Dubstep Modeler?

[rapturebass]

Is there a pedal out there that can accurately model the sound and "wobble" of a dubstep bassline? I figured after watching the BOSSchanel video that the SYB-5 with an expression pedal would be the way to go? any suggestions? Thank you.

[Swimming Bird]

There's been a whole lot of talk about this over the last year or so. You should be able to find the master threads by searching for 'wobble' or 'dubstep' if you want an in-depth answer.

It depends on what standard you're trying to do it to. SYB-5 will get you close enough for most people.

However, the coolness of wobble sounds comes from LFOs that sweep a filter at different beat subdivisions of the main tempo. To get really close, you would need a gated, synthy fuzz, probably an octave down device and either a filter with an LFO that can be beat synced (right now only doable with CV controllers + filters) or an envelope filter and a tremolo with beat synced LFOs. For whatever reason, there are a handful of trems that can do this -- Iron Ether Cygnet, Goatkeeper, Eventide Modfactor and Pitchfactor -- but no filters as of this moment.

Iron Ether has been developing a filter to do this for a while now with the Bubble Chamber, but it's hard to say when that'll actually get released. Copilot FX is about to release the Telescope, a filter with pitch-tracking LFO (the higher you play, the faster the LFO). Copilot is also developing an all-in-one explicitly-for-dubstep fuzz + sequenced filter pedal.

Or you could use a computer.

Anyway, it's pretty clear you can drop an awful lot of cash in pursuit of the perfect dubstep tone, and there will be better solutions available within a few months. Long story short, if you don't want to wait and don't care about getting the EXACT sound, get an SYB-5 (or Behringer equivalent). Tracking can be iffy (it's a temperamental pedal), and you may want another filter or a light OD after to make it sound better, but it'll work. If you want what should hopefully be the real deal, wait a few months and watch the builders I mentioned.

EDIT: I should have included some specific filters. You can get authentic wobble filter sounds by pairing the Moog floor CV and midi controller (MP-201) with the Moog MF-101, modded-for-CV Iron Either Xerograph, WMD Super Fatman, or Robot Factory Brain Freeze (there are probably some I missed). I suggest waiting because the controller is $450 plus the cost of whichever filter.

[Jared Lash]

Lots of good stuff from Swimming Bird. Just a couple notes from me on his post.

The Iron Ether Bubble Chamber definitely will be released. I will have a prototype in my hands fairly soon.

The Boss video of the SYB-5 makes it sound much better than I ever got it to sound when trying to do that kind of sound. It (and the Behringer) aren't bad options at all, but it WILL glitch out on you.

Final note, I actually got somewhat decent results Saturday morning using a ring mod with an expression pedal, a fuzz and a low pass filter. I was using the ring mod at a low frequency (like a tremolo) and using the expression pedal to adjust the frequency (rate) on the fly.

After two days of fiddling I'm MUCH better but obviously it's not ever going to be exact tempo wise. I posted a thread on this, but here's the quick (and low volume) clip.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...howPlayer=true

[Swimming Bird]

Originally Posted by Jared Lash

The Boss video of the SYB-5 makes it sound much better than I ever got it to sound when trying to do that kind of sound. It (and the Behringer) aren't bad options at all, but it WILL glitch out on you.

You certainly have to play the SYB-5 -- it doesn't require good technique so much as specific technique to it. Tracking appears to be extremely sensitive to multiple factors, but this probably comes down to the unit having a static sensitivity setting. After you weed out everything though, it's still temperamental. Maybe it's superstition, but I've found that if I turn all of the knobs on my bass around a bit and put them back after I've powered up my board, the SYB tracks better . You can fake better tracking by turning the clean signal up (which is how the video does it) -- though this doesn't work for me as my signal has a lot of treble and high mids content.

It's actually amazing how much better it sounds if you can add a touch of grit after. I also sometimes run it into my FX25 and can get darn close to dubstep filter sounds. I'll post clips whenever my friend gets my firewire audio interface back...

[Shish]

Line6 M9 (and I think FM4) has an effect for wobbling called throbber

[RCCollins]

Originally Posted by Swimming Bird

It's actually amazing how much better it sounds if you can add a touch of grit after. I also sometimes run it into my FX25 and can get darn close to dubstep filter sounds. I'll post clips whenever my friend gets my firewire audio interface back...

Now it depends what you mean by "dubstep sounds", and I am sure you get a nice dirty filter tone that goes great with electronic beats that way, but you're not getting the "wobble" effect that way.

Remember that dubstep bass sounds were developed primarily using software synthesisizers that allow for easy synchronization of modulation effects and manipulation of tempo, filter onset, stereo panning, and much more. Because of this, these sounds are constantly developing in multiple directions. With a sophisticated and expensive modular setup (of the sort that fightthepower has been parting out) or a forthcoming pedal like the Bubble Chamber and whatever else emerges in its wake, you'll be able to get yourself some tasty dubstep/wobble tones. But only the "FTP" type modular setup will allow you to customize your synth sounds with anything resembling the flexibility of the tools that really drive dubstep. And that setup ain't cheap.