RIGGED: 7 HORNS 7 EYES’ AARON SMITH
MetalSucks is sponsoring the Intrinsic 2012 Tour featuring The Contortionist, Jeff Loomis, Chimp Spanner and 7 Horns 7 Eyes , currently underway! Loomis walked us through his live gear setup in a Rigged column a couple of months back, The Contortionist’s vocalist and keyboard player Jonathan Carpenter delivered his earlier this month, and Chimp Spanner’s Paul Ortiz took us on a step-by-step breakdown of all of his gear, live and in the studio, last week. Today we’ve got 7 Horns 7 Eyes’ visionary, guitarist and recording engineer savant Aaron Smith.
Hey guys, Aaron here. I have been asked to show off my guitar rig today, so let’s get down to business!
There are really three independent functions being served with the gear in these photos—my guitar, backing tracks, and a programmable MIDI-controlled light show. I don’t have the lights actually set up in these photos, but I’ll still touch on the topic later and explain what’s going on.
First up is the guitar sound, which makes up the bulk of what you see. The signal path is:
Schecter Diamond Series ‘Black’ > Whirlwind Selector A/B Box; Output B > Korg DTR-1 tuner (signal terminates), Output A > Boss NS-2 Noise Supressor; NS-2 FX loop out > Maxon OD808 > NS-2 FX loop in, NS-2 output > Krank Revolution Series 1 (Krank FX loop out > TC Electronic M300 > Krank FX loop in) > Mesa Boogie traditional angled 4×12 cabinet (Celestion Vintage 30 speakers)
I also have a two-button footswitch connected to the Krank (clean, rhythm, or lead), as well as a two-button footswitch connected to the M300 (bypass, or tap tempo). I only use the M300 for delay at this point. There’s a bit of tap dancing I have to do in a couple spots during the set, but I’ve gotten used to it.
Having nearly everything all plugged in inside the road case is extremely convenient and time-saving. If you’re a gigging guitarist, and you’re still lugging around a duffle bag full of pedals and cables, do yourself a favor and buy a good roadcase to house and protect your gear!
The next component of my rig is the backing tracks. The signal path is:
15″ 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro (running Pro Tools 8) > Digidesign M-Box 2 Pro (via Firewire); Analog 1-2 outputs (front headphone) > drummer in-ear monitoring, Analog 3-4 outputs (rear 1/4″ inch) > Radial Pro D2 passive direct box.
I run a headphone cable out to Ryan on the drums, as opposed to a wireless solution, since the cable is just a whole lot cheaper and there’s less potential for trouble (dropouts, batteries, etc).
The reason I went for the M-Box 2 Pro (instead of an interface that’s smaller/cheaper), was the Firewire connectivity (faster data transfer rate), and more importantly, four analog outputs. On an interface with only two outputs, we’d be forced to run the backing tracks in mono, and I think having the hard-panned L/R backing tracks adds a lot of richness to the live sound. It’s not something that the average concert-goer would even be consciously aware of, but I think it definitely enhances the vibe and helps to create a stronger emotional response for people who dig the music.
The stereo DI is basically just a time-saver for the sake of sound guys, since all I need to do is ask for two XLR runs, instead of asking the sound guy to come up with a couple more DI boxes. Granted, asking for two DIs should never be a problem in theory, but I would hate to show up to a tiny club somewhere one night and find that they literally don’t have enough DIs in the house. Also, sound guys deal with a lot of crap and attitude from musicians as-is, so the more helpful and prepared I am, the better off everyone will be.
The third and final component of my rig is the lighting show, which looks like this:
Digidesign M-Box 2 Pro > Elation DMX Operator (via MIDI); DMX output > American DJ Par 56 RGB LED cans (x4, daisy-chained via DMX) > Matrix DMX Pro+ dimmer/switch pack (via DMX; signal terminates) > power output channels 1 and 2 > 4x 500W halogen lamps
If you don’t know anything about DMX, I will not explain it all here for you—Google is your friend. Basically though, the Elation has about 150 user-preset scenes saved, which represent all the different looks that we want to use throughout the course of the set. Using a MIDI track in Pro Tools, I’ve programmed notes that correspond with each of the different scenes stored in the Elation, so the lights all change/strobe/swell in a way that syncs up with the music. It’s not quite as emotionally dramatic or visually striking as hiring a lighting guy to come out on tour and rent $10k worth of moving fixtures, but for the position we’re in, just a little bit of fog in the air, and I think our show is well worth the effort it takes to set it up and tear it down each night!
And there you have it, that’s my rig. I haven’t changed it much in several years since it works well and sounds good for my purposes, although I am still contemplating going the Axe FX route at some point. I’m not very fond of amp sims for recording (other than scratch tracks or when DIs are captured, with the intention of reamping), but for live use, I love the idea of the simplicity of having all my tones and effects stored away in one unit I can take around the world, controllable with one footswitch.
Until next time! \m/
– Aaron Smith / 7 Horns 7 Eyes
