'TOOLS 4 MUSIC' INTERVIEW WITH PETER AUTSCHBACH
ABOUT USING THE AXE-FX ULTRA LIVE HERE!
ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
Guitarist Peter Autschbach on using the Axe-Fx live
By Chris Adam
Peter Autschbach has taken lessons from Joe Pass, studied Jazz at the Cologne University of Music, played in the rock-opera “Tommy” and musicals such as “We Will Rock You” and “West Side Story” and is also a tutor with various guitar instruction books to his name. With his band “Terminal A” he has so far released eight CDs and two live DVDs and is a regular performer at festivals such as the Leverkusen Jazz Days, the WDR Jazz Festival and the Kumanovo Jazz Festival in Macedonia. His current solo CD “Summer Breeze” was recorded with acoustic guitars.
We were keenly looking forward to the interview with Peter Autschbach, as he is a guitarist who regularly uses the Fractal Audio Axe-Fx live. This is a system we have already featured twice (see tools 4 music, issues 6/2009 and 1/2010) and Peter's using it in various different live situations provides a useful antipole to the often voiced preconception that the Axe-Fx is only suitable for studio use.
tools 4 music: Peter, you use the Axe-Fx live. How did this come about and what was your rig made up of before?
Peter Autschbach: I was pretty much on the classic trip, with everything analogue. I had a 14-unit rack with Mesa Boogie and Marshall preamps and a Marshall power amp – all tubes, of course. There was also a looper that the effects went through. Eventually I cut it down to just 8 units, but it was still enormously heavy and all the connecting cables were a frequent cause of grief, especially in winter. Whenever the rack had been in the car in freezing temperatures and then got carried into a warm venue I had the problem that something wouldn't work.
tools 4 music: But there were alternatives.
Peter Autschbach: I'd always been on the lookout for something that really worked well, with preamps and effects. There were lots of products from Line6 and Digitech, but for me they'd always sounded artificial. And when it was working properly my rack sounded very convincing, so I stuck with it for nearly fifteen years, partly for lack of suitable alternatives.
tools 4 music: What's different with the Axe-Fx?
Peter Autschbach: Well, I had a looper in the rack so I could switch between preamps at the press of a switch. So I built the Axe-Fx into the system and messed about with it until I couldn't hear any difference between it and my Triaxis preamp. I think I can claim to have a pretty good ear for this kind of thing and I'm very critical, so I thought, if I can't hear any difference at all in a direct A/B comparison, it must work in a live situation too. And that assumption proved to be correct. I then sold all my superfluous equipment.
tools 4 music: What do you use to amplify the Axe-Fx on stage?
Peter Autschbach: That was an interesing development. Right at the beginning I tried it out in the band with the internal speaker simulation and full-range monitors. It sounded good, but it neither had the punch I was used to nor did it really cut through the mix in the way I wanted. Then I used the Axe-Fx with a small tube power amp and two 1x12 cabinets and was happy with the results.
tools 4 music: Why “was”?
Peter Autschbach: For one I had been a bit hasty as far as the speaker simulations were concerned – I should have taken more time checking out the parameters. Secondly Cliff Chase, who developed the Axe-Fx, has been busy improving the software. The speaker simulations are now of a much higher quality than they were at the beginning. The full range monitor I use now is the new “Atomic Reactor FR”, an active monitor with a 12-inch speaker, adjustable tweeter and 50 Watt tube power amp. I have two of them behind me for my on-stage sound. But for the PA I just go straight from the Axe-Fx to the mixing desk with XLRs.
tools 4 music: A full-range monitor with tweeter and tube power amp?
Peter Autschbach: I'm not a technician, so I can't explain the physical interrelationship of it all. For me it just feels right, for whatever reason – it sounds great. Of course a sound with a speaker simulation is always slightly different from (not necessarily worse than, Editor) the sound of the guitar speaker in the room. But for my taste the Axe-Fx with its newest firmware and the Atomics produces distorted rock sounds on stage that are even cooler and cut through even better than my old setup. The Atomics aren't just good for electric guitar either; I play my acoustic through them with the speaker sim turned off and it sounds better than anything else I've ever used. For me that's a clear transport advantage when I have to play both acoustic and electric at the same gig, but only need to take one setup.
tools 4 music: Everyone has experienced this phenomenon: the sound always changes depending on your playing volume and the type of stage or room. With a classic amp I can make a quick adjustment to adapt my sound to the conditions. With the Ax-Fx do I need to adjust the presets to do this?
Peter Autschbach: No, as there's a global equaliser that works on all the presets, so it's just as easy to make quick adjustments when necessary.
tools 4 music: On the subject of presets: how much work was involved in getting the sounds in your Axe-Fx the way you wanted them? Were the works presets a useful basis?
Peter Autschbach: Fractal Audio are constantly improving the works presets and they are now much better than they used to be. Back when I got mine, for my taste none of the works presets were so complete that I could just use them as they were. It took me a good day to get the basis for my sounds programmed. I need four basic sounds which then have various effects added to them.
tools 4 music: What MIDI controller do you use to control the Axe-Fx?
Peter Autschbach: Unfortunately the Fractal Audio contoller, which was announced two years ago, still isn't available, so at present I'm still using my ancient Kitty Hawk MIDI footboard that I bought back in the 80s for my first rack. To adjust the volume I use an old Yamaha FC-9 that I connect directly to the controller input on the back of the Axe-Fx.
tools 4 music: Have you ever had any problems with things not working and do you take a reserve system with you to gigs?
Peter Autschbach: For emergencies I put an old Line6 amp in the car, but I've never had to take it out. I've never had any technical problems or defects with the Axe-Fx.
tools 4 music: Do you have an endorsement deal with Fractal Audio or their distibutor, G66?
Peter Autschbach: (laughs) No, I paid the regular price for the Axe-Fx and I haven't been bribed in any way.
Peter Autschbach is one of the most interesting and versatile members of the German guitar scene. In 1988/89 he was a private student of Joe Pass. After studying jazz at the University of Music in Cologne, he played 'The Who' guitarist, Pete Townshend, in the rock opera 'Tommy'. Since 1998 he has written the Fingerstyle-Jazz-Workshop for the magazine, 'Akustik-Gitarre'. With the Hammond organ-player, Barbara Dennerlein he created the CD Feelin Dunk.
Peter is an extremely popular workshop tutor, not only with his workshops in various towns in Germany, but also with week-long jazz seminars in Tuscany and acoustic workshops in the island paradise of Mauritius – you can find dates for his upcoming workshops on his homepage.
In 2008 his third technique book Let’s Rock was published and just one month ago his new teaching-DVDs, Improvisation Volume I and II, with accompanying books, became available.
