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Oscillator/Synth/VCO pedals (analogue)


Quatschmacher
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Zach does get some great sounds in his reviews on many of his pedals, particularly in combination with the rest of his chain. I'm massively skeptical that what he does (playing solo) would translate to a full band mix, though?

Edited by Al Krow
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18 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Zach does get some great sounds in his reviews on many of his pedals, particularly in combination with the rest of his chain. I'm massively skeptical that what he does (playing solo) would translate to a full band mix, though?

Set up right, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t. I got some pretty fat sounds from it. The other main feature of the SonicSmith stuff is that you can use them to drive any synth that has CV and gate inputs (Minitaur, Model D, Sub37, etc).

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2 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

Set up right, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t. I got some pretty fat sounds from it. The other main feature of the SonicSmith stuff is that you can use them to drive any synth that has CV and gate inputs (Minitaur, Model D, Sub37, etc).

Ok cheers. What did you think of the Acidbox 3? Is that something that will work directly from bass?

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How much more versatile are these expensive synth pedals than my humble Boss Bass Synth?

I'm currently getting some great synthey-funk-wah tones using this blended with 3 Leaf envelope filter/Darkglass tube distortion and Bass Whammy into DOD envelope filter and oodles of compression...

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28 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Ok cheers. What did you think of the Acidbox 3? Is that something that will work directly from bass?

It looks like it should. It basically appears to just be a resonant LP/BP filter with an envelope follower and LFO to control the sweep. However, it doesn’t have a stomp switch but rather a normal on/off rocker switch so looks more suited to desktop use. 

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11 minutes ago, Leonard Smalls said:

How much more versatile are these expensive synth pedals than my humble Boss Bass Synth?

I'm currently getting some great synthey-funk-wah tones using this blended with 3 Leaf envelope filter/Darkglass tube distortion and Bass Whammy into DOD envelope filter and oodles of compression...

Quite a bit more as the SonicSmith is a “proper” analogue synth, has a bunch of additional features and can be used with any instrument/voice. Whether it’s £600 more versatile is questionable if you only want to use it with bass. 

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1 hour ago, Quatschmacher said:

It looks like it should. It basically appears to just be a resonant LP/BP filter with an envelope follower and LFO to control the sweep. However, it doesn’t have a stomp switch but rather a normal on/off rocker switch so looks more suited to desktop use. 

Agreed that a stomp foot switch would be useful. But I think they have provided a fairly straightforward work around - see 1.20 on the video 

But from what you're saying it doesn't sound like it's doing too much more than e.g. an Aggie FT or a Wonderlove?

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1 hour ago, Leonard Smalls said:

How much more versatile are these expensive synth pedals than my humble Boss Bass Synth?

I'm currently getting some great synthey-funk-wah tones using this blended with 3 Leaf envelope filter/Darkglass tube distortion and Bass Whammy into DOD envelope filter and oodles of compression...

I think that's exactly the right Q!

Weird sounds are, for sure, interesting. But at the end of the day this is surely all about making better / interesting / fun music? And for that usable tones and effects (particularly in a band or recording mix) are what IMHO will make a synth pedal useful. Combine 'useful' with compact and good value and you have a winner. Which is why your humble Boss Bass Synth will outsell the current models of SonicSmith (as good as they may be) by 100:1 or more!

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This thread is great! Love reading it, seeing where everyone else is at on their ‘synth’ journey. To that end can I suggest maybe we share some clips / ‘sounds in progress’ for discussion / appraisal? I know I’d love to hear what sounds you guys are creating and how you’re using them live / recorded...

I’ll get the ball rolling shortly with a live track from the other week :)

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And as promised....here's a track - hoping you can easily listen to it - let me know.

Not the best live recording ever but you get an overall idea of the track and how the bass sits / works in the track.

Suggested talking points (!):

1) What do you reckon to the sound and (I'm not gonna tell you straight off) what do you think I'm using to generate it?

2) What do you think to the actual bass part - does it work with the track / sound & feel more like a synth part? Could it be improved / changed?**

**caveat - first gig with these guys and listening back this part (I think) needs some tweaks - at times it is too complex and interferes with vox and (where appropriate) it could with some more variations as well.

Looking forward  to hearing your thoughts....

CLONE Live at Brewdog May 18.mp3

Edited by dodge_bass
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7 minutes ago, Jonathan Bee said:

Nice! :-) I like.. Is that an OC-2? are you using a compressor too? Sounds quite evenly fat. I don't think it's too busy for the vocal, but then I am bass focused!

Thanks! :)

You got 2 out of the four pedals ;) Close but no cigar! 

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Just now, Jonathan Bee said:

In fact, after a few listens I think it's the bass line that's giving the song a nice life and stopping the song from sounding too 'usual'

Praise indeed. Thank you very much! 

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Just now, Jonathan Bee said:

what compressor out of interest?

Empress. It’s the only one I’ve used that I can get one with - had various ones but always found them frustrating to use. With the input and output monitoring leds it really helps you keep on top of what it’s doing!

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15 hours ago, dodge_bass said:

This thread is great! Love reading it, seeing where everyone else is at on their ‘synth’ journey. To that end can I suggest maybe we share some clips / ‘sounds in progress’ for discussion / appraisal? I know I’d love to hear what sounds you guys are creating and how you’re using them live / recorded...

I’ll get the ball rolling shortly with a live track from the other week :)

love this idea!

with this thread in mind i stuck a phone in front of me at last nights rehearsal and recorded one of our new songs that we intend to use as the opener to an open air gig on Hove seafront next month.

No vocals, and its fairly bass heavy, but whose complaining!

The synth part in the intro is uses at various places throughout the song and the signal chain consists of.....

Sandberg VM5 passive neck pickup ---> Spectracomp ---> Mastotron gated fuzz ----> Manta filter (11?) ---> TCE corona chorus ---> Genz bens shuttle 9.2----> Barefaced big twin

 

The clean parts are just Spectracomp. Enjoy!

learning lessons.mp3

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11 hours ago, dodge_bass said:

Thanks! :)

You got 2 out of the four pedals ;) Close but no cigar! 

Great track! reminds me of some 00s garage tunes. No offence intended! that oc2 sounds super fat. like its got more upper harmonics. my guess would be that your running a mild overdrive into it, OR maybe running it into an octave up like a POG? or both!

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13 hours ago, dodge_bass said:

And as promised....here's a track - hoping you can easily listen to it - let me know. CLONE Live at Brewdog May 18.mp3

The synth bass is both a really nice bass line in itself and also complimentary to the vocals and (for me) gives it something approaching a Clean Bandit 'feel'.

Ok time for you to spill the beans with your signal chain!

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1 hour ago, GisserD said:

love this idea!

with this thread in mind i stuck a phone in front of me at last nights rehearsal and recorded one of our new songs that we intend to use as the opener to an open air gig on Hove seafront next month.

No vocals, and its fairly bass heavy, but whose complaining!

The synth part in the intro is uses at various places throughout the song and the signal chain consists of.....

Sandberg VM5 passive neck pickup ---> Spectracomp ---> Mastotron gated fuzz ----> Manta filter (11?) ---> TCE corona chorus ---> Genz bens shuttle 9.2----> Barefaced big twin

The clean parts are just Spectracomp. Enjoy!

learning lessons.mp3

Darren - really loved this! Is this original? If so, you guys should get this copyrighted and released.

The Mastotron is suddenly going in my head from "Masto-what?" to something I really need to think about getting!

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1 minute ago, Al Krow said:

Darren - really loved this! Is this original? If so, you guys should get this copyrighted and released.

The Mastotron is suddenly going in my head from "Masto-what?" to something I really need to think about getting!

Thanks Bas, Yeah all original!

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38 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

The synth bass is both a really nice bass line in itself and also complimentary to the vocals and (for me) gives it something approaching a Clean Bandit 'feel'.

Ok time for you to spill the beans with your signal chain!

Thanks - yes Clean Bandit, there's a reference I hadn't thought about but yes you're right I guess it does have that kind of vibe to it.

Signal chain - OC2 -> Mooer bit crusher - > volume boost pedal - > empress compressor.

Interestingly it sounds a LOT more bit crushed by itself, in the mix it seems to fatten up a bit (which is great!).

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