Madonna "into the groove " synth bass sound effect

[EduUY]

I need help, i have a compressor (tc spectracomp), and chorus (boss).
Now i want to buy 2 or 3 more pedals for my effects set, and im thinking of octaver, envelope filter, and some Kind of synth bass pedal..


My aim is to achieve the synth sounds of the 80´s pop songs, like madonna "into the Groove" synth bass sound, what pedal should i get for that Kind of sound?

Thanks!!

i go straight to amazon and purchase after you reply me and i choose from your answers

 

[Proton Lenny]

That synth sound is based off the Yamaha DX7, which is an FM synthesizer. So you could try the new Iron Ether FMeron, which is a monophonic fm synth pedal. However, the envelope isn't quite snappy enough to get you that sound exactly. To me those snappy FM sounds are very reminiscent of slap bass. You could even try slap bass with a bit of chorus, compression, and an envelope filter.

 

[bass12]

I would be inclined to defer to Proton Lenny's judgment on this one. As far as envelope filters go, that's a big can of worms. Every model has its own "voice" and you're likely to get a whole bunch of different suggestions as to what you should get. When it comes to playing covers of songs whose recordings feature synth bass I try not to get too finicky about reproducing exact sounds, as that just seems to lead me into a black hole. Best of luck!

 

[stambroker]

I did this a few years ago and got most of the way there with heavy compression, picking really hard, and using a Pigtronix EP-2 Envelope Phaser. I agree with Lenny that synth pedals can't really capture the same snappy, percussiveness from the Yamaha DX7

I'd get a simple, bouncy filter like the TWA WR-3 Wah Rocker and run a compression w/ an attack knob into it. Heavy, thin chorus really helps after (I used a Tech21 Bass Boost Chorus to fatten things up).

 

[Feral Feline]

@Proton Lenny et al

What if you run a split signal with one channel going into the combination filter/comp/chorus (in that order, IMO),
and the other channel going into the Iron Ether FM?

Mix 'em back together and you'd have the attack at the front of the note beefed up by the FM sound on the note's decay.





@EduUY : What you get greatly depends on not just your needs, but your playing style.

OCTAVER
For the Boss OC-2 sounds great and is a standard, but analogue one-note-at-a-time octave-down and only available used.
The monophonic COG T-16 is smaller than the OC-2 and sounds great and can be ordered new.

If you need octave up and polyphony, digital is your only course: one of the EHX POGs OR
much smaller and cheaper and sounds nearly identical to the POG: Mooer Tender Octaver.

For adding synthiness to lines I'd go for the polyphonic digital octavers 'cause of the octave up, but that's not to say the monophonic analogue can't get synthy, it's just a different flavour and both are delicious. I've got the Tender Octaver for digital and Red Witch is handling my analogue octave down.


ENVELOPE FILTER
A big ol' bad bag o' worms, this is. What you like the sound of may not be what works for you, but you'll hopefully find a sound that you like and is compatible with your playing.
Buy/Borrow/rent and then flip/return/trade until you find something your ears and fingers like.
I'm still relying on the filter(s) in my M5 and hoping to hit upon a dedicated filter I like.


SYNTH BASS
— Check TB thread Synth Bass Pedal (some great suggestions on Filters here, too)
Panda Future Impact / Akai Deep Impact = pricey, but the Panda FI is powerful and IMO a much better purchase than its Akai grandfather the DI which has less features is less reliable and still commands a hefty sum of monies...
Bananana Matryoshka — small, fun but no presets/MIDI.
Iron Ether Fmeron — as previously mentioned in the thread, an FM synth engine.
Zoom MS-60B — not a true Synth pedal, but with four simultaneous effects built in, some people are getting some very synthy tones from it.

There are other synth pedals such as the RedWitch Synthotron, but I heard it's better with guitar than bass — the ones above are what I'd choose and in that order; other older synth pedals will have to be bought used, be hard to find, may not be reliable.

 

[Proton Lenny]

@Proton Lenny et al

What if you run a split signal with one channel going into the combination filter/comp/chorus (in that order, IMO),
and the other channel going into the Iron Ether FM?

Mix 'em back together and you'd have the attack at the front of the note beefed up by the FM sound on the note's decay.





@EduUY : What you get greatly depends on not just your needs, but your playing style.

OCTAVER
For the Boss OC-2 sounds great and is a standard, but analogue one-note-at-a-time octave-down and only available used.
The monophonic COG T-16 is smaller than the OC-2 and sounds great and can be ordered new.

If you need octave up and polyphony, digital is your only course: one of the EHX POGs OR
much smaller and cheaper and sounds nearly identical to the POG: Mooer Tender Octaver.

For adding synthiness to lines I'd go for the polyphonic digital octavers 'cause of the octave up, but that's not to say the monophonic analogue can't get synthy, it's just a different flavour and both are delicious. I've got the Tender Octaver for digital and Red Witch is handling my analogue octave down.


ENVELOPE FILTER
A big ol' bad bag o' worms, this is. What you like the sound of may not be what works for you, but you'll hopefully find a sound that you like and is compatible with your playing.
Buy/Borrow/rent and then flip/return/trade until you find something your ears and fingers like.
I'm still relying on the filter(s) in my M5 and hoping to hit upon a dedicated filter I like.


SYNTH BASS
— Check TB thread Synth Bass Pedal (some great suggestions on Filters here, too)
Panda Future Impact / Akai Deep Impact = pricey, but the Panda FI is powerful and IMO a much better purchase than its Akai grandfather the DI which has less features is less reliable and still commands a hefty sum of monies...
Bananana Matryoshka — small, fun but no presets/MIDI.
Iron Ether Fmeron — as previously mentioned in the thread, an FM synth engine.
Zoom MS-60B — not a true Synth pedal, but with four simultaneous effects built in, some people are getting some very synthy tones from it.

There are other synth pedals such as the RedWitch Synthotron, but I heard it's better with guitar than bass — the ones above are what I'd choose and in that order; other older synth pedals will have to be bought used, be hard to find, may not be reliable.

I could see that being cool. However the FMeron tracks way better with darker signals, i.e. tone pot rolled back. And I think it would definitely track poorly with slap bass (which would help give you that metallic FM attack. But try it and let us know!