Hologram Microcosm, Parallel Loopers, Gear Endorsements & More! | Secret Weapons Q&A Episode Two
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- čas přidán 2. 08. 2024
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QnA in the studio, everyone. Let's run through everything from how I record guitars (from pedals to plug ins in my DAW) to my favorite ambient noisemakers and a convo about sponsorships and authenticity in gear reviews. I don't know how this ended up being 40+ minutes. Maybe we should do these more often.
Check out my new single, Rapture by Almanor, here:
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CZcams: • "Rapture" - Almanor
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(Trust me, you'll hear music way more often over there). - Hudba
Give this man more recognition! Awesome video as always Mark
This channel just destroyed my previous pedal board. Lol! So far I’ve picked up the Diamond Comp, the DRV, the microcosm, Nemesis delay, and Night Sky reverb. Thanks for the smooth advice and explanation on how to build a ambient board.
Thanks for being a great inspiration to me.
I’ve been in a rut lately and I’ve gone back and watched a bunch of videos some multiple times. And they’ve just pushed me to think deeper and really live in the sound I’m trying to make.
Thanks mate!
Such great info in this vid! Love all the answers and the play throughs to go along with them, super insightful stuff
Love the last section using the "Othling method." Being able to hear what's possible using just the parallel looper setup into reverb has given me inspiration to keep exploring the gear that I have vs. the gear on my wish list!
Thanks for taking my question, Mark. Great sounds in the closing jam. Already have Mood; excited to experiment with that setup myself once I get ahold of the other two. Keep up the good work.
Best,
Twisted Rand :)
Aaay! Thanks for answering my question. Super great and interesting video! Thanks for the consistently great content.
good info. wholesome honest reviews. luckily for me, you talked about every favorite pedal I have on my board or on my bucket list.
that 1981 wasn't on my radar, but holy hell, that sounds fantastic. The benson sounded equally amazing. as a fan of both the year 1981 and the sitcom Benson, which debuted in 1981, I'm trying to draw too many conclusions in the coincidence. Subscribed!
This was so good.
I like so much how you share your thoughts and knowledge.
You deserve way more views and subscribers Sir. I love you videos and have learnt alot from you. Thank you my good man.
You should get back to the Microcosm full review
I picked up the iridium such a game changer after seeing this, looking to get the benson next. Love your boards man thanks for making such inspiring videos.
I really enjoyed this brotha. 👌🏼
The Benson Preamp has to be the best overdrive pedal I have ever heard. It holds together at high gain like a serendipitous apocalypse.
Hey Mark, just discovered your channel and immediatly subscribed! When talking about the microcosm you mention a parallel stereo pedal board you built. Is there a video of this?
I did like what I heard. Will add that to the work playlist
Any way you could breakdown the reverse delay on the mood? Just not sure what dipswitches are activated.
I’m a new fan, but your sound is unreal. So tasteful and gorgeous. I’ve got a DRV, and have been GASing for both the Benson preamp and Specular Tempus after watching your videos. It’s expensive watching your content, but worth it!
Glad you're enjoying it, man.The Benson is on basically 100% of the time for me. It's just SO good.
Loved this video, Mark. Favorite part: "you're an adult. You can find it."
Its's true, though.
Lovely review
Vary noice convo 👌🏽
Does someone know the FX Sounds of the Transfomer movies, I wound why there is still not a digital pedal out there can do that.
Ya got me to sub, for you being you. Keep it up. Cheers!
I really like the production of your videos. They flow very well.
Hello Mark, love your single man. Reminds me of Bon Iver stuff which I also love, you are becoming a big inspiration for my upcoming songs and sounds.
PS: I already bought the Enzo, Blooper, Mood and EM Drive because of you.. Therefore I can say that I'm trusting you my wallet.
There's actually a harmony silhouette with bigsby now! (if you really want the tremolo)
I convinced myself a long time ago I didn't want or need the mood, but now I'm reconsidering
MOOD’ll do it to ya
I’m still struggling with that pedal. Can definitely see the use noodling ad tweaking in my bedroom for hours, but not in live and/or composition. Seems too random.
Mark would you do a video to talk about preamp pedal use and compressor pedal use? like you the end of my chain ends with an iridium but I don´t use a compressor pedal nor a preamp...... I just would like to understand how people use these 2 different tools that usually go at the beginning of the chain. I guess I see that in the Iridium I already got a "pre-amp" section, i have a drive knob, a bass, middel and treble knob...... so why would I still use a preamp pedal when the iridium has that?
Thanks
Much appreciated, your videos always have the smallest bits of information that make the biggest difference! I have to agree the 70’s Plate reverb on the Specular Tempus is amazing and I love the auto swell on the Mercury7 but couldn’t help this niggling feeling that it always seemed to respond better to mono, now I know why. I don’t mind being forced to use it as my mono to stereo bridging pedal in my signal chain, but Meris, if you’re reading this Firmware update please! Heard the ad for the Microcosm and my immediate take away was “that reverb” haha! Here’s hoping they let us slap it on the dry signal eventually, who am I kidding, I’ll still probably buy the thing anyway.
Hey y'all, you can use all the Microcosm effects on they dry signal when it's in "Looper Only" mode.
Brendan Trinkle cheers Brendan..
I’m considering doing a mini board that has a dark world , thermae , and brothers into a mc3. Do you think that would be able to cover a lot of ground ?
“Comparing 2 things I use is not an intellectually engaging conversation…. anyway, here’s a comparison of 2 things I use”. LOL. You have a wonderful perspective on tone and the conduits used to achieve your ideas. That question didn’t deserve heat though haha
With the Signal Blender and 2 Pedals you do your own Chase Bliss Pedal you can mix Dark and World or Heaven and Hell like you want.
Awesome vid. Where would you place microcosm in the chain? I can’t wait to have mine
Just beginning to experiment ambient and I'm leaning towards the Specular Tempus to start off, but on the other hand I really like the micro and phrase looping feature of the Hologram Microcosm. Is there a midi-controlled looper that would be a good match to use with the Tempus? Great channel content and commentary, thank you, very helpful.
Niceformat, great content
If you switch the Microcosm to "Looper Only" mode and turn it on, you can use just the reverb, pitch modulation and the filter
Love this. Would you consider doing a comparison video between the microcosm and the mastro valvola LEM?
I’m not sure that’s a worthwhile endeavor. They’re very different effects. The LEM is delay and the microcosm is a granular sampler, resynth, looper, and reverb. There’s not a lot of overlap to be had.
Agreed on the thermae : best delay
By just such a wide margin. I adore it.
Fight, Fight!! Haha love it!
That microcosm though. Stunning. Sounds so good on guitar it makes me want to buy a guitar
One of the best channels on CZcams. Thanks for the transparency! I wish I could have seen your post about the Q&A in time. Hopefully, you can answer here. I got the M O O D thanks to you, and I love it. However its kinda low in volume. Is it just me? I have to engage other pedals in order to really get a loud audible sound. I don't have a pre-amp nor compressor yet (those are my next purchases).
Are you giving it enough power? What's quiet; the wet, the dry, or both? This doesn't sound like an issue I have had.
Wow Mark- craziest thing happened: halfway through watching this video I had to turn it off, plug in my guitar and PLAY! Thanks for the inspiration. Coincidentally, a Silhouette>Benson>QT Prelude>Iridium is glorious. Thanks again! PS- what’s your early favorite on the new Owen album?
the Benson / Prelude combo is always one of my favorites. They're both just innately soothing. And my early standout on the new Owen record is Heasphoned; I am sucker for anything with big stereo reverse texture, clearly.
Hey man. great channel. super inspiring. Did you ever figure out the 60 cycle issue with Harmony. I was doing some reading and some forums have said Gold foils inherently have more noise because of the rubber on the magnets. I read that the rubber also affects the volume nob and doesn't allow for good clean up when dialed back. Have you experienced this? I've been eyeing the Harmony guitars for a while and just trying to learn their quirks. Thanks for you time.
did you ever find the answer to this?
you got more awesome sounds out of that microcosm in 2 minutes than ive been able to coax out of that in hours!
:-) . I'll receive mine next month. I'm afraid I'll find myself in the same situation than you. Let's wish us luck.
@@jbjb9691 you’ll probably have better luck... I sold mine before they updated the firmware. The original units they sent out didn’t seem to detect the guitar tone very well and trigger the effects.
@@baristart123 Aw man, sorry to hear that. I'll let you know how mine goes. Cheers from North Alabama.
U should have way more subs and its rare that i can find a page were u can discover
Love this 1:08
Dude yes!!! I have the iridium. I use it at church in our worship band. Full disclosure, I literally had three pedals for the longest time, a compressor (keeley) a reverb (tc hof) and a delay (boss) and plugged straight into the sound system. I know I know! Terrible, but I couldn’t afford anything else. Lol. But I got a great job which led me to being able to afford new equipment and pedals. Got the iridium as well as a whole new pedalboard, and I love it. All that to say, I noticed that the iridium sounds amazing through my headphones, but through the speakers at church, it loses some of its sound. I just ordered the 29 pedals euna and going to order the oamp and see if that helps. But the sound in headphones and sound in speakers is totally different with the iridium.
Btw: I totally bought a harmony silhouette just because I love the tone of your playing. No place sells em near me, so I’m buying it based solely on hearing you play it in some of your videos. Getting it in 3 days. Can’t wait for it to get here.
I'm actually also eyeballing the harmony silhouette. Did you get it? what do you think of it for this kind of textural ambient music? i currently have a tele and strat, could you compare it to those? and what about the 60cycle hum, do you get that too?
Great video, man!
Glad you liked it!
@@markjohnstonofficial One question: Microcosm at the start or end of a chain, in general?
@@KevinMcAfee 32:14
@@markjohnstonofficial This is what I get for commenting 22min in, haha
I am building a revolutionary delay pedal called the PROcrastinator. It may take a while.
You nailed the downside of the stomp. Coming from someone who owns and uses one because it's just dramatically more affordable than what I'd prefer, it's just not designed to be a piece of gear that feels musical on its face.
It sounds really good... and I know a lot of people who get a ton of great sounds out of it. Its just so counter to everything that I love about my workflow and highlights every choke point that keeps me from feeling inspired. A bummer.
Thanks for answering my question! Between the DRV, Brothers, and Benson I got a good feel of the headroom of it which is my main problem with some amp sims I've tried. Sounded great!
It's amazing how hard it can be dial things if you don't have proper headroom at the end of the chain. Glad I could help.
"mood" is fab but may i suggest a red panda "particle" or catalinbread "csidman" for more of an "entry level" ie; easier to handle, "glitchy/weird" pedal?
Particle is just as inscrutable as MOOD imo.
Just got the Shallow Water - and I'm trying to love it - not sure yet, might need to get into those internal switches. But I too would fight anyone in the street who says the Thermae isn't the best delay ever made.
The internal trim pot was absolutely essential for loving the Shallow water imo. It's worth trying it with and without the JFET boost as well; I have a full demo and review of the Shallow Water on this channel for more info on that.
Adept cowboy guitar + reverb + delay = ambient. I just figured that out.
Amazing video , you probably will want to kill me for asking ..... but are you placing the iridium at the end of your chain? I though you would usually end your chain with a stereo reverb. Thanks for everything you do for us
The Iridium is acting as a stereo amp and I tend to like my amps at the end of my chain. When I have high headroom clean amps I like the way that delay and reverb sounds with the little bit of amp color and compression.
Mark Johnston interesting , have you seen the pre amp pedal made by chase bliss ? Not that I want to compare pedals , but would you say that would be a good option to place at the end of your chain as well?
mougabo yeah it’s a blend of the benson pre amp and the chase bliss condor but with midi and sliders. I really want one; I’ve used those other two in tandem for SO long.
Mark Johnston and where in the chain would you place it then? End as well?
@@mougabo No, would go after my drives and before my wet effects. I treat "pre amps" different than "amp sims" in that respect.
"Sweet overdrive" doesn't compute but "soothing overdrive" does??? Shrugs and continues on to like and subscribe.
Love your videos man... about the headphone jack on the iridium... perhaps, and I do not know... but maybe it’s that the room you are playing in is not sound proofed properly? The headphones sound doesn’t interact with the acoustics in the room... 🤷🏻♂️ perhaps...
I am talking from the perspective of plugging the headphones directly into my Iridium VS plugging my headphones into my interface, not using my monitors.
@@markjohnstonofficial ahh! For sure..,
Did he talk about the Strymon power supplies? 🤔 If so I totally missed it!
I use basically only Strymon Ojai power now and love it.
Good to know! The standard Ojai or the R30? I'm considering either starting a new, second board, or reworking my current board. Need a Strymon power supply either way as I'm trying out the new Chase Bliss Automatone Preamp MKII 😍 (need that 500mA!!)
Paul Crichton get cioks dc7!
Paul Crichton I use both. I have one r30 and 3 regular ones just to have my basses covered. My only real gripe is that the stand alone transformer is a little annoying but the ability to drop power on different parts of the board is the best.
you accidentally made the most useful demonstration of the Iridium I've seen....
My digitech obscura sounds exactly like ur thermae in this vid Just sayin for guys who want something 3 times cheaper
Ehhhhhhhh. I've never heard a clip of the Obscura that has the same crunchy clock noise the Thermae does. Nor, as far as I know, does it do anything coming close to the pitch shifting that Thermae does. Obscura is in stereo, though. So it's got that going for it.
For those 80 bucks for which i was able to get it for, it does very nice things. Thats my point here. Also, i said 'in this video', meaning, what we hear in this video, i heard from obscura. No difference.
Hey it’s the guy from the Geico caveman ad :)
Don't assume I'm an adult : )
Something happened to the right...
Regarding the Cabzues vs. Iridium question-you answered it. That's all the person was asking, you weirdo. Music gear is COMPLICATED. Somebody might not know the difference between an emulator with cabs only vs. an emulator with both amps and cabs. Why do they have to know what you know in order to ask a damn question worthy of response without getting their name blotted out? For me, gear snobbery goes all the way back to guitar center in the 90's and being too intimidated to ask employees gear questions because of their clear frustration that I didn't already know the answer. So Mark "Guitar center" Johnston, don't ever forget that once upon a time you didn't know shit either.
Well I didn’t talk down to that person for not knowing the difference and I also explained the difference in the video without demeaning them for not knowing. I blotted their name out because their question wasn’t about features but “which is better” which was the dichotomy I was pushing back on. I’m against the claim that “one is objectively better” and am instead advocating that the right answer is whatever works best for your rig. If you find that to be snobbery than you might want to reassess your understanding of the word. But I appreciate your reasonable and not at all aggressive input.
@@markjohnstonofficial Let me put it to you this way. YOU, walk into a guitar center and ask an employee "what's the difference between the Iridium and Cabzeus?" and they respond "Listen, i'm not going to let anyone here know you and I had this conversation because i'm about to trash on your question a little bit." To which you respond "Uh, why are you about to trash on my question?" and the employee answers "I just find it not to be interesting, intellectually-and just not a conversation worth engaging with” Your words, not mine and Gear snobbery at it's finest! lol. It's alright. I still love your playing.
@@davedraws76 again; you seem to be approaching this from the angle that I am trashing on the person for not knowing the difference. Which I wasn't. Or that I did / had any intentional of withholding that information. Which, again, I didn't. I have no inclination to gate-keep knowledge. I'm not sure why you've circled back around to the idea that I am again. The question asked wasn't even ABOUT the differences in features between the two. It asked me to pick a "this v that" and THAT is the question I don't find value in. I don't think there is a blanked answer and I explained why. My rationale for blanking the name out is because "this VS that" is a question I get on social media constantly and have pushed back really hard against.
My whole mindset that one isn't universally better than the other and that it depends on what the individual player needs in terms of features, sound, complexity, and just generally what they like more is the opposite of snobbery and I really can't fathom how you are re-arriving at that same conclusion. But go off, I guess.
@@markjohnstonofficial It's fine. I'll concede where you refuse. That's to say, I hear you. I understand that you were just answering the question and you answered it well. I'm realizing i've failed to state what I expected you'd read between the lines and that's my fault. Here it is-It's your tone. It's the language you used and the way you used it that makes you seem like an unapproachable asshole. I'm saying you SEEM that way. I'm not saying you are. Chances are you're really nice. However if you can't see how that segment makes you seem like a dick then It's not my job to make you aware. For that apologize. You need to realize that on your own or hear it from a family member or friend. It's not my place and i'm sorry it came to this.
So the secret weapons are a bunch of really expensive new-ish pedals? I speak as someone that owns easily half of what's on the table. These pedals are just unique and new. They are fun and interesting to try, though many take a stupid amounts of time to get to know. That said, I honestly don't think any of them redefine how one would play the guitar other than maybe the Zoia (which I don't own, mostly because of the time required to learn it). Maybe I am "one of those people". I honestly find most of these pedals distracts from the music in the name of "creating a new(ish) sound." That's my two cents.
I hear a lot of good strong "post-rock" coming through in your sound. Love post-rock. I'm a big fan of GY!BE. ❤ I have a ZOIA, and make granular stuff for it. I will also have a microcosm from the coming batch.