Edge's current guitar effects

[gnagle]

The Vertigo tour is the first U2 tour I have seen, and so far I have been to 3 shows. On the DVDs I have, I always thought the edge used prerecorded guitar samples for basic background rhythm guitar chords because on Rattle and Hum on several songs you can hear 2 guitars playing but obviously only the edge is playing. Could it be that there was another guitarist playing under the stage? Also on ZOO TV it is obvious there are 2 guitar parts durring Zoo Station.

Secondly, at the San Diego show when Bono had his guitar out, his strum wasn't in synch with the rhythm guitar sound I heared. So Bono is miming guitar?

Finally, what I was going to get to with all of this is that Edge seems to be playing all guitar parts live with no prerecorded samples; on most songs only 1 guitar can be heared. I picked up on this the most on All Because of You and Zoo Station.

I really wish they added more backround keyboard synth on songs they used to like Mysterious Ways. The song now sounds too stripped down. Also on THE FLY the edge isn't playing the same effects he used on ZooTV, and the tambourine percussion samples are not present either like on the album or zoo version.

 

[KUEFC09U2]

if they added backing synth people would then complain that they were miming parts of the songs, and they all should have 8 arms and play the instruments themselves

 

[Neilz]

On the Zoo Station version of Zoo-TV I always heared 1 guitar at the same time... The same thing with the current version... I'll have to listen to All Because Of You one more time to know for sure, but Edge could use a loop/delay for some parts... Like the intro for The Fly...

Anyways... I never coacht Edge using prerecorded guitar parts.. Samples and backing tracks yes, but no guitar parts...


edit : listened to All Because Of You ones more (first show) and this is only Edge playing... No prerecorded parts for sure...

 

[gnagle]

Listen to All Because of You from Live in Brooklyn; there is a prerecorded guitar on that version but yes I agree with you that there is only 1 guitar in the recent tour versions. I think it is too stripped down.

 

[zwervers2]

On the Zoo Station version of Zoo-TV I always heared 1 guitar at the same time... The same thing with the current version... I'll have to listen to All Because Of You one more time to know for sure, but Edge could use a loop/delay for some parts... Like the intro for The Fly...

Anyways... I never coacht Edge using prerecorded guitar parts.. Samples and backing tracks yes, but no guitar parts...


edit : listened to All Because Of You ones more (first show) and this is only Edge playing... No prerecorded parts for sure...

what is the difference between a sample and a pre recorded guitar part. For instance: the guitar part of Gone is deffinately pre recorded.Would you call this a sample or a pre recorded. Zoo station is using a sequenced sound that during the zootv area used to be "played"by Dallas or someone else during the concert. For the current version of the fly he uses an delay-effect which sounds pretty cool. by the way: when aboy was played during the short concerts before the tour edge used a recorded guitarpart which he now plays live for some strange reason, can't understand why bono doesn't play this part because it's well..very simple even for Bono

 

[Neilz]

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)...

 

[zwervers2]

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)...

What do you mean exactly "processed beyond Edge's guitar effects" ...it is also looped after the verses and there is (at least in the popmartverison) also another guitarsound which also isn't produced by Bono that's for sure.

Maybe I just don't understand the initial question..sorry

 

[Neilz]

What do you mean exactly "processed beyond Edge's guitar effects" ...it is also looped after the verses and there is (at least in the popmartverison) also another guitarsound which also isn't produced by Bono that's for sure.

Maybe I just don't understand the initial question..sorry

I'm saying that this guitar part (the Gone intro) is processed só much that I don't think it as a guitar part anymore... Edge could have played this himself, but the sound would definately have been different... Bono played rhythem on the Elevation tour, so Edge could have played the intro (and the parts in de verses), but didn't... I really can't think of another pre-recorded guitar part...

 

[zwervers2]

I'm saying that this guitar part (the Gone intro) is processed só much that I don't think it as a guitar part anymore... Edge could have played this himself, but the sound would definately have been different... Bono played rhythem on the Elevation tour, so Edge could have played the intro (and the parts in de verses), but didn't... I really can't think of another pre-recorded guitar part...

I understand...Funny that we talk in english as 2 fellow dutchman by the way...lol...about the processed part..I'm not sure, being a musician myself I make some very strange things come out of my guitar...I process them through my boss GT6, Whammy and through the effects of Logic on my Mac in the studio...but when played live I use those same effects....difficult to explain..

I think it is rather strange by the way that Bono doens't play the rythm part of aboy and edge the lead..I find the transition from a small intro lead part to the rythmguitar by one person quit strange to be honest..It would sound much fuller if they playd it together.

U2 does a lot of synthparts and seuences by the way but I love it, It would sound less richer if they didnt..That's why I fell in love with the zootv tour because of the little finesses so to speak.

 

[Neilz]

All Because Of You has a rather tricky rhythem part... I don't think Bono is able to pull that one of really

 

[zwervers2]

All Because Of You has a rather tricky rhythem part... I don't think Bono is able to pull that one of really

Yeah when I think about it...you are right...the last couple of notes of the chords he couldn't play live and sing as well...lol..

At least he does sing pretty well..

 

[Flying FuManchu]

The way they got that Gone sound specifically was also from amp placement and studio recording tricks too... was it not?

 

[elfyx]

You are correct Fu- The gone effect was made possible through a crazy recipe of studio effects, amp selection and placement, and microphone placement, with the sound feeding off of one amp to the other.

There was some kind of story about how Edge was really experimenting for new sounds for Pop and everyone in the studio was just amazed at what Edge had created.

 

[what a bomb!]

wow you been to 3 shows already on this tour? how did you managed that? could only get one night for twickenham, not complaining, just glad to be seeing them live! lol

 

[ouizy]

**Kind of a spoiler**

As far as I am informed (from past tours at least) most of your assumptions are correct.

Although the Edge has many many volume, sound, and distortion effects coming through his gadgets, he also has tirggering devices that start "pre-recorded" sounds, bits, and parts.

About 90% of what you see coming from the Edge is controlled through his custom built digital floor box that he controls with his foot. Again, as far as I know - many of the effects get sent through individual effects pedals, then get centrally controlled by him in the songs by his feet.

Now as far as "other" sounds you hear he can start bits by hitting the appropriate button for the appropriate song. An example is Bad. The intro to the song is prerecorded and he triggers this with his foot. This is the smae with many of the other sounds you hear. Now as the shows are driven by click-tracks (if you don't know what these are, it may take some time to explain - for another thread) - I am pretty sure these are also controlled by the Edge.

Now one may wonder, well if the Edge is out at the edge of the Ellipse, how can this happen.

Dallas Schoo (the guitar tech) not only 'prepares' each guitar for each song, but also has a duplicate set-up as the Edge in the Underworld. If the Edge happens to miss a cue (which does occasionally happen, or if he has not gotten his appropriate guitar for the song that is starting) Dallas fills in for him. When the Edge is out off the stage proper and guitar effects need to happen during the song, Dallas triggers them.

It is well-known that there are others under the stage (or at least have been in past tours) that control keyboards and other 'devices' that add sound to the songs. I know in Popmart these people (usually the insturment techs) did not have visual sight of the band, so they actually took their cues on Closed Circuit televisons under the stage.

Sond incredible? It is. There is a lot that happens during a show that we neither hear or see, but in the past 20 years of going to U2 shows I have realized that none of this matters. When you think about it - a guitarist like the Edge and a band like U2 have so many songs, loaded with so many effects, that for them to be able to play a setlist full of songs, they would need this kind of operation, or it would basically sound like ass. Long debates have happened here about whether some of this stuff is "cheating" but in the end, I have come to the conclusion that if the show looks and sounds amazing, and if the band is playing live, I am happy to witness it...

 

[OffAxis]

Most of those other tracks are being played live by Dallas Schoo below the stage. He is Edge's guitar tech and will often play the obscure guitar parts on songs. This is especially evident on the Zoo TV version on The Fly. The two quick strums of the guitar you hear before Larry's drums is actually Dallas. I'm assuming that it's a way to signal to the band that he is ready, but that's a guess. There are three distinct guitar parts and Dallas is playing along with Edge and Bono.

The reason why you often don't hear Bono's guitar live is because they don't turn him up. I've always thought it was because he was a shit guitarist, but he proved that wrong with the Elevation tour. They actually had him turned up on Kite and Walk On and he sounded good. He even played the lead part on Walk On during the first US leg (the lead was back to Edge for the 3rd leg, and Bono back to rhythm guitar). I guess Bono is relegated back to "Don't turn him up" status for the Vertigo tour.

Don't know why Edge is only using his one guitar sound and not have Dallas play the other parts. I'm upset to hear they are using the sequencing they usually do, that is usually what gives them their "full" sound. Maybe they've taken the idea of "4 guys in a room with instruments" too far. I can deal with the stripped down stage, but don't strip down the music!

That said, Edge is unbelievable and I will wait to make any comments until I hear it on Sunday. Hopefully he's doing some different stuff this tour (like the change in Bullet).

 

[OffAxis]

Long debates have happened here about whether some of this stuff is "cheating" but in the end, I have come to the conclusion that if the show looks and sounds amazing, and if the band is playing live, I am happy to witness it...

I couldn't agree more. The coordination of all those elements is a performance in itself.

 

[afuse]

While "Bad" and such is a loop, some of the guitar parts ("ABOY") are way too complex to trigger. It makes no sense and is needlessly complicated.

There are definitely musicians under the stage comping along with most of the songs. Mostly it isn't that noticeable, but without it, it would be a pretty empty sound.

I know this has been picked apart here, but the majority of the Elevation DVDs, for instance, have at least two fellas playing along - keybords, guitars, extra percussion on almost every song. The only time you don't hear SOMETHING added is the old stuff (pre-JT) and the acoustic stuff. I don't mean to rankle, but you can make a game out of "spot the phantom instruments."

I used to comfort myself saying that Edge controlled everything with his feet, but it's not practical and it would never work.

At this point, I kind of think Adam and Larry's keyboard work is a bit of a show, kind of like Bono's "lead work" on "Walk On."

 

[gnagle]

Yeah, but unfortunatley on this tour it seems like the band is using the phantom musicians less. The production feels a little empty on Zoo Station and The Fly, as well as All Because of you. What happened to that great intro on the album version? I always closed my eyes and imagined that to be spectacular live. Oh Well!

 

[u2wedge]

**Kind of a spoiler**

As far as I am informed (from past tours at least) most of your assumptions are correct.

Although the Edge has many many volume, sound, and distortion effects coming through his gadgets, he also has tirggering devices that start "pre-recorded" sounds, bits, and parts.

About 90% of what you see coming from the Edge is controlled through his custom built digital floor box that he controls with his foot. Again, as far as I know - many of the effects get sent through individual effects pedals, then get centrally controlled by him in the songs by his feet.

Now as far as "other" sounds you hear he can start bits by hitting the appropriate button for the appropriate song. An example is Bad. The intro to the song is prerecorded and he triggers this with his foot. This is the smae with many of the other sounds you hear. Now as the shows are driven by click-tracks (if you don't know what these are, it may take some time to explain - for another thread) - I am pretty sure these are also controlled by the Edge.

Now one may wonder, well if the Edge is out at the edge of the Ellipse, how can this happen.

Dallas Schoo (the guitar tech) not only 'prepares' each guitar for each song, but also has a duplicate set-up as the Edge in the Underworld. If the Edge happens to miss a cue (which does occasionally happen, or if he has not gotten his appropriate guitar for the song that is starting) Dallas fills in for him. When the Edge is out off the stage proper and guitar effects need to happen during the song, Dallas triggers them.

It is well-known that there are others under the stage (or at least have been in past tours) that control keyboards and other 'devices' that add sound to the songs. I know in Popmart these people (usually the insturment techs) did not have visual sight of the band, so they actually took their cues on Closed Circuit televisons under the stage.

Sond incredible? It is. There is a lot that happens during a show that we neither hear or see, but in the past 20 years of going to U2 shows I have realized that none of this matters. When you think about it - a guitarist like the Edge and a band like U2 have so many songs, loaded with so many effects, that for them to be able to play a setlist full of songs, they would need this kind of operation, or it would basically sound like ass. Long debates have happened here about whether some of this stuff is "cheating" but in the end, I have come to the conclusion that if the show looks and sounds amazing, and if the band is playing live, I am happy to witness it...

so what about san diego 1, when edge completely missed the beginning of Vertigo? did he AND dallas miss it?

it's no big deal if there's some pre-recorded stuff. it's all by the band and if they didn't do it that way they couldn't get close to the studio sounds in a live performance. (which as I re-read this is exactly what you were getting at.... my bad.)

 

[Neilz]

Most of those other tracks are being played live by Dallas Schoo below the stage. He is Edge's guitar tech and will often play the obscure guitar parts on songs. This is especially evident on the Zoo TV version on The Fly. The two quick strums of the guitar you hear before Larry's drums is actually Dallas. I'm assuming that it's a way to signal to the band that he is ready, but that's a guess. There are three distinct guitar parts and Dallas is playing along with Edge and Bono.

Not true! Dallas doesn't play anything live and neither in de studio! As said in this thread, he does control the effects when Edge is not able to (out on a walk)... The perfect example for this is the wah in the Bullet The Blue Sky solo on Zoo-TV Sydney... Edge is playing at Bono's centre stage position filmed by 3 camera men... Dallas at that point controls the wah... But Dallas néver plays guitar himself... The 2 strums on the Fly you're talking about on Zoo-TV Sydney is Bono

 

[medmo]

I think ABOY sounds incredible the way they're doing it so far. Subtle backing tracks are fine, but an overly obvious one (like the one in the Brooklyn Bridge version of ABOY) takes a little away from the performance, in my opinion.

If you ask me, it's a very cool thing to hear The Edge and only The Edge on the more rocking tunes. I hope they keep it up.

 

[gnagle]

On ZooTV live in Sidney you can barely hear Bono's guitar, and yes, there are 3 guitar parts not 2, so either there is a prerecorded track triggered by the click track, or Dallas or someone is playing along.

 

[gnagle]

hmm...actually at the end of the song I can actually hear bono's strum but at the begining he is overpowered by another rhythm guitar which has to be Dallas or a prerecorded guitar

 

[Neilz]

I'm for 100% sure that Dallas does nót play! And for 99% sure that it's only Bono and Edge on Zoo-TV's The Fly... Bono's volume is simply too high in the beginning of the song (the 2 strums in the beginnnig).. Later on his tech (not Dallas) turns this down...

 

[afuse]

Dallas doesnt' have enough time for Edge's guitar changes, tuning, strings, etc. to pick up anything and play.

There are other folks working beneath the stage. Sure, it's easy to trigger big keyboard patches or something, but tricky rhythmic guitar parts are impossibe - even if Larry was an absolute master at playing with clicks.

There are OTHERS. Doesn't it even list them at the edge of the Boston DVD? Not in so many words...

I agree with The Fly from ZooTV. It sounds like Bono and he does a perfectly fine job. But Larry is not playing that tamborine. Nor does he play the shaker in Until the End of the World, for example.

Probably the most egregious is Walk On from Boston or Slane. No way Bono is playing that lead line. And when he gives up his guitar, the rhythm track is magically still there.

To try to sync all this stuff up to loops is ridiculous. So much could go wrong with tempo. You'll just have to admit that the boys choose to flesh out their sound with elves. And they've said that they don't like the idea of anyone else but the four of them ON STAGE during a show.

 

[OffAxis]

I'm for 100% sure that Dallas does nót play! And for 99% sure that it's only Bono and Edge on Zoo-TV's The Fly... Bono's volume is simply too high in the beginning of the song (the 2 strums in the beginnnig).. Later on his tech (not Dallas) turns this down...

In the book "At the End of the World" it talks about this.

 

[theyoonaboramer]

1. Bono does play rhythm on the Fly and not Dallas; why use 2 strums for signalling instead of the IEMs? You're on blue crack, buddy. I personally don't like the rhythm part since the major 3rds in the major chords kind of ruin the dark mood of the song. But Bono looks cool playing guitar on the song live so it gets a pass.
2. I was in the Heart at the 1st leg Anaheim Elevation shows where Bono played the lead parts in Walk On and was pleasantly shocked and surprised by it. I think it sounded better than Edge's lead part in the third leg because it had a thick, tubey overdriven sound as opposed to the chimey/digital delay-laden sound that Edge chose to use in the third leg. Plus, Edge's rhythm part was also heavily overdriven in the first leg which gave the song more power. Bono's rhythm sound is not heavily overdriven. You can see all this clearly in the 4/24 Anaheim DVD that was circulated a while back on easytree/tradersden.
3. Now that I've seen 3 Vertigo shows so far, I'm pretty sure they're not using guitar backing tracks, except maybe Bullet, which Edge triggers with his foot. ABOY sounds great live even without the 2nd rhythm. Some of you may not like it, but personally I like the way the song opens up during those lead breaks. You can really hear Adam pounding on the bass and Bono's tambourine shaking. Good vibes live. They're still heavily using keyboards on MD, COBL, Streets, One, etc.

 

[afuse]

I've been killing myself trying to find it, but I know I've seen a website from a session guy listing the Elevation tour on his gigography. He filled in guitar and keyboards. And a friend of mine was hired to haul stuff around on the Louisville Elevation show and said that there were three musicians under the stage near Dallas' station.

Why are so many people in denial on this? Why do we have to convince ourselves that Edge is triggering everything? Watch the man's foot during Bullet. Is he tapping a pedal everytime that backing chord rings out in the chorus?

How purist do we have to be? Echo on Bono's vocals is artificial. Edge's rig is processed out the wazoo. A single human can't naturally produce the sounds and echoes that he omits. The lights are cued to evoke emotional response.

Rock and rolll is a glorious lie and we love it. And we're bothered by some extra musicians under the stage? Next thing you know, we'll be convinced that Bono's hair is actually thick and lustrous.

 

[jumpmanst]

This is a little off discussion, but it remains in the topic. Does anyone know what effects Edge uses of COBL? Specifcally, the slide opening? I think it's pretty safe to say that he plays the opening.