Electronic musicians please advise

Kabal · #1 05-29-2010, 04:34 PM

I'm starting a live electronic music act with some friends and have been looking into pedals and could use some advice.

In terms of quantity what are the absolute bare essentials? I've been looking at the SYB-5 and EHX Memory man w/Hazarai. What other types of pedals would I pretty much need?

Second, is it wiser to invest in one pedal for one sound/effect or look into pedals with more to them i.e. the Memory man? I feel like individual ones would give me more free rein over my sound in a live show, and a pedal dedicated to one effect would probably do a better job at it, but again I could really use an opinion from someone who knows.

Much thanks for any information!!

Jimbob Jones · #2 05-29-2010, 05:07 PM

Personally, I would reccomend something other than the Boss synth, maybe Digitech or Markbass.

Delay sounds good.

A good chorus (Boss CE-5 or CEB-3 are a good starting point) and a decent distortion/overdrive/fuzz are reccomendable. I won't reccomend distortion pedals, because they are the most subjective...uh...subject in effects.

Tremolo is fun, I have an EHX Pulsar, but not having a tap for it is a pain.

RickenBoogie · #3 05-29-2010, 06:08 PM

I like the SYB-5, when paired with an EV-5 exp pedal. Not the most tweakable of bass synths, but a pretty good sound nonetheless, for that one thing it does. And, individual pedals will likely always be the better option, sound-wise. Multi's are great for giving you an "all-in-one" package, but very limited otherwise. Usually only one modulation effect can be selected at one time, and the actual order of the effects are dictated by the unit. A good phaser of flanger would also be a good choice, along with a filter, chorus, delay, and maybe even reverb, and of course overdrive and/or fuzz.

bassbrad · #4 05-29-2010, 06:20 PM

It all depends on how intricate your setup needs to be. I use a EHX BMS-Akai Deep Impact-Zoom B2 for basic sounds and a bunch of other efx for modulation, echo and reverb.

bigblondeafro87 · #5 05-30-2010, 07:55 AM

I'd say get a moog LPF and OC-2 first, from there you have many options which vary on taste.

fdask · #6 05-30-2010, 08:26 AM

I have the SYB-5 and think its pretty great. Try to pick it up used if you can, it's not everyones cup of tea.

You may also want to look into a looper of some kind, like the Boss RC-2 or the Digitech offerings. I use my RC-2 to keep a solid bass line going anytime I want to go off on a pedal freakout.

bassman1185 · #7 05-30-2010, 08:48 AM

Rather than a dedicated synth pedal, it can be a lot of fun to make syth sounds with individual components. You can cop pretty legit synth-like tones with an octave, fuzz (especially gated fuzz), envelope filter, and some modulation.

bongomania · #8 05-30-2010, 09:05 AM

^^^ Agreed! Are you familiar with modular synths? If not, as an electronic musician you owe it to yourself to study them. There are good VST emulations available. The reason this is relevant to your question is that effects pedals are essentially modular synth modules, and thinking of them that way will help you answer some of your own questions.

For me, the effects that I used the most when I was doing electronic music were delay, looping, filtering, and pitch-shifting.

Kabal · #9 05-30-2010, 06:19 PM

Wow guys I've got a lot to look into now thanks!

I may open up a can of worms here, but while I have this thread going...

what are everyone's recommendations on a dedicated looper, modulator, filter, (other than the moog), and delay pedal?

Happynoj · #10 05-31-2010, 06:28 AM

A Boss OC-2 is essential. I also use my Line 6 FM-4 all the time (except that it stopped working at my gig last night

).

megadan · #11 05-31-2010, 06:48 AM

Moog Freqbox!

And I agree with the modular setup; rather than trying to get pedals that make you sound electronic, you should look for pedals that let you tone shape and change the basic components of a synth: waveform, filter, and ADSR (envelope) (that's what the octave, fuzz, filter combo helps make up!). If want an ADSR that isn't a bass guitar you've got Slow Gear, compressors, delay, etc.

aledeville · #12 05-31-2010, 07:43 AM

I'd recomment a M9. I have it now and it has a lot of funny features, very usable too.

Kabal · #13 06-02-2010, 05:58 PM

What if I got a dedicated synth pedal along with a shaping setup?

So I could have, say, a simple riff going through a loop pedal using a square wave and then over that play a riff through the shaping pedals to get a quasi triangle wave that I could mess with.

I imagine that could be pretty crazy, in a good way, but would that be too much for my rig to handle? I've only got a 4x10 right now and a 480 watt head

megadan · #14 06-02-2010, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kabal

What if I got a dedicated synth pedal along with a shaping setup?

So I could have, say, a simple riff going through a loop pedal using a square wave and then over that play a riff through the shaping pedals to get a quasi triangle wave that I could mess with.

I imagine that could be pretty crazy, in a good way, but would that be too much for my rig to handle? I've only got a 4x10 right now and a 480 watt head

You could along fine with that, as long as you don't expect low, pure square waves at very high volumes. But for normal levels, sure, it should work.