Matthias Grob

The actual digital Instrument

A Paradis Elegy with FireWire goes to a FireBox interface (not essencial) and a MacBook Pro with Mathons Polyphonic and the EchoLoop Plugins. A little Logitech 5.1 system is enough at home.

The analog Instrument (1985 - 2005)

This is my way through the Looping Tools:

1985

Roland SDE 3000 with 3,5 seconds delay, rhythm tap (not instant!) and feedback pedal.

1986

t.c. 2290 with 4 seconds delay, tap and feedback pedal.
Partner musicians use the delay unit together with me. I gave them a volume pedal for the input into the delay, easy to understand,
but I had to control FeedBack for both musicians and dreamed of changing my part while the partners would loop on...

1988

t.c. 2290 with 11 seconds delay, tap (t.c. called it "learn") and feedback pedal.
Multiply was done manually by calculating and typing new delay time into the unit!

1989

Lexicon PCM42 heavily custimized with 20 seconds delay, tap, feedback pedal.
I had the best looping tool 5 years ahead!
Creator Gary Hall explains the HW to me so I managed to replace its processor by a board of CMOS chips doing Tap-Tempo and Multiply function as I invented it in Rio de Janeiro and programmed later in the LOOP software.

1992

Paradis LOOP delay. Finally a Record function! Memory is not cheap, but we can buy the loop time we need.
Finally BrotherSync: From now on a second unit serves the partner musician. The first experience was with David Hopkins.

1994

Gibson Echoplex Digital Pro. Delay times are not a question any more. The only problem left is noise floor and mono.
I got used to reverb after the loop, so I did not care to carry a second Echoplex, the box was at the limit...

2003

Nephew Johnny first programmed a simple loop app for the Chameleon. Then we saw it was much easier to develop VST.

2004

When the VST Plugin worked for me, partner Kim became afraid that I was stealing the LOOP software and forced me to stop.
At home I continued using it, but I did not feel free to play in public any more.
At the last solo gig with the old HW I met Daniela, the mother of my son Icaue!

2007

Rick Walker calls me out of my isolation and I play the VST Plugin for the first time in public with Arild Anderson at the Y2k7 LiveLooping Festival!
A few days later I manage to settle with Kim, buying his part of Aurisis.

Master Moacir Massa and his help for my system

Sr Moacir worked at the national petrol company and raised 13 kids in his huge house. The garage is a collection of precious old tools and he and some of his sons appear every day there and create wood and metall art and fix cars and such.

first they built this chair for me:

then arround 2002 this pedal where I put the PCB of a Peavey PC-1600 and 2010 Pedro created a new PIC board with USB. Its only 25mm high which is not only handy for transport but for operation: the heel can stay on the ground.

The First Guitar Amp, from Alpha 77 parts

I never bought a guitar amplifier. As soon as I started playing, I also started to assemble PCBs for Hermi Hogg, owner of Alpha 77, an incredible one man company that made all the sound mixers, amplifiers, cabinets, effects, multicores... for the well known swiss bands like Island, Tea,,, even Can came from germany for some special constructions. We built Chorus before that name existed for the effect, pitch shifters, and of course wahwah, distortion... and finally a digital delay and a discrete DSP... but the import equipment became cheaper and cheaper and Hermi finally started developing measuring systems for the animal hospital :-(

This Les Paul 1968 had a great sound. I equipped it with a Bartonlini Hex Pickup and a LEMO connector to the polyphonic distortion. But on this very tour in 1983 with Renato Cappellis first roling stage, the Mistral, the heavy wind of the south of france, broke its head for the second time and we did not fix it any more. It was to heavy anyway, bad for the back.

I also had a Kramer metal neck with a great Strat like sound. We later built the PolyDistortion into it and I finally sold it to Luiz Caldas who uses it still as he told me in about 2008.

You can see the modular amp on the left edge. The power amplifier sits in the back of it. The huge pedal was also Hermi's construction.
More about this equipment here.

1985	Roland SDE 3000 with 3,5 seconds delay, rhythm tap (not instant!) and feedback pedal.
1986	t.c. 2290 with 4 seconds delay, tap and feedback pedal. Partner musicians use the delay unit together with me. I gave them a volume pedal for the input into the delay, easy to understand, but I had to control FeedBack for both musicians and dreamed of changing my part while the partners would loop on...
1988	t.c. 2290 with 11 seconds delay, tap (t.c. called it "learn") and feedback pedal. Multiply was done manually by calculating and typing new delay time into the unit!
1989	Lexicon PCM42 heavily custimized with 20 seconds delay, tap, feedback pedal. I had the best looping tool 5 years ahead! Creator Gary Hall explains the HW to me so I managed to replace its processor by a board of CMOS chips doing Tap-Tempo and Multiply function as I invented it in Rio de Janeiro and programmed later in the LOOP software.
1992	Paradis LOOP delay. Finally a Record function! Memory is not cheap, but we can buy the loop time we need. Finally BrotherSync: From now on a second unit serves the partner musician. The first experience was with David Hopkins.
1994	Gibson Echoplex Digital Pro. Delay times are not a question any more. The only problem left is noise floor and mono. I got used to reverb after the loop, so I did not care to carry a second Echoplex, the box was at the limit...
2003	Nephew Johnny first programmed a simple loop app for the Chameleon. Then we saw it was much easier to develop VST.
2004	When the VST Plugin worked for me, partner Kim became afraid that I was stealing the LOOP software and forced me to stop. At home I continued using it, but I did not feel free to play in public any more. At the last solo gig with the old HW I met Daniela, the mother of my son Icaue!
2007	Rick Walker calls me out of my isolation and I play the VST Plugin for the first time in public with Arild Anderson at the Y2k7 LiveLooping Festival! A few days later I manage to settle with Kim, buying his part of Aurisis.