on the back of the Scarlett 2i4. It only has 2 balanced outputs (and the speakers don't have unbalanced inputs, and I don't think I would want to use them anyway even if they did, also I don't think I would want to use some kind of unbalanced to balanced cable either). In order to use the re-amp box, wouldn't I need to use one of those balanced outputs to send the signal to the re-amp box? And in doing so, then I lose one of my monitors, and I guess then I'd be better off just unplugging both monitors and using the headphone jack on the front of the Scarlett 2i4 in order to monitor what I'm doing with the re-amp box... Are these my only options while using the Scarlett 2i4? Do I need some other kind of audio interface or mixing board or something in order to be able to properly utilize things like the reamping box? What do you recommend within a relatively low budget? Thanks!

[@ElliotGKnapp]

@@PsychedelicCheeseburgers I have used both the 2i2 and the 6i6 for reamping. The 2 in/out interfaces are really challenging, since to my memory you will definitely have to remove a monitor (if you have them plugged in), and I'm pretty sure I had to constantly alternately turn on/off the monitor and headphone volumes to listen to the result between takes. I don't have experience with the 2i4 but maybe you could use an RCA-to-1/4" converter on one of the other outputs? The 6i6 is a huge leap forward and (I would say) indispensable for reamping, since you can dedicate outputs 3 and 4 to reamping or outboard effect sends without messing with your monitor setup. You can also use the Focusrite control app to customize your routing and the mix you're hearing in the monitors/phones (not sure if this is or isn't compatible with the 2i4). Short answer: it can be done with the 2i2 or 2i4 but it's a pain. Switching to the 6i6 made my recording life a lot easier--my recommendation would be to sell the 2i4 and grab a 6i6 or higher; looking at prices the difference isn't huge and getting an interface that meets your needs is more important than almost every other recording gear consideration! I would say your cost for the difference probably wouldn't have to be that high if you scout for a deal!

[@mykhedelic6471]

Is that Phaedra or Meddle in the background, i know ive seen it before...?

[@ElliotGKnapp]

Mykhedelic ***** good eye, it’s the Phaedra inner gatefold! Thanks for watching and stay tuned for more album art mis en scene in future demos :)

[@mykhedelic6471]

EQD are making things happen for the guitar, again-- that is, if there's a Charlie Christian, Jimi Hendrix, Robert Fripp or Eddie Van Halen out there to use it.

[@Joe-ri7bi]

Nick Reinhardt

[@xanist3493]

Kinda old comment but check out Near DT, MI by Black Midi They use this pedal really nicely for some weird effects (also check out their KEXP performance from 2019, it has a ton of wild effects pedal usage)

[@rightfromtheart]

Not a fan - got mine yesterday and returned it today - for me they spelled the name wrong, should be "ARP-ANNOYED" .... Elliot, congrats on your tenacity in producing the effects you managed to get in your music! Way too tedious for me though! This pedal is really NOT a true arpeggiator. It will NOT allow you to reproduce the same sequence of notes twice. If I pluck a "D" note, the sequence plays fine - pluck that same "D" note again and the arpanoid pitch shifts it up a half step instead - pluck the same "D" note a 3rd time - now its a whole step higher =( GREAT if your style of playing is off key with the MIX or if you want to compose music which is random and consistently completely dissonant, too much time to find something that will work IMO. I expected an actual arpeggiator pedal, one that I can play the same note twice in a row and get the same exact result duplicated - this one is NOT that pedal ...... HERE >>> is an example of an arpeggiator pedal working like I expected - kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZmop3Rnet-Xeq8 SORRY ARPANOID - I just don't have the time patience to get you to produce the results I need :-) ordering a MERIS ENZO ~

[@beelbrother1648]

So funny seeing a basic synth tool breaking the brains of guitarists.