Hexaphonic Guitar System: 2

This morning, I got up and finished the connections for the hex system.

First thing was getting the RMC Fanout Box connected to the six MPX-G2's. Note that I found some red felt that matches the Synclavier keyboard. No scratches!

One nice feature of the MPX-G2, is that it has guitar inputs on the front, and on the back. I used 6' guitar cables so I'd have enough slack to service the system without unplugging everything.

Next step was to connect the guitar to the Fanout Box, and the Fanout Box to the Axon AX-100. The cable on the right is from the guitar, and the cable on the left is to the Axon.

Unfortunately, the 13-pin Roland-compatible guitar synth cables do not come in specialty lengths. The shortest I've ever seen is 15 feet, so I had to use a cable saver to make it manageable.

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Sorting things out quickly became a harrowing experience. The six outputs on the Fanout Box double as inserts, so the guitar cables had to be about 2/3 of the way in to make proper contact, and it was very fiddly to get all six working. Took a long time. Then, once that was done, I discovered that unit #4 had a blown output transformer. Arg! So, I had to cannibalize my secondary recording rack for another MPX-G2 (I have nine total now!). I sort of/kind of expected this, as these units are vintage rack gear at this point.

Due to all of this morning's frustrations, I decided to knock off for the day when I tried the Axon and it was horribly noisy. I'm sure that's due to the improvised guitar connections, so I got on eBay and searched for insert cables. Well, what do you know, but there is an insert to direct output adapter cable! It has the regular stereo male 1/4" connector to a 1/4" female TS connector. Needless to say, I scooped up eight of them so I'd have spares.

So, I'm on ice again until those adapters get here.

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Hexaphonic Guitar System: 1

I finally found a sixth Lexicon MPX-G2, so I was able to complete my hexaphonic guitar system!

Back around 1977, I read an article in Guitar Player magazine about, "hex fuzz." The amazing advantage to hexaphonic distortion is that you can play complex harmonies without them turning into dissonant mush. It sounds like several guitars playing in harmony instead of just one. The problem back then was that the solid state overdrive circuits were primitive, and so they sounded very cheesy. The idea stuck with me, however, and when MPX-G2's started coming down in price, I realized that with six of them and the RMC Breakout Box, I could finally make a high quality hexaphonic system. I started collecting them about four years ago, and it's taken me this long to find six nice units. This post will be about how I put the system together.

To do it right, you need a lot of cables of the correct length.

I needed seven foot long and two foot A/C cords, twelve two foot patch cables, ten 6' guitar cables, and six 1' MIDI patch cables.

Then, of course, a half-dozen MPX-G2's. The original list price for these was $2,400.00, so that's $14,400.00 worth of Lexicons at the original price!

I put the units in an 8U SKB rack with a Furman AR-1215 power conditioner on the bottom, and an Ashly LX308B stereo mixer on top. The Ashly is very cool, because it has 8 channels, each of which has left and right inputs.

The first step is to install the A/C cables. Everything goes down the left to the bottom of the rack, so they will be away from the patch cables: Less chance for noise.

Then the MIDI patch cables. Every THRU goes to the next unit's IN. That way, a single MPX-R1 remote can change programs on all of them at the same time!

And now, the 12 audio cables. See how nice and neat this is? The audio cables are away from the A/C cables, so it will be nice and quiet.

Here's the entire system, powered up. The next step was to dump all of the programs from the stereo unit on the top to the hexaphonic units below. I got my first MPX-G2 in 1999, so I've been tweaking those programs for almost 15 years now!

Ta da! The dump from unit one to units two through seven went off without a hitch. Now all of the Lexicons have the same programs in them.

Tomorrow, I'll connect the hex rack to the Lexicon FW810s FireWire recording interface, and the Breakout box, and I'll be able to start modifying the programs to add distortion. That's done in the preamp section, so this could take a while.

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Guitar Mania

Sorry for the slow pace of posting, but I'm meticulously working out my new recording setup to include the Synclavier and Hexaphonic guitar. It's coming along great, but I need one more Lexicon MPX-G2 to finish it.

In the mean time, I've been getting more guitars to experiment with. First up is an open headstock version of the Blackbird Rider Nylon guitar with an RMC Polydrive.

The open headstock looks more, "normal" and makes it easier to string the guitar. Mostly I just wanted a viable backup though.

Then, out of the blue, my friend Jim Kozel made a Rider Nylon with the new GrapTech Ghost system. He decided it wasn't for him, so I bought it.

Unlike with the Polydrive, all the controls are on the guitar. The sound is also radically different from the Polydrive. Not sure which I prefer yet, but it is nice to have something different that will also work with the hexaphonic system and the Synclavier.

I really hope an MPX-G2 shows up on eBay next month so I can get to sorting the hex system out.

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The Synclavier Has Arrived

So psyched. The Synclavier arrived at about 9:30 this morning, and it took me over an hour to unpack the pallet it came on and then get the stuff in the house. I was exhausted and drenched in sweat by the time I was done, so I took a shower and a break and then set the installation up. The Synclavier works fine, but unfortunately, it seems the old Mac G4 can't run my 17" Studio Display. Pity, as the size is perfect. As a result, I ordered an ASUS 19" flat screen VGA monitor, which will be here in a few days.

As I said before, that's the only Ferrari Racing Red - technically called Rosso Corsa - Synclavier keyboard ever made. I feel extremely fortunate to have ended up with it.

Exactly the same as my car. HA!

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It Is Coming

There is only one Ferrari Racing Red Synclavier keyboard in. the. world. Made for a famous studio in LA. Fitting that I should end up with it, since I'm, "The Ferrari Guy" in my neighborhood.

The system should be here in a coupe of weeks. Can't wait. I have felt incomplete these past five years without one.

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Fuga Electronica

I haven't much to post right now, but there are many irons in the fire. John Hill of Synhouse is testing my Synclavier, so I should have that next month sometime, and I also have another Rider Nylon guitar in final build too, so July ought to rock.

After finishing the Ricercare for Orchestra I realized I had enough pieces for an album. I had collected most of the fugues in a folder called, Fuga da Camara - Chamber Fugues - but realized I could do an electronic album with them on the Synclavier now. Hiring classical musicians to record them would cost a fortune - I'd basically need an orchestra and all the chamber groups they could form - but with the Synclavier, I can do it all myself as a purely electronic album. Besides, combining the geekiest form of composition with the geekiest synth of. all. time. will be something unique. So, I'm going to call it, Fuga Electronica and it will have the following nine pieces:

01] Alegro: Four-Voice Sonata-Fugue in E Minor (Orig. Guitar Duo), 2011 - 3:00

02] Lament: Three-Voice Sinfonia in D Minor (Orig. String Trio), 1990 - 3:30

03] Valse Macabre: Three-Voice Fugue on a Tone-Row (Orig. Wind Trio), 1995 - 3:00

04] Andante: Four-Voice Fugue in F Minor (Orig. String Quartet), 1994 - 5:00

05] Jubilate: Four-Voice Ricercare in F Major (Orig. Wind Quartet), 2006 - 6:30

06] Scherzo Comico: Three-Voice Fugato in D Minor (Orig. Chamber Orchestra), 2005 - 1:00

07] Allegretto: Three-Voice Fugue in A Minor (Orig. Solo Guitar), 2005 - 2:00

08] Adagio: Five-Voice Ricercare in A Minor (Orig. Symphony Orchestra), 2013 - 10:00

09] Finale: Free-Voiced Ricercare in E Minor (Orig. Solo Guitar), 2007 - 5:00

Total Time: 39:00

So basically, a nine movement electronic symphony or, A Symphony of Fugues, which might make a good subtitle.

Long before I became a virtuoso composer of counterpoint, I was a virtuoso Synclavier programmer who created electronic music like this piece called Fractals (MP3). In that, all of the sounds and effects were created by me (Except, I think, the church bell), and all you're hearing is a 32 voice stereo additive/FM Synclavier: No reverb, no chorus, no compression, nothing. So, I'm going to do this treatment with my "new" Synclavier and nine of the fugues I've written.

I love how there are circular and cyclical aspects to musical evolution. I really thought something would come along to replace the Synclavier for me, but it never happened. So, back to the beginning!

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Kazuhito Yamashita: Dvorak Symphony No. 9 "From the New World"

I've been meaning to post this for a couple of months, but got absorbed by the Ricercare for Orchestra.

A reader has alerted me that there is a copy for download at the Scribd site:

Dvorak, Symphony No. 9 "From the New World" Transcribed by Kazuhito Yamashita

Scribd is $9.00 per month, and I haven't explored it yet, but it's sure nice to have this transcription after wanting it for so many years. If anyone out there knows where Yamashita's transcriptions of Firebird and Pictures at an Exhibition are, please contact me because I'm looking for those too.

UPDATE: 06/04/13. Yamashita's transcription of Pictures and an Exhibition is also on Scribd:

Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition, transcribed by Kazuhito Yamashita

Alas, Stravinsky's Firebird Suite is not there, and that's the one I want the most (Figures).

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