Tech Page

Zoid's stage layout is accomplished within a minimum area measuring 12 feet (wide) x 8 feet (deep).

Power requirements are minimal: one 15 amp 60 hz 117 volt AC line, but this power MUST be reasonably accurate and stable. Problems have been been encountered with power provided at outdoor shows and with portable generator systems at remote locations, and in at least one case, have circumvented the show entirely. Zoid cannot be responsible for unstable power provided, and any purchaser of Zoid Asteroid Machine's services for performance must assume any and all responsiblity for this.

The sound system Zoid employs uses six JBL EON powered speaker components: two Power 15 full-range, bi-amplified cabinets, each consisting of a 15" low-frequency driver (receiving 130 watts) and a high-frequency horn (receiving 50 watts); two PowerSub subwoofer cabinets, each with a 15" driver (receiving 250 watts); and two Power 10 full range, bi-amplified cabinets, each with a 10" low-frequency driver (receiving 60 watts) and a high-frequency horn (recieving 30 watts), used for stage monitoring. These powered cabinets are fed directly from the main and monitor outputs of a Mackie 1202 VLZ 12 channel mixing console, augmented by an Alesis 3630 compressor. This all-JBL system, altogether consisting of four 15's, two 10's, four horns, and totalling over a thousand watts, sounds superb in nearly any size room, and even moderately sized outdoor shows. Zoid is also one of the very few acts that maintains true stereo throughout his mix.

The MIDI sequences are written on a PowerMac computer in Opcode Musicshop 2.0. and recorded on 3.5" double density floppy discs. Each disc can hold over an hour's worth of sequences. These sequences are played live from an Apple MacIntosh Powerbook 1400 laptop computer, with a Peavey MIDIStreamer floppy disc drive for backup, contained in the rack on Zoid's right. The sequences trigger drum samples and synth sounds from a Boss Dr. 5 used as a sound module. Also written into the sequences are programming for the vocal harmonies that follow Zoid's live vocals, generated by a DigiTech Vocalist II, as are the reverb and spatial effects provided by an ART FXR Elite processor.

Zoid's guitars include a 1997 Fender '68 reissue Hendrix model Stratocaster, which is actually a left-handed guitar that has been set up to be played by a right-handed player, the mirror image of the instrument Jimi Hendrix favored during the last year of his life, and appeared in the movie "Woodstock." Another guitar Zoid uses is a 1985 Steinberger P-series headless guitar, constructed of a carbon fiber graphite epoxy composite neck and a hard-rock maple body in a Baby-V body style, all of which results in an instrument the same scale length as a Gibson Les Paul, and is equipped with passive EMG pickups and a remarkable Steinberger S-trem tailpiece. And just recently aquired is a beautiful '98 Collector Series Ovation acoustic/electric guitar, recently discovered unsold but brand new in a music store warehouse in San Antonio, Texas.

The guitar signal is routed first into a Peterson model 100 solid state strobe tuner, then through a Scholz Rockman XPR stereo guitar processor, before being fed directly to the Mackie board, and also to a 1964 Fender Champ amp on the side as a separate guitar monitor. The Rockman presets are controlled by an ART X-11 MIDI controller on the floor via MIDI connection. Simply put, Zoid's guitar can sound like an acoustic flattop, a wall of Marshalls, or nearly anything in between.

Most MIDI musicians use a keyboard workstation to record, in real time, the performances of the other sound sources that are accompanying them live. Zoid is unique in that he "paints" his backup arrangements on a Mac computer, in a GUI-type interface called "pianoroll" that allows him to put every nuance, timing, and character of the backup instrumentation "under the microscope" of his considerable experience as a (did I forget to mention) drummer, bassist, orchestrator, and arranger until they have a level of perfection that (almost regrettably) few live musicians can hope to match.

As a result, his sequences have the ability to command an extraordinary body of sound sources and a level of precision that has to be heard to be believed, and this enables Zoid to create practically any backup he wishes, played exactly the way it should be played. Live bands have no ability to equal this level of perfection, not in sound quality nor performance.

On top of all this is the performance of Zoid himself. He is a thouroughly professional guitarist and vocalist with some 30 years of experience as a performing and recording artist, with an obvious passion for the music he plays. You won't find anyone with more respect for the music, nor anyone who can perform it with more emotion, sparkle, spirit, spunk, or attention to detail. Hearing Zoid Asteroid Machine is an abject lesson for all those who would play the music he performs.

And precious few people demonstrate better than he does that music is meant to be a hellova lot of FUN!

During 2002, Zoid has made some significant aquisitions. In addition to the Ovation guitar already mentioned, he has purchased his first all-new computer in seven years, an Apple MacIntosh Titanium G4 PowerBook, with a LaCie FireWire CD-R and 60GB Firewire hard drives. Also aquired are a DigiDesign Mbox audio interface with ProTools, a MidiSport USB/MIDI interface, a matched pair of Behringer Truth Studio Monitors, a Lexicon MPX 110 effects processor, a new Shure Beta 57A microphone, a Boss GT-6 guitar effects and amp modeling processor, and a 1978 Marshall 50w 2-12" tube combo amp. He has also purchased a new state-of-the-art sound module, an E-mu Proteus 2000, expanded with the ZR-76 "Perfect Piano" card, and an additional laptop computer, a Mac PowerBook 1400 for live performance.

He is currently working hard to integrate these components and take his art and performance to a new level. As of this writing, he has the PowerBook 1400 fully adapted and loaded for his live show, allowing him to take less time between songs, fine-tune sequences between performances much more easily, have a large library of mp3's available for break music, and even have the computer introduce him in "Stephen Hawking's" voice!

He has been doing some recording lately, with no less than four full length CDs planned. The first is a party album of "island" music; the second will be a party album of commercial rock'n'roll; the third and fourth are to be an album or original material by Zoid and a fresh production of songs originally done by THE...VERS.

Stay tuned.

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