OK here's what you do. You make an electric eye, like an alarm circuit. Then you activate it by breaking the beam, perhaps with the head of the guitar? Now you can still use both hands playing.
Almost as important as the back and forth switching between "present" and "past" is the "null" middle position between the two poles that creates a choppy, glitchy "gap" between the two signals. If your switch was merely a very fast (but simple) A/B switch it wouldn't be nearly so successful (IMOHO). It's that momentary middle position gap that makes it really happen in such a wonderfully percussive and glitchy way. Just my 2 cents.
Ted Killian, I couldn't agree more. That middle position also provides a way for me to articulate rhythms, which is so important because that would normally be handled by my strumming arm.
Mind blown. You rock Jeremy! Just found your video via Guitar Player magazine's FB page. Signed up on your list, super interested to add this to my rig.
Excellent creativity! This would also be useful as twin footpedals to operate with your right foot and left foot so you can play the guitar with both hands.
Thanks Nathan! As far as a foot pedal goes, I'm actually using all five fingers individually on the rocker, and feet will just never have that kind of dexterity. I have thought of a pedal setup like a double-kick on a drum set, but the problem there is that a lot of the fast rhythms I'm doing are on one side or the other, not back and forth. What might work is maybe three pairs of pedals that go A+A, A+B, and B+B. That would give me every combination, but I still wouldn't be able to quickly go from one combination to another.
This is so simple and so brilliant, Jeremy. Wow! I'm so inspired! I had Hideki Nakanishi put two game boy switches on my new beautiful custom tenor electric that he made for me...........I can glitch sound into guitar into silence (rhythmically cool) or silence into guitar sound (for glitchy effects) so I'm working on similar sound things, but the ability to cut a delayed signal (or any signal for that matter) into the present sound is just awesome. I've been working on the Walker Manual Glitch Pedal for a while now that allows glitching of two kinds of noise (pink and brown) as well as alternative audio into your guitar sound which has had two or four button configurations (for those great middle eastern drumming or flamenco tapping kinds of techniques) too so we're kind of cousins in that regard..............but cutting between past and present (with that momentary square wave cut off of all sound in between them as Ted mentioned.....................just awesome. Thanks for sharing how you did it and nice music, bro!
Clifford Novey Cliff, yes, key changes or even chord changes are tough, which is why I'm using a static harmony in this video. I feel like my improvisational skills are not quite there yet -- it's hard enough coming up with stuff that sounds good on the fly, without having to also remember what I was playing four beats ago! What I'd like to do is actually put together a composed piece that uses this technique.
Roger that. Andre Lafosse has a piece that uses a looper and each 8 measures or so is built on the preceding 8 measures in reverse and is recorded then reversed and new material laid over then reversed... etc. If you compose a piece with your method I would love to hear it.
I'm doing similar type of "live slicing" using foot switches.... but you can only be so accurate using feet. Your hand control is way more playable! (fingers tap faster than feet) I've been dreaming about putting buttons on a Stratocaster's pick guard too for amore stage friendly setup.
Yes. That is a good idea. so simple. Switches. And a way of engaging them smoothly. I am certainly going to use this. IN exchange i offer you 2 pretty fun things 1) Lil'smokie amp is best played held in your hand= feedback & use thumb directly on spkr to modulate sound or hollow of cupped hand. 2) Take a loose, smaller than 2" spkr, wire to 1/4'jack, wrap spk in baggie or balloon(best), to amps spkr out, put it in your mouth. TalkBox. Actually better than a Talkbox. Wider range of physical interactions with the sound, better response. And..people think it is WAY wierder to pop a speaker in your mouth than to go to guitarcenter. Showmanship. "He made that in his shed, i think. We should probably stand further away, he might be a Dangerous Lunatic" I'll bet you were suprised how well this worked. The guy was right about the null middle position making it happen percussively. Bet its very different withoutit. Immediately i'm adding delay lines, but i doubt it would improve much. Maybe with an octave shift. And automate the switching mechanically via var speed wheel+pegs as sequencer. You'd lose rythmic fluidity but gain a right hand.
Jeremy, if you had the rocker sprung loaded with the bias to the live side, you could use your foot to tap in the delayed side, releasing to bring back the live side. With practice, I'm sure you could still get the middle glitch . Excellent work though :-)
Just a thought: If you wanted to make a foot-operated version, maybe consider a two-foot approach for quick switching similar to this unit (if you haven't already considered)
Hey Chris, I’ve been experimenting with these concepts for years, and I’ve found that the rocker design really takes advantage of your fingers’ dexterity to create precise rhythms that just can’t be matched by foot pedals or even pushbuttons. I have thought of a two-foot setup, like a double-kick on a drum set, but the problem there is that a lot of the fast rhythms I'm doing are on one side or the other, not back and forth. What might work is maybe three pairs of pedals that go A+A, A+B, and B+B. That would give me every combination, but I still wouldn't be able to quickly go from one combo to another.
Very nice! Have you tried running the delayed signal through any effects differing from what's in the live signal? Might be cool with a "slow gear" type effect or a pitch arpeggiator. (not that you really need effects ontop of what you're doing, your technique is great!)
hi seen your vid through a link guitar player had featured interesting concept you got there i think it would be pretty tricky to get use to on a table top design and i know you said about a foot design but have you thought of perhaps building it so it fits on the guitar similar to what matt bellamy with the koass pad i think this integrated with the koass pad would make an interesting feature
Mechanical intervetion. Leslies: "what if we made speakers that spun around?" Huh? You'll enjoy these (on ytube somwhere) Mr Quintron's DrumBuddy, a drum machine controlled/sequenced by a coffee can with holes punched through over a light bulb. And a vid called 'cutting rythms into vinyl" about the guy from The Books literally stanley knifing beats into LPs. Depth, spacing, width, speed. Its also briliantly simple
Thanks Nycewell. I can't give you an exact date, but I am working on it. I've been talking to this prototyping firm that will hopefully be able to help me manufacture a small production run of rockers based on my design. I set up a mailing list so I can let people know when it will be available. Here's the signup link: jeremyseanbell.com/scrubboard/newsletter.html
This would be a cool effect to use live by using certain triggers on your drummer's setup for the delayed guitar cut of your rocker (R) and certain other triggers for the mute guitar cut of your rocker (C) and the absence of a trigger as your regular guitar sound (L) -- based on my random guess that you'd want more regular guitar sound than mute most of the time.
Hey Alan, that's a cool idea, but the problem is that drummers don't have any control over sustain... well, I guess they can choke the cymbals, but other than that, they only control when sounds start, not when they end. I guess the drum triggers could “latch,” so their effect continues until the next trigger is hit, but then you’d have to move twice as fast to get those quick cuts.
It definitely wouldn't produce quite the same effect as what you're demonstrating. I was just spit-ballin' on another way to use your cut-to-mute-or-delay effect idea. With my permutation, the guitarist would almost need to have a momentary footswitch to choose to engage the effect or not.
Yes, absolutely! A guitar-mounted rocker is definitely on my agenda. I have a newsletter that I use to keep people posted on my quest to get this stuff manufactured. If you haven't already, I hope you'll sign up: jeremyseanbell.com/scrubboard/newsletter.html
nope. that's a killswitch that momentarily cuts off the guitar signal but it does sound incredibly similar. tom morello also uses it a lot to adapt DJing techniques to guitar, the solo in "bulls on parade" being a prime example
Missing Persons/Duran Duran guitarist Warren Cuccurullo had a Vox wah pedal built into the back of his main guitar so he could use it by rocking it back and forth against his body. Could you do something similar with this?
maybe set it up as a foot pedal where the live is on when your foot is off and the delay is on when your foot presses it. I bet something as simple as a rubber band would work for your current setup.
I haven't yet composed any songs using this technique, but that's definitely on my agenda. Meanwhile, you can check out my earlier works on my website: jeremyseanbell.com/music
I think sticking with fingers and playing one handed is definitely the right way to go. Set this up with a switch to enable/disable on the guitar and a way to mount on body + kickstarter and you should be good to go.
Why not put a spring under one side so that one signal (probably the live one) is "always on" & you'd only have to tap half as much because you'd only be doing it to switch to the delay? Seems like that could potentially double the speed of the effect.
Well, the thing is that I'm not just switching between live and delay; I'm also muting and un-muting the sound. That's how I'm able to get those DJ-style fader rhythms.
I actually did get a provisional patent, which gives me a year to get a real patent. I would have liked to get a real patent before uploading, but they're expensive!
Dude, I am telling you, you should invest in a real patent. I'm pretty sure your invention has already caught the eye of some big companies out there. Get a loan, save up some money, do whatever you can and get that patent ASAP. This pedal that you made is amazing - I'd love to get one in the future, too. I'd hate to see your hard work be taken advantage of by other entities.
Is Bipolar an accurate term? I noticed in the comments your issues with a simple device for the foot is that you're using all five fingers on this rocker. If it were one or the other (live or delayed) you would only need two fingers or one finger and a button. However, upon further examination it looks like when touching one side, releasing, and touching again there is a break in the audio. Is this correct? If so, then I agree that it needs to be controlled by hand but I don't think that Bipolar is an accurate term.
I guess if you count the center "null" position (see Ted Killian's comments), then yes, it's actually "tri-polar." But the title wasn't really meant to be taken literally -- it's just a tongue-in-cheek reference to my mentally ill approach to music ;)
Hey Daniel, I've actually been talking to this prototyping firm that's hopefully going to help facilitate a short production run of these rockers (along with my tape-scratching gear), so I can sell them without having to hand make each one. I've set up a mailing list so I can let people know when they're available. You should sign up: jeremyseanbell.com/scrubboard/newsletter.html
You are a VERY skilled and creative individual. This is amazing. I showed all of my friends!
Thanks!
OK here's what you do. You make an electric eye, like an alarm circuit. Then you activate it by breaking the beam, perhaps with the head of the guitar? Now you can still use both hands playing.
Almost as important as the back and forth switching between "present" and "past" is the "null" middle position between the two poles that creates a choppy, glitchy "gap" between the two signals. If your switch was merely a very fast (but simple) A/B switch it wouldn't be nearly so successful (IMOHO). It's that momentary middle position gap that makes it really happen in such a wonderfully percussive and glitchy way. Just my 2 cents.
Love your inventions! And the musical way you use them. great stuff!!
Sweet. Awesome work on this! And a great followup/evolution from the Scrubboard.
This is amazing, really great stuff. I hope you succeed in getting this manufactured and distributed worldwide, I think it is a great idea.
im not usually into guitar music but this is something really amazing and id love to see this become a full product line
Super underrated channel. Everything you do is cool af
I've just realized how much this sounds like metroid-style music. Amazing.
Only a matter of time before you should get a call from a pedal company wanted to mass produce this awesome effect. Great job man.
Ted Killian, I couldn't agree more. That middle position also provides a way for me to articulate rhythms, which is so important because that would normally be handled by my strumming arm.
Man, I need one!
Mind blown. You rock Jeremy! Just found your video via Guitar Player magazine's FB page. Signed up on your list, super interested to add this to my rig.
This is insaaaane. I wish I could hear my favorite YT guitarists play this
That kicks ass! 👏🤓👍 Great invention and great playing/music as well! Sorry I missed it until now!
i can imagine that it has more uses that we can think on atm, it is a great product
Yes, my plan now is to actually *compose* something that uses this technique.
Jeremy Bell it would seem that a fair number would want it as a footrocker to in addition to the one you have in the video
Very cool effect ! amazing sound ! this is a very interesting effect you made up.. U rock !
Excellent creativity! This would also be useful as twin footpedals to operate with your right foot and left foot so you can play the guitar with both hands.
Thanks Nathan! As far as a foot pedal goes, I'm actually using all five fingers individually on the rocker, and feet will just never have that kind of dexterity. I have thought of a pedal setup like a double-kick on a drum set, but the problem there is that a lot of the fast rhythms I'm doing are on one side or the other, not back and forth. What might work is maybe three pairs of pedals that go A+A, A+B, and B+B. That would give me every combination, but I still wouldn't be able to quickly go from one combination to another.
+Jeremy Bell how about double pedal drummers
Great idea and awesome sounds!
Love your creativity. Just wonderful! xxx
SCIENTISTS: It's impossible to travel to the past. They said...
JEREMY BELL: Bitch please :D ! LOL
Thats really impressive dude, good work!
Cool, going where no one else has been...awesome!
I love this technique. it really takes some killer dj skills on working the crossfader though
This is mind-blowing!! congratz Jeremy! =)
loving your keyboard
You're not just a guitarist but an inventor. :)
I hope BOSS US calls you.
This is so simple and so brilliant, Jeremy. Wow! I'm so inspired! I had Hideki Nakanishi put two game boy switches on my new beautiful custom tenor electric that he made for me...........I can glitch sound into guitar into silence (rhythmically cool) or silence into guitar sound (for glitchy effects) so I'm working on similar sound things, but the ability to cut a delayed signal (or any signal for that matter) into the present sound is just awesome. I've been working on the Walker Manual Glitch Pedal for a while now that allows glitching of two kinds of noise (pink and brown) as well as alternative audio into your guitar sound which has had two or four button configurations (for those great middle eastern drumming or flamenco tapping kinds of techniques) too so we're kind of cousins in that regard..............but cutting between past and present (with that momentary square wave cut off of all sound in between them as Ted mentioned.....................just awesome.
Thanks for sharing how you did it and nice music, bro!
Great work and the right hand skill is impressive all on its own. Inspiring and love the scale you chose.
Also, is it hard to use your setup across key changes?
Clifford Novey Cliff, yes, key changes or even chord changes are tough, which is why I'm using a static harmony in this video. I feel like my improvisational skills are not quite there yet -- it's hard enough coming up with stuff that sounds good on the fly, without having to also remember what I was playing four beats ago! What I'd like to do is actually put together a composed piece that uses this technique.
Roger that. Andre Lafosse has a piece that uses a looper and each 8 measures or so is built on the preceding 8 measures in reverse and is recorded then reversed and new material laid over then reversed... etc. If you compose a piece with your method I would love to hear it.
I'm doing similar type of "live slicing" using foot switches.... but you can only be so accurate using feet. Your hand control is way more playable! (fingers tap faster than feet) I've been dreaming about putting buttons on a Stratocaster's pick guard too for amore stage friendly setup.
Cool idea man. I like it.
Tha's the most inspiring thing I've seen in a long time.
Wow thanks!
Very cool! Nice job man!
Just great Jeremy! Thanks for sharing and keep on the good work :-)
Man that catchy tune rotted my brain 🤯👍
brilliant .... well done that man,
Yes. That is a good idea. so simple. Switches. And a way of engaging them smoothly. I am certainly going to use this. IN exchange i offer you 2 pretty fun things 1) Lil'smokie amp is best played held in your hand= feedback & use thumb directly on spkr to modulate sound or hollow of cupped hand. 2) Take a loose, smaller than 2" spkr, wire to 1/4'jack, wrap spk in baggie or balloon(best), to amps spkr out, put it in your mouth. TalkBox. Actually better than a Talkbox. Wider range of physical interactions with the sound, better response. And..people think it is WAY wierder to pop a speaker in your mouth than to go to guitarcenter. Showmanship. "He made that in his shed, i think. We should probably stand further away, he might be a Dangerous Lunatic"
I'll bet you were suprised how well this worked. The guy was right about the null middle position making it happen percussively. Bet its very different withoutit. Immediately i'm adding delay lines, but i doubt it would improve much. Maybe with an octave shift. And automate the switching mechanically via var speed wheel+pegs as sequencer. You'd lose rythmic fluidity but gain a right hand.
Jeremy, if you had the rocker sprung loaded with the bias to the live side, you could use your foot to tap in the delayed side, releasing to bring back the live side. With practice, I'm sure you could still get the middle glitch . Excellent work though :-)
Very creative.
Damn, That's just awesome. Seriously. No words. :D
Awesome.....very cool.......
This is awesome
This is very cool.
stereo routing kill switch, nice!
Just a thought: If you wanted to make a foot-operated version, maybe consider a two-foot approach for quick switching similar to this unit (if you haven't already considered)
Hey Chris, I’ve been experimenting with these concepts for years, and I’ve found that the rocker design really takes advantage of your fingers’ dexterity to create precise rhythms that just can’t be matched by foot pedals or even pushbuttons. I have thought of a two-foot setup, like a double-kick on a drum set, but the problem there is that a lot of the fast rhythms I'm doing are on one side or the other, not back and forth. What might work is maybe three pairs of pedals that go A+A, A+B, and B+B. That would give me every combination, but I still wouldn't be able to quickly go from one combo to another.
Very Cool!!! Keep going!
Very nice! Have you tried running the delayed signal through any effects differing from what's in the live signal? Might be cool with a "slow gear" type effect or a pitch arpeggiator. (not that you really need effects ontop of what you're doing, your technique is great!)
Very interesting! I find its a cool sound. Different.
Great !! Your playing looks like Steve Morse !!!!
ROCK ON BROTHA!
Cool, I like it.
hi seen your vid through a link guitar player had featured interesting concept you got there i think it would be pretty tricky to get use to on a table top design and i know you said about a foot design but have you thought of perhaps building it so it fits on the guitar similar to what matt bellamy with the koass pad i think this integrated with the koass pad would make an interesting feature
I definitely do want to build a future version that fits onto the body of the guitar.
Mechanical intervetion. Leslies: "what if we made speakers that spun around?" Huh? You'll enjoy these (on ytube somwhere) Mr Quintron's DrumBuddy, a drum machine controlled/sequenced by a coffee can with holes punched through over a light bulb. And a vid called 'cutting rythms into vinyl" about the guy from The Books literally stanley knifing beats into LPs. Depth, spacing, width, speed. Its also briliantly simple
This is genius! I wonder what this would be like with a bit crusher :D
Pure genius
You're a genius...!!!!
Rock on Wayne!
Incredible! When can I buy one?
Thanks Nycewell. I can't give you an exact date, but I am working on it. I've been talking to this prototyping firm that will hopefully be able to help me manufacture a small production run of rockers based on my design. I set up a mailing list so I can let people know when it will be available. Here's the signup link: jeremyseanbell.com/scrubboard/newsletter.html
Rockin' See Saw
OKay this is dope. Keep this shit up man
Nice Shirt!
This would be a cool effect to use live by using certain triggers on your drummer's setup for the delayed guitar cut of your rocker (R) and certain other triggers for the mute guitar cut of your rocker (C) and the absence of a trigger as your regular guitar sound (L) -- based on my random guess that you'd want more regular guitar sound than mute most of the time.
Hey Alan, that's a cool idea, but the problem is that drummers don't have any control over sustain... well, I guess they can choke the cymbals, but other than that, they only control when sounds start, not when they end. I guess the drum triggers could “latch,” so their effect continues until the next trigger is hit, but then you’d have to move twice as fast to get those quick cuts.
It definitely wouldn't produce quite the same effect as what you're demonstrating. I was just spit-ballin' on another way to use your cut-to-mute-or-delay effect idea. With my permutation, the guitarist would almost need to have a momentary footswitch to choose to engage the effect or not.
hey mount the rocker to the face of the guitar for portable playing. rocker, strum, rocker, etc. easier to multitask that way too.
Yes, absolutely! A guitar-mounted rocker is definitely on my agenda. I have a newsletter that I use to keep people posted on my quest to get this stuff manufactured. If you haven't already, I hope you'll sign up: jeremyseanbell.com/scrubboard/newsletter.html
Jeremy Bell Would it be possible to mount with just 2 small buttons side by side near the pickguard ?
Btw, congratulations on your creativity!
GENIUS
Perfect! :) If you start making them, let me know!
Hey if you haven't already, you should sign up for the newsletter: jeremyseanbell.com/scrubboard/newsletter.html
Does this have any connection with the button Buckethead has on his guitar ?
nope. that's a killswitch that momentarily cuts off the guitar signal but it does sound incredibly similar. tom morello also uses it a lot to adapt DJing techniques to guitar, the solo in "bulls on parade" being a prime example
awesome ! i love it this guy is a genius
A Chapman stick could help you play the guitar part. It's built for tapping and things like that, and may be able to help you with the guitar playing.
Not a bad idea. Of course, I'd have to actually buy one, not to mention learn how to play it...
Missing Persons/Duran Duran guitarist Warren Cuccurullo had a Vox wah pedal built into the back of his main guitar so he could use it by rocking it back and forth against his body. Could you do something similar with this?
Genius! [n. 500 subscriber!!! Did I win any bonus track? ;) ]
Hah! I'm kind of amazed that I actually got up to 500!
Awesome
Sick shit bro
maybe set it up as a foot pedal where the live is on when your foot is off and the delay is on when your foot presses it. I bet something as simple as a rubber band would work for your current setup.
It's a time machine!
cant you put a spring on the delay side?
you released any songs with this technique that i can buy or download?
or stream?!?!
I haven't yet composed any songs using this technique, but that's definitely on my agenda. Meanwhile, you can check out my earlier works on my website: jeremyseanbell.com/music
I think sticking with fingers and playing one handed is definitely the right way to go. Set this up with a switch to enable/disable on the guitar and a way to mount on body + kickstarter and you should be good to go.
Stay tuned, I'm working on it!
What is this for your hold a guitar
How did you make it? ps. Amazing Playing
Thanks Andrew. There's a page on my website that gives lots of details about how it's made: jeremyseanbell.com/scrubboard/rocker.html
nice!
siiiiiiick!!!!!!!
Are you using any pedals or something like that? Or is it the clean signal?
Why not put a spring under one side so that one signal (probably the live one) is "always on" & you'd only have to tap half as much because you'd only be doing it to switch to the delay? Seems like that could potentially double the speed of the effect.
Well, the thing is that I'm not just switching between live and delay; I'm also muting and un-muting the sound. That's how I'm able to get those DJ-style fader rhythms.
Did you submit a patent for this before uploading this video?
I actually did get a provisional patent, which gives me a year to get a real patent. I would have liked to get a real patent before uploading, but they're expensive!
Dude, I am telling you, you should invest in a real patent. I'm pretty sure your invention has already caught the eye of some big companies out there. Get a loan, save up some money, do whatever you can and get that patent ASAP. This pedal that you made is amazing - I'd love to get one in the future, too. I'd hate to see your hard work be taken advantage of by other entities.
Is Bipolar an accurate term? I noticed in the comments your issues with a simple device for the foot is that you're using all five fingers on this rocker. If it were one or the other (live or delayed) you would only need two fingers or one finger and a button. However, upon further examination it looks like when touching one side, releasing, and touching again there is a break in the audio. Is this correct? If so, then I agree that it needs to be controlled by hand but I don't think that Bipolar is an accurate term.
I guess if you count the center "null" position (see Ted Killian's comments), then yes, it's actually "tri-polar." But the title wasn't really meant to be taken literally -- it's just a tongue-in-cheek reference to my mentally ill approach to music ;)
Jeremy Bell Satisfactory :)
Take that Matt Belamy
wait till Buckethead finds out 'bout it..
Is there anything Good in today's new music?
maybe.
Wow!!!!!!
Put a copyright on this idea, guitarists would buy this
Eroc?!
Wait ... I was supposed to guess that?
And run a vacuum across that floor. Please.
Sounds like Buckethead
shut up and take my money :D
can you make me one i'll pay!!
Hey Daniel, I've actually been talking to this prototyping firm that's hopefully going to help facilitate a short production run of these rockers (along with my tape-scratching gear), so I can sell them without having to hand make each one. I've set up a mailing list so I can let people know when they're available. You should sign up: jeremyseanbell.com/scrubboard/newsletter.html
it's a guitar not a scratch mixer
you mean it dont even have a future setting? #lame
Actually, there was an earlier prototype that had a future setting, but I had to get rid of it cause I kept accidentally destroying the universe.
ah shit, that wouldnt be good. i like the universe
Skrillex go home. u drunk.
This is very cool.
shut up and take my money :D