Bing Futch’s Playing Techniques for Electric MIDI Dulcimer
0:00 - intro
0:53 - the three Ts
1:08 - touch
6:30 - texture
15:35 - tap-dancing
25:12 - reflection
26:24 - sign-off and "Don't Stop Believing" with a looper pedal
Audio Routing
You can hear the audio quality evolve in my videos over the past few weeks as I continue to explore the world of sound design.
With my live performances these days, I tend to keep it simple with just the dulcimer, the GR-55, and the Helix. I’ll add a mini pedal board with a rhythm section for rowdier gigs.
In the studio, I’ve arrived at a nice signal routing solution by using Loopback and Audio Hijack for live streams and quick recordings.
Advanced Stuff
0:00 - intro to touring setup
1:20 - GR-55: the four parts of a patch
2:10 - routing dulcimer signal separately
2:50 - guitar modeling
4:06 - synth modeling
5:00 - using the expression pedal for volume dynamics
6:35 - a tour of a few sweet patches with tricky challenges
12:25 - Bing's Line 6 Helix signal chain
19:40 - MIDI through GR-55 and Helix to DAW
20:15 - playing Alchemy in Logic Pro
25:00 - Loopback for computer audio routing
26:00 - Audio Hijack for creating custom inputs
27:00 - settings for microphone headset
29:19 - settings for the Helix output
32:41 - wild sequenced synth dulcimer
ON-CAMERA GEAR
• Terry McCafferty/Seifert Model Electric MIDI Mountain Dulcimer
• Roland GR-55 Guitar Synthesizer
• Line 6 Helix Pedal Board • Logic Pro (DAW)
• Alchemy
• Loopback
• Audio Hijack
If you’ve reached this point, you deserve what’s coming next.
SETTINGS/SPECS
McCafferty Seifert Model Dulcimer (impedance = Lo-Z) 600 - 10k ohms.
Active Pickups + Pre-Amp (powered by 9 volt battery or 13-pin cable)
Roland GR-55 Guitar Synthesizer
• Output Jacks (2k ohms)
• Guitar Out (2k ohms)
Line 6 Helix Pedal Board
• Guitar In (Variable impedance range 10k - 1M ohms)
• Auxiliary In (10k ohms)
• Guitar Pad (-6 dB)