Pamparo in Toronto

I have acquired a Disaster Area Amp’s DMC-3 to control my Strymon Timeline recently. But mine didn’t come with a stock firmware (stock info here)

Custom DMC-3 controlling the Strymon Timeline

Here’s how I have mine …

Press button 1 to send A (activate/deactivate)
Hold button 1 for 1 sec. to perform bank down, scrolls bank at 500ms interval

Press button 2 to send B (activate/deactivate)
Hold button 2 for 1 sec. to perform bank up, scrolls bank at 500ms interval

Press 3 to send CC 93 (remote tap)
LED 3 lights green while waiting for a second tap
LED 3 flashes blue in time with last two taps

— Button Layout —
Button 1 (left)
Button 2 (right)
Button 3 (middle/top)

It’s working great right now and it really makes banking up/down much easier in a live situation. Matt Farrow has been good at supporting and tweaking the custom code for me. If you are in the market for a MIDI controller, consider looking at his products!

Been away from the blog for a while and I thought I’d post an update for my loyal reader! hehe

• Just came back from a weekend away in Boston with my wife to celebrate our 7th year anniversary. It’s our first time away from the kids. It was fun, although, there were a couple of times when we thought that it could have been fun if they were there. Then we’ll do something that we wouldn’t be able to do if we had the kids with us!
  
  

  Checking out the menu at Union Oyster House

• My wife gave me a Vox Tonelab ST. It sounds great for practicing at home using headphones. I have yet to try it out live through a PA or an amp. It has a 12AX7 tube in it so it’s only natural that I geek out and try to change it right away! And I did
  
  

  Vox Tonelab ST

• Got a 1×12 Lopo cab (front-loading/closed-back) for the Maz Jr. and put my old V30 in it. It was a bit boxy so I had to swap the EP-Booster with the Empress Para EQ to tame it a bit for now
  
  

  A similar looking Lopo cab

• An updated pedalboard … for now
  
  

  Pedalboard as of October 2011

• Looking forward to meeting up with my friend next month to watch Eagles/Jets game at Philadelphia. This is slowly becoming a tradition. Every 2 years we will meet up to catch a football game. Thanks to my wife for making it happen as she buys the tickets for us as a birthday gift for me & Dave … I love my awesome wife!
  
  

  I want to see more of this!

Jesus Heals Ten Men With Leprosy

Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

– Luke 17:11-19 (New International Version)

Are we going to be like the lone Samaritan who came back to thank God or are we going to be one of the nine?

This is for all you geeks out there who love playing with MIDI-capable devices

This short video shows how to control the Timeline with Logic Express. Although this video only shows Control Changes, it can easily do Program Changes and Note ON info for the looping capabilities. Timeline can also accept MIDI clock information but only works if the channel is set to “9″.

MIDI Event List

Not bad … but can definitely be better. The lack of specific CC for Bank UP/DOWN, Activate/Bypass presets A/B makes it more tedious to program this thing. One problem I had for example is that by mistake, I have sent a continuous CC for press-down on preset A. It went to the infinite repeats mode, which is cool if done at the right instance. But if it happens in a middle of a song, well, good luck

I think the MIDI implementation is half-baked on this device compared to other devices much older than this. For example, my old Yamaha DG-Stomp and even Behringer VAMP-2 are more robust and flexible than the Timeline as far as MIDI-capability is concerned. Of course, IMHO!

P.S.
Maybe I can do a video of the Timeline being controlled live while playing with a backing track later on … maybe

I brought my son, Gabby, camping last year for the first time with some friends from church as part of our first “Father-and-son Camping Trip”. I have brought my beloved 2-person Eureka Autumn Wind tent which I have used in various interior backpacking and church family camping trips before. It served it’s purpose … light-weight, easy to pitch up, a breeze to tear down, nice spacious vestibule, etc …

Eureka Autumn Wind 2xD

Everything was going great until my son asked me: “Daddy, why is our tent so small”?

And looking around, I noticed that all the other tents were just huge! Even a 6-footer can stand inside and not hit his head on the ceiling. For the first time in years, I felt that my tent was getting smaller and smaller.

This year, we are again joining our friends for camping. And thanks to Gabby for reminding me (constantly), I finally gave in and bought a bigger tent … a new Coleman 5-person dome tent!

Coleman Sundome 10 x 8

Why a 5-person tent? I don’t really know … all I know is that Gabby will and should not be complaining anymore because it is BIG and spacious!

I’m still looking forward to going interior backpacking again in the future (if schedule align with friends) … Yes, I’m calling out to my hiking buddies. Let’s go!