Sometimes, when The Mars Volta soundchecks, we get on some improvised ideas to just warm up. At this Toulouse, France souncheck, I was messing with a sample I made on my Line 6 DL-4 and was trying to manipulate it to get it in time so Deantoni and I could jam and explore. I first played my bass through the Ravi Sitar by Electro Harmonix into my Earthquaker Devices, Orgnaizer, and then into my Boss TR-2 tremolo pedal…all only to be sampled first by my Digitech 20/20. This effect takes the sample and manipulates it in the delay section of the device. What it ends up sounding like is a tape machine being slowed down or sped up. Then the last part of the chain is the DL-4, where I sample a portion of the sound and then I flip between an octave up and octave down. Consequently, the Line 6 also slows the timing of the sample giving it a fast flutter sound an octave up, or a big heavy sound and octave down, as apparent in the clip. D goes through some great concepts, as he figures out what to do with what he hears. - Juan Alderete