Welcome to
The Worldarium
The Worldarium is a place where visions are brought to life. It is the Architect's creative workshop, where otherworldly ideas are explored, developed, and realized.
Inside
The Worldarium
The Making of Musical Worlds
Overview
The photos on this page represent The Worldarium at various points in time. The Worldarium and the gear within it are ever-changing, shaped by technological advances and the acquisition of modern and vintage equipment. These are the Architect's tools that are used to create a universe of immersive musical worlds.
The planet-shaking wall of guitar amplifiers and speaker cabinets shown here represents only a portion of the amplifiers housed in The Worldarium. Among those not shown are a 1977 JMP with Marshall cabinets, a JCM800 with Marshall cabinets, an Ampeg VST Classic, and several other gems.
The guitar amp collection consists of Marshall amplifiers spanning several decades, most notably a 1976 MKII, which was used to record the albums Mind Over Matter, Extreme Measures, Step Into The Future, The Dawn of Time, and Astral Projection. Other amplifiers include an assortment of JCM 900 MKIIs fitted with JAN-Phillips NOS tubes, as are most of the other amplifiers. The JCM 900 amplifiers were used to record Venomous Fingers, The Oracle, and Planetary Alignment, and were also used on portions of several other albums. Not shown is a JCM 800-series amplifier that was used to record a significant portion of The Dawn of Time, including both rhythm and solo parts, along with the Marshall 1976 MKII.
Studiologic keyboards are the primary keyboards used in The Worldarium. George considers FATAR keybeds among his all-time favorites in comfort and feel. Alesis and Roland keyboards were also used extensively in the recording of Turn of the Millennium and Mind Over Matter. After those albums, George switched to Studiologic keyboards.
George uses Fender P-Bass and Music Man Stingray basses. Bass guitar is recorded with an Ampeg SVT Classic through a Sennheiser MD-421 microphone in parallel with a direct output. Both signals are fed into a Focusrite Red Series mic preamp, which runs into an Apogee Rosetta 800 AD converter. After the AD conversion, the signals are routed to Apple computers equipped with RME digital audio cards.
The Worldarium contains racks of vintage MIDI sound modules from Roland, Alesis, E-mu Proteus, and AKAI, along with Alesis ADAT recorders, Emagic Unitor 8 MIDI routing bays, Alesis and Hafler power amplifiers, Soundcraft and Mackie mixing boards, and Mackie and Bowers & Wilkins studio monitors.
George uses an assortment of stock and custom Tube Screamers, including Ibanez TS-9 and TS-10 models, along with a selection of custom-built boutique Tube Screamers designed by Nokina Designs specifically for George. The one and only pedal George has used consistently since the recording of "Mind over Matter" — for an unfathomable amount of recordings — is the stock Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamer.
The primary guitars and basses used in The Worldarium include modern and vintage Gibson Flying Vs, a ’57 Candy Apple Red Fender Stratocaster, a ’57 Daphne Blue Stratocaster, a ’57 Aztec Gold Fender Stratocaster, Taylor Grand Auditorium acoustic guitars, Ovation acoustic guitars, a Fender Precision Bass, and a Music Man StingRay bass. The Aztec Gold Strat is fitted with stock 50s style pickups that are among George's favorite types of pickups - low output, very articulate, and ideal for capturing all the subtle nuances of the pick attack. George has used Dunlop picks for decades, including Purple Tortex and, later, Black Jazz III picks.
The following gallery serves as your visual guide to the prestigious instruments and machines used by the Architect of Music in the creation of countless recordings over the eons for a universe of immersive musical worlds.
The Architecture of Sound
A Visual Guide to
the Instruments of Creation
Amplifiers
Worlds of sound are born here.
That populate The BELLAS Universe
'76 MKII, JCM 900 4100s & JCM 900 2100
The JCM 800 used on The Dawn of Time
The sound of Seeding the Universe
The Suns of Andromeda shine in this room.
The World-Building Wall
This is the sound of Discovery
A glowing chamber for revealing visions
SVT bass amp used on Electromagnetic
The 100-watt Plexi Superlead MK II amplifier shown in the middle was used exclusively for the recording of World One in Series One. The JCM 800 amplifier on the left was used for many of the recordings on the No. 1-selling album The Dawn of Time.
The Architecture of Sound
A Visual Guide to
the Instruments of Creation
Amplifiers
The amp used on Turn of the Millennium
The sound heard on Venomous Fingers
The Johnson was used on Series Two
Bass amp used to record "Machine Man"
The MD421 mic used on the Dawn of Time
The Plexi Superlead used on Series One
The '76 MKII' amp used on Mind Over Matter
Speakers used for World One of Series One
This is the sound of Machine Man
The JCM 900 used on Venomous Fingers
Many worlds were born in this room
Rip in the Continuum happened here
Cosmic sounds of the imagination are here.
Planet-shaking room of celestial sound
Glimmering Stardust emerged here.
Primordial Atom began here.
This Fender Princeton Chorus guitar amplifier was used to record some of the songs on the legendary album, Turn of the Millennium. It can be heard on the songs, Turn of the Millennium, Future Music, Light Years, Eternity, and others.
The Architecture of Sound
A Visual Guide to
the Instruments of Creation
Guitars
Where visions become reality
Gibson Les Paul's and Flying-V's
Trio of '60s Les Paul Custom Classics
Gibson, Fender and Ovation Guitars
Gibson, Fender and Ovation Guitars
Fender Precision Bass and Gold Strat
The Ampeg SVT Classic 300-watt all tube bass amplifier, speaker cabinet, and MD421 microphone were used to record bass guitar on the album The Dawn of Time. This thunderous setup can be heard on Machine Man, Cyclone, Seeding the Universe, Tipler's Cylinder, Suns of Andromeda, and others.
The Architecture of Sound
A Visual Guide to
the Instruments of Creation
Guitars
George's favorite '57 Reissue
Used for many parts on Step Into the Future
The guitar used on Turn of the Millennium
Custom built guitar by DC Guitars
Used to record parts for World One
The guitar used on Into the Unknown
These strings created a Cyclone
Used on Cyclone from The Dawn of Time
These are the vintage amplifiers used on Mind Over Matter, Venomous Fingers, Planetary Alignment, Step Into the Future, The Dawn of Time, Astral Projection, Colonizing the Stars, and many others.
The Architecture of Sound
A Visual Guide to
the Instruments of Creation
Guitars
The thunderous sound of Machine Man
Bass used on Flying Through Infinity.
Principal acoustic for World One
A world-making acoustic guitar
Koa Wood Taylor Grand Auditorium
Sparkling visions of illuminated imagination
High-strung acoustic used on World One
Nashville tuning guitar used on World One
The guitar used to practice 18 hrs a day.
Battered and broken beyond repair
This mid-2000s white Gibson Flying V was the principal guitar used in the recording of Planetary Alignment. This includes the songs: Gravitons, Overlapping Dimensions, Encoded in Light, and others.
The Architecture of Sound
A Visual Guide to
the Instruments of Creation
Guitars
The guitar George grew up with.
The neck is worn down to the wood.
George's Number One Flying V.
The Number One Gibson Flying V.
The Flying V used on Planetary Alignment.
This guitar was used to create Gravitons.
The most important instrument of world-building is not found within these rooms, but within the imagination—the place where we dream outward.
The Architecture of Sound
A Visual Guide to
the Instruments of Creation
Guitars
Black Les Paul Custom Classic
Black Les Paul Custom Classic
Black Les Paul Classic
This guitar created The Dawn of Time
Rare Gold Les Paul Classic
A Les Paul from the Venomous Fingers era.
The Architecture of Sound
A Visual Guide to
the Instruments of Creation
Guitars
Main guitar on Turn of the Millennium
Stock Aztec Gold '57 Reissue
Daphne Blue '57 used on Astra Projection
Used for many parts on Step In the Future
This guitar was used to record World One
High-strung acoustic used on World One
Visionary dreams — where worlds are born
Sonic tools for the Architect's imagination
The Architecture of Sound
A Visual Guide to
the Instruments of Creation
Pedals
Ibanez and Nokina Designs Tube Screamers
Tube Screamers of The BELLAS Universe
This is an assortment of custom, stock, and modified Tube Screamers that the Architect has used on countless Landscapes of Sound since the album Mind Over Matter. The primary Tube Screamer that has been used consistently is a stock TS-9, which provides a subtle boost into a low-gain amplifier.
The Architecture of Sound
A Visual Guide to
the Instruments of Creation
Keyboards
The primary keyboard used for Series One
The secondary keyboard used for Series One
Keyboard used on Venomous Fingers
Keyboard used on Turn of the Millennium
The sound of Journey to the Stars
Otherworldly Landscapes of Sound start here.
Voyage in Time began on this keyboard
This keyboard was used on numerous albums
The instruments give form to the vision.
They do not create the vision.
The Architecture of Sound
A Visual Guide to
the Instruments of Creation
Recording
Sounds used to create Turn of the Millennium
Sound distribution for system and recording
Mic Preamps used to create numerous albums
Mac Pros used to create The BELLAS Universe
AKG C414 Microphone & Headphones
The Architect's favorite vocal mic
Technology changes.
The imagination remains.
The Architecture of Sound
A Visual Guide to
the Instruments of Creation
Rooms
The Architect's Command Center
The Architect's Command Center
The Architect's Command Center
The Architect's Command Center
Control Room Front
Control Room Back & Side
Control Room Wide Angle
Control Room Front
Control Room Side
Control Room Side & Back
Control Room Back
The Architect's Command Center
Control Room Back
Control Room Back
The tools may shape the sound, but it is the imagination that gives it a world.
Thank you for visiting The Worldarium
A Place Where Visions are Brought to Life
