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I recently helped out TC Electronic at the Great British Guitar show in Birmingham, and was especially impressed with the Tc-Helicon Voicelive PLay GTX. Visitors seemed to be captivated too, judging by the number who walked away clutching one one of their very own.

I’m quite fond of the TC Helicon vocal products, they’re very natural for autotune and harmonies, as well as having some gorgeous delays and reverbs available. The Play GTX includes Guitar FX that are able into each patch for the ultimate ease of use live. For the price, it’s astonishing – and clearly those at the show agreed as we nearly sold out within about five hours!

Other hits at the show were the Toneprint range of Guitar effects – if you haven’t tried one, or don’t quite get what they’re about, it’s this… When a manufacturer builds a new effect unit, its controls have a certain range. i.e. the “depth” might go from 1 to 10. In a very Nigel Tufnell way, you might like to go up to 11. That’s what Toneprints are about. An artist comes into TC’s labs, and redefines the range of the controls on the pedal … so instead of 1 to 10, you might get from -10 to 11.

The clever part is that you can then download those new definitions into your pedal… the even cleverer part is how you do it. You use a Smartphone app to grab the Toneprint from TC’s collection online, and then beam it into your pedal through your guitar pickup by holding the phone next to it. It takes about five seconds to completely change the character of your effect pedal’s controls to the preferences of an awesome professional player like Guthrie Govan, John Petrucci, or Steve Morse.

Now that’s clever.

There’s been too much going on in 2011 to give me much time for creativity, but I got very frustrated looking at my partly dis-assembled audio PC and tangle of cables. Having decided to tidy up, I actually ended up completely re-installing all the hardware, correcting the software problem I caused back in April that stopped me working on new material, and getting it all back working again.

So, I got everything up and running and then… the right-hand side of my monitor amp decided to fail. Does technology hate me?!!

Step up to the plate Bruce Davidson (TC Electronic) … Bruce provided a solution in the form of a pair of Dynaudio BM5A MkII nearfield monitors, a loaner of his beautiful Blue KIWI Mic and a natty little volume control for the system in the shape of the TC Electronic Level Pilot.

I can happily report that as expected, the sound coming out of those Dynaudio units knocks the old Tannoy Mercury M2 response into a tin can. As you can see in the pic, The beloved low-budget Tannoys are still sitting there… on top of the BM5As, but not plugged in! I put the black grilles back on to keep the drivers safe and clean until the day I need them again.

I’m so pleased I even got the Moog out this morning, and did a little happy Prog soloing through the system before starting work properly.

I’m pleased to confirm that I will be performing on the QUEEN ROCKS GOSPEL tour, with THE BOHEMIANS tribute to Queen and Freddie Mercury. Sad circumstances surround the departure of the former keyboard player for the tour due to a bereavment, and I am very pleased to be able to help out my good friends The Bohemians whose show I have enjoyed watching and rocking to several times over the past couple of years.

The QUEEN ROCKS GOSPEL tour is a new venture in association with, and co-starring the ACM GOSPEL CHOIR from London, fresh from their long run on the BBC’s Last Choir Standing competition.

Getting ready for the first performance with only two weeks notice has been a stiff challenge, but we’re almost ready, and a superb rehearsal with the Choir has boosted everyone’s enthusiasm and confidence. We can’t wait to get on stage.

But not only the wall. Another warning for computer users. Don’t put your PC on a music stand and let a dog near it. As labradors go, Floyd is a sensible dog, but he does like to follow my every step within about an inch of my legs. That’s how he wrapped the power cable around his paw and pulled the notebook sideways off the stand to crash on the floor three feet below.

Fortunately, it landed on the USB plug sticking out of the side, which bent and absorbed the impact. No damage other than a wrecked USB cable.  A very near miss.

All that was forgotten when I took the family to see The Wall at the O2 in London. Roger Waters has put together a superb show, and we had a good night out. I feel a bit isolated in finding I have criticisms of the show (and a LOT of criticism of our seats)… most people seem to have been so entranced by the experience that they haven’t noticed a single deficiency, but I was a little underwhelmed in some places.

Overall though, some superb moments and musicianship made it a powerful and unmissable event for most people, whether fans of Roger Waters, Pink Floyd, or just of great music. I’d go again – but I’d want much better seats!