envelope follower for volume?

[Nivlem]

Hi, I wonder if an effect like this is possible without having to buy a modular synth...

I want to make a sound similar to the "square bass" many synthesizers make. No filtering or anything, just a square wave.

There are some distortion pedals that would compress the output of my bass enough to make it into a square wave. However, they will also make the notes ring longer and basically squash all dynamics in the playing.

Is there a way to have an envelope follower modulate the volume of the output of a distortion box, so I get a square wave that has the same volume and sustain of the original notes played?

Thanks!

[kevteop]

If you had that pedal infront of a dirt box it would affect the level going into the distortion, and change the wave coming out the other end. It would need to have an FX loop for you to put the fuzz inside.

I don't know of any pedal that can do this but you could contact one of the usual boffins (I'd email Mario at Robot Factory) and see how expensive it would be to get it custom made.

[bongomania]

I think you'll really need something like the Korg G5, a synth that is triggered by your bass signal.

[Nivlem]

Originally Posted by kevteop

If you had that pedal infront of a dirt box it would affect the level going into the distortion, and change the wave coming out the other end. It would need to have an FX loop for you to put the fuzz inside.

I don't know of any pedal that can do this but you could contact one of the usual boffins (I'd email Mario at Robot Factory) and see how expensive it would be to get it custom made.

I see... I was hoping that maybe it could be done via some combination of Moog pedals maybe. The whole CV concept makes my head spin.

[kevteop]

Originally Posted by Nivlem

I see... I was hoping that maybe it could be done via some combination of Moog pedals maybe. The whole CV concept makes my head spin.

Well for what it's worth the Octavius Squeezer can generate a square wave, and you can (optionally) set the VCA to output at envelope volume. It's expensive though and you get into the realm of having a pedal tracking your playing, which I figured you want to avoid and that's why you mentioned using a fuzz rather than a synth pedal. But it'll do it, sure.

You can also set the VCA to ADSR and set a decay time, which generally works out better for me anyway - sounds more like a synth and you don't get the issue of the tracking starting to crap out as your note decays (assuming you've set the VCA to decay to zero before your note starts struggling to be heard).

Edit: As Bongo said the G5 also outputs at envelope level, but it won't do a straight square wave. There are two sawtooth voices that have a square wave an octave below your playing, but that's it. And the whole thing sounds a bit shoddy anyway to be honest.

[fightthepower]

Originally Posted by Nivlem

Hi, I wonder if an effect like this is possible without having to buy a modular synth...

I want to make a sound similar to the "square bass" many synthesizers make. No filtering or anything, just a square wave.

There are some distortion pedals that would compress the output of my bass enough to make it into a square wave. However, they will also make the notes ring longer and basically squash all dynamics in the playing.

Is there a way to have an envelope follower modulate the volume of the output of a distortion box, so I get a square wave that has the same volume and sustain of the original notes played?

Thanks!

By the distortion route, a gated fuzz will get you the best squarewave, and will also choke the the notes off so there is little decay; with a strong gated pedal like the Brown Dog fuzz (circuit also found in the Octavius Squeezer) you can control the gate, and set it to the desired level of sustain vs squareness. If anything you'd have more of a problem with the sustain being too short rather than too long when in the most-squared settings the Brown Dog offers, though it can be balanced well ime- putting a strong sustaining compressor before it can help to shape it while still having as much or little sustain as you'd like. You'll lose dynamics, but a little clean blend can possibly help mask that.

The Moog-method would be a Freqbox set to square and fed into the Moog Ringmod; The Freqbox's 'Env Out' is then patched into the Ringmod's "Carrier In" effectively making it a crude VCA and the envelope will open and close it allowing the signal to pass in the same fashion that an envelope filter would, though the envelope is strictly modulating the volume, not a filter and no ring modulation occurring.

The Ringmod may not be necessary though because the Freqbox will give you a true squarewave without the compression you experience with distortion (filters respond very well to its waveforms, though maybe still some compression happening) and without added sustain-- sustain is more likely to be shortened along the lines of an octaver. The playing range (without knob adjustments) is most limited in the squarewave setting due to the Hard Sync proccess, so you'd need to use an expression pedal to make slight adjustments to the Frequency paramenter if you're playing notes around the neck; the other waveforms have more range and will allow about a scales worth of even-volume'd notes without adjustment, so you may find the Pulsewave setting to be the best compromise.

Other than that, I agree with Kevteop's comments as well about the OS and sound-quality of the G5.