It’d be kind of boring to just rehash the basics, wouldn’t it? I have many bog-standard presets that I use for cover bands & such. They’re usually multi-purpose; easily adjustable with aux/HotSwitch, expression pedal and/or MIDI CC. I fly in Preset Lists in to suit the situation. Lots of emulations of classic FX.
My solo & at-home stuff is more ‘out there’. But most of the crazier configurations come from solving a particular problem. Some type of request for a unique sound from clients or friends at my home studio. Usually any kind of Preset List that I upload for the forum here is the result of me learning (or revisiting) a new algorithm. “Hey, here are some things I found out that I’d like to share. Adapt it & tear it up.”
Not much more pre-planning than a set list. I embraced MIDI control long ago. Master MIDI Clock, separate MIDI switching & expression array. I use the same MIDI Channel scheme to each effect (plus one Channel may be assigned to a basic chain of effects). Synths have their own Channels. I still run Thru an ancient FCB 1010 – 10 banks of 10 switches each. I try to keep the Program Change messages in the same logical sequence. Step on a switch; everything reconfigures. i have a few (whole) banks of 10 switches that actually ‘play’ the effects.
As an aside, though, my reply above was more focused on practical applications. For example, QuadraVox has four scaled harmonies, but a single delay. So add a 2nd H9 Digital Delay for the feedback. I run two amps live, so syncing Phaser & TremoloPan mixes nicely in-the-air. I plan to post something here about using 2 (or more) H9s in a simple series / parallel / series config. You can create many new effects, and still run to a single amp.
