Drum N Bass/Dubstep

[Jarhead]

Right, I've just formed a new live Drum N Bass/Dubstep trio. What are the recommended effects for this? I know fuzz, chorus and a phaser/flanger, maybe an octaver to hit those really low sub notes. What do I need to get that wobble kind of sound, I figure tremolo, but it'd be good to have one that has an expression pedal to change the rate, any recommendations?

Zach

[gnasher1993]

For dubstep, I'd go Octave, Fuzz, LPF, Chorus.

As for the wobble, there's alot of good info in [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=560398"]here[/url][quote name='Jarhead' post='697379' date='Dec 31 2009, 05:55 PM'].

Right, I've just formed a new live Drum N Bass/Dubstep trio. What are the recommended effects for this? I know fuzz, chorus and a phaser/flanger, maybe an octaver to hit those really low sub notes. What do I need to get that wobble kind of sound, I figure tremolo, but it'd be good to have one that has an expression pedal to change the rate, any recommendations?

Zach[/quote]

[Jarhead]

Cool, thanks. LPF is a low pass filter right? What do those actually do?

Zach

[phil.i.stein]

hi,
i'll be doing something similar, so i'll keep an eye on this..
for the moment, i'm starting with a compressor to even out the signal, then an aphex x-citer to boost the signal before going into the amp. my amp has 3 fx loops (pre-amp 1&2) and a master loop. so i am experimenting with ehx big muff pi and ehx q-tron in one loop - it's difficult to get consistent settings, as every gain stage can sound different at different master vol's, so i'm still learning how to balance the tone. lucky for me, i can easily mix in raw signal with fx signal, but like i say, it's all experiment, as different mixes of instruments/rooms can change your sound...
i like your idea of the tremelo, so would be interested to hear your experiences..
also i want a good synth pedal. the markbass one looks like the daddy, but is expensive, so i'll wait. i bought a boss syb-5 recently, and regretted it. i can only really use one mode effectively - no.10 - sounds like a digital fuzz, like your signal is breaking (but in a cool way)
what are you using and what results are you getting ?

edit - also need an octaver. i've looked at a few, but (no i ain't a mb salesman) i like the look of the mb octaver, as it has octvs 1 & 2 plus this switch that says 'DUB' and wipes out your original ! it sounds like the way forward..

Edited December 31, 2009 by phil.i.stein

[Jarhead]

I'm not using any synth pedals, as the guitarist and I will already be triggering samples and using proper synths, so it's unnecessary for me. I used just my guitarists cheap multi FX because I didn't have any on me, I just set it to a thick fuzz with some phaser, which was passable, but I didn't have an octaver or anything. Hopefully, I'm buying that Korg AX3000B which will do most of the things I need. I figure that I can run a clean signal into an octave down pedal and have that clean for some fatter bass. Hopefully, if it goes well, we are going to be playing clubs and such.

Zach

[phil.i.stein]

zach - i would be interested to know what other bands you know of who are doing similar things... i don't get to hear many new bands that are into this kind of live d'n'b/dubstep stuff, so if you can recommend anything, i would be grateful.
my fave crossover was the mad capsule markets, what u into ?

[umph]

[quote name='gnasher1993' post='697393' date='Dec 31 2009, 06:06 PM']For dubstep, I'd go Octave, Fuzz, LPF, Chorus.

As for the wobble, there's alot of good info in [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=560398"]here[/url][/quote]
yeah personally i'd go for some oldschool vibrato with the speed cranked

[Jarhead]

Recently, I've mainly been listening to The Qemists as a main inspiration, but Pendulum have been doing this kinda of thing on a higher level for a long time, and I would listen to their second album for a more crossover type thing, but their first album was much more DnB orientated. There isn't a huge market for this type of thing, but I plan to mainly play clubs in the area, places that my DJ has DJ'd at mainly, as well as parties, and a few support gigs with likeminded bands. As there is only three of us, most of the synth stuff will be sampled, but we will be using synths and keyboards as well as samplers. How does your band plan on adapting to a live situation?

Zach

[DanOwens]

Check out my band thebrokendoor on myspace and spotify.

I use a parallel splitter, one layer is octave > fuzz > chorus > lpf (controlled by expression pedal) > tube distorion > delay. The pedals are OC2, Wooly Mammoth, CEB3, MF101, DHA VT2 Dual, DL4. That'll get you a few different usable sounds, and you can probably try some combinations on a multifx.

My layers are:
1. Board as above.
2. Adrenalinn 2
3. Pitch to midi controlling MicroKorg
4. Freqbox feeding customised Bass Microsynth

It can lead to some serious subsonic annihilation!

[Jarhead]

[quote name='umph' post='697465' date='Dec 31 2009, 07:02 PM']yeah personally i'd go for some oldschool vibrato with the speed cranked[/quote]
OK, I'll look into something like that. I'd need some sort of tap tempo though, and possibly even some sort of duration control, like if I want it to be at 1/4 notes, then change it up to 8ths, or even 16ths.

Zach

[phil.i.stein]

[quote name='DanOwens' post='697471' date='Dec 31 2009, 07:08 PM']Check out my band thebrokendoor on myspace and spotify.

I use a parallel splitter, one layer is octave > fuzz > chorus > lpf (controlled by expression pedal) > tube distorion > delay. The pedals are OC2, Wooly Mammoth, CEB3, MF101, DHA VT2 Dual, DL4. That'll get you a few different usable sounds, and you can probably try some combinations on a multifx.

My layers are:
1. Board as above.
2. Adrenalinn 2
3. Pitch to midi controlling MicroKorg
4. Freqbox feeding customised Bass Microsynth

It can lead to some serious subsonic annihilation![/quote]
dude, i will be checking this out v.soon, straight after the f&s show on r6 & dinner !!

[Jarhead]

[quote name='DanOwens' post='697471' date='Dec 31 2009, 07:08 PM']Check out my band thebrokendoor on myspace and spotify.

I use a parallel splitter, one layer is octave > fuzz > chorus > lpf (controlled by expression pedal) > tube distorion > delay. The pedals are OC2, Wooly Mammoth, CEB3, MF101, DHA VT2 Dual, DL4. That'll get you a few different usable sounds, and you can probably try some combinations on a multifx.

My layers are:
1. Board as above.
2. Adrenalinn 2
3. Pitch to midi controlling MicroKorg
4. Freqbox feeding customised Bass Microsynth

It can lead to some serious subsonic annihilation![/quote]
Haha, while I'd love to have all that stuff, I'm still only 15, and working on a tight budget. This is a very much 'Make do with what you can' project, as most of the synth stuff is the DJ/guitarists, including the electronic elements of the drumkit. Do you do the sub bass? If so, do you use a MIDI controller, or an octave or sampler?

Zach

[Jarhead]

Hey, I just listened to your bands Myspace Dan, great tunes mate. My bands going to be a lot higher paced, like if you listen to The Perfect High or Stompbox by The Qemists, that's the sort of thing we plan to be doing. If we lived closer, then we'd love to do a gig with you guys, when we get a demo sorted, etc.

Zach

[xgsjx]

Have a listen to my review of my moog pedals over in the reviews section to hear what a LPF can do, it's the MF-101.

[Jarhead]

Ahhh, cool, I see what you mean. Is there a cheap option, with an expression pedal control to control how much top end is rolled off?

Zach

[xgsjx]

The MF-101 was £149 & the expression pedal was another £30. I'll try & get some time & record it with the pedal. The recordings on there I didn't use it.
You can roll everything off the top down to @ 20 hz (just makes vibrations).
From what I've read, Ashdown do one for @£50 & does a very good job but I don't know if you can pop an exp pedal into it.

[DanOwens]

Hey Zach, send me some details and I'll see what I can do. I'm a music teacher and regularly put on/help out with under 18s gigs.

Re: FX - What I've got has taken about 6 years to amass; no-one gets this overnight but Basschat is a wealth of info, and I'd be glad to help out where I can.

Happy New Year!

Dan

[Jarhead]

Cool, thanks guys, I really appreciate the help your giving me. Dan, the gig probably won't be for a while, and even then, we'll probably have to be doing some sort of tour, like a week long one lol. I hear you about the effects, I'd love to give your rig a play one day mate, it sounds great.

xgsjx: Cool, I'll look at that now. I hope it does, because that's a really sick effect to have.

Zach

[xgsjx]

Just a quick thought, how about a multi fx unit with an exp pedal built in?
The Zoom ones are pretty good for the money & would give you all the fx you need to get started & then if you want you can add different pedals in the line to suit your style.

[Currrls]

make sure you post some links if you get recordings done. id like to see how this goes

[MythSte]

Ahh, I used to be quite good at this! I played Glasto in a live Drum and Bass crossover band and it was great fun. The only thing is, i couldnt make pedals work for me! And boy, did i try... With synths doing the wobbles etc you just need to pound out the lows to keep it driving at live IME.

[DanOwens]

I totally agree with you, Ste. When you listen to DnB, the sounds that occupy the lower end of the spectrum are constantly changing and morphing, and there's lots of them! That's why I use multilayers, because I'm effectively reinforcing sounds that I create on-the-fly.

TheBrokenDoor is improvised but if it wasn't my setup would be simpler and i'd be playing to preprogammed stuff.

Dan

[Jarhead]

[quote name='xgsjx' post='697772' date='Jan 1 2010, 11:10 AM']Just a quick thought, how about a multi fx unit with an exp pedal built in?
The Zoom ones are pretty good for the money & would give you all the fx you need to get started & then if you want you can add different pedals in the line to suit your style.[/quote]
Yeah, I'm buying a Korg AX3000B, but that doesn't have a low pass filter, and I'm not sure if the rate of the tremolo/chorus is controllable with the footpedal.

Zach

[EskimoBassist]

[quote name='Jarhead' post='698021' date='Jan 1 2010, 03:31 PM']Yeah, I'm buying a Korg AX3000B, but that doesn't have a low pass filter, and I'm not sure if the rate of the tremolo/chorus is controllable with the footpedal.

Zach[/quote]

The AX3000B is fantastic! Pretty much every variable is controllable by the expression pedal, I would be very suprised if you can't manipulate the rate of the effects. You've inspired me to dig mine out again and have a fiddle ...

[Jarhead]

Haha, that's cool mate. Yeah, if it is, then I'll have most of my stuff that I need in one Multi. I was thinking about buying the SYB-5, because you can control the rate on that with an external expression pedal, but I don't have the money to buy a pedal that I'll only use for one tone, so I'm getting the multi for now, and I'll probably make use of my guitarists old FX that he wont use for this. I'll definitely post links when we get everything sorted. We plan on doing a remix of Voodoo People, Killing In The Name Of, and Insane In The Membrane, with a couple of mates MCing on Insane. If this works, we should all organise a gig somewhere, a DnB collective if you will lol, all of the DnB bands on here playing in a club somewhere lol.

Zach