common funk effect, what is it???

Kevin.Kevin · #1 10-23-2009, 10:24 AM

I hear this sound all the time. Never thought much about it but I do enjoy the sound. Came across a funk band that used it quite liberally in the live shows, and it soundded great! Anybody want to help me out?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnM1uNeQVnc

around 4:20ish you get the idea.

grifff · #2 10-23-2009, 10:28 AM

I think it's an envelope filter.

Allen_VA · #3 10-23-2009, 10:29 AM

Sounds like he's using an octave effect in that song. You might hear something similar in 70's funk music that's actually bass synth though.

Another common bass funk effect is envelope filter or "autowah", and I believe the guitarist was using a little bit of that in the intro with the stacatto "mwah"-sounding guitar licks.

SoonerMatt · #4 10-23-2009, 10:30 AM

I believe that would be either an envelope filter or a synth.

Kevin.Kevin · #5 10-23-2009, 10:31 AM

okay thanks guys.

I also tend to hear a sweeping kinda sound. I've never used any effects, but I get the impression that is another type of filter that brings in the high to low frequencies at different times??

nicfargo · #6 10-23-2009, 10:35 AM

Sweeping sounds could be a phaser or a flanger. A lot of times you see envelope filter, auto wah, synth, phaser, flanger, and octaver in funk music...not all at once though :-) There's also sometimes distortion with the synth. Lots of different combos can be used for funk, that's the great thing about it, there's no "this is funk and without this, you're not playing funk". I've heard some real decent funk with no filters or effects at all, it's more about how you play anyway.

Ubersheist · #7 10-23-2009, 11:06 AM

It really, really, REALLY sounds like a synth. It's got a patch with a relatively short envelope sweep.

You can approximate it with a Microsynth bass pedal from Electro harmonix, or that one from Boss.

It'll sound dirtier (they have to use a sawtooth wave) on the EHX Microsynth with a setting like the following (I'm guessing, since I don't have the pedal in front of me):

Trigger: 8
Sub-OCtave: 8ish
Guitar: 4ish
Octave: 3ish
Square Wave: 2ish
Attack Delay: 1ish
Resonance: 6ish
Start Freq: 7
Stop Freq: 5
Rate: 2

The Boss one I found just too tough to work with, as the trigger is very, very touchy and unpredictable, although you could get some good sounds out of it. The Boss pedal had more latency to it, which became irritating. I don't have this one anymore, or I'd give you an example.

My best guess is that the bass on that specific part is played on a keyboard.

bigblondeafro87 · #8 10-23-2009, 08:48 PM

bass has no effects, but I think the guitarist starts using an envelope filter at 4:20 ish

BluesMan845 · #9 10-24-2009, 12:13 AM

Listen with a set of cans and I think bigblondeafro87 might be right. Click back and forth between the 4:20 point and the bass just before the vocal breakdown. I think the synth is fooling your ear into thinking the bass has effects. The guitar has the envelope filter and not the bass.

bassbmx · #10 10-24-2009, 12:59 AM

Not sure about the effects - I though it might have had a fat sub octave - but that cat has the funk!! I'm not religious at all but I love gospel music man

NortyFiner · #11 10-24-2009, 01:14 AM

There's definitely some kind of envelope filter (i.e. Q-Tron) effect going on with the guitar.

The bass sounds like he might be using an octaver to get that deep buzz.

Jazz Ad · #12 10-24-2009, 01:18 AM

No moving filter. It sounds like an analogic octave divider. The EHX Octave Multiplexer will get you this tone very easily.
SInce he plays a 5 stringer, the same kind of result could be obtained with bassy EQ and compressing the hell out of the signal.

bigblondeafro87 · #13 10-24-2009, 01:22 AM

^^^ Good ear, I was wondering how he got that tone. Ken Smiths sound beefy, but not THAT beefy. I've never played one of those pedals, is it a different octave function than that of the Boss OC-2? The OC-2 sounds hollow, synthy, and organy, but that bass player sounds very deep and solid.

edit: BTW killing bass player, and group as a whole. Very cool stuff.

fightthepower · #14 10-24-2009, 01:53 AM

Throughout most of the song it sounds like a very convincing bass+octaver... but around 4:20 when the synth steps out on its own a bit.. it throws me off. Given the number of musicians on stage and the solo'd synth tone, I think its just clean bass being doubled by a synth for the majority of the song. In the first 4+min of the song I think I heard a little low-resonance filter sweep here and there, but you could make do (and sound great) with a simple octave pedal; I wouldn't be surprised if that's all it is, but the synth's tone towards the end sounds very similar to the suboctave we're hearing with the bass guitar..

From 4:20-on things get more involved; at very least you'd need a growly octaver + lowpass filter; OC-2 + MoogLPF would be the obvious choice to me, though some of the Octamizer clips I heard were pretty damn growly so it may work well for these tones also, though this is just getting you in the ballpark- clone enough for rock&roll, but not a reproduction of the track we just heard. To 'nail' it IMO, you'll also need a VCO producing a triangle or sawtooth (sounds like a triangle to me) waveform. To get the slides up and down the neck to track well and 'keep up', I find that a nice sustaining compressor first in the chain aides significantly in slides while using an octaver and/or VCO. So, the chain would go something like Compressor-octaver-vco-filter... Quite expensive and involved, and not really an option unless you plan on getting a lot of use out of such effects.

Something like the Boss SYB-5 controlled manually with an expression pedal should approximate those tones after 4min as well in the sawtooth mode (or triangle if it has it), though tracking may be a concern for certain parts of the song; you can find the behringer BSY equivalent for quite cheap if you were interested in going this route; depending on your gear, technique, and bass lines you're trying to play, the SYB or BSY may suit you just fine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigblondeafro87

^^^ Good ear, I was wondering how he got that tone. Ken Smiths sound beefy, but not THAT beefy. I've never played one of those pedals, is it a different octave function than that of the Boss OC-2? The OC-2 sounds hollow, synthy, and organy, but that bass player sounds very deep and solid.

edit: BTW killing bass player, and group as a whole. Very cool stuff.

It sounds somewhere between an OC-2 and Octabass... An EQ post-OC-2 would do it, and the Octoplus has a nice deep tone like that too.. and I'd imagine the BOD with the Growl and Girth blended might do it as well. The Octamizer clips ive heard remind me of that tone as well..

bigblondeafro87 · #15 10-24-2009, 09:24 AM

Thanks, yeah I have to go check out some other octave pedals. I really like the OC-2 for what it is, but it reallllly needs a compressor after it so you can hear all the notes...

Also, the SYB does have triangle mode, buuut I don't think your gonna be happy trying to make that sound. I mostly use the Boss for filter sweeps on the different waveforms, and I try to make use of the EXP controlled LFO with minimal success.

But like FTP said, octave into LPF will get you most of that tone.

bassbmx · #16 10-24-2009, 03:45 PM

Check this out too... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ews3g...eature=related

It's not going to get everyone excited about the bass tone but it's still damn funky!

Kevin.Kevin · #17 10-25-2009, 07:48 AM

Yeah kirk franklin dude. Intense. I'm not religious, but I def wish i had acess to this music when i was younger. Could've changed my playing in ways I don't know about, rather then "studying" it now.

But yeah thanks alot everyone. I think the synth/bass doubling at that part makes sense, and could def trick the ear. I believe I'm hearing two separate sounds.

The electro micro synth is exactly what the band I saw was using. Got an email back. Maybe I'll have to buy a pedal now, as terrifying as that sounds.