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Iron Ether Appreciation Society
- Thread starter Jared Lash
- Start date
To be fair, I'm pretty sure you won't find the FMeron's equal in the C4 (or any other box) either. I've spent plenty of time in the C4 editor creating and tweaking my own sounds (as well as messing with other users'). Is the DubT and XD going to give me a minor 3rd harmony with dual 16 step patterned sequences? Nope, but I don't need that. I also don't need 17 options of filter types and a bunch of modeled distortions. Everything I bought the C4 to do can be done with the DubT/XD (octaves, oscillators, filters)......with the addition of actually having dedicated knobs for all of it (trying to adjust 2 oscillator levels, sub octave level, sub octave filter, filter frequency, Q, etc. with 2 ctrl knobs is maddening). How you describe the FMeron is how I describe my C4 - novel, but not extremely applicable.
I guess my point is that sure, there's not any other pedal that can replicate everything in the C4...but I would venture to guess that almost nobody uses all of it. People buy it with specific purposes in mind. Just because it has 8,000 different options doesn't make it irreplaceable for it's actual uses.
Funny aside: the one thing that will temporarily keep the C4 on my board is the tremolo. I have a dedicated top level preset just for a basic tremolo that I never knew I needed, and have now grown to love. But I've got another pedal on backorder that will end up handling that for me.
Yeah, I was perhaps unclear. I'm not saying the C4 is better at all of the territory it covers than any single pedal that does this or that 'thing'. Having said that, the 'novel but less applicable' piece is much more true for the FMeron. If you poll 100 bass players, a good chunk of them will use or have used filter, octaves, distortion, or pitch shifting/vibrato functions (found in the C4). I would bet a good number of them have little or no experience using FM synthesis. That's awesome that you have a practical use for it, but it doesn't make it an effect that is widely used or applicable to most bass players (or musicians more generally).
Like I said, I love IE stuff and have spent lots of money on his pedals over the years. I'm not knocking them in the least - they are phenomenal. I'm also not saying the C4 is irreplaceable - it's not, and mine isn't even on my board at the moment.
If you want on the fly tweaking via knobs and you have the space for 2-5 different pedals, you might replicate or best a number of the functions on the C4 with individual effects. If you want to spend time tweaking, tinkering, and dialing in custom presets; appreciate access to presets; want the created sound in one touch; and want that in an incredibly small package for the price of a single 'boutique' pedal, the C4 is unmatched. It's time consuming, but you get out what you put in for the most part.
Side note: I would buy a second XD if there was a version with an effects loop that was switchable between relay and true bypass. The one touch engaging of 2+ pedals for synth sounds is so convenient. I think the XD beats the 3Leaf filters I have for more dramatic synth sounds and the expression capabilities are no contest - XD dominates that arena. Still, the switchable loop on the big box 3leaf filters is extremely useful.
Yeah I really like the idea of the C4, and haven’t really given it a fair shake. It’s quite a learning curve for me, though. Maybe I’d just rather turn a few knobs than use an app. Guess I’m simple that way. That arpeggiator, though.
On a side note, I’d grab that Nimbus SE you have for sale if I didn’t have a Ventris.
Taylor will typically post on Iron Ether's FB page that a new batch is in the shop. There seems to be quite a bit of demand lately which is awesome, but more dreams are being crushed lol
It seems like a new batch of each pedal comes around at least every two months or so, and they typically last for a few days to a week in the shop.
Actually lasted longer than I expected. I had been religiously checking my email and the shop site waiting for it to drop while I've been stuck at home. Then finally my barber shop was able to open and I was desperately in need of a haircut.....and of course......probably like the 3rd time I've left the house in 2 months, and as I'm sitting in the barber chair, I feel my phone buzz in my pocket. I was so afraid of missing out on it that I sat there and ordered one-handed on my phone while trying not to move my head. Turns out I could've totally waited until I got home....but hey, I got one!
Just got my fmeron today and spent hours with it. What a great synth pedal. It has a super fast attack which most synth pedals can never do right. It also does a few really usable things for me - juno style bass sounds, and the amp mode takes my bass sound and makes it huge. I love that. It also does a reese style bass sound that swells in quite nicely. The tracking is enormously good as well. Im a bit intrigued by his new octave pedal but i always come back to the oc2 for that sound so it may be overkill.
the fmeron is a perfect alternative to the oc2. I have them next to each other on my board right now.
the fmeron is a perfect alternative to the oc2. I have them next to each other on my board right now.
Fascinating. And good to hear. Somewhere in my ramblings I expressed little interest in the FMeron and FM synthesis in general, primarily because I’m so pleased with my Subterranea and plan to purchase a Dubterranea, keeping both in use.
But to say I don’t like the synth instrumentation and synth bass lines in music during the period I assume used that method is silly.
I love that stuff and listen to it often.
The subtractive Moog type sound is definitely a priority with me but I’m very interested to hear how things progress with your goals.
As many of the people in this thread know; the stuff Taylor designs has extremely wide range of adjustment in most parameters. It’s been a steep learning for me. The Xenograph is a good example of how interactive the controls are but even more importantly, how interactive the pedal (and the system as a whole) is with you, your bass, your hands.
All this can be challenging, even frustrating as was the case with me at times. Conversely, a more personal sound and expression can be realized. And again speaking for myself, I’ve applied this insight to other pedals and systems.
Of Note given the attention to the Dubterranea release; My Subterranea, purchased locally off CL and based on what I’d read here was an easy lift even for a knucklehead like me. I’m grateful for that.
I’m still using a tiny iPhone and it’s a P.T.A. to type on so sorry if there are typos I know I find that annoying
Well the thing about the Juno reference is this pedal doesn't sound just like a Juno. But it provides a lot of the characteristics of that classic bass sound (think old house and techno). And honestly, that is what I am really liking about this pedal - it doesn't try and sound just like a synth because the reality is that nothing really does.I have Moog synths, and no bass synth pedal can really get that sound. Some can get a little close, but the only way to get a moog bass sound is to play a moog synth, imo. Of course I mainly am a music producer and session player so I really scrutinize this stuff pretty closely. I've put synth bass pedals head to head against moogs many times and the moog is always the winner in that case.
My initial impressions on this pedal is that it's not just trying to be a synth. It actually is a bass pedal. Just using the amp section will add a huge Sin under the bass guitar so it automatically makes the instrument go from a midrange instrument to full spectrum, which really is one of the key ways to compete with a keyboard bass.
Reality is that so far a bass guitar will never get the huge sound of a keyboard bass. Keyboard bass has the ability dominate an entire mix and sound musically pleasing. Bass guitar traditionally sits in the low mids, but with this pedal you can add in that big bottom instantly and fill up a lot more space.
So if you think about this as a way to enhance your bass sound and then get crazy and turn it into more (juno style, hoover style, slow decay, super fast attack punch) and do it all with some knob turns instead of needing a computer program - its a winner.
Thank you, I’d quote and +1 the entire statement but much of it is new information to me!
Your post and reply, to me represents a more informed perspective and my excitement upon reading what I now understand to be an educated impression of the FMeron centers around the idea that approximations of sounds from different lineages of synthesis could be crafted and used in a musical context. Sorry if I read more into it.
I think that the synth bass lines and riffs in the music I came up with, and music that I only later came to appreciate, are the best ever. Just my opinion of course but I do know that nothing can do what a real synth does. Yeah man, nothing like a fat synth. Thanx for explaining some of the mechanics behind it.
The only synth I’ve ever owned was the 2 Oscillator Moog Prodigy but that and a P-Bass wuz all I needed.
I agree w @Grahams Groove I struggled to find a place for FMeron for my situation and my situation centers around the strange and unusual. The XD, however, it my jam. LOVE that one. Haven't tried all of IE stuff, but all I've tried have been impressive...for me FMeron was just not what I wanted...I found that the expression functionality did not give me wide enough sweeps (I even thought my pedal was defective, but was not). Taylor makes a bunch of unique and interesting things...thankfully...as we all have different needs and different sounds in our heads we are trying to recreate.
No mistake though that IE is top quality in every way...you can't expect everything to be perfect for you.
No mistake though that IE is top quality in every way...you can't expect everything to be perfect for you.
Given what I know [sic] of you and your interests, I'm surprised by this. I was initially attracted to -- and, once having acquired one, fell in love with -- the FMeron specifically because of how well it lends itself to "the strange and unusual"
...though in fairness, I'm not trying to use it for clichéd "Synth Bass" sounds, I've already got the whole analog subtractive MiniMoog emulation thing covered by a few other pedals. And I'm definitely not trying to do DX-7 emulations with it. I'm just digging it so much because it simultaneously offers such complete timbral (and registral, and pitch-centric) mayhem side-by-side with incredibly musical sensitivity to what I'm physically executing on the bass.
Hey Homes are we not presently talking about Synth Bass?
In that context it would be expressed thus: SICK
Spoken with emphasis of course. But don’t worry, I’m on it. Cosmicevan! it should read [find a place for THE FMeron]
In that context it would be expressed thus: SICK
Spoken with emphasis of course. But don’t worry, I’m on it. Cosmicevan! it should read [find a place for THE FMeron]
