Our second ‘How I got into playing’ post where we as part of our ‘Learn the Orange Way’ campaign, offer free guitar lessons for all Orange users (more on that here), and share a series of quotes from some of our artists on why how they got into playing.
I picked up the guitar when I was 14, and I think my dad’s very much to thank for that. He wasn’t a musician himself, but he was very interested in music, and it was something that was a part of my life from a very young age; him playing various country and classic rock records around the house. I first started playing acoustic, but it only lasted for about a year as I realised electric was more my thing. I was just playing around at home, and signed up to Youtube where I started sharing videos of cover songs I was playing. I didn’t really think much of it besides wanting to share my passion with the world, so the response was pretty overwhelming as I ended up getting millions of views! Back then, it wasn’t many females my age doing that sort of thing, posting classic rock covers, so there seemed to be a market for it and it definitely helped me get where I am today!
I initially started out playing drums as a kid, and didn’t really get into guitar until I was 17. I’d watch people play Nirvana covers on YouTube and just copy what their hands were doing, that’s how I learnt the basics. I guess already knowing how to play an instrument was a bit of a head start but I wouldn’t really say I’m a real guitar player, I just wanted to be able to play the Nirvana songs.
Starting it all off and sparking the interest was definitely the household I grew up in, both my parents and older sister was very into music. My dad in particular is pretty much a rock ’n’ roll historical – not as a profession or a job, but for as long as I can remember he’s just always had this encyclopaedic knowledge about dates, record companies, releases, band members and tours, and he has this amazing vinyl collection that I’d go through as a kid, pick albums to listen to based on their covers and end up with bands such as KISS and The Monkees, but it wasn’t until he played me The Beatles everything changed; I even remember the day and exactly where we were, sat in our car parked up waiting for my sister, and he played me live at the BBC by The Beatles, and I think I must have been about six or seven, I was really young, but it just felt like real life magic.
https://orangeamps.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Laura-Cox-Rockerverb-50H-PPC212-MD-Carlos-Fabian-2.jpg20033000Ella Stormarkhttps://orangeamps.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Orange-Pics-logo-307px-279x103.pngElla Stormark2020-03-26 08:00:002020-03-26 09:02:45“How I got into playing” PT. II
When catching up with Orange artists, one of the things we tend to ask is how they first got into playing – some were pretty much force-fed music from a young age growing up in musical homes, others found music for themselves. Over the next couple of weeks and as part of our ‘Learn the Orange Way’ campaign where we offer free guitar lessons for all Orange users (more on that here), we’ll be sharing a series of quotes from some of our artists on why how they got into playing.
Mainly KISS and Queen, they were my two main bands. Queen came to Brazil in 1981, but my mum wouldn’t let me go because I was too young. Then KISS came in 1983, and that was my first ever show. Being able to go see them live at their Creatures of The Night tour, was insane, that changed my life. That’s why I’m here! Seeing that, in my home town, at my football team’s stadium.. As I said, it changed everything. When I first started playing, my goal was to play ‘Stairway to Heaven’, so that’s what I told my teacher. She gave me the basics and a good ground to learn on, gradually. It started out with acoustic Brazilian music, before moving onto other things. Slowly I’d expand my music taste as well, and start listening to bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Jimi Hendrix and Cream, all of those incredible vintage sounding bands and artists. I’m also inspired by Brazilian music, and as I’ve become older and developed my taste I’ve picked up on a lot of the older Brazilian music, which has been a huge inspiration to Sepultura. That’s played a huge part in finding our sound, using Brazilian percussion and other bits from our more traditional music.
I was born in Puerto Rico and moved to the States when I was five. Some of my earliest memories are of my dad and uncles playing me music, those dudes loved Metallica. My dad would also drive me around with Pearl Jam on repeat. All my uncles played guitar, and my grandfather the cuatro, so I had early exposure to those instruments. I didn’t pick up a guitar myself until I was 15 or 16, when my dad finally got an acoustic for Christmas and I got bitten by the bug. Eventually I bought an Epiphone Les Paul for money I’d earned selling candy in high school, and once that was done I stopped doing just about everything else to pursue playing. I’d recently been turned onto At The Drive-In and The Mars Volta and was like ‘Damn, that dude’s got hair like mine and he shreds, let’s learn that shit!’ My dad also made sure I knew Led Zeppelin was the greatest band of all time, so I guess that shaped a lot of my playing too, Zeppelin>The Beatles
I come from a musical household where my dad would experiment with home made hi-fi speakers and play bands such as The Beatles, Beach Boys, Johnny Cash and Dylan, as well as church and choral music. My mum, brother and sisters were also into music and would dabble in guitar, piano and singing. When high school came around, my older brother introduced me to Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and The Doors, and it was around this time I bought one of my first records which was Hendrix live. After that I just wanted to play guitar like him, he was a huge inspiration! Strawberry Fields was also a mind blowing experience when I first heard it.
https://orangeamps.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Andreas-Kisser-Sepultura-crop.png13111890Ella Stormarkhttps://orangeamps.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Orange-Pics-logo-307px-279x103.pngElla Stormark2020-03-19 11:00:002020-05-26 13:44:31“How I got into playing” PT. I
13th of February 1970 something changed in music, and it was never the same again. With Rolling Stones and The Beatles having been topping the lists the previous decade, the music industry saw a shift in the late sixties; San Francisco had the summer of love, The Beatles dropped acid and went to India, Muddy Waters released Electric Mud, Hendrix set fire to his guitar and introduced wah-wah to the masses, and the New Yardbirds became Led Zeppelin. By 1970, change was in the air. In Birmingham something had been brewing for a while, with four local boys, Tony, Geezer, Ozzy and Bill, coming together to make music, hoping their band would take off enough to keep them out of the local factories. Little did they know about the adventure ahead…
Starting out as ‘The Polka Tulk Blues Band’, they changed their name to ‘Earth’, before eventually becoming ‘Black Sabbath’. Prior to this, Tony and Bill had been in Mythology together, and Geezer and Ozzy in Rare Breed. However, their current musical endeavour was unlike anything they’d done before.
With the release of their self-titled debut album on the 13th of February 1970, Black Sabbath blew minds and melted brains. The album’s opening track, also conveniently called ‘Black Sabbath’, kicks off with roaring thunder and church bells tolling, before Tony Iommi dives right into – the heaviest shit the world had ever seen, and a slowed down, doomy take on a part of Gustav Holst’s ‘Mars, the Bringer of War’ from The Planets. The album did not exactly receive critical acclaim, quite the contrary, but did definitely not go unnoticed; people were talking and a fan base was building, and just a mere seven months later, they followed it up with a second album worthy of it’s predecessor, the mighty ‘Paranoid’. Despite the radio refusing to play their music and critics still dismissing their sound, Black Sabbath was here to stay. Fast forward five decades later, they’ve sold more than 70 million records worldwide, with their impact of music being undeniable, making them one of the most influential heavy metal and doom bands of all time.
By the time I first heard Black Sabbath they’d already been around for decades with the likes of Dio, Cozy Powell, Glenn Hughes and Ian Gillian, to name a few, all swinging by the band, and I was already familiar with heavy music through the likes of Motörhead and Iron Maiden. Still, Black Sabbath was different to anything else I’d ever heard before, and I can’t even imagine having been accustomed to years of innocence in the form of ‘Yellow Submarine’ and The Mamas & The Papas, to then being hit by by a wall of sound in the form of Black Sabbath – what a time to be alive for such a moment in music!
When interviewing Orange artists we’re always interested to hear more about how they first came across us, whether it was seeing Orange amps played, or playing them themselves. The most common answer to this question, across a variety of genres, artists and generations is Black Sabbath’s Beat Club performance from 1970, blasting ‘Paranoid’ from a full Orange backline:
“You can watch Black Sabbath’s ‘Paranoid’ video where both Iommi and Geezer Butler are using Orange, so when I was given the opportunity to try it for myself I took it straight away – Orange always just had that ‘aura of the masters” – Andreas Kisser, Sepultura
Other artists mentioning Black Sabbath’s Beat Club performance includes Graveyard’s Truls Mörck, Giorgos from 1000 Mods and Thomas from Monolord. So, needless to say – Black Sabbath has been an inspiration for generations of artists and aspiring musicians, and hell, they’ve probably helped us sling an amp or two. So, Black Sabbath, Tony, Geezer, Ozzy, Bill and everyone else who swung by the band and kept their legacy alive, thank you, for everything you did for music, for everyone you inspired, and everyone you entertained.
https://orangeamps.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Black-Sabbath-1970.jpg7201080Ella Stormarkhttps://orangeamps.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Orange-Pics-logo-307px-279x103.pngElla Stormark2020-02-23 09:00:002020-02-20 18:46:47Ramble On: 50 Years of Sabbath
Truls Mörck of Graveyard, Desertfest London 2018. By Ella Stormark
At this point in time, many of you might still be knees deep in post-Christmas depression and January blues while dreaming of better days, potentially made even worse by dry January (I caved on the 9th and had a glass of wine, it doesn’t count if it’s with food right?) which equals stone cold sobriety during what feels like three hour long days. It’s okay though, spring’s not actually that far away – just look at this as an excuse to be a record recluse for a bit, personally I’ve only socialised once in the entire month of January, and hell, I wouldn’t want it any other way. I’m not quite sure when I’ll emerge from my winter slumber, but, it will definitely be in time for Desertfest London.
Since the launch of Desertfest London back in 2012, the festival has grown and gets bigger and busier every year, with 2020 looking huge. Among this years lineup, we’ve got some of the headliners from the first ever Desertfest London returning; Orange Goblin, who’s celebrating their 25 year anniversary this year, and Corrosion of Conformity. Also returning to the Desertstage is the mighty Graveyard, who’ll be accompanied at the festival by fellow Swedish countrymen Witchcraft, Maidavale and Lowrider, the latter due to release the follow up to their iconic 2000 debut album ‘Ode to IO’ on February 21st, a mere two and a half months before the festival.
Isaiah Mitchell of Earthless at Desertfest London 2019. By Ella Stormark
Mixing things up a bit at this year’s festival with sunny, progressive psychedelia, is US bands Sacri Monti and Monarch, both hailing from Oceanside just outside San Diego. San Diego’s been on the frontline of modern psychedelia since the formation of Earthless in the early 2000s, and Sacri Monti and Monarch are just two of many bands who’s followed in their footsteps with a modern take on older influences – the rise of successful psychedelic bands from the area is so high that ‘San Diego Psych’ has sort of become a genre of it’s own.
Of course, as always, Desertfest is also a fantastic platform for up and coming bands, featuring some of the finest heavy acts in the UK underground scene, such as London’s very own Green Lung, who’s 2019 debut album ‘Woodland Rites’ received critical acclaim from the likes of The Guardian and Kerrang. Joining them on the bill is also Birmingham’s eerie doom band Alunah, and another London local in the form of The Brothers Keg, who despite having just released two songs, have caught the attention of The Obelisk who compared them to both King Buffalo and Sleep, eagerly anticipating for their debut album to drop.
We’re also excited to catch hard hitting and heavy two piece Big Business, the former rhythm section of the Melvins, and of course, doom connoisseurs Khemmis who will also be crossing the Atlantic for our listening pleasure, so there will be no lacking in the heavy riff department (okay dad…), not that that was ever a concern of ours anyway.
There are still some tickets left for the festival, so head over to Desertfest London’s website to get your hands on a pair and hopefully we’ll see you there! We’ll be catching up with some of the artists playing the festival in the next couple of months, so watch this space.
Ella Stormark browsing Jimi’s favourite records at Handel & Hendrix, 23 Brook Street
I’m not gonna lie, I do tend to get, uhm, how do I word this, carried away, while on DJ duties. I’m pretty sure (convinced…) this is a quality that’s been passed down in the DNA from my Dad, as controlling the music tends to be a never ending battle between us. Of course, he wins, every time! He’s got 30 years on music history on yours truly – clearly a winner. Anyway, back to me. I’d say music is definitely my passion, and as I’m not player per se (meaning I only play for my cat), I’m an incredibly good listener – If listening to music is a skill, I consider myself highly skilled – I could listen for days, and whenever I get the privilege of DJ duties, whether it’s in public or in private, I take my job, very, very seriously.
Most times I’m good at it, great, even! But, there has been a few instances where I’ve misread a room completely, and when I say misread I mean really, really misread – which also is short for ignore, as I’ve just ignored what absolutely everyone else wanted to listen to so I could get my fix. My best example of this, is making my guests sit through an entire Motorpsycho album (it was a double….) when they were craving Pink Floyd. Probably not my finest moment, but oh well, what can I say – if you don’t like me at my “Motorpsycho at midnight”, you don’t deserve me at my “Prince at parties”, and on the subject of parties, I’m pretty good at them.
Jimi Jammin’ at 23 Brook Street
Next time I’ll be serving up a healthy dose of bangers and mash to the public is on the 14th of February at Jimi Hendrix’s old Brook Street flat, and let’s be honest, there’s not really any other guy I’d spend my Valentine’s day with, so it’s pretty perfect. With 22 days to go, I’ll be rummaging through my record collection like crazy, cradling and canoodling my precious gems, while trying to figure out who gets their five minutes of fame on holy ground. I’ve been a Hendrix fan for longer than I haven’t, and the fact that I get to spin my choice of records where he once lived, is kind of a pinch me sort of situation – would Jimi approve of my record collection, and agree with my selection?
For those of you who aren’t aware of the ‘Jimi’s old flat situation’ – during his time in London from 1968 to 1969, Jimi resided at 23 Brook Street, where funnily enough, composer Handel lived 200 years prior. In recent year, the property has been refurbished and opened to the public as a museum, paying homage to both Handel and Hendrix. Hendrix’s flat has been re-made by the help of Jimi’s then girlfriend Kathy Etchingham to pretty much exactly how it was during his stay there, allowing you to step back in time and get an actual insight of how Hendrix lived, trippy time travel!
14th of February marks the four year anniversary of the opening of the flat, and it’s celebrated with one of their ‘Friday Late’ events, which is a regular thing – meaning you can actually attend a house party at Hendrix’s house – what?! When discovering Hendrix at 14, I never thought in a million years that I’d ever be able to set foot in his house, let alone be invited to share some of my own favourite music with fellow Hendrix fans, and I truly feel honoured to have been asked to do so. 23 Brook Street is an important part of music history, and well worth a visit if ever in London, as part of one’s psychedelic pilgrimage.
https://orangeamps.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/image3.jpeg10671600Ella Stormarkhttps://orangeamps.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Orange-Pics-logo-307px-279x103.pngElla Stormark2020-01-23 19:11:002020-01-23 19:12:57Ramble On: Spinning Records Where Jimi Jammed
The scale of the Australian bush fires is truly unprecedented.
Unless you’ve been on holiday on Mars for the last couple of months, the news that Australia is suffering from the largest scale bush fires on record will be something you’re only too aware of.
It’s very hard to grasp exactly how big a problem this actually is, particularly in countries like the UK where wildfires aren’t something that affects us, so a bit of research and the following details begin to emerge:
As of 7th January, 25.5 million acres or 10.5 million hectares of land has been affected by the fires. That’s 32,000 square miles. For those of us in the UK, that’s an area that runs from Portsmouth in the South, as far North as Coventry and from Bath in the West all the way across to London in the East. Another way of putting it, is the whole of Belgium – burned and still ablaze with little end in sight. To try to visualise the fire-front itself is to imagine a picture of Hell… Imagine an unbroken line of fire, stretching from The East Coast of the USA to the West Coast, then back again, then heading back yet again, to the West Coast and getting at least as far as Indiana. That’s the fire-front in a single state alone! More than 1,000 homes have been destroyed, 24 people have lost their lives and estimates are that somewhere between 500 million and 1 billion animals have been burned to death a figure that beggars belief.
We at Orange would like to ask a favour of you guys – Please share the following links with as many people as you can. You don’t have to share our posts, take any mention of us out if you prefer – this isn’t a PR exercise as this message is too important. If you’re able to donate a small amount to one of these charities that’s wonderful but that’s your business. This is just our way of helping ensure that any donations you do make actually go to where they will make a difference. There are many other organisations out there and all are just as worthy but here’s some selected by us:
The NSW Rural Fire Service These guys are volunteers! Donations made to the NSW Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS), or your local Rural Fire Brigade, directly benefit volunteer firefighters and are always gratefully received. These proceeds directly assist brigades in conducting their community activities.
The Salvation Army Australia Feeding and supporting the firefighters and evacuees is a major military exercise but fortunately, there is an army ready and willing to help. The Salvos are right there at the front line.
The Australian Red Cross Supporting thousands of people in evacuation centres and recovery hubs across Australia.
WIRES Australia WIRES (NSW Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service Inc.) is Australia’s largest wildlife rescue organisation. WIRES has been rescuing and caring for wildlife for over 30 years and WIRES mission is to actively rehabilitate and preserve Australian wildlife and inspire others to do the same.
As you’re all aware, we said goodbye to the Orange Forum at the end of November after more than 15 years.
This post is perhaps a little different from others you may have seen from Orange over the years – this post is specifically addressed to you, the forum community. The success of the forum was all down to you guys, our contributors who took the time out of their days to give us both their knowledge and their love of this wonderful thing we all share – Music. We weren’t precious about the forum, we never really thought of it as ours – it was yours and we as employees of Orange rarely had anything to do with moderating – we didn’t need to, it was a place where respect was shown to users of all sorts of amps and discussions were largely carried out with courtesy for the opinions of others. Not that you lot were a bunch of angels but you get the point. It made our lives easy as we could let you guys get on with the business of enjoying talking with each other.
This would be a very long and excruciatingly boring post if we were to list every person who has given their time to the forum over the years and we wouldn’t like to single any people out as every contribution was equally valuable and appreciated but there was a hardcore of regular contributors who really made things come alive. You know who you are and so do we! You guys are awesome!
The forum will stay where it is as a resource for now and we do encourage all of you to join in on our social media channels. Your expertise is always valued. All that remains to say is, to all you Tiny Terrors, Rockers, Experts, Masters and Dukes of Orange – Thank you. Genuinely – Thank you.
https://orangeamps.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Thomas-Jager-Monolord-DD100-Dual-Dark-OR100.jpg1200960Neil Mitchellhttps://orangeamps.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Orange-Pics-logo-307px-279x103.pngNeil Mitchell2020-01-03 13:04:352020-03-23 16:18:37All Good Things: Thanks from Orange
As the year is coming to an end, it’s time to reflect on my musical highlights of 2019, before venturing on into the next decade; the twenties – how did we get here so soon?! Musically speaking, 2019’s been good to me, great, even! I’ve attended more gigs than I can even remember, and despite having been doing this work for years now, I’ve at times had to pinch myself in excitement about all these opportunities I’ve been given, and I just wish I could go back in time and tell my 15 year old self.
In 2019, we unfortunately lost the good Dr. John, but were also blessed with the news of the return of Rage, and with where the western world is heading now politically, we need them now more than ever. Preferably in the UK – perhaps in Hyde Park, please? Rage Against the Machine is the final band on my bucket list and I would pretty much walk through fire to be able to attend one of their shows, although I’m hoping I wont have to go to such extreme lengths. Anyway, as I’m bracing myself for the next decade, it’s time to get nostalgic about all the good times I’ve had this year.
Favourite Gig of 2019 This is such a tough one as I’ve seen so many incredible acts this year, however, taking my friend Holly to have her Sleep cherry popped at the Kentish Town Forum in October was pretty awesome – you just can’t beat a shirtless Matt Pike.
Favourite Album of 2019 My mates in Sacri Monti released their second album ‘Waiting Room for the Magic Hour’ and it’s just fantastic, a beautiful mix of the current San Diego psych sound, mixed with elements of 70s prog and twin guitars along the likes of Wishbone Ash. I love it, and so does my dad, which, let’s be honest, is the ultimate seal of approval. Dads know their stuff.
Favourite Festival Experience of 2019 I’ve enjoyed every single festival I’ve been to this year, but as the majority of them were for work (Desertfest London, Download & Black Deer Festival), I have to say the one that allowed me to kick back and relax, and more importantly, turn off my phone: Portugal’s Sonic Blast Moledo – from being drenched to the bone watching Earthless in the torrential rain, to be poolside for Giöbia while drinking Super Bock in the sun while surrounded by some of my best friends, it’s a pretty hard one to beat.
Sampo from Kaleidobolt crowdsurfing during Sacri Monti’s set at Sonic Blast Moledo
Favourite non-musical Music Event of 2019 I’m a sucker for a music exhibition and cried my way through both the Bowie and Pink Floyd exhibits in London a couple of years back, so of course – when Home of Metal announced their ’50 years of Black Sabbath’ exhibition I was hell bound on a train. A day out spent in Birmingham educating myself on the purveyors of doom – I had a blast.
Favourite Song of 2019 Hardly a new song, but Neil Merryweather’s cover of Donovan’s ‘Sunshine Superman’ is my most played song of 2019, which came as no surprise at all. Who doesn’t love some funky rock ‘n’ roll you can dance to? You can view and listen to my full Top 100 here.
With that done and dusted, I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who’s read and commented in 2019, and I look forward to sharing more musical musings with you all in the new year. Happy holidaze!
https://orangeamps.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/IMG_0124.jpg20483091Ella Stormarkhttps://orangeamps.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Orange-Pics-logo-307px-279x103.pngElla Stormark2019-12-23 08:48:222020-04-06 09:17:30Ramble On: My Musical Highlights of 2019
Orange amps has often been associated with heavy slow riffs, the type that knock the filings from your teeth and would blow the speakers in your car. This has always been something we have been very proud of, we make loud amps and we think they sound great. Our amps are perfect for a genre that spans from classic metal such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath all the way through to the new boys of djent and progressive metal. But which amp works for each sub genre of metal? Well we are here to help!
Classic Metal
It feels a bit wrong to call bands like Sabbath and Zeppelin ‘classic metal’ but this is a way to show their older statesmen role in the genre. Basically if these guys had chosen another calling we all wouldn’t have a job or a record collection. So if you want to play like Jimmy Page, Orange has the amp for you, in fact he uses an Orange… see what we did!
The AD30 was used at the Led Zeppelin reunion show in 2007 (they were the single channel versions.) The current AD30 has two channels, channel one is cleaner, with channel two being the heavier channel, use this one for Page riffs!
Sludge Metal
Heavily influenced by Black Sabbath, sludge metal came about through bands mixing elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. What came from these two joining forces was heavily detuned guitars, lots of distortion and tempos switching from slow grooves to punk styled riffs. If this sounds like your thing then the Crush Pro 120 would be the perfect amp for you, none other than Kirk from Sludge Metal legends Crowbar uses it to create a wall of sound.
Taking inspiration from the Rockerverb 100, the Crush Pro 120 head is a solid state amplifier which delivers warm, rich analogue tone. Kirk started using one on the road and it has taken the place of an amplifier metal great Dimebag Darrell gave him. If this doesn’t make it the perfect amplifier for all those low tuned riffs, then we don’t know what will!
Nu Metal
In the late 90’s and early 2000’s this was the genre in rock, behemoths like Slipknot, Linkin Park, Korn and Limp Bizkit all came to the forefront of the music scene. Mixing rap, rock and metal elements they forged their own path, recently these bands have established themselves as some of the biggest rock acts in the world. Headlining every major festival Slipknot have become giants of the genre and Jim Root uses a Rockerverb to achieve his distinct, signature sound.
The Rockerverb was designed to be an amp for all genres and has been used by so many different players across its over ten year history. With two channels and four stages of gain it has become perfect for this genre. Not only does Jim Root trust the Rockerverb every night on stage but legendary guitarist Head from Korn calls the clean channel ‘buttery’.
Progressive Metal
Finally if you want to sound like a rock behemoth, then progressive metal is where it is all going off. Titans of the genre are Tool, Opeth, Rush and Mastodon and Orange has so many amplifiers that are perfect. The Brent Hinds Terror was built by men in mountains with googles (as told by Mastodon’s Brent Hinds) so it is the perfect fit for this genre.
The Brent Hinds Terror is a two channel, all valve, lunch box amplifier which was designed specifically to play Mastodon riffs loud. The bedroom/headroom switch makes bedroom practice a simple click of a switch, so nothing will get in the way of thundering riffs!
https://orangeamps.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Voice-of-METAL-Which-Amp-1920x1080.jpg10801920Orange Ampshttps://orangeamps.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Orange-Pics-logo-307px-279x103.pngOrange Amps2019-10-24 15:04:462019-11-30 16:51:51Which Orange amp is good for metal?
Does your goldfish enjoy Mastodon? Is the answer to controlling a fire, more fire? And how can we be everywhere at once, yet still on the tour bus?
Orange may have the answer.
The OMEC Teleport USB Audio Interface
From within the Deep
Along the murky journey of discovery, music, especially amplified music developed through necessity. Just as humans evolved ears from gills, the universal language of music has continued to change faster than you can say ‘amphibian’.
That evolution began in the Deep South as musicians innovated through necessity, converting wartime radios into rip-roaring filthy beasts of amplifiers that warded away the competition with a harrowing banshee-like wail of the Delta and Chicago Blues.
The Beast from the East
Innovation like that of the blues explosion provided the inspiration for amps like the Orange Rocker 32. All valve monster tone within a 2×10” stereo combo designed for experimentation, offering a 15W per channel stereo power amp with a mono FX send and stereo return (left and right).
John from Orange giving some real life examples of how you could set up your Orange Rockerverb 32
Within one box
you have an array of tonal weaponry to rival even the monster rig superpowers.
Imagine the footprint of a self-contained amplifier, but with the option to run
stereo or mono outboard rigs or even A/B split to create two separate tones, helping
to build a complex sound that would envy the genius of professional amp techs.
It’s that kind
of flexibility that has put musicians like Kelby Ray of The Cadillac Three on the map of modern music innovators.
Beyond the Southern Limits
The Cadillac
Three (signed to Big Machine Records) are quite an incredible band who push the
envelope of the Southern Rock genre, occupying a space in country music that
goes beyond their stomping ground of Nashville.
Part of their appeal is their straight-talking, no-nonsense songwriting alongside a unique band setup that features Kelby playing a lap steel guitar, bi-amped to produce the full spectrum of tones.
“People watch
us play live and they think there are six people in the band when it’s all
coming from two guys and a drummer,” said Kelby in a recent interview with
Orange.
On what makes Orange Amplifiers ideal for building a mountain of tone Kelby goes on to say “If you play through any of the Orange amps over their competitor (products) you’ll notice the difference is this cool overdrive sound that gives a little bit of grit on the bass of the AD200-MK3, and the crunch and full-bodied mid-range of the AD30HTC and OR15H”.
It covers all the spectrum and is badass! – Kelby Ray of The Cadillac Three on his Orange Amplifier Rig
However, Kelby’s mad skill though is mastering the art of bass playing and transferring that skill onto the lap steel while simultaneously covering the treble side of the instrument, something that he partially attributes to the advice of legendary producer Bob Rock. These days Kelby is nailing it all on his own!
And into the Realm of Possibility
Another Big Machine Records artist who’s been pushing the limits of the bass guitar for some time now is Tom Petersson of Cheap Trick.
Petersson dons a mindboggling 12-string bass which is pretty innovative in itself, but he also runs a monstrous rig of all valve gear combining guitar and bass amps with a huge speaker array pushing a hell of a lot of air. He likes to push his amps to their limits, producing natural overtones that you can only get from all analogue gear.
By his own
admission, Tom is looking for that sound when the amp is ‘about ready to blow
up’. That’s why at Orange Amplifiers we build our amps to be taken one step
beyond the expected, gear that can handle anything you
throw at it.
“It’s at this point you can dig in and it breaks up; back off and the amp is clean”, said Petersson. “Orange Amplifiers give you the headroom to create your own sound, allowing for techniques like muting where the subtly comes out in your playing”.
You can’t match the sound of tube amps, and with Orange Amps, the sound is unbeatable – Tom Petersson, Cheap Trick
Petersson’s sound is a combination of the AD200 bass head with an 8×10” cabinet, that’s 200 Watts of pure creamy, dynamic low-end with focused mid-range, engulphing you in a barrage of harmonics across the whole frequency spectrum.
In contrast, Geddy Lee uses the same AD200 bass amp as one-quarter of his mega rig opting to max out the treble and gain to produce the overdrive part of his tone, highlighting how universal that classic all-valve bass amp can be.
But for Tom Petersson, his Cerberus-like monster rig features two Orange guitar amplifiers for the top end which includes a Custom Shop 50 head, crafted to produce exquisite blues-rock tones. This amp includes a switchable output stage to offer the chimey purity of Class A or a more opened mid-range Class A/B which adds plenty of full-bodied kick. Petersson’s Customer Shop 50 is partnered with two 4×12” cabinets.
Tom also boasts a venomous Rockerverb mkii alongside two 2×12” cabinets, adding the filth and the fury to his already mighty setup.
Innovating with Solid (State) Logic
After recording and touring 12 studio albums Ty Tabor knows a lot about tone and as an Orange representative with experience using solid-state gear in the studio and on the road since the beginning of the technology, he’s an authority on the subject.
Tabor’s amp of choice way back was the Lab Series L5, also a favourite of the late great BB King. It’s one of those fabled amplifiers that many people have been striving to recreate. The fact that Tabor was the first endorsee to use the Orange Crush Pro 120 is a testament to the tone of that solid-state amp.
When Orange took our foray into solid-state amp build of the Crush series, we put all the attention to detail you get from an Orange tube amp, giving that lively feel and responsiveness with a rich tonal characteristic, the hallmark British sound. If you imagine how those early solid-state engineers would have been producing their amplifiers, they were probably taking the same approach as Orange, although those pioneering engineers didn’t have the luxury of using tried and proved on the road, sourced from reliable partners. They were in at the deep end!
What you get with the Orange Crush Pro is two channels built into the ruggedness of a solid-state amp. One channel is a classic vintage-inspired channel with sparkle at the top end and when pushed it embodies the bluesy crunch of Keith Richards. Channel two is more matched to the Rockerverb’s high gain, all-out attack.
Masters of Flexibility
Brent Hinds of Mastodon is a beastmaster; those who venture the deep enough into the bowels of the underworld will discover his truly monstrous creation. Ler LaLonde of Primus knows the deal; he’s also one of the dark souls of willing to adventure into the depths of musical creativity where mere mortals dare to tread.
It’s diversity where the Brent Hinds Terror comes up trumps with two channels and a unique Terror gain structure that works beautifully for funk, world music and metal alike.
The natural channel has more bottom end staying fat and full, oozing with warm valve compression from the EL84 output section. On the dirty channel, there’s three different gain structure, brighter at lower gain levels which fattens up the more you dial the gain in. The new gain structure also means that the gain comes in more quickly.
I tried the potato plugged into an avacado, and that didn’t work at all. So when I tried the Orange, that was a massive improvement in the sound – Ler LaLonde
Into Another Dimension
Sometimes big
rigs come in surprisingly little boxes, take for instance the OMEC Teleport interface. For a start, this piece of kit fits in your pocket
or snugly on your pedalboard.
What the OMEC
Teleport does best is give you total flexibility transferring from the analogue
realm through to digital or vice versa.
Use it as a
high-quality AD converter to:
Track straight into a DAW or audio
editing software from your instrument
Connect to a virtual rack straight from
your instrument
Use it as a high-quality DA converter to:
Switch a digital signal back to analogue into whatever outboard gear you’re using (like a mixing desk, DI box, amplifier)
Since the OMEC Teleport has such low latency, you can plug into the teleport and from there connect into an app like Guitar MIDI 2
The OMEC Teleport is roadworthy, and that is noteworthy. Just like all Orange products, it’s designed to take the brunt of the road, it’s a rock-solid design in a stompbox casing; pretty tough to break. If you’re nodding your head at this point, you’ve experienced the joy of your latest recording gadget falling apart mid-tour.
Second, on the horror shit show of modern technology is latency issues, the OMEC Teleport, doesn’t have this issue, here’s what Rudy Sarzo of Whitesnake/Ozzy Osbourne had to say:
“As a
recording and touring musician with the Teleport I’m now able to bring my
favorite audio plugins on my laptop, iPad or iPhone and play them on stage, in
my hotel room or recording studio. I now have a consistent tone and quality
anywhere I go with minimal amount of gear. In addition, the low latency and
high-end AD/DA makes the Teleport my to go audio interface. All of this in a
lightweight mini pedal. A total game-changer!!!”
There’s more,
you can convert audio to MIDI, meaning you can control synths and MIDI
libraries, Nalle Colt of Vintage Trouble adds:
“What an amazing little pedal! Big thanks to Danny Gomez at Orange
Amplifiers for setting me up with this little genius box. With the major
advancements of digital plugins, this is the gateway to marry new and old
together in a super simple way.”
The Ever-Evolving Sphere
At Orange Amplifiers we keep close to players, from bedroom guitarist to the worldwide touring artist. You never know when or where the next great idea will come from, but it will always have: a tough skin, be simple on the outside, but complex enough on the inside keep doing what it needs to, and most of all bear fruit for the future innovators.
