Second video in my "Live One Take" Series
The main purpose of this was to set up the Zoom LiveTrak L6max, but I had a pretty good little jam, so I thought I'd post it. The L6max is a powerful little device! I'm barely using it to the extent I hope to, but I am using most of its features at least a bit in this video: Mixer, MIDI Controller, Effects Send, Multi-track Recorder.
Meant to be test jam, I feel like it's a bit a at 7+ minutes, so I did a quick 4+ minute edit and posted it on SoundCloud.
Signal Flow:
The acoustic guitar connects to Input 1 of the Boss DD500 delay pedal, which feeds Output 1 directly into the Zoom L6Max mixer. The mixer sends the guitar audio and the Bastl Kastle Drum, a modular device providing the glitchy percussion, via an Aux output into the Korg Monologue. After passing through the Korg’s filters and sequencer, optionally blending with the synth's oscillators, this signal connects to Input 2 of the Boss pedal, which feeds Output 2 back to the mixer.
The Boss pedal processes these signals using three distinct functions at once. Input 1 applies effects to the guitar, while Input 2 is configured as a clean 1-bar repeater to loop the synth signal. Simultaneously, the pedal’s internal looper engine records both inputs as a combined 8-bar loop, with recording commands triggered automatically by a sequence from the Arturia KeyStep.
Control data is routed through a CME u6midi Pro. The Zoom mixer sends MIDI CC messages to the CME, while the Arturia KeyStep sends MIDI CC, sequence triggers, and the master clock. The CME then distributes this data, sending tempo and CC changes to the Boss pedal, and tempo and notation to the Korg Monologue. Finally, the kick drum is generated by an Electro Harmonix Super Space Drum connected to a signal splitter. The KeyStep sends a quarter note pulse to this splitter for a 4-on-the-floor-beat, while the Bastl Kastle adds complex breakbeats by triggering the drum whenever its voltage signal spikes above 3 volts.
Click to view Mermaid Syntax
graph TD
%% --- START ---
Guitar([ACOUSTIC GUITAR])
%% --- CONTROL LAYER ---
KeyStep[Arturia KeyStep]
CME[CME u6midi Pro]
%% --- BOSS DD500 INTERNAL FLOW ---
subgraph DD500 [Boss DD500 Logic]
direction TB
In1[Input 1: Guitar/Delay 1]
In2[Input 2: Synth/Delay 2]
Looper[8-Bar Looper Engine]
Out1[Output 1]
Out2[Output 2]
%% Internal Routing
In1 ==> Out1
In2 ==> Out2
In1 & In2 -.->|Record| Looper
Looper ==> Out1 & Out2
end
%% --- THE GEAR ---
Zoom[Zoom L6Max Mixer]
Korg[Korg Monologue]
Kastle[Bastl Kastle Drum]
SSD[EHX Super Space Drum]
Splitter((Signal Splitter))
%% --- THE BIG FINISH ---
subgraph FinalStage [ ]
direction TB
MainOut([MAIN OUTPUT / PA])
end
%% ==============================
%% AUDIO ROUTING
%% ==============================
%% 1. GUITAR START
Guitar ==>|Instrument Cable| In1
%% 2. BOSS OUTPUTS TO MIXER (Dual Mono/Stereo)
Out1 ==>|Processed Guitar + Looper| Zoom
Out2 ==>|Processed Synth + Looper| Zoom
%% 3. THE AUX LOOP
Kastle -->|Audio| Zoom
Zoom -->|Aux Send| Korg
Korg ==>|Synth Audio| In2
%% 4. DRUMS
SSD ==>|Drum Audio| Zoom
%% 5. FINAL OUTPUT
Zoom ==>|STEREO OUT| MainOut
%% ==============================
%% MIDI ROUTING
%% ==============================
%% Inputs to CME Hub
KeyStep -.->|Clock/Seq Trig/Ctrl| CME
Zoom -.->|MIDI CC| CME
%% Outputs from CME Hub
CME -.->|MIDI Clock & CC| DD500
CME -.->|MIDI Clock & Note Data| Korg
CME -.->|MIDI Rx| Zoom
%% Trigger specific to internal looper
CME -.->|Seq Trigger| Looper
%% ==============================
%% CV / ANALOG TRIGGERS
%% ==============================
KeyStep -->|CV Pulse| Splitter
Korg -->|Sync Out| Kastle
Kastle -->|CV Spikes >3V| Splitter
Splitter ==>|Trigger Input| SSD
%% ==============================
%% STYLING
%% ==============================
%% Standard Audio/Midi/CV styles
classDef audio fill:#222,stroke:#0f0,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff;
classDef midi fill:#fff,stroke:#f00,stroke-width:2px,color:#000,stroke-dasharray: 5 5;
classDef cv fill:#444,stroke:#ff0,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff;
%% Specific styles for Start and End
classDef startNode fill:#333,stroke:#fff,stroke-width:4px,color:#fff,font-size:16px;
classDef finalNode fill:#fff,stroke:#000,stroke-width:8px,color:#000,font-size:24px,font-weight:bold;
%% Assign Classes
class Guitar startNode;
class MainOut finalNode;
class In1,In2,Out1,Out2,Looper,Zoom,Korg,Kastle,SSD audio;
class KeyStep,CME midi;
class Splitter cv;
style FinalStage fill:none,stroke:none
Hope the diagram helps make sense of the madness. Thanks for checking out the setup, and enjoy the music!
As a little test jam, it's kinda long at 7+ minutes TBH. I plan to do an audio-only edit because I like some of the elements of what I captured here!
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