S*T*U*F*F* Reloaded

So here we are, on the cusp of the tour proper. After 2 shows in London, which were pretty good by London standards, as the crowds can be a bit on the cool side. Last night (Saturday) was the first time the set has felt under control, and the right “shape”… at least Nico and JB aren’t the sort to sit on the same set for very long… I think we’ll be learning more tunes over the duration of the tour so that fans can be kept guessing. Bring it on - I’ll happily learn every song they’ve ever recorded to help break any onset of tour ennui. We’re going to be out for a long time - it will be nice to have options.

The Carbon Diary is so I can keep track of the damage I’m doing to the planet by being on tour. Its a bit of a quandary - to do this job, it requires a lot of travel by default, and I don’t feel too comfortable about it. So I decided that the best thing I can do is a bit of “carbon offsetting” where I will keep a log of all the bad things I do while touring so I can compensate by planting trees or doing something positive in return… the fact is I just can’t avoid taking flights and doing long journeys by bus.

On arrival in Berlin, I had the pleasure of spending most of the day with the guys from Native Instruments - I use their products on almost everything I do and have been a fan since the early days. They wanted to come and see how I was using Guitar Rig on the Air production. It was slightly surreal to be in their development suites - I remember getting hold of the B4 (Hammond Organ soft synth) and thinking how it would be amazing to develop something like that for guitars - and there I was discussing the development of the next version of Guitar Rig with Patrick Arp, the head of guitar development. The great thing about those lads is they are all crazy about music and many either DJ or play in a band… they are most certainly not a bunch of nerdy techies - just guys who love sound.

I was totally honest about the strengths and weaknesses of Guitar Rig, and they concurred that for some things, hardware was the way to go. I have never seen soft synths and stuff as replacements for the real gear, and that is the key to their success. In many ways, the closer they get to the sound of a grand piano, the further away they get from something useful and interesting… I have always felt this way, and this is how I use Guitar Rig - but in contrast, some of my sounds just would not be possible without software.

Right - gotta go.