• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Filter for FAST synth bass

speak_onion

speak_onion

Jun 22, 2007
864
6
43
Queens, NY
www.speakonion.com
#1
I know there's infinity "which filter for synth?" threads, but this one is a bit more specific.

In short: I'm considering a Meatwad, a Groove Regulator, and maybe a Fatman, and I'm wondering if anyone has used these in a synthy setup (i.e., with octave/fuzz) and found them good for faster playing.

In long:
I love my MAM Warp 9 filter (the DANFILTER for those of you who heard the clips that John Davis and I made) and it is spectacular for slow sweeps or LFO wobbles and even for industrial-style downward thump-sweeps, but it can't really handle fast playing. The Warp 9 triggers an ADSR envelope based on an trigger input that produces a gate. I'm sending a clean signal to the trigger input, and try as I might, I can't set the trigger input level just right so that I can have it have it trigger cleanly on every note when I play quickly. If it had a seperate threshold for opening and closing the gate, that would help, but it doesn't so whatever.

Anyway, I think I need a true envelope filter (input envelope-->cutoff) to be able to play faster synthbass styles. It would need an FX loop or trigger input, because I'm going to ruin the dynamics before the signal hits the filter using my Nocto or Pulse Synth or Itty Bitty or whatever. I thought of meatball close liek Groove Regulator and Meatwad, and I thought of Fatman. I didn't love the Fatman when I played with JD's, but I think I was trying to use it wrong, and I'd be open to trying it again.

So what do you think? Will this work? Will one of them be particularly good? Are metaball filters synth-y enough? Any filters I'm not thinking of but should be?

For an example of about how fast I'm talking about listen to the synth bass in this track: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

The filter in that synth bass actually is the Warp 9, but it was done using MIDI note on/offs to open close the filter exactly as I wanted instead of relying on playing dynamics, which no matter how much I practice, won't be as precise as MIDI.
 
#3
1. I can find one; there's a guy in Brooklyn who's been trying to sell one for way too much money for like 2 months now.

2. I briefly owned a Waldorf Pulse (same filter as the miniworks) and I sold it because I strong dislike the filter sound.

3. It will have the same problem as the Warp 9. It's not that there's a lag or something between the input hitting the threshold and the envelope triggering, it's just that if I set the threshold low enough that it triggers as soon as I hit the note, it will then stay on after I mute it, because I don't mute to dead silence. I know I should work on my technique, but really, it's just not natural to mute to dead silence in between notes on fast runs.

Thanks for the suggestion, though!
 
#4
speak_onion said:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Click to expand...

Great track. :)

Meatballs are pretty good for quick stuff if you set the attack and decay controls really low. I would knock you up a quick sample but I've just packed all my gear up ready to go in the car.

One warning with the Meatwad though: It flips the phase of your signal when using the LP or HP outputs, essentially making the blend control useless and causing cancellation issues with anything else you might want to blend with it. I've seen that mixer on your board so I figure it probably will be an issue for you.
 
#5
kevteop said:
Great track. :)

Meatballs are pretty good for quick stuff if you set the attack and decay controls really low. I would knock you up a quick sample but I've just packed all my gear up ready to go in the car.

One warning with the Meatwad though: It flips the phase of your signal when using the LP or HP outputs, essentially making the blend control useless and causing cancellation issues with anything else you might want to blend with it. I've seen that mixer on your board so I figure it probably will be an issue for you.
Click to expand...

:bassist:

I was hoping you'd chime in here. I don't make all that much use of the clean blend option of the mixer, so it might not be a deal breaker. I'd love a clip if you could. And maybe I could holler at Mario about a little inverting buffer if it does turn out to be an issue.
 
#6
I think a Meatball-style filter wouldn't be a bad idea, but it really depends whether your envelope is all that useful, I suppose. If you're playing really fast then your notes won't decay enough for the filter to start closing.

The 00Funk might be worth looking at too. Certainly the filter in the O.S. is very reactive to the envelope follower.

If you do need faster note decay maybe a string damper might be an idea. Slice up an old neoprene mouse mat and wedge 'er under there!
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back