Octaver's and all that low down business

[TaySte_2000]

Now this is something I felt I would contribute to our little community for any of the new people that are unsure about one of the most popular bassist effects.

What is an Octaver/Octave pedal?

It is a pedal that synthesizes a note below the note you are playing.

Why would I use/need one of these pedals?

Well a lot of 80's bassist's used them to thicken up their sound and have a unique voice for example Pino Palladino on any of the Paul Young stuff in the 80's. The traditional technique is to play an octave above where you would normally play and this will produce a note below where you are playing.

Why doesn't my octave pedal sound like when I play that low?

Unfortunately they have not mastered the technology of shrinking so there isn't a little bass player in there doubling your lines for you. This is is an bunch of wires and circuity it is always going to have some sort of fake or falseness to it, this can be covered up with effects such as chorus or a light overdrive.

What's the difference between Analog and Digital octavers?

As a generalisation analog octavers don't track as fast as digital ones, they don't track as low as digital ones, they don't track chords but the tone of the octave down is generally warmer a little more natural and bass like.

So do digital octavers track chords?

Well polyphonic ones do such as the Electro Harmonix Pog/Micro Pog and Hog, others can manage it sometimes but they tend to gargle and splutter and the notes jump all over the place.

So if digital octavers track lower why doesn't my octaver track my low b?

Octaver's weren't designed for this purpose. The idea was for you to play higher up closer to guitar range and this would produce the bass note you would normally playing. Generally anything above 7th fret on any string is going to track pretty well except the low b of course because that's still pretty low. Though analog octavers must be mentioned as they tend to like things above 12th fret really but there are exceptions in both the digital and analog world.

Where in my chain should I place my octaver?

The most accepted place is first in chain as this is the cleanest purest signal you are going to give it so that it can track your notes. Some times a compressor can help improve tracking as it will even out your playing but if you play sloppily you sound will be reproduced sloppily.

What is tracking?

Tracking is what digital octavers do it's how quickly/accurately the octaver registers your played note and add one below it. Analog octavers do not track this is typically created by squaring the incoming wave, multiplying its wavelength by two, and using an analog oscillator to play a new note at that multiplied wavelength. When well-designed, it happens literally as fast as the signal is able to travel through the wires, since there is much less "computation" in the analog process.

What effects work well with octavers?

If your going for that cheesy 80's sound then a nice touch of chorus can work very well. A lot of bassist us it for synth type effects adding in a fuzz and a filter so your chain would run Octaver - Fuzz - Filter. Other fun things can be by using just the octave down and turning the direct signal (your bass) down will result in a very synthy and fat keyboard/synth like tone with very little dynamics. But obviously you can't be too low down the neck or it won't track properly and also the note produced will be too low for your amp to properly reproduce. But experiment and find what works best for you.

What are the popular types of octaver?

Polyphonic (Digital)
Electro Harmonix Pog
Electro Harmonix Hog
Electro Harmonix Micro Pog

Digital
Digitech Bass Synth Wah (BSW)
Boss OC-3
EBS Octobass
Digitech Whammy

Analog
Foxrox Octron
Foxrox Octron 2
Digitech FX35 Octoplus
Boss OC-2

Where can I hear an octaver in action?

Paul Young - Wherever I lay my hat (Played by Pino Palladino)
Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer (Played by Tony Levin)
Earth Song - Michael Jackson (Guy Pratt)
Like a Prayer - Madonna (Guy Pratt) - Near the end of the song only

I hope this is of help to you and I'd like to thank Toasted, Bongomania and Davidmwilson for their contributions to this thread.

FYI this is just a general guide I know there are loads more octavers out there and tracks with people using them on.

Enjoy

[Mr. BooBoo]

sticky it!

[Higgie]

Nice one Tayste. We should have individual threads like this for all types of effects to help out the younglings.

[grygrx]

Wiki it!

[TaySte_2000]

It will be added to the TB FX FAQ at some point.

I should also wiki it....... later after my supernoodles of which there is nothing super about.

[Max Roberts]

Originally Posted by Higgie

Nice one Tayste. We should have individual threads like this for all types of effects to help out the younglings.

+1

I think it would be more worth while just stickying these thread because I seem to be under the impression that not many people use the Wiki?

[bongomania]

Excellent work! As a minor point, there's some contradiction in there about analog vs. digital tracking. Also, the analog octavers I've owned had no delay in following any pitch; but then again the ones I had are a bit uncommon: an MXR Pitch Transposer (blueface), a Conn Multi-Vider, and an Aries 100 Series multiplier/divider. So I don't know if their performace has anything to do with more commonly-found analog pedals such as the old DOD etc. While analog units do probably use some filtering, the actual octave-down function is typically created by squaring the incoming wave, multiplying its wavelength by two, and using an analog oscillator to play a new note at that multiplied wavelength. When well-designed, it happens literally as fast as the signal is able to travel through the wires, since there is much less "computation" in the analog process.

I think analog units get a bad rap on the low notes not because of slow tracking, but because a cheap one-oscillator synthesized note at those very low frequencies just sounds like a sputtering noise or a motorboat, not a musical sound.

At any rate thanks for posting an excellent summary!

[Max Roberts]

Originally Posted by TaySte_2000

It will be added to the TB FX FAQ at some point.

I should also wiki it....... later after my supernoodles of which there is nothing super about.

Yeah, that's the best idea.

[TaySte_2000]

Originally Posted by bongomania

Excellent work! As a minor point, there's some contradiction in there about analog vs. digital tracking. Also, the analog octavers I've owned had no delay in following any pitch; but then again the ones I had are a bit uncommon: an MXR Pitch Transposer (blueface), a Conn Multi-Vider, and an Aries 100 Series multiplier/divider. So I don't know if their performace has anything to do with more commonly-found analog pedals such as the old DOD etc. While analog units do probably use some filtering, the actual octave-down function is typically created by squaring the incoming wave, multiplying its wavelength by two, and using an analog oscillator to play a new note at that multiplied wavelength. When well-designed, it happens literally as fast as the signal is able to travel through the wires, since there is much less "computation" in the analog process.

I think analog units get a bad rap on the low notes not because of slow tracking, but because a cheap one-oscillator synthesized note at those very low frequencies just sounds like a sputtering noise or a motorboat, not a musical sound.

At any rate thanks for posting an excellent summary!

Thanks I edited my post to include this

[RickenBoogie]

Very nice, thanks.

[David Wilson]

Originally Posted by FunkyAssBassMan

+1

I think it would be more worth while just stickying these thread because I seem to be under the impression that not many people use the Wiki?

the problem with sticky threads is that too many of them and half the thread list is taken up with stickies...

It'll get linked to in TB FAQ for now, maybe later it will make more sense to move the whole FAQ to the wiki so it's easier for people to add stuff as ideas come to them.

[bbe]

i have the ehx octave multiplexer, and i was wondering if upgrading to the ebs octabass would be mush of an upgrade or not. can anyone shed some light on this for me?

[RickenBoogie]

Originally Posted by bbe

i have the ehx octave multiplexer, and i was wondering if upgrading to the ebs octabass would be mush of an upgrade or not. can anyone shed some light on this for me?

The Octave Multiplexer is by far my favorite Octave pedal. The fact that it has a high and low filter, as well as a blend, makes it among the most tweakable. And the sound is, imo, the best of the bunch. You may enjoy the EBS more, but I'd hang on to that Multiplexer if I were you. It's a good one.

[bbe]

Originally Posted by RickenBoogie

The Octave Multiplexer is by far my favorite Octave pedal. The fact that it has a high and low filter, as well as a blend, makes it among the most tweakable. And the sound is, imo, the best of the bunch. You may enjoy the EBS more, but I'd hang on to that Multiplexer if I were you. It's a good one.

my problem is a play a lot of chords, so i feel the ebs might be better for me since it can handle chords apparently.

[Mudfuzz]

I own 5 octave pedals at the moment.

MXR M-88 bass octave
E~H Octave Multiplexer
Danelectro Chili Dog
Boss OC-3
DOD FX 35

The MXR is my favorite and then the Multiplexer. And a side note; you can run the Multiplexer into the M-88 and get 2 octaves down that actually tracks better then any of the pedals I've tried that have a 2 octaves down setting.

The Chili Dog, sounds just like a Boss OC-2 but the housing sucks.
The FX 35 sounds good in a way but I find it uneven sounding in different playing positions.
The Boss OC-3 is digital, sounds cheep digital, I can hear artifacts through it at all times.

Tracking is the same for me on every analog octaver I have tried, good in till A on the E string, and the G can be managed with the right technique.

[jucas]

Originally Posted by bbe

my problem is a play a lot of chords, so i feel the ebs might be better for me since it can handle chords apparently.

You may be better off with a micro pog if you can afford the little bit extra and the space. The tone may or may not be quite the same, but the advertisement that the ebs tracks chords is sketchy at best in my experience. It seems to deal with an octave or a root+fifth if your playing cleanly and in the right area on the neck.

[Dexteroth]

Originally Posted by TaySte_2000

later after my supernoodles of which there is nothing super about.

That's the funniest thing I've read all day.

Also, great thread. It really helped me gain some insight on octavers.

[irvinz]

very nice post tayste

[JanusZarate]

...

Score updated.

[Higgie]

lol Boo