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Anybody else going all software?

#201
One gripe I have with Volcano is I can never get the envelope tracking to work well. It doesn't seem like the threshold tracking is sensitive enough, or doesn't reset quickly enough. In contrast all of the other filters have good envelope tracking against the same input signal. Best workaround I came up with was using ReaGate as it has a MIDI output that you can use as a trigger source and then trigger Volcano via MIDI instead of audio envelope. But even that isn't quite as good as a nice filter envelope tracker as it requires you to pass the gate which means really clean, staccato'ed notes. Comments Jufros?
 
#202
Wow that would be awesome if you could! Even just a couple of presets would be really helpful to give me a feel of what you can do with this stuff. I am playing a G&L JB-2, its a jazz bass and I just have the cheap nickel round-wound D-Addario strings on it right now. For the tune I have in mind Its a pretty funky tone...kind of a Jaco type fingerstyle. I have both pickups coming through and play near the bridge, really dig in on it to. This is waaaay bigger of a help than I expected to get! Really appreciate it. Either settings for Volcano or the free frohmage would be awesome. Im at work right now but I can easily download either of them later today when i get home.
 
#203
Here's a preset screenshot from L9's auto filter. My jazz has not been getting as much love lately and these rounds are kind of dead, but if you fiddle with threshold and cutoff mod you should dig what you're hearing. Send me your email and I'll shoot you the plugin preset if you'd like.

Screenshot2010-04-09at12633PM.png


Gastric, are you talking about the ADSR triggering or envelope follower modulation? As far as the ADSR is concerned, a good rule of thumb is to try to dial in your exact envelope so that there's little to no modulation happening. Leave the decay and release knobs alone, and then move and attack and sustain knobs to get where you need to be. The trigger will really freak out if you're playing fast and the decay time doesn't at least approximately match what you're playing. For slower stuff it doesn't matter nearly as much.

For the envelope follower, I'll usually start with attack and decay at 12:00 and a 12dB LPF @ ~100-125 and then start increasing the modulation amount. I'm really until that FX-25 rubber band sound though. For quackier stuff it's better to layer a static LPF at ~125 and low resonance with a BPF in parallel in my experience. I've had good success with both methods. You definitely can't get that quacky just using LPF's alone in Volcano on a clean bass tone though that's for sure.
 
#204
I've used my MBP on Mainstage + a FCB1010 live for the first time this month. It went by really well.

Anecdote: my bass had a slight hum, and the soundman had been trying to find a solution when he told me of it. I just said "Oh, I'll add a little noise gate at concert-level and we'll be good to go". We were :)
 
#206
I dig the stuff you all are getting into with software... My question is if you think the feel suffers? I haven't played through software in a while, because any latency annoys me.

Does it still feel like bass, or are you content to lose some of the organic feel in exchange for the sonic power? Just curious.

John
 
#208
If you have a relatively new machine and Firewire or PCIE, the latency is truly negligible. Pitch->MIDI tracking can be usable but I just don't trust it enough and honestly, being creative with audio effects and routing is just way more engaging. I can run some pretty serious effects schemes in 3ms or less with the RME Multiface II without pushing my CPU half way.

Screenshot2010-04-09at83145PM.png


This is way more than I'd ever realistically use and I'm still not at 50%. I have here:

-Opto compressor
-Multiband distortion used as a hard gate
-3 oscillators, 2 routed to one bus and the other dropped an octave below sent to another
-Up to 8 filters, 12-48dB, roughly 10-12 potential different models for each filter
-Graphical waveshaper for higher oscillators
-A digital EQ low-passing the subs I don't need for the lows
-Pulteq analog modelled EQ for character (relatively resource intensive)
-Light chorus on the highs
-2 different rhythmic glitch / sequencing plugins that I can bypass and send various program change messages to with a foot controller
-Hardcore squashing limiter on the master out

The one thing that I do miss is overdriving my MF-101, but I'm demoing SoundToys native right now and FilterFreak is blowing my mind and freakishly close. It's a very expensive bundle but I can get a discount and the filter, phaser, delay, and decapitator are all the finest in their class that I've tried by pretty astonishing degree.

With a solid state drive in your laptop, that whole mess will load up on a program change just peachy.

This is another super fun plugin: The Korg MS-20 filter section courtesy Korg themselves. I do not miss my Robot Factory at all.
Screenshot2010-04-09at90532PM.gif
 
#209
Amazing stuff, I'm a software newb, but I think of freedom and acces to millions of effects and possibilities and I get excited. A quick question: I really like Amplitube for the sounds it get, and for the stand alone wich works wonders for the informatic dumbs like me who cannot dream to make a host work. So, question is, can I run bass -- interface---amplitube as effect/amp emulation -- interface--- regular bass amp? Is there a problem in doing this?
 
#211
At the moment I'm using an old Fender BXR bass combo, and I got great results going to the fx return, but controling the volume from the PC is a gripe. Other than that, It sounded great as I suspected. I even tried going straight into/from the board, no interface. Thanks to ASIO4all, no latency and no glitches. This thread was a real eye opener. Now I'm decided to take my "pedal savings" and making them "laptop savings", mwahaha
 
#212
I think we're still a few years early for everyone to start going up with a laptop full of effects on stage. Though, I have my fair share of working with computer music and using VST effect plugins and whatnot. For live shows, the band puts the synth instruments onto a stomp box as backing tracks and I just play bass [and him, guitar and vocals] over the top of the backing track.
 
#213
Wow so jufros, you are a huge help! I PMed you with my email. I got a pretty decent, quacky tone by just scaling it down a lot and not using a really intense piece of software like volcano. Instead, like you said I took the tracks over to my guitarists house, and loaded it up onto Logic. Its not as complex, but logics basic autofilter does work well. I will see later this week if the LPF and BPF in parallel can give me that kinda sound in volcano. It would be nice If i could tweak the settings a bit more...

ALSO, its not going into the recording we are actually mastering and releasing but I recently used the Line-6 echo stompbox's "swell" effect with the arpeggio presets on volcano and a pitch modulation VST and it it giving me the PERFECT backround chords! My bass can finally do the comping!
Anyone know of any digital effect to give me the swelling effect? My line 6 box doesn't allow for too much control over the attack, and decay etc and I would like to be able to record a clean tone in the studio and worry about the effects later.

Also, since you fellow TBers have been helping me out soo much with this project if its any consolation I can make sure you guys have a listen to the finished product once it is mastered. You'll even get to hear it before our official release!
 
#214
g&lplayer said:
Anyone know of any digital effect to give me the swelling effect? My line 6 box doesn't allow for too much control over the attack, and decay etc and I would like to be able to record a clean tone in the studio and worry about the effects later.
Click to expand...

it depends on your particular needs, but you can use logics enveloper for really short stuff, and the tremolo with a slow rate for longer swells. another possibility would be to draw envelopes with the volume automation. put some compression for sustain in front and shape attack and decay as you like...
 
#217
I'd worry about using a laptop on sage as it would seem to be rather exposed to beer or things falling on it. But then I don't have any pedals that do a decent synth sound, and I am not sure what affordable multieffect pedal does...
 
#218
Yeah that's definitely a legitimate concern. I put the laptop on top of my rack in a small case that I've attached some industrial velcro to. I keep the rack out of the way and definitely NOT on top of my 15/6/1 cab. I've gigged out at some ****** bars with it a few times and haven't had any trouble. I'm running a 2.8Ghz 17'' Macbook Pro w/ 8GB RAM and a 160GB Intel X-25M G2 Solid State Drive. Apple just came out with the new Core i5/i7 Macbook Pro's which will definitely be more powerful, but I'm really not hitting the ceiling with my machine right now at all. It's definitely a really good time to buy a tricked out previous generation Core 2 Duo MBP if you're looking for a really powerful Mac on a budget IMO.
 

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