Compressor for Reggae/dub

[mactac]

Hi, Just wondering what everyone uses for compressors for live reggae/dub?

I'm thinking that a stompbox would ideally suit me (I dont' have my markbass lm-ii racked), but am open to suggestions.

I see joe meek has a stompbox. Anyone have any experience with it?

thanks!

[4lPh4n0m3g4]

Read Bongomania's guide to compressors. Trust me, just do it.

Found here:

http://www.ovnilab.com/faq.shtml

It depends on whether one wants a pedal or rack mounted effect. I'm trying to move away from rack mounted gear; at least until I can afford to pay someone else to lug it around.

I use a Demeter Opto-compulator atm; but would love to get my hands on an Analog Man compROSSor.

A cheaper option, I noticed a thread that stated Amazon has BBE opto-comp pedals on sale for a really good price. I think it was around $60 if I recall correctly; may be worth investigating. BBE tends to make good gear IMO.

[mactac]

Thanks...

I've actually got a lot of experience with various compressors (both rack and stomps) in general, but I was more specifically looking at compressors for reggae. the bottom end has a big smeared sort of tone to it that seems to make compressors respond a bit differently, and was hoping to see what people are using for this style.

[newbold]

Reggae bass tone doesn't sound like a compressor-rich approach to my ears.

I'm curious how long this thread will get.

[thombo]

imo, a fixed low pass filter or low pass filter would be more beneficial. that said, i've read amazing things about the aguilar comp pedal.

[alirazz]

I use a dod fx25 with the sensitivity turned all the way down to get my dub tone.

[fightthepower]

Originally Posted by mactac

Hi, Just wondering what everyone uses for compressors for live reggae/dub?

I'm thinking that a stompbox would ideally suit me (I dont' have my markbass lm-ii racked), but am open to suggestions.

I see joe meek has a stompbox. Anyone have any experience with it?

thanks!

Jared Lash has reported about the Retrospec(sp?) Squeezebox apparently being great for this application, giving a fat & punchy bottom end with the compressor giving the feel of hitting an old mixer&tape hard (with the LPF of course, and a touch overdrive for the dirt). Its a stompbox tube compressor, but unfortunately they're very large, hard to find and somewhat expensive iirc. As others have mentioned, a lowpass filter can also be a key element in obtaining a fat dub tone, though not necessarily as important for certain styles of reggae.

If Jared Lash doesn't see this thread and chime in, I'd recommend doing a search for posts from him with keywords 'compressor dub', 'squeezebox dub' etc-- I know he has discussed this topic at length a few times, and iirc he's given his thoughts about how other compressors stack up for this application as well.

[mactac]

Originally Posted by newbold

Reggae bass tone doesn't sound like a compressor-rich approach to my ears.

I'm curious how long this thread will get.

dubby reggae is usually very compressed.

[mactac]

Originally Posted by fightthepower

Jared Lash has reported about the Retrospec(sp?) Squeezebox apparently being great for this application, giving a fat & punchy bottom end with the compressor giving the feel of hitting an old mixer&tape hard (with the LPF of course, and a touch overdrive for the dirt). Its a stompbox tube compressor, but unfortunately they're very large, hard to find and somewhat expensive iirc. As others have mentioned, a lowpass filter can also be a key element in obtaining a fat dub tone, though not necessarily as important for certain styles of reggae.

If Jared Lash doesn't see this thread and chime in, I'd recommend doing a search for posts from him with keywords 'compressor dub', 'squeezebox dub' etc-- I know he has discussed this topic at length a few times, and iirc he's given his thoughts about how other compressors stack up for this application as well.

Awesome, thanks for the tip!

[4lPh4n0m3g4]

Originally Posted by mactac

Thanks...

I've actually got a lot of experience with various compressors (both rack and stomps) in general, but I was more specifically looking at compressors for reggae. the bottom end has a big smeared sort of tone to it that seems to make compressors respond a bit differently, and was hoping to see what people are using for this style.

IMO, this has a lot more to do with using flatwounds and playing technique as opposed to gear.

Certainly a low pass filter can help as well; ( especially when using strings other than FW's) a lot of traditional dubwise bass doesn't have any freq.'s over 300hz

I think the compression that is heard, usually comes from using tube amps; (Ampeg's being the brand used by the majority of gigging reggae bassists.) and/or, is applied only in the studios w/ higher end comp.'s

I can count on one hand the amount of Reggae bassists that gig w/ a comp. and I have been to a lot of shows. Actually the only type of pedal I have seen used w/ any regularity would be an octaver, and even then, Ive only seen a few bassists who use one.

[mactac]

Originally Posted by 4lPh4n0m3g4

IMO, this has a lot more to do with using flatwounds and playing technique as opposed to gear.

Certainly a low pass filter can help as well; ( especially when using strings other than FW's) a lot of traditional dubwise bass doesn't have any freq.'s over 300hz

I think the compression that is heard, usually comes from using tube amps; (Ampeg's being the brand used by the majority of gigging reggae bassists.) and/or, is applied only in the studios w/ higher end comp.'s

I can count on one hand the amount of Reggae bassists that gig w/ a comp. and I have been to a lot of shows. Actually the only type of pedal I have seen used w/ any regularity would be an octaver, and even then, Ive only seen a few bassists who use one.

Not all reggae bassists use flats. In fact, most I've seen/talked to use rounds.

That being said, I agree, technique has a lot to do with it, but with Dub, a compressor helps a LOT. In fact, I'd be hard pressed to find a recorded dub bass line (or reggae for that matter) made in modern times that was not heavily compressed. And contrary to popular belief, a good stompbox compressor will sound pretty much as good as a high-end studio compressor for live use.

In reggae & dub, it's extremely important for the bass to be as consistent as possible... it's a very trance-y type of music. A compressor helps this a lot.

I do agree that some amount of compression can come from a tube amp, but I use a MarkBass LMii amp, which has little natural compression. The other popular belief is that you need to use an ampeg, but all you really need is a well-powered amp that reproduces the bottom end well, as that's all that's getting amplified anyways.

That all being said, I just picked up a Maxon CP9Pro+, and so far it seems to be excellent. I feel that it rivals a lot of studio compressors (which, btw I have *many* of in my studio), and sounds a lot like a good quality VCA compressor.

I think that a "sloppy" -style tube compressor (note saying all tube compressors are, but peopel have suggested a gooey compressor to me) would "goo" things out a little too much, as my tone is already VERY undefined and pillowy - almost tough to figure out exactly which note is being played. A sloppy compressor would be a but too much, and this Maxon seems to do exaclty what I need so far.

Will report back after a gig !

[MakiSupaStar]

I play mostly dub reggae. I had a rack mounted compressor/gate (dbx 266xl - which is really a low end compressor) and I wound up removing it out of my rack. I felt that it kind of made my sound too sustainy. I prefer to control the sound with my fingers and my guitar settings. I don't play with flats either. Although, I'm looking into perhaps getting some for our next song (we're in the middle of recording). Sometimes I use a compressor inside of Ableton Live (the '1976' or 'Cotton Wall' if you're familiar with Live), but mostly I just adjust for volume spikes when editing the track.

Here's my setup.

Warwick Corvette $$ 5vr/Carvin LB75/SX Jazz 5 -> Boss DD3 -> Boss BF1 -> Ampeg SVP-BSP -> Carver 2.0i 1000W (mono) @ 4 ohms.

This preamp is a split channel amp that has a 'clean' channel (your traditional ampeg sound) and a 'dirty' channel (overdrive distortion that can be dialed from subtle grit to beastie boys sabotage sound) each with a FX Loop out. I run my FX Loop through the dirty channel. When I record, I have a line out from each channel and a SM57 in front of my cab and I record three tracks that I later bounce down to one or two (depending on the effects I'm using).

I hope this helps.

[Jared Lash]

It's true that reggae bassists almost never utilize compression as part of their live rig. It's a genre built on simplicity and quite frankly, utilizing what was available.

In some ways it reminds me of people trying to get John Paul John's tone when he was with Led Zeppelin. Never mind that the man himself has continued to update and modernize his gear in search of the tone he wants and what is heard on old records is just him using the gear that was available at the time.

I really believe that if a reggae bassist in the 70s could have been given say, a Carvin B1500 and a pair of Acme Low B4s rather than an Ampeg rig he would have been in heaven with the thunderously clean lows. But I digress.

In my case I wasn't looking for a traditional dub/reggae live tone as much as I was trying to recreate/update the classic dub recorded tone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnvsO...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xJ9fggYhvY

And again, some of that tone was generated by limitations in the equipment used. As I found out, the "rough around the edges", slightly dirty sound coming from overdriving an old transformer driven mixer channel as well as the reel-to-reel tape machine being used.

My method of getting those tones was to use a clean and even rig (Carvin+Acme, Markbass + Epifani, now TecAmp plus a fEarful 15/6), lowpass the signal (Moog, Robot Factory, DOD FX25), run it into a transparent overdrive (Pork Loin or Holy Fire) and then into a tube compressor to give that bump in the low mids and add some thickness and warmth.

Not a typical live reggae rig at all, but I was completely loving the tone. And because I was recreating a classic tone with pedals I could (1) adjust them to tweak the tone to suit my needs and (2) turn them off and get a very clean tone if I wanted.

[mactac]

Originally Posted by MakiSupaStar

I play mostly dub reggae. I had a rack mounted compressor/gate (dbx 266xl - which is really a low end compressor) and I wound up removing it out of my rack. I felt that it kind of made my sound too sustainy.

Interesting, this is something that I was afraid of. It's almost like the 2 different things that are needed (very even levels, and shoirt decay) are mutually exclusive.

A compressor will even out the levels, but by virtue of that, increase the sustain.... and if there's anything you want in reggae, it's not a lot of sustain!

[mactac]

Originally Posted by Jared Lash

It's true that reggae bassists almost never utilize compression as part of their live rig. It's a genre built on simplicity and quite frankly, utilizing what was available.

In some ways it reminds me of people trying to get John Paul John's tone when he was with Led Zeppelin. Never mind that the man himself has continued to update and modernize his gear in search of the tone he wants and what is heard on old records is just him using the gear that was available at the time.

I am not trying to recreate a tone of someone else who played in the 70's. I'm trying to get a really good dub reggae tone... there is a massive difference.

Also, for what it's worth, both of those youtube examples have a lot of compression on the bass.

[Jared Lash]

Originally Posted by mactac

I am not trying to recreate a tone of someone else who played in the 70's. I'm trying to get a really good dub reggae tone... there is a massive difference.

Also, for what it's worth, both of those youtube examples have a lot of compression on the bass.

I think you completely misunderstood my post.

[mactac]

Originally Posted by Jared Lash

I think you completely misunderstood my post.

Actually, you're right... sorry!

[bongomania]

FWIW I think Jared hit every nail exactly on the head in that post. I couldn't have said any of it better myself.

[Floridabwoy]

I play a lot of dub as well... no compressor. I do use the FX25 trick though. I do play on the neck very lightly with the volume way up. You just have to find what works for you.

[COOL AND DEADLY]

Most compressors will cut your lowest lows and your highest high frequencies. I don't recommend using comp to achieve a dub sound.