SYNTH

efajardo90 · #1 10-01-2010, 08:44 PM

Ok, so I am trying to look for an effect similar to the one used in a Jamiroquai tune "feels so good". In some parts the bass is clean, but in the chorus it is with a synth. I suppose this has been recorded with a controller rather than a bass guitar. But which pedal can give me a similar sound? or if i am wrong, and it is a bass, how did they record that?

bigchiefbc · #2 10-01-2010, 09:00 PM

That's a great track, and yes it is definitely a full-on synth in the chorus as opposed to a synth effect on a bass guitar. It definitely has some portamento on it, which is gonna be the trickiest thing to get. The only synth pedal I know of that does portamento is the Chunk Systems Octavius Squeezer. But you could probably come sort of close with a Markbass Super Synth, an Akai Deep Impact, a Korg G5, and I could probably even come up with a decent setting on the Boss SYB-5 for it. If you're willing to wait until mid-next week, I'll give it a shot and report back if I came up with something usable.

Stick_Player · #3 10-01-2010, 09:11 PM

Quote:

The only synth pedal I know of that does portamento is the Chunk Systems Octavius Squeezer

This does portamento:

I play mine from either the foot pedals or an Oxygen 8 controller.

bigchiefbc · #4 10-01-2010, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stick_Player

This does portamento:

I play mine from either the foot pedals or an Oxygen 8 controller.

Well, ok, you are right. But, two things:

First of all, that is a standalone synth, not an effect, which is what he was asking for.

Second, its a couple thousand dollars.

khabalah · #5 10-02-2010, 01:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigchiefbc

Well, ok, you are right. But, two things:

First of all, that is a standalone synth, not an effect, which is what he was asking for.

Second, its a couple thousand dollars.

sexy though aint it ???

kevteop · #6 10-02-2010, 05:07 AM

The Octavius Squeezer's portamento wouldn't do it, it's not quick enough for that sort of thing. If you wanted to cop the slides really well you would need a fretless.

As for the sound, a decent buzz-saw gated fuzz would do it. If you really wanted to use a synth pedal then the sawtooth on the O.S. or the G5 would do the job, or there's one on the Line 6 M9/13 ('ramp' on the attack synth). Do the Boss SYB's have a sawtooth?

bigchiefbc · #7 10-02-2010, 09:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevteop

The Octavius Squeezer's portamento wouldn't do it, it's not quick enough for that sort of thing. If you wanted to cop the slides really well you would need a fretless.

As for the sound, a decent buzz-saw gated fuzz would do it. If you really wanted to use a synth pedal then the sawtooth on the O.S. or the G5 would do the job, or there's one on the Line 6 M9/13 ('ramp' on the attack synth). Do the Boss SYB's have a sawtooth?

Yes they do. They have a normal sawtooth, and a -1 octave sawtooth. That's what I was gonna try.

Swimming Bird · #8 10-02-2010, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevteop

The Octavius Squeezer's portamento wouldn't do it, it's not quick enough for that sort of thing. If you wanted to cop the slides really well you would need a fretless.

A pitch shifter with an expression pedal (Whammy IV, Ring Thing, Pitchfactor, PS-5/6, etc) might do the portamento better than a fretless for really big, fast slides.

efajardo90 · #9 10-02-2010, 04:24 PM

whats the portamento?

sandmangeck · #10 10-02-2010, 04:45 PM

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Portamento

smeet · #11 10-02-2010, 06:17 PM

A cheap'n'dirty way is to use a bright/digital sounding distortion like the MXR Blowtorch. Then you need to work on fast slides and a bit of right-handed tapping to get that monophonic synth phrasing. It's a bit harder, but really if you get the phrasing down, the tone sounds pretty good even with just the distortion.

kevteop · #12 10-03-2010, 04:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swimming Bird

A pitch shifter with an expression pedal (Whammy IV, Ring Thing, Pitchfactor, PS-5/6, etc) might do the portamento better than a fretless for really big, fast slides.

Yeah good point. If the pitch shifter is before the oscillator it won't affect the tone either.

The M9 is looking like the ideal pedal for this sound, then. Pitch Glide -> Attack Synth, use the last slot for an EQ or volume control because it's bound to be too loud by that point...

RickenBoogie · #13 10-03-2010, 07:50 AM

One of these babies will take care of business. All the stomp box synths for bass are great, but they all fall short of an actual keyboard synth. Not sayin' don't get a stomp synth, but, you could save your pennies and get a real synth instead of another bass someday, and really have it made. Both of the 2 I pictured also cost less then half what the Taurus cost.

gastric · #14 10-03-2010, 08:37 AM

BOSS SE-70 has a decent synth that provides portamento. Unsure if you could get it to cop that specific sound in the chorus or not, and it doesn't handle playing octave notes right next to each other well.

syciprider · #15 10-03-2010, 10:41 AM

Contrary to what was posted, the Markbass SS has portamento.

smeet · #16 10-03-2010, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickenBoogie

One of these babies will take care of business. All the stomp box synths for bass are great, but they all fall short of an actual keyboard synth. Not sayin' don't get a stomp synth, but, you could save your pennies and get a real synth instead of another bass someday, and really have it made. Both of the 2 I pictured also cost less then half what the Taurus cost.

Yes! Or the Novation Xiosynth , which does some pretty good bass from what I hear. And it's not much bigger or pricier than a stompbox.

Swimming Bird · #17 10-03-2010, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevteop

The M9 is looking like the ideal pedal for this sound, then. Pitch Glide -> Attack Synth, use the last slot for an EQ or volume control because it's bound to be too loud by that point...

Matter of opinion, but I wouldn't use the M9 for this. I find the fuzz and synth/filter sounds to be pretty lifeless on the Line 6 modelers. I've been disappointed every time I've tried any of them -- FM4, DM4, M13, M9.

Stick_Player · #18 10-03-2010, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Both of the 2 I pictured also cost less then half what the Taurus cost.

However, they only produce 10% of the sound a T3 does.

Actually, there is NO synth that is in the same league as a Moog Taurus 3. And yes, they are not cheap.

RickenBoogie · #19 10-03-2010, 03:34 PM

10%, that's a little unfair. In fact, the MoPho has 53 bass patches, and with 2 oscillators, and full control of the signal path, capable of ALOT more than any bass synth pedal. The Taurus is bad ass, but cost prohibitive. Even the cost of a good synth pedal ain't cheap. What I'm saying is, a low priced analog keyboard synth is a good "middle ground" option.

Stick_Player · #20 10-03-2010, 09:51 PM

Quote:

10%, that's a little unfair.

So it's even less?