Rumor Pit
Issue #57 - May 26, 2004
Hey Jammers! This newsletter was created as a direct link to the fans. If you would like to ask a question about Pearl Jam, please direct your questions (not fan club issues) to
DigitalKat@aol.com or
OfTheSea@aol.com. We're off now...into the Pit!
While everyone enjoys a little down time in PJ land let's relax with a cup of tea, read the leaves to see what the future could hold and then provide some detail to the many questions you've been asking.
Tasseography (Reading Tea Leaves)...How does one read tea leaves? First, drink all but a teaspoon of a cup of tea made with loose tea and then swirl the cup three times clockwise leaving tea leaves up the sides of the cup. Peer into the cup and note the shapes that appear. We're seeing a triangle, a mask, a bell, a kite and the number 10. What does it all mean? Here's our reading. There are some really cool Pearl Jam happenings being worked on for this fall. There could be some shows - maybe acoustic, maybe not, a possible CD of some sort, and it's possible the band may head back to the studio towards the end of the year to begin work on their eighth album. As far as new music from side projects goes, some releases are possible but not definite. It's amazing what tea leaves can reveal. That was fun!
Around The Bend...There is a brand spankin' new Ten Club newsletter in the works! Eddie will be appearing on a new Jack Irons solo album and we hear that Sony is working on a greatest hits album but no details on the release are available yet.
Rumors, Rumours, Rumors...PEARL Rumor: Eddie Vedder will be featured as a guest vocalist on The Who's new album.
JAM Fact: False.
~Q&A~Q&A~Q&A~Q&A~Q: What other bands have the Pearl Jam members discovered lately? Who are they listening to?
A: Death Cab for Cutie. Bright Eyes, Eagles of Death Metal, Blonde Redhead, The Huns, Dolorean, Unicorn and David Cross.
Q: Why did Pearl Jam stop selling their bootlegs for the 2003 tour so quickly? I can't find the show I attended on iTunes and its really annoying that these bootlegs aren't still around...they were so awesome!
A: We don't want to flood the market with live recordings. There will be more.
Q: Is Pearl Jam going to contribute something to the next Rock Against Bush CD series released by Fat Wreck Chords in conjunction with
www.punkvoter.com? Volume 2 is due out in August. Have they been asked about doing something for it?
A: No plans yet. We're not punk rock but we rock against Bush.
Q: I know PJ played Hungerstrike w/ Sleater-Kinney's lead singer at the Holmdel, NJ show and all the Mexico City shows but these are not available for download from iTunes... is there a reason why?
A: It wasn't our decision.
Q: What's the latest on Pearl Jam's search for/creation of a label ... what kind of life will there be after Epic?
A: Still leaving options open.
Q: In conjunction with their political activism this fall, will anyone from Pearl Jam appear on Air America? [www.airamericaradio.com]
A: It's possible.
Q: Assuming the band still supports him, will the band be playing any Ralph Nader fundraisers this year?
A: No.
Q: About the movie-project, "Malfunkshun - The Andrew Wood Story"... Pearl Jam is in it, right? When will it be released?
A: Stone and Jeff are in it but there's no release date yet.
~TEN CLUB Q&A~ Q: How many members does Ten Club have in each European country?
A: U.K. 825, Italy 400, Germany 290, Netherlands 220, Spain 120, Portugal 120, Sweden 100, Norway 100, France 100, Ireland 80, Belgium 70, Denmark 65, Switzerland 59, Poland 40, Greece 30, Finland 28, Czech Republic 8.
Q: Can Ten Club add PayPal for payments?
A: Yes, we can and we'll look into it.
Q: Will the 10c ticketing procedure by seniority change for the next tour to a different procedure?
A: It looks like we'll be using a different system, but still based on seniority.
Q: Any new gear and stuff coming to Goods on tenclub.net?
A: More Cds and Lps of side projects and PJ related releases. No new tour posters until the next tour. We have new t-shirts, stickers and a big Danny Clinch poster, in case you haven't seen them yet.
~GEAR GURU Q&A~ Q: What device did Eddie use when he performed Arc live using what seem to be loops of his voice. Can you just give me a rough idea of what he actually does on stage and what device he uses?
A: To reproduce the layered vocal arrangement of Arc in a live performance setting, Ed uses a Gibson "Echoplex Digital Pro" sampler, which is basically a more versatile, modern version of the old Market Electronics tape-based "Echoplex" loop recorder of the '60s. Unlike the older Echoplexes, the newer Gibson Echoplex allows for multiple loops to be played simultaneously and recorded on-the-fly. Obviously, the newer Echoplexes do not use magnetic tape, but instead use digital technology to "sample", or record, whatever is being input into the unit. With Ed, we use it for vocals, but the Gibson Echoplex can be used with any number of analog or digital instruments like guitar or keyboards. One other comment about Ed's use of the Echoplex in recreating Arc live... He does not pre-record or save the samples, so each live performance of Arc is being newly constructed from scratch using the Echoplex (which is why you might have noticed Ed using headphones on stage to monitor his singing into the unit) and are therefore individually unique in their final outcome.
Q: I looked at a few back issues of the Rumor Pit, but couldn't find my question. The Riot Act Notes has all the effects they used in all, but I am looking at a specific song. I read somewhere about a delay pedal, and a few other specific pedals, used on the song "You Are." If you could give me any more info about it, I would appreciate it. Thank you.
A: Unfortunately, there were no specific records kept as to what guitar effects were used on each individual song, only which effects were used in general. In the case of Mike's parts, most of time the effects were used spontaneously as he played - just like he would during a live performance. However, if you're specifically interested in the effects used on the main guitar riff of You Are, I can tell you it's nothing more than a guitar played through a Korg ER-1 drum machine while a programmed drum loop (minus the drum sounds) is playing. (Any gating, delay, or reverb contained in the programmed drum sounds is still present, however, which gives the riff the choppy, techo-like sound it has.) The output of the drum machine is sent to a guitar amp as normal. Stone plays this particular guitar part during a live performance, using the same drum machine/pattern to recreate the riff.
/jarmo
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