The Electro Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man: A Short History

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The first echo/delay unit I owned was a Deluxe Memory Man. I would get lost for hours, like playing my acoustic guitar in a stair well, the sound of the pair of solid state Peavey amps transformed into a cavern of sonic delight. So this has been on my list for quite a while and I thought what better time to do it than when EH has just released the Nano DMM and Andy Timmons and Keeley have just released the Halo delay.
I'm working with a new format in this video. Trying to up my screen retention and hence, get the video out to a wider audience. But it does not mean I am any less thankful to all the good people that have given me permission for use in this video. If anything, there is so much more to be thankful for as there are such amazing playing examples here by friends far and wide. (In alpha order, except for John Cordy, I mean, he wrote the music right?)
First I need to thank John Cordy for writing and recording the intro and outro music for use in the video with the "Elephant Man" DMM model in the Line 6 HX Stomp. Find more great videos everyday at John's channel: / johnnathancordy
I need to thank Guitarist Magazine for permission to use the clip of Eric Johnson explaining his use of a Deluxe Memory Man in a loop on his pedalboard.
• On The Road: Eric John...
I need to thank R.J. Ronquillo for his permission to use a clip of him playing an original composition to demo the new Nano DMM.
• EHX Nano Deluxe Memory...
I need to thank my friend Shawn Tubbs for his permission to use the clip of him playing the J. Rockett Clockwork delay.
• J. Rockett Audio Desig...
I need to thank Dan and Mick of "That Pedal Show" for their permision to use the clip of Andy Timmons demo'ing the new Halo pedal on their recent show with Andy. I cut away just before Dan wiped his eyes but you can see it in both their faces as Andy plays.
• Andy Timmons Visits TP...
A special thanks go to Perry McMannis for going through another of my scripts. There is a special echoey place in Perry's soul and I think he has the delay pedal collection to prove it.
Thanks to all of you that have stopped by to pickup a t-shirt, hoodie, or one of the new Helix/Stomp/Pod Go preset packs.
And finally a very special thanks to all of the friends of five watt on Patreon. You're the guitar community I've always dreamed of and I enjoy all of our messaging back and forth from the corners of the five watt world.
All the best,
Keith

[@andytimmonsguitar]

Thanks so much for this great video Keith! Of course I’m a massive fan of the old DMM units but was happily surprised to be in the discussion… I’m honored!

[@JoshRod]

That playing from Andy is enough to bring a grown man to tears

[@billsmith8822]

that's no joke. i wish my walls emanated that sound

[@readlesspraymore4686]

Yes. I haven't been moved by someones guitar playing like that in a while.

[@p6x2]

You just have to look at the two guys being transcended by his music, and watching themselves... stunned!

[@martyrocks2091]

I've had mine since the late 90's. Bought new. Never modified it. Never even thought of opening it up to have a look inside. Still sounds amazing though. I'll leave mine as is. Don't care how much space it takes up on my pedal board, it's not coming off. Great video. Love these history lessons.

[@Roxanneredpanda]

honestly you have more balls than me to have such a big pedal

[@whistler_lane]

I do recommend the AnalogMan mods for it! I was scared I'd lose what I had come to love so much, but it's even better now.

[@7171jay]

It's great that you are using video from other channels and actually crediting them... very professional and just more of the kind of thing that makes this channel a real class act.

[@fivewattworld]

Thanks Jay

[@riksplace]

Great history lesson. My best friend was in a local band and we both worked at the local music store back in the mid-late 70's. We were a EH dealer. I remember him immediately using the MM (only "borrowed" from the store) for delays for their VOCALS. I bought one of the original Big Muffs. The 70's were fun.....

[@fivewattworld]

They were at that.

[@riksplace]

@@fivewattworld Playing that Spring of Proms and dances was all the fun I could handle as a 19yr old........

[@JensLarsen]

Nice! My favourite delay sound by far :)

[@fivewattworld]

Thanks Jens!

[@felirick]

Great job as always... I personally use the Suhr Discovery Delay and Jam Delay Llama Extreme to get the 1/4 and .1/8 mix going... great call out on that one!

[@bruitsecret]

As always, extremely well documented and explained. Thank you! I got my first DMM because of Robert Quine.

[@ShawnTubbs]

This is just top-shelf work, Keith!! Wow!!!

[@fivewattworld]

Thanks for sharing your talents in this Shawn!

[@johnnathancordy]

Thanks for the invite sir Keith! I forgot to mention I have a J Rockett Clockwork...Could have used that...WHOOPS.

[@fivewattworld]

I already had Shawn in deck, but thanks John. People are saying nice things about you here btw.

[@JavaoftheLava]

Love how much effort goes into making pedals that stand out. We have basically the same effects, but the right variation sounds incredible to one person.

[@johnqpublic2718]

I've definitely played through one of these for many, many hours. Love it

[@RUSTY-A-L]

This is why I watch your videos always learning something new.

[@iannicholls7476]

Great video, thanks. Delay is such a rabbit hole when you start going for “that” sound. Can’t live with it, can’t live without it!

[@edryba4867]

Keith! I really enjoyed this one for many reasons, not the least of which was your tip of the hat to the venerable Bucket Brigade amplifier. I first found out about that type of circuit from a friend who was a radio engineer in L.A. back in 1973! He was building his own, as were other radio engineers in town in the early ‘70s. This guy was Gary Owens’ engineer (remember Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In? He was the announcer standing in front of an RCA 44, with his hand held up to his ear!). Gary was a friend of mine from the time I was 13 years old and for the next 45 years, when Gary went to that Big Radio Studio in the Sky! Great work on this installment!!!

[@michaelgregory2231]

Great video as usual, Keith! Jonathan Cordy is the perfect player for the opener!

[@hillx021hill3]

Absolutely wonderful, Keith! I remember having EH pedals in the late 70s, early 80's. We always felt that they were in temperamental and inconsistent, in the coolest way possible!

[@maggieo]

Speaking of Line6 and the DMM, the trusty ol' DL4 does a fantastic DMM emulation. You know, the DL4 would be ripe for a short history, along with the other pedals in that series, Keith.

[@fivewattworld]

That’s a good idea Maggie. It would give me an excuse to gush about Frisell.

[@kmajor44]

Awesome lesson!! Thank you (again) Keith!

[@markhammer643]

I recently modded a buddy's '90s DMM, and "improved" it. 1) The stock unit uses garden variety 4558 dual op-amps. He was complaining that it seemed to easily distort. I thought "Heck, I can do better than a 4558", so I replaced the op-amps in the audio path with NE5532 chips and the clipping went away. 2) The unit also uses a 4558 for the LFO. Although there wasn't any detectable problem with LFO ticking, I figured I'd prevent any possibility, and switched the 4558 for a lower-power LM358 chip; something one often finds in LFO circuits of that type. 3) The "Power" switch is rather redundant. Why anyone who had the external power supply plugged into the pedal would want to turn the power off, while the supply was still plugged in, is beyond me, since the Power switch has no effect on the external wallwart. So, I repurposed the Power switch for a mod I find more useful, and have done on many delays. In the real physical world, reflecting surfaces are imperfect, with the result that later reflections have much less high-frequency content. The lowpass filtering on the wet signal is steep, but also fixed, such that repeats don't really change much. There is a 100k resistor coming off the Feedback control, labelled R3 on the board. I split this into a 47k and 51k resistor in series. From their junction, I ran a 2200pf cap to the Power switch, and then to ground, such that the switch could interrupt the connection. The order of resistors doesn't matter all that much. If the 51k comes "first" the cap to ground yields a rolloff just over 1400hz, and if 47k comes "first", the rolloff starts a bit above 1500hz. This imposes a rolloff, shallow enough to leave plenty of top end, which gets carved away a little more with each repeat. This has several consequences. a) it allows you to maximize feedback without things getting too cluttered, because it moves the repeats to the perceptual background; b) it sounds a little more like "natural" echo - not quite reverb, but a little more in that direction; c) it helps to keep the audio grunge, that can accumulate when a signal passes through all those bucket brigade stages again and again, at a blessed minimum. Because the Power switch lifts or connects the cap-to-ground, that means normal bright-repeats functioing can be restored when you want, or defeated. Very little had to be done that might risk the board, or pedal functioning, with only ONE resistor desoldered, and replaced with two, soldered end to end, like an arch, and the power-jack wire that used to go to the Power switch, now going directly to the board. The Chorus/Vibrato switch essentially selects between a fixed faster and slower modulation rate, and that's it, with adjustment of the modulation Depth (Chorus/Vibrato knob) to achieve the desired effect. If a person wanted a other speeds, they could replace C39 or C40 with lower/smaller values (for faster speed) or higher/larger values for slower speed. Alternatively, R57 can be replaced with a 470k pot in series with a 560k resistor for continuously variable speed control. However, that leaves you with the task of finding a place for the added pot, drilling through that hard-to-machine folded-steel enclosure, and likely risking damage, or at least the resale value of the pedal. The stock speeds ARE well-chosen, so I mention these possible mods in case they're not to your taste.

[@liamgallagherrr]

I have a big box electric mistress same era how hard would it be to get it work with a power supply instead of the 3 prong plug it has

[@markhammer643]

@@liamgallagherrr From a technical perspective, bypassing the internal transformer, installing a power jack, and using an external wallwart, is both possible and some would even say recommended. One does not like to have transformers too close to audio paths, given the risk of EMI/hum. So resituating the transformer *outside* the enclosure is both safe, and some would even say more convenient, with no cables hanging off the pedal. There's no electronic difference between the rectified/regulated DC provided by the internal circuitry, and an external transformer feeding that same circuitry. However, given the nature of your question, I would strongly urge you NOT to attempt such a modification yourself, but turn the job over to a qualified technician. The expected question is "Will this affect resale value of such a 'vintage' pedal?". If done *properly* , I can't imagine it would severely impact in any negative way.

[@shanewalton8888]

An almost must-have pedal if you love U2 like I do. Great video Keith.

[@AskZac]

Great video on one of my favorite pedals. I gigged with one throughout the late 90s. Had it velcroed on top of a Lab Series L9 amp with an EVM 15L speaker. Thanks Keith!

[@mikes062]

I found a used EHX Stereo Memory Man with Hazarai 6-7 years ago and it’s been on my board since, it’s awesome and it’s crazy how much you can tweak it!!

[@MarioHernandez-zc7dv]

Ooh I love this series, love the tone from the memory man

[@Dramirez314]

You are one of my favorite educators. I guess one never really retires from education.

[@nedward5871]

Great article - one thing that was missing was how unlike other BBD units, the Deluxe Memory man had a much higher bandwidth at the expense of hiss/noise, whereas the Maxon/Ibanez or Boss units filtered out a lot of top end. It's one of the few older delay units that doesn't sound dark.

[@jeffteza8644]

Great review Keith, I love that you credit the semiconductor industry with the big breakthroughs and give easy-to-understand analogies of the concepts (bucket brigade, analog signal degradation etc). Well done.

[@MB-pc4cs]

I'm excited that there's a Deluxe Memory Man setting on the EHX Canyon I recently picked up but have not tried yet.

[@scottbogfoot]

Thanks Keith! Just got my first fender strat, delay and echo are going to be some of my go-to efx when stirring up creative inspiration on it 😃Cheers

[@luthiervandros]

Enjoy your journey!

[@TheFloridaSam]

I've had a big box DMM on my board forever. I've owned every vintage analog delay, tube reverb, 3 echoplexes, you name it. The DMM may not he the best, but it's never let me down.

[@jimsalman7257]

Keith, your videos just keep getting better and better. This is one of your best.

[@MB57]

Only have ever owned the "with Hazarai" version, but I love pretty much every variation of this pedal. Great vid as always!

[@ExOceann]

My favorite version !

[@robbin182]

I had that version as well. Regret selling it. Now bought a Memory man deluxe with tap tempo

[@marekgitarzysta5193]

Another great video - your narration, concise language, "stick to the facts" approach - all of that make those videos a marvel

[@retroboog8973]

I never knew why it was called "Bucket Brigade" until you explained it in this great mini doc.

[@HexxHenderson]

I bought one of the first ones to come out brand new it was in late 1976 it was the gray and black one featured at the beginning of this video. Everybody including myself marveled at the fact that it was creating a delay line and there was no tape inside it was really something else sometime around 80 or 81 I sold it because I didn’t need it anymore who would’ve thought it would be so collectible now.

[@jamesshaw476]

Another great video. I learn something new about gear on this channel. Since I’ve been playing for the last 10 years and use primarily digital and modeling amps. Never realized Eletro Harmonix was around in the 70’s.

[@jamesjones8480]

First! I look forward to these videos so much. I rarely rewatch videos on KZbin. I've watched these over and over.

[@keepondoubletruckin8466]

Thank you

[@arthurveldhoen3932]

Best sounding pedal ever made. Big box, XO and Nano, all superb.

[@JHKNVY02]

Love this!

[@rotaxtwin]

Great 'history lesson' as mentioned in another comment, but man - that playing. Fantastic. Between the info presented and the demos there is some quality work going on by everyone involved.

[@cafestudiosinc.1702]

Drenched in a sea of lushes tone. Dub reggea music was the first time I remember hearing amazing things done with delay.

[@pkdude5334]

Andy's playing is fucking incredible and that tone is immaculate.

[@nickbrandsema]

You should get in touch with Fran Blanche at Frantone, she used to work at EHX and has made herself a custom MM with crazy long delay times... really cool. Great Video!

[@mralgebro]

Great video! Delay is my favorite effect. Some of my favorite players mentioned in here. Awesome stuff. I can’t help but mention that the whole worship music genre would be no where without the delay sound. It’s funny because most worship bands sound like The Edge or Timmons, and they probably don’t even realize where this sound came from.

[@sboy1955]

So many great products and excellent players in this documentary.. wow! Excellent job Keith!! I think my Helix is calling from the studio.

[@oatnoid]

I remember wanting an Echo-Plex so bad. But when I went to price one out, I realized it cost more than my car. So, it was relegated to the wish list. But I did get a Small Stone Phase Shifter. In fact, there it is at 10:11 upper left. Cool! I'm on Five Watt World! It's still hooked up to my practice rig.

[@johndogwater]

Man, that Andy Timmons performance just gets better the more you watch it, Chopin is my all time favourite and the album is bound to be incredible.

[@ue4058]

Excellent.

[@Gene_Cali]

Like a moth to a flame I'm attracted to your content. It's clear, concise, and informative. I Subscribed.

[@fivewattworld]

Welcome to five watt world Gene!

[@Chris_Lohmann]

Damn it, Keith! I wasn’t ready for that clip of Andy Timmons playing “Here Lies The Heart” on That Pedal Show. You got me. 😢 Great video as always!

[@clemguitar63]

Awesome content and delivery. Keith, your work makes me smile, and brings 'JOY' into my life!

[@fivewattworld]

Thanks Clem!

[@highsocietysongchannel]

Very informative. Thank you!~

[@drgarlandglenn]

I've been using a Clock Work for a few months. Wonderful. Delay is a never ending adventure.

[@nickolasecker9596]

The Deluxe Memory Man, particularly the vintage versions are my favorite effect. I also really love the Echoplex for a brighter sound. The percussive repeats combined with the lofi degeneration and warble of the modulation combine to create something truly magical.

[@ferdberfle5069]

Great video as usual! Some really beautiful guitar work on this one.

[@davidwonpu353]

Most poetic 5WW intro ever!

[@mftran]

I enjoyed every bit of this. Thank you.

[@RudyAdrian]

This is REALLY great! Thanks so much!

[@TommySG1]

Great video Keith, I’ve never gave these delay pedals much thought and their evolution. Thanks, this was really interesting!

[@macsarcule]

I avoided the memory man for almost all of my guitar playing life, mostly because it’s so big. When the ‘mini’ came out, I immediately picked up one, but I was disappointed in its performance and unpredictability. I’m used to very predictable delays like the JHS lucky cat, and the Roland Space Echo I never got rid of the mini memory man because so many people love the memory man (so I must be missing some thing), and also because I usually wait quite a while to get rid of a pedal, often finding when I come back to it and give it another try I am pleased with the results. Seeing this video and understanding a bit better, I think I’m ready to give it a try again. 🤘😌🎸

[@coreyrenstrom]

The Roland space echo is rad are they all cosm? That cosm space echo pedal is so popular and (valuable) but the other cosm pedals like the cosm fuzz fz-5 are not popular and are very inexpensive especially when you compare the fz-5 to the fz-2

[@ant1sokolow]

Don't get rid of it. You need more than one echo/delay. They sound different from each other, and you can stack them for interesting effects. BTW the RE-20 Space Echo is about the same size as the big DMM...

[@LeonTodd]

Now that you've opened up this glorious box of echo, an Electric Mistress episode would be delightful!

[@Leo_Berger]

Great video

[@godawg1023]

Great job, and thank you for collaborating with John Cordy!! He’s a monster and seems like a really cool soul!

[@fivewattworld]

I’ve worked w John many times now. He never disappoints.

[@NotBenCoultry]

15:15 the Grand Canyon has a built in DMM with the features of the clockwork and a built-in looper

[@TommyFedak]

Just received the Keeley Halo! Thank you Andy Timmons!

[@banditsbikeco3439]

Breakfast with a new 5ww episode! It’s gonna be a good day

[@southpaw335]

Another awesome episode Keith

[@steveburchfield5576]

Good job!!! LPB-1 was one of my first efx.

[@24avenged24]

I personally love the EHX memory toy, cheap and simple and sounds better than the more popular mxr carbon copy to me.

[@WhiskeyDale]

I had one of these back in 1980's. it was a great pedal.

[@andrewbentriley]

Awesome video and short history Keith. I really enjoy these pedal shorts. Looking forward to more! ✌️

[@MusicMike939]

I saw queen live a few years ago. One part of the show, Brian May is up in the air. It looks like he is on an asteroid with the planets zooming by him. He has dozens of guitar sounds going at once. With lazers to match. I have no idea what he uses. But it was a highlight of the show.

[@benjamindewey3841]

Well done. I loved the sounds and dialed in a couple of my Helix patches just to try out the Line 6 version.. Sounds great! Thanks for the inspiration.

[@toms5951]

Andy Timmons always creates magic and that episode of The Pedal Show was pure enjoyment. I still don't have a working delay pedal after my Line6 Echo Park died a few years ago but definitely inspired to find one.

[@fivewattworld]

Not surprisingly there’s a great model of it in Helix land.

[@VictorRochaGaming]

My father bought my first DMM in 1981. That was my secret weapon in the bars. IMHO the weakness is the box. It couldn't take a stomping. Well, my stomping. Eventually, it would short out.

[@HTRism]

Thank you for this. It’s my fav delay pedal of all time. I should have bought one in the 00’s now it’s between 400€ and 1000€ depending on condition.

[@davidkieltyka9]

I bought a DMM in the early 1980s along with a DOD 250…my first two pedals. Still have ‘em. The DMM has been repaired a couple times and currently works right & sounds great. I often used it as an ersatz reverb pedal, as Keith describes, back when there were no reverb pedals. ☺️

[@mattvelarde]

Thanks

[@finboyYYC]

Last year I sold one of the early 00's big box units that had 4 ports onboard for BBD chips. I had analogman put in 4 mn3005 chips, effectively making it an 1100 non TT big box deluxe memory man. While a cool experiment, I opted for a 1100TT as my ears aren't good enough to pick up on the nuances between the pedals. Great video, glad to see 5 watt world dipping more toes in the pedal world and talking about modern offerings that can save those who aren't into collecting vintage units.

[@livelikeus4980]

Such a Great job! These videos never get old! Keep rocking!

[@doublebass]

this has been on my list since i borrowed my neighbors 20 years ago

[@MrGtrzan007]

!!!!! as always Keith A+++ thanks for the work !!!

[@wildcolonialman]

Fabulous. And instructive.

[@toploadtele]

I scored a Keeley HALO a few weeks ago and all I can say is... it's the real deal! We were the only local band back in the early 70's that had an Echoplex and It was awesome too!

[@embreesmith7613]

Binson. !!! 🙂

[@oatnoid]

Spoiled rich kid.

[@violinmiata]

So many delays, so little time Great video

[@theystoleitfromus]

@14:48 Also the Xvive Echoman.

[@AllenGarberGuitarFun]

I got my 1979-1980 V5 Deluxe Memory Man in a pawn shop in 1987 for $35. It was my only delay for 30 years. I’ve only recently gotten a Dunlop Echoplex Delay and a Univox EC-80 A Echo Chamber about 10 years ago. It sounds nothing like any reissue Deluxe Memory Man I’ve ever heard. I love it. The Deluxe Memory Man was Edge’s first delay and it defined every U2 album from ‘Boy’ through ‘The Unforgettable Fire’.

[@thomasmoore3822]

Great job. I have the lpb1 and used it for years. I have a big muff but it fell apart because of how it was made. The hallo sounded fantastic as did the new nano deluxe and the memory man in the stomp.

[@randysutton2120]

Great video, as always. In the novel, House of Leaves, there's a really cool section about the power of echoes.

[@GaveMeGrace1]

Superb-thank you

[@buzzawuzza3743]

You nailed this. Some I knew and some I did not. We all now await a wah-wah video.

[@stratfanstl]

As one great example of what a Memory Man can do sonically, listen to the song Puzzle on the album Puzzle by dada from 1992. Guitarist Michael Gurley stacks up about five parts over the course of the first minute of the song that make it completely addictive. The entire album is great and I listened straight thru the entire album the first time I heard it until Puzzle came up second to last. Once I heard that song and its intro, I put it on repeat for 50-60 minutes.

[@waytospergtherebro]

Absolutely no one should ever listen to a Dada record.

[@bruce12161]

@@waytospergtherebro “Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man...”

[@SafeHandsProductions]

thank you for all of you content which is a greatly valued service to enthusiasts like us. Please please continue to build the library of our common history (hitchhikers video guide to) each "icon" from your perspective your nose is good and is taking you in the right direction. Conversation - Musician A: Whats the deal with that (object/equipment/instrument/person/style)??? Musician B: look it up in Five Watt he'll have a video about it.

[@mariodriessen9740]

This is one of those pedals I'd love to add to my collection, but I already have three of those huge EHX tiles on my board. 😁

[@HolgerGirlich]

Years ago I had the luck to get a I guess 80ties EHX Memory man delux..the old big box runinng on 24 Volts for just 50 Euro. Since then I am really in love with it modulated Chorus/Delay tone. Later I found a "AnaSound (from France) Utopia" Delay which did fit on smaller Pedalboards AND wich was running on 9 Volts. Since a few years I am a Line 6 Helix Floor player...but still I love its Memory man copy...the elefant man. Thx for your video !! Loved it !

[@shaunw9270]

Another highly enjoyable video thanks Keith 👍 I don't own a DMM but I love the history.

[@surfrby8876]

Another great video Keith ,always learning from you ,my favorite delay has always a Memory Man , just something magical , But I recently discovered the UA Del-Verb Ambience companion and I was really impressed with it ,very versatile and beautiful tones , , haven't bought one yet .......

[@matthewmcclure3181]

Absolutely loved this episode and think you did a great job presenting (and navigating) perceptions of early vs. late models. After nearly 40 years as a musician I bought my first older EH pedal last year. Without exception, every piece of gear I buy is with an application focus. However, over the years I've also evolved to consider assertions of the "right model", the "right component", the "right..." etc. While I think there are plenty of instances where subjective bias takes root or claims made don't hold up under scrutiny, I think there are also instances where the claim is legitimate. I bought a 1979 Deluxe Electric Mistress (Gen 2? or Gen3? - a bit fuzzy right now) and intend to eventually pick up a Memory Man. When I research Memory Man models, I find parallels with the Electric Mistress in that the "good ones" are an even hazier construct than most other iconic gear (excluding certain fuzz pedals). There are models produced much later than the late 70s that I've seen labeled as the "good ones". The early models are obviously revered as well. After a year I still don't have an opinion on the percentage of fairy dust in my pedal, or actually even care (this isn't the case for everything I own). I like it and it integrates fairly well with some of my more modern gear, given it's over 40 years old. Also want to mention that I remember buying that red analog delay pedal you included in this video when I was 13 years old back in 1983, but in my memory it was a bit more pink or berry colored. I still have it (I think) but it's lost at the moment. One thing I remember as a teenager in the 80s, is I bought my fair share of pedals but made very little distinction between Boss, Arion, DoD, and Ibanez (don't remember seeing MXR). I've wondered sometimes if this reflects being a dumb naive kid, or if in terms of "sacred cow" pedals more savvy guitarists thought similarly. The only exception for me was the Boss DD-2 and at the time it was magical. It had more knobs than that red analog one and a few years later when the Joshua Tree came out I elevated the DD-2 to mankind's greatest invention. I don't remember EH even being a consideration (around the 83-84 time-frame).

[@OahuHolisticMedicine]

beautiful video. one of my favs