His current MIDI board is a Skrydstrup SC1 with the extensions. He used the Bradshaws on Elevation. The controller sends out MIDI information to anything that accepts MIDI (TC2290s, Line 6 Distoriton Rack Components, Pods, Eventide Eclipse etc.) One of those is MIDI controller units is a looper. I think he might still be using the Bradshaw loopers, but not sure. The looper receives information from the controller (usually a program change command). So it gets the program number and you've stored in the looper that when it gets program 36 for example that the TS9, Doppleganger, and FA-1 will be in the signal path. So the looper activates those loops. The looper has an IN and OUT for each loop. So for each loop you send a cable from the OUT on the looper to the IN on the pedal then from the OUT on the pedal to the IN on the looper. This creates a loop for that pedal. So all the pedals are on all the time and internally the looper can bypass the individual loops for each pedal.
What happens also is that the controller will send out Controller data as well. So by sending out a Controller message he can add another pedal into the chain by hitting a button, but not changing anything else. So think of it like the Line 6 XT Live. You have your banks of patches, with 4 patches in each bank. But within each patch you can turn on/off the stomp, mod, delay, or reverb. Same concept except it's very specific and Edge can turn on/off any pedal within a preset. Apparently, he'll adjust stuff on the fly (not the song
) and Dallas supposed writes down all the changes and if they like them, he'll reprogram that patch to include that pedal.
I hope that makes sense. I just learned all of this the past couple of months and I know how hard it was for me to wrap my head around it, but it was mainly because no one would explain it. It's a great way to avoid pedal dancing. Also I think Edge has everything in loops so when he's not using a rack effect the signal is not going through it. That why if you see pics of his SC1 controller for the Vertigo tour it has labels for his rack stuff too.
It all sounds so complicated, but to me it is fun stuff. It's like a complicated puzzle and you have to be very detail-oriented so you don't miss something. A patch can totally not work if there's one mistake in it's design.
