Talking Pedals with This Patch of Sky

While searching for venues/bands for my own upcoming mini-tour of the Northwest, I stumbled across This Patch of Sky out of Eugene, OR. After a couple of listens… I really really dug ’em. This Patch of Sky is a instrumental / post-rock band. Similar to Explosions in the Sky, who I’m also a huge fan of. After talking with them about possibly doing a show together and venues around Eugene, I asked if they would be up for a quick gear related interview. Often bands with instrumental / post-rock vibe have interesting selection of pedals.. and they do!

Here is a video with a live performance and interview. To learn more about This Patch of Sky, check ’em out on their site, Facebook and on Twitter!

Kit Day – Guitar

TC Electronic Polytune Mini
Ernie Ball VP Jr. Volume Pedal
Strymon OB.1 Optical Compressor
Fox Pedal Kingdom Overdrive
Push + Pull Pedals Triton Fuzz
Diamond Memory Lane Jr. Delay
MXR Carbon Copy Delay
Strymon Timeline Delay
Tap Tempo
Strymon BigSky Reverb
Neunaber Slate Stereo Effect Pedal
Disaster Area DMC-3XL Gen2 MIDI Controller

– What is your primary goal with this board?

My primary goal is to be able to achieve multiple sounds as needed depending upon the song while still maintaining a great sounding tone.

– How are you using the Disaster Area DMC-3XL Gen2 MIDI Controller?

The DMC-3XL allows me to control the banks on the Bigsky and the Timeline, and allows me to use the loop feature on the Timeline while still being able to use the other effects.  I’ve also been experimenting connecting the DMC to Abelton Live to send midi clock to the Timeline/Bigsky as well as send program change messages for different song presets without needing to touch either pedal.  It’s seriously a very powerful tool to have on my board.

– Tell me about the Neunaber Slate Stereo Effect Pedal

I picked up the Slate to have as a second reverb option on my board.  What I like about the slate is that it’s reprogrammable.  You can flash the pedal to use any 5 reverb options via Neunaber’s pedal customizer software you install on your Mac or PC.  The software also includes a virtual trim pot that let’s you mess around with the tone of the reverb which is pretty neat.  The other reason I chose the Slate is because you can write/draw on the surface with a permanent ink marker.  As you can see, this is my kid’s favorite pedal.

– I thought your choices for overdrive and fuzz were pretty interesting. What eventually led you to the Triton and Fox Pedal?

I hate fuzz.  Fuzz was one of those things that always made me cringe whenever I heard one, mainly because of how muddy they get.  I was looking for a pedal that could turn a fender amp into a heavy sounding amp when I needed it to.  I went through quite a bit of pedals and never achieved the sound I was looking for.  One of my friends let me borrow his Triton Fuzz, and after playing a few chords I was instantly hooked.  I love how deep and gnarly sounding it can get.  A good example of this pedal is on ‘In The House Of Wolves’ at the 6:21 mark.

The Kingdom Transparent Overdrive by Fox Pedals I recently picked up.  I was playing through a surf green Timmy which I liked a lot.  I wasn’t looking for a new overdrive whatsoever, but I happened to stumble across this specific pedal and loved the tone they were achieving.  After picking one up I was pleasantly surprised at how versatile it was.  It has characteristics of a Klon Centaur but allows for a LOT more head room.  I especially love the OD and Clip switches.

– You currently have 3 delays (MXR, Diamond and Strymon) – What roles do each play in your sound?

Being in a post-rock band, I obviously have a hard on for delay and reverb.  The Carbon Copy is almost always on.  I use it not so much as a delay, much more of a sweeping, lush, background effect.  The Diamond Memory Lane Jr. I always kick on for leads.  It can add a lot nice trailing delays which I love.  Mix this and the Carbon Copy together with a little bit of reverb and you’re good to go.  So why do I have a Timeline?  I don’t really use the Timeline as a delay pedal.  With the capacity to store 200 presents, I use it more as a “random effects” pedal.  I can go from awesome ambient pads to lo-fi vinyl sounds.  It’s basically a synth for a guitar.

– Do you feel that this board is where you want it? Or are you still trying to achieve your sonic goal?

It’s pretty dang close.  Obviously as technology continues to move forward my board changes.  Right now I am definitely content with my setup.

– What would you say is the most used pedal on the board.. and why?

Oh man – that’s a hard one!  It’s a toss up between the Bigsky and the Carbon Copy.  On almost every song we’ve ever created, the Carbon Copy most likely has a presence in the recording.  The Bigsky is newer to my board, and I just can’t turn it off.  It’s such an awesome sounding pedal.

 

Joshua Carlton – Guitar

Ernie Ball VP Jr. Volume Pedal
Electro-Harmonix Russian Big Muff
Home Made Boost
Ibanez DE7 Delay
Line 6 M9 Stompbox Modeler
Timmy (Surf Green)

-   What is your primary goal with this board?

My primary goal with my board is tone.  I was taught early on how important tone is and over the years have trained my ears to find the specific tone that I love.

– I was unable to identify a couple of pedals. What is the orange pedal and the white pedal?

The orange pedal is home made boost pedal.  Nothing too special about it.  The washed out “white pedal” is actually a surf green Timmy OD.  It’s newer to my board.

– I noticed you’re using the black russian Big Muff. Why is that the Big Muff of choice?

I love the Black Russian Big muff.  It has that warm dark fuzz that I like. I don’t like pedals that are thin and whiny, the black Russian gives me more of a deep sounding bass fuzz which I love.

– How many modeled pedals/presets do you use on the M9?

I actually only use about 3 or maybe 4 presets on the M9. My favorite 2 are the particle verb (pretty much never catch me without it),  and the Octoverb when I want a bit of shimmer (you can hear it a lot on Heroes And Ghosts). I use the particle verb set to Hazard on ‘In The House of Wolves’ to get that dark drone where you can’t hear the attack of the guitar. It’s such a great setting for stuff like that.

– What took you to the direction on M9 vs. getting individual pedals?

I chose the M9 over actual pedals because I am always experimenting and there are so many options with the m9. And to be honest, even for it being modeled they all sound really good. Line 6 has made some big strides in modeling. Almost every time we play a show someone asks me about a certain effect I am getting and its usually M9.

– The DE7 is an interesting delay/echo. What do you like about in particular?

The DE7 has been with me since the beginning, it all started with me being a fanboy of Explosions in the sky. I read somewhere that that’s what Munaf Rayani was using so I just had to get one! Ha! I usually just use it as a secondary delay nowadays.

– What’s the next pedal that you’re interested in?

Our other guitarist Kit has a ton of Strymon gear and I gotta say I am pretty envious, but I don’t want our stuff to sound to similar, I like the way Kit and I play off of each other. I do have my eye on an old Evantide Space. The broken glitch setting seems pretty brutal.

– What would you say is the most used pedal on the board.. and why?

Definitely the M9 hands down.  It’s used on every single song we do.

 

Joel Erickson – Bass

Boss TU-2 Tuner
Boss BD-2 Blues Driver (Keeley Mod)
Electro-Harmonix Russian Big Muff
Ernie Ball VP Jr. Volume Pedal
MXR Carbon Copy Delay
Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Reverb

-   What is your primary goal with this board?

I wanted to be able to get a variety of timbres other than just the standard bass sound. This board allows for bass swells, huge fuzz bass, and some approaching more of a affected guitar sound which allows me to fill other roles and be more versatile in songwriting.

– I believe the Blue Boss is a BD-2 Blues Driver (Keeley mod’d). How did you end up with this on the board?

The BD-2 was originally Kit’s and he gave it to me when he picked up some other pedals.

– I see that you and Joshua both prefer the Electro-Harmonix Russian Big Muff. What about it do you like? Have you tried the Bass Big Muff?

The Big muff allows me to get that huge doom bass sound that is on And Death Shall Have No Dominion and In the House of Wolves. It’s my go to pedal on any darker song we write. I’ve actually been wanting to try out the bass version of it as I’ve heard it works better with the bass frequencies but i have this one pretty dialed in so we will see if I ever get around to it.

– Having two *dirt* pedals on your board (BD-2 and Big Muff) do you use these in combination or do they offer two differing textures of dirt (Medium grit vs Full fury)?

Most of the time I use the two fuzz pedals for different purposes. I usually use the Big Muff when I am fulfilling the typically bass role and I want it to sound burly. I use the BD-2 most often with the carbon copy and holy grail. I can tremolo and come out with a full texture approaching a guitar or heavily affected cello. The BD-2 seems to work better with the higher frequencies for that type of stuff.

– How do you use the MXR Carbon Copy with your bass? By the look of the settings it looks like pretty extreme setting.

I use the carbon copy for bass swells mostly. It works well in the laid back parts of songs and gives bass support without more rhythmic playing breaking up the flow. I also use it for tremolo work as previously stated.

– Likewise, how do you use the Holy Grail? Drone? Or specific parts of the songs?

I’ve only ever used the holy grail on a high setting with the carbon copy for tremolo work. I’m starting to play around with it more to see if I can incorporate it in other ways

– Are you interested in any any other pedals for the board? If so.. what?

I am looking to pick up a tap delay of some kind. I also really want a compressor pedal to have more control over my tone.

– What would you say is the most used pedal on the board.. and why?

This changes from album to album. Overall, it’s probably the big muff though. It’s just so fun to stomp and that thing when the song climaxes and scream away. I have also been trying to use less effects on this new album so when I do use them, they are more meaningful.

Let me know what you think by commenting below!