Edge's current guitar effects

[jcoriha]

Both Edge and Bono have spoke of this before. Edge has a sample trigger on his pedalboard. He triggers as much as he can when he is not switching other things or walking the stage so he probably has this setup for him.

All Dallas does is tune/fix mistakes with equipment. Edge demands the strings be changed on ALL his guitars before AND after soundcheck. There is no time for keeping track of playing as well. Plus for example Gone during Boston you see Edge kick the Rickenbacker at him at the end as he's standing there waiting to come out with the next guitar.

The Gone sample at the beginning and thru the song probably is triggered with the click track, much like the shaker in The Fly. Keep in mind Larry also has the tamborine on his hihat for layered sounds.

Bono's guitar is plugged in, all the way back to A Day Without Me on Red Rocks, Live in Sydney, Boston, Slane Castle. All of them. Keep in mind that Lanois has said that he was shocked at Bono playing some Edge styled parts in the studio as well. Keep in mind, Bono is a mimic, and after 30 years of being around a guitarist, when you wish you were one, he's picked up a trick or 2. The guitar on Stateless is Bono, or was written by him, for example. And the beginning of Walk On is not really that hard anyway.

 

[TC2290]

Both Edge and Bono have spoke of this before. Edge has a sample trigger on his pedalboard. He triggers as much as he can when he is not switching other things or walking the stage so he probably has this setup for him.

All Dallas does is tune/fix mistakes with equipment. Edge demands the strings be changed on ALL his guitars before AND after soundcheck. There is no time for keeping track of playing as well. Plus for example Gone during Boston you see Edge kick the Rickenbacker at him at the end as he's standing there waiting to come out with the next guitar.

The Gone sample at the beginning and thru the song probably is triggered with the click track, much like the shaker in The Fly. Keep in mind Larry also has the tamborine on his hihat for layered sounds.

Bono's guitar is plugged in, all the way back to A Day Without Me on Red Rocks, Live in Sydney, Boston, Slane Castle. All of them. Keep in mind that Lanois has said that he was shocked at Bono playing some Edge styled parts in the studio as well. Keep in mind, Bono is a mimic, and after 30 years of being around a guitarist, when you wish you were one, he's picked up a trick or 2. The guitar on Stateless is Bono, or was written by him, for example. And the beginning of Walk On is not really that hard anyway.

There are backing track guitars in One, there is a bluesy type guitar in the second verse which comes in which is pre-recorded.

 

[afuse]

Someone asked about COBL and Edge's slide. Back in the release coverage, he was all jazzed about some "thingy" that allowed him to play a slide line and then quickly play chords without having to ditch the slide.

I can't for the life of me figure out how this would work.

I would love to figure out what was invented for him - as would millions of other guitarists

 

[AughrimFurey]

For him to say he invented it is a bit off. It is just a small slide (or a big ring), big enough to cover just the middle of his middle finger, between the two knuckles. You can see him wearing a mini-slide on some of the promo footage.

 

[jenniferheger]

That is like that STUPID thread about Bono lip sycing-Edge's guitar is all his own. Please close this DUMB ASS THREAD,NOW PLEASE.

 

[Neilz]

There are backing track guitars in One, there is a bluesy type guitar in the second verse which comes in which is pre-recorded.

TC2290... applicable nickname

But the bluesy sound is also done by Edge I think... The man switches between sounds more then we think...

 

[explorer]

Someone asked about COBL and Edge's slide. Back in the release coverage, he was all jazzed about some "thingy" that allowed him to play a slide line and then quickly play chords without having to ditch the slide.

I can't for the life of me figure out how this would work.

I would love to figure out what was invented for him - as would millions of other guitarists

i think i know what you're talking about. its a slide ring. basically think of it as a ring that fits normally on your finger, but its notched so it can fit over one or two strings. its small enough so that you can still bend your fingers to play chords. im pretty sure he uses it to switch between picking and sliding for the solos in SYCMIOYO and MD as well. (ive actually seen him use it during SYCMIOYO promo live).

 

[explorer]

check out the SYCMIOYO Hanover Quay 16/11/05 video at
http://www.u2emporium.com/downloads_htaab.htm
you can see what im talking about at 3:15 into the video.

 

[U2girl]

I think Edge uses the little box thingy at his feet to produce a lot of the extra sounds.

The tambourine sound in The fly on Zoo TV was prerecorded, which is what they use a lot. Bad keyboards, that "747" guitar sound on Gone, the piano on Walk on, the intro to Mysterious ways etc... we know it's impossible to reproduce all the sounds they play on the albums. As for All because of you, for the way it sounds now as opposed to the Brooklyn version.

Dallas IMO is more than enough busy with tuning and preparing guitars for Edge to play anything. As long as the guys all play their instruments live and Bono isn't lip-synching we'll live.

 

[jcoriha]

Edge is almost always by his pedals for One, so he probably triggers that blues to start and stop.

He supposedly always thought that he should trigger the majority of the sounds, then they are still a 4 piece. I think the approach they take is similar to Rush, since Geddy Lee has to do Bass and Keyboards together a lot. He, Alex Lifeson, or sometimes Neil Peart triggers the sequences to start/stop from the pedals on the floor.

Of course doesn't do all of it, but I'd bet he does somewhere around 70%

(Adam may do a few things here and there as well)

 

[medmo]

Here is something interesting I found on another message board. Maybe this will help put to rest those theories of the "2 or 3 guitarists under the stage".

*********************************

411 -- Musicians, Technology, and Technique

Ask Mike

1,396 words
1 July 2003
Keyboard
16
2907
English
Copyright 2003 United Entertainment Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Hi, Mike. I was checking out the U2 Live @ Boston DVD and noticed a lot of sequenced material happening within the set. I understand you programmed these elements for the show and I was curious how a rock & roll band such as U2 can improvise and "rock" when tied to a click track. Is it possible to repeat sections at random and extend outros, etc., with the sequencing setup you created? Also how is all this triggered? I think this info would be useful for rock bands looking at integrating hard disk playback into sets. MIKE

I programmed the sequences for that U2 tour, but was only there for the first four shows and some promo and award shows before that. It's a long, painful story, but I had to leave U2 to return to Madonna for her 2001 tour. I made very sure that I left U2 in good hands, but wish I could've found a suitable replacement for Madonna instead. U2 is definitely one of the greatest bands of all time, and it was a real honor to be a part of their family for a while. Maybe someday I'll do a column about the virtues of not leaving a gig once you've been hired, no matter how much you try to make it "right." I hired Terry Lawless to take over for me with U2 and he did a great job.

Here's how the material was prepared: They transferred the parts from multitrack to ADAT for me and I digitally transferred the data to Digital Performer through my MOTU 2408. Rehearsals were in Dublin, Ireland for about three months, then Miami for production rehearsals.

When I was there, U2 did have sequences running, but mainly it was for some percussion parts, a few background vocals, and some 16th-note-type keyboard parts that Edge played. The approach was to have a basic structure for most of the songs, then, usually on the outro, it would loop for as long as Bono and the boys felt necessary.

Terry used a CM Automations Motor Mix to fade percussion and keyboard parts in and out as needed for these outros. Larry Mullen, the drummer, liked to have a click going at all times, just to keep the tempos consistent. Larry preferred shaker patterns as opposed to the standard quarter-note click.

There were some songs that only had a click, so Terry and I were also required to play keyboard parts offstage. Songs like "One" and "Bullet the Blue Sky" were very freeform songs and live keyboard parts were the only way to make it happen. Other songs like "Where the Streets Have No Name," "Beautiful Day," and "Elevation" were pretty structured until the outros.

Sometimes Bono would change the form slightly on songs like "Mysterious Ways", and we had to be aware of where he was and then "punch in" as needed. When that kind of thing happens, it's very important to have a drummer with great time like Larry, who can adjust as needed. With Digital Performer, if you hit Play after you hit Pause, then playback is pretty much instantaneous - just don't start at the wrong place!

We could've looped certain sections at random, but we didn't actually do that very much. We had two systems running in sync, and the way to do that is to put the A system into a loop of the solo section, for example, then, when the band is ready to jump to the next section, have the B system ready to start there. Punch in, and switch to the B system. Then get the A system back in sync. Doing this can make you prematurely gray, though. Thankfully it didn't happen too often.

U2 used a sequencer as enhancement only. If the computer died, the show would go on. That's the only way to do this with this type of band. It's important that the person running the computer be a good keyboard player as well as a good computer jockey. Terry is both, and actually plays saxophone and runs the computer system on the never-ending Cher farewell tour. My only regret is that I couldn't be there for the entire U2 tour. I rarely get to work with a band whose music I actually love.


---

Mike McKnight has programmed tours for some of the biggest names in pop music, including Madonna and Mariah Carey. If you'd like to ask him questions, send an email entitled "Ask Mike" to muso4hire@earthlink.net; Mike's website is at www.mcknightsoundsinc.com. All levels of questions are welcome, and we promise to keep your surname and email address confidential.

http://www.keyboardmag.com

 

[afuse]

Nice article there. That is indeed illuminating.

So, it seems like we can admit to this:

1.) Some things are "triggered" by Edge
2.) Some tapeloops are controlled by elves
3.) Some additional keyboard parts are played by these same elves


But, boy, mention the fact that there MIGHT be a guitar player underneath the stage, people lose their minds.

I love U2. Can't wait for the show. But it's goofy to think that all those extra guitar parts are looped or magically controlled by Edge's foot. Any guitar player could tell you that that is an oversimplification of what samplers can do on the fly.


Next, you'll claim that Edge can produce multi-part harmonies like one of those Tibetan throat singers for the breakdown near the end of "Beautiful Day."

U2 and Edge especially are crazy perfectionists. They want to sound like the records, even if it means adding a little help.

 

[KUEFC09U2]

all i know is i frickin love edges new solo in bullet, sounds very rock n roll , and i actually like the way they go into the hands that built america

but just me

 

[ElevateMyMind04]

I don't think of the Gone intro as a guitar part... This part is processed even beyond Edge's guitar effects... It would sound pretty weird if Edge played this himself (which he easily could of course)...

The Gone intro is an effect made by a DigiTech Whammy pedal. He basically has it set to one or two octaves higher as he's playing the notes. But it's definitely A SEQUENCER FILE, which is a SORT OF backing track- a perfect example of this is the keyboard/chime thing that they play during "Bad"- it's a file that's either on someone's computer, or someone is playing it- but I have seen keyboards beneath the stage in the "understage area" before.

 

[axanorth]

Have you guys seen the Discovery Channel special "on the road with popmart?" - it shows Edge's guitar tech underneath the stage. He talks about edge's effects and the foot triggers and how he helps him out from under the stage with all of those effects. Didn't mention if he played with them though. Didn't seem like it.

 

[afuse]

The Gone intro might have been created with the digitech, but it sure isn't triggered by that pedal.

I was just watching SNL with Green Day and it reminded me of all the U2 backing tracks. Nary an acoustic to be seen, but lots of acoustic guitar on their big hit single.

It seems like nobody wants to risk sounding different than the single version of the their songs...

 

[afuse]

The Edge never plays the Gone notes He plays the big open E chords along with Bono. Some say Larry triggers the notes. I tend to think not. Larry doesn't have much in the way of other pads besides his rather cool drum configuration.

 

[AughrimFurey]

Edge triggers the instruments and backing tracks that you hear live. Take, for example, One when Bono goes on his political rants at the beginning of it and Edge plays the same riff over and over. If you watch some of the DVD's, you can see Edge step on a pedal to his left that changes the backing track from the orchestral sound in the beginning to another backing sound. These two sequencing pedals can be seen in this picture:

http://pix.stieglmayer.com/displayimage.php?album=46&pos=1

They are the two pedals that are on that small riser with the one white cable coming out of them. These change and start/stop the sequences.

He did play the Gone notes with the Digitech Whammy on the POP your, but changed to using it as a backing instrument on the Elevation tour.

There is, also, another musician in the "underworld" that we do not see. His name escapes me but there was an article on him and how he was used to play some of the keyboard and synth sounds live. He, for example, played the Streets intro live as well as the piano in Walk On.

 

[aidanthomson]

Here's some technical details from the tour.

Dallas doesn't play guitar on any song. He does switch effects for Edge when he is away from his pedal board. He has done this since Zoo Tv. The other reason why he has the same pedal board as Edge is for emergency back up. If Edge's board ever goes down the show will still go on as Dallas can switch effects till he can place the board onto the stage.

Sequencers are used during the show for various reasons. As well as adding other instruments to the sound and a click track for Larry, they also produce time code which is used for video playback. Edge also has a pedal that produces time code. This was used during The Fly on Zoo Tv as it kept the visuals in time with the tempo of the song.

For this tour Larry is now purely on in ear monitors. In the past Larry used IEMs and monitor speakers. The shaker sound you could hear was Larry's click track coming through his monitors, which was picked up by the mics round his kit. This blended better into the overall sound than a normal click track.

Bono and Edge also wear IEM. The moulds can give various amounts of isolation which is why Bono strums the guitar before The Fly. He can only hear his guitar in his ears and not from his amp.

I have been in "underworld" during Elevation Tour and there isn't a lot of room under there. I have a couple of friends on the tour and will see "underworld" on this tour.

 

[ouizy]

wow - that is cool.

I always wondered does the whole band hear the click tracks, or just Larry - I would think that this would be very disturbing for Bono or even Edge...