Source Audio Sorcerers Society (S.A.S.S) Part 3

[aglide]

Do you build your presets from scratch or do you use a template and adjust accordingly?

There are tons (hundreds?) of presets already built and shared in the Neuro app that you can download to the pedal to try out. I've found the best way to learn how it works is to find one that sounds like something I want, and then start playing around with it's settings to see how they built it.

 

[Billyears IV]

The C4 is capable of a vast array of sounds. Do I use them all in live settings? No way. But I never thought I would with any synth pedal, even limited to only 10 sounds.

For myself, the whole 'point' of the C4 is the ongoing journey. Part of my musical (self) education. Explore this, tweak that, like this, forget that. If that appeals, I would recommend some general awareness of what the parameters do in shaping synthesised sound. Easier when you understand some 'principles' rather than diving in too naive (although that can still be fun/mystifying) .

I'm not great at creating patches from scratch but have learnt what to adjust, to achieve desired changes to existing presets. And there's tons & tons on the community. Plus great support here.

I will say that the nature of the different ways you can pluck, bend, slide, tap, hammer etc the string(s) opens up great extra subtle expressive potential with certain synth sounds (as opposed to striking a key). Not to be underestimated. Sometimes have to work hard to play clean. Other times, deliberate 'messy-er' technique can enhance.

Some presets just might not sound so effective, for whatever reasons. I don't sweat this too much, as they are usually ones that I wouldn't have a use/desire for.

I sometimes wish I played guitar, to explore fuller chord possibilities but plenty enough with bass.

My main current (bass) live uses for C4 - definitely octaves, subs, env/filter, phaser, some pads, and then various synth sounds (but currently less buzzy saw or square, as band has other synth instruments).

No regrets.

 

[_Tay_]

The C4 is capable of a vast array of sounds. Do I use them all in live settings? No way. But I never thought I would with any synth pedal, even limited to only 10 sounds.

For myself, the whole 'point' of the C4 is the ongoing journey. Part of my musical (self) education. Explore this, tweak that, like this, forget that. If that appeals, I would recommend some general awareness of what the parameters do in shaping synthesised sound. Easier when you understand some 'principles' rather than diving in too naive (although that can still be fun/mystifying) .

I'm not great at creating patches from scratch but have learnt what to adjust, to achieve desired changes to existing presets. And there's tons & tons on the community. Plus great support here.

I will say that the nature of the different ways you can pluck, bend, slide, tap, hammer etc the string(s) opens up great extra subtle expressive potential with certain synth sounds (as opposed to striking a key). Not to be underestimated. Sometimes have to work hard to play clean. Other times, deliberate 'messy-er' technique can enhance.

Some presets just might not sound so effective, for whatever reasons. I don't sweat this too much, as they are usually ones that I wouldn't have a use/desire for.

My main current live uses for C4 - definitely octaves, subs, env/filter, phaser, some pads, and then various synth sounds (but currently less buzzy saw or square, as band has other synth instruments).

No regrets.

I second Billyears live uses as i am the same. It is a fantastic unit. I will also add that it is important to adjust your input level. I made most of my presets using an active bass and now i have been playing a passive bass that input level has dropped significantly affecting how the sounds work. So if a sound doesn't sound good to you, try adjusting the input level down a touch, or using a level boost before. Makes a huge difference!

 

[gustobassman]

I recently purchased an Aftershock, and I'm really upset I didn't get one sooner. Could have saved myself a lot of grief moving dirt pedals in and out of my home when all of them were in that nice little orange box the whole time.

I have one slot on my board to fill and I'm interested in opinions. Setup is tuner>octave>aftershock>chorus>reverb. I've been using an OC-3 for the past 8 years and that pedal ins't going anywhere. However, the idea of a second octave/synth type of pedal is high on my list. I've owned pedals like the SYB-5 and some other synthy pedals and haven't found much use for them outside of making silly sounds in my room. All of the C4 demos I've heard show it doing pads and synth leads which are cool, but is it capable of doing more subtle effects? I find myself playing an assortment of gigs, and I like the idea of having three presets ready to go like I do with the Aftershock. What are some live applications you've found the C4 to be useful?

Glad to hear you like the Aftershock!

I use the C4 a lot live. I chose the DMC Micro as all the preset slots allow me to do groupings for each band. I could be happy with 3, but... At one point i had a grouping of "simple" efx- a phaser, an envelope filter, an up octave, and an overdrive with just enough dirt. All within 4 clicks, lol.

Zack Riser's YT vid hits on more of the basic features like this before hitting the deeper synth stuff. Worth watching the entire video. And then do it again.

I used my Atlas live Yesterday

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ctld5OFukka/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

 

[ItsmeSantiago]

Glad to hear you like the Aftershock!

I use the C4 a lot live. I chose the DMC Micro as all the preset slots allow me to do groupings for each band. I could be happy with 3, but... At one point i had a grouping of "simple" efx- a phaser, an envelope filter, an up octave, and an overdrive with just enough dirt. All within 4 clicks, lol.

Zack Riser's YT vid hits on more of the basic features like this before hitting the deeper synth stuff. Worth watching the entire video. And then do it again.

I used my Atlas live Yesterday

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ctld5OFukka/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Thanks again brother! Nice crowd. I’m considering an Atlas too. I have live sound experience and can use the neuro app fairly easy with all of its settings. I might have to get the C4 and spend some time with it. I don’t see a lot of negative reviews.

 

[roleki]

Thanks again brother! Nice crowd. I’m considering an Atlas too. I have live sound experience and can use the neuro app fairly easy with all of its settings. I might have to get the C4 and spend some time with it. I don’t see a lot of negative reviews.

The Atlas was a game-changer for me; as a compressor, it's top notch, and for a while it was "set it and forget it (Studio 76 Bass ftw)" but over the last year I've developed severe arthritis in the fingertips of the index and middle fingers of both hands. With this condition, I have good days and bad days; now I have presets on the Atlas that allow me to "play up" to whatever my fingers will allow that day. That's been pretty cool.

As far as preset editing goes... while the Neuro and pedal manuals are all great, nothing has been quite as instructive as grabbing other people's user presets, hearing what they sound like, and monkeying with the parameters to see how that changes what comes out.

When testing other folks' patches, I always make sure to roll my tone to zero, test at 1/4 output, test at 1/2, and so on, then tone to 1/4, output to 1/4, test, and so on because I don't know what kind of rig other people are running, and very often what sounds like a loud mess at full output/tone will sound great at 3/4 output 1/4 tone or what have you. It's not even tedious to test, because it's more time on the instrument!

 

[Billyears IV]

The Atlas was a game-changer for me; as a compressor, it's top notch, and for a while it was "set it and forget it (Studio 76 Bass ftw)" but over the last year I've developed severe arthritis in the fingertips of the index and middle fingers of both hands. With this condition, I have good days and bad days; now I have presets on the Atlas that allow me to "play up" to whatever my fingers will allow that day. That's been pretty cool.

As far as preset editing goes... while the Neuro and pedal manuals are all great, nothing has been quite as instructive as grabbing other people's user presets, hearing what they sound like, and monkeying with the parameters to see how that changes what comes out.

When testing other folks' patches, I always make sure to roll my tone to zero, test at 1/4 output, test at 1/2, and so on, then tone to 1/4, output to 1/4, test, and so on because I don't know what kind of rig other people are running, and very often what sounds like a loud mess at full output/tone will sound great at 3/4 output 1/4 tone or what have you. It's not even tedious to test, because it's more time on the instrument!

Arthritis is a really bummer. I also seem to have developed some. Left hand thumb/hand joint and more recently rh middle finger. As you say, some days are better. Can't seem to find any reason why it surges up on others.

Have you had any steroid injections? Worked a treat 1st time round on my thumb, but not 2nd time v well.

I kinda welcome simpler lines enhanced with some fx as side distraction from trying to (painfully) play more complex busy lines.....

 

[rsmith601]

The Atlas was a game-changer for me; as a compressor, it's top notch, and for a while it was "set it and forget it (Studio 76 Bass ftw)" but over the last year I've developed severe arthritis in the fingertips of the index and middle fingers of both hands. With this condition, I have good days and bad days; now I have presets on the Atlas that allow me to "play up" to whatever my fingers will allow that day. That's been pretty cool.

As far as preset editing goes... while the Neuro and pedal manuals are all great, nothing has been quite as instructive as grabbing other people's user presets, hearing what they sound like, and monkeying with the parameters to see how that changes what comes out.

When testing other folks' patches, I always make sure to roll my tone to zero, test at 1/4 output, test at 1/2, and so on, then tone to 1/4, output to 1/4, test, and so on because I don't know what kind of rig other people are running, and very often what sounds like a loud mess at full output/tone will sound great at 3/4 output 1/4 tone or what have you. It's not even tedious to test, because it's more time on the instrument!

This is an amazing post. Thank you for sharing. I am going to share with the team.

 

[roleki]

Arthritis is a really bummer. I also seem to have developed some. Left hand thumb/hand joint and more recently rh middle finger. As you say, some days are better. Can't seem to find any reason why it surges up on others.

Have you had any steroid injections? Worked a treat 1st time round on my thumb, but not 2nd time v well.

I kinda welcome simpler lines enhanced with some fx as side distraction from trying to (painfully) play more complex busy lines.....

Oh yeah, I had a cortisone shot in March (for a different problem) and the hands felt great for about 3 weeks before the OA came back with a vengeance.

As far as what I get to play, I'm kind of lucky in a weird sense because I had never played an instrument before last summer, when I picked up the bass my son had left sitting in the basement, and that's what triggered the OA to pop up. It's been a bit of an impedement to my learning how to play, but I am at least spared the frustration of not being able to play something that I *used* to be able to play. AKA "I don't suck, it's these gimp fingers! Honest!"

This is an amazing post. Thank you for sharing. I am going to share with the team.

Nah, thank YOU guys for coming up with cool stuff that HAS features like that; the ability to fiddle with all the little hidden buttons and widgets are what attracted me to your products in the first place, I just happened to develop an interesting use case for the Save Preset function

 

[jefbyos]

As far as what I get to play, I'm kind of lucky in a weird sense because I had never played an instrument before last summer, when I picked up the bass my son had left sitting in the basement, and that's what triggered the OA to pop up. It's been a bit of an impedement to my learning how to play, but I am at least spared the frustration of not being able to play something that I *used* to be able to play. AKA "I don't suck, it's these gimp fingers! Honest!"

As far as arthritis goes, movement is definitely recommanded generally speaking (except in crisis state where you need to pause completely). It seems to me that starting to play while discovering your arthritis, is a happy coincidence. Now as you are new to the game, you might want to stay aware of the tension while playing, position, playing duration... Because while learning you might not be 100% into those things. To be fair, even seasoned players continue to learn on that, not counting the constant adaptation to body changes due to aging... *whispers*

Also, in early stages of learning, you may "push" a little bit yourself sometimes, because you want to be doing certain things, because being passionate and all. Like a sport : it could be a good idea to have some kind of reasonable and tailor-made program, applied regilarily, so you can have a safe and consistent physical reinforcement and learning curve, without hurting yourself. Pushing, yes, but reasonably and regularly.

I'm saying this because i did the opposite many times in my life, i probably check all the wrong boxes, and now that i (re)starting to learn singing from the ground up applying this, i can appreciate progress and how i don't hurt myself doing things, for a change ^^ I think it applies to everything. I mean especially with things you love, it is easy to overdo... Playing hours in bad body positions and tension because you want to "get there", you know. And not playing at all the rest of the week because, you got "no time"... Better playing a smaller defined and efficient time, every day if that is possible, push things but not too much, and leave things to the next day to go further. Regarding our body use, even for arts, it is very similar to sports, there is physical awareness needed.

My two cents ^^

 

[gustobassman]

More C4 love.. i joined a new hard rock/metal band a few months back and we are just getting ready to launch. While finishing up our recording, i noticed certain sections on songs would lose a little push on the higher strings. (Its drop C and Drop A stuff). I discovered the same issue while playing live so I found a preset in the community, "simple -1 octave". A couple quick tweaks and now those passages have the same push as the lower strings. Very subtle, yet very effective and now the thinner sections are more balanced with the heavier stuff.

On one of them, its the first song Ive done that requires more than one C4 preset. Super impressed how changes made with the DMC Micro dont seem to affect my clean tone while switching between P mode presets (presets are disengaged initially, have to stomp the C4 to engage).

 

[Trvbass]

More C4 love.. i joined a new hard rock/metal band a few months back and we are just getting ready to launch. While finishing up our recording, i noticed certain sections on songs would lose a little push on the higher strings. (Its drop C and Drop A stuff). I discovered the same issue while playing live so I found a preset in the community, "simple -1 octave". A couple quick tweaks and now those passages have the same push as the lower strings. Very subtle, yet very effective and now the thinner sections are more balanced with the heavier stuff.

On one of them, its the first song Ive done that requires more than one C4 preset. Super impressed how changes made with the DMC Micro dont seem to affect my clean tone while switching between P mode presets (presets are disengaged initially, have to stomp the C4 to engage).

I am looking at the "Simple oct -1" patch on the community right now, thanks for mentioning!

Does the C4 have a "lowest note" capability that would let me add -1 octave starting at some pitch of my choosing, or how are you getting this to work?

 

[sears]

Can the Aftershock or Ultrawave do a germanium boost like the Phat Phuk B? I use the Atlas. I'm a believer. I'd love to dispense with the quirks of germanium but enjoy the way it seems to rearrange the mid frequencies.

 

[gustobassman]

I am looking at the "Simple oct -1" patch on the community right now, thanks for mentioning!

Does the C4 have a "lowest note" capability that would let me add -1 octave starting at some pitch of my choosing, or how are you getting this to work?

I think it may just be easier for me to upload my tweaked preset to the community so you can compare to the "simple -1 octave".

RE: "lowest note" The bass I'm using for this is tuned ACGCFBb, for some reason I'm getting best results with lowest note set as "E1 (4string bass)" and highest note as "E6 (guitar with 24 frets)". I'm primarily looking to beef up stuff being played on the top 4 strings, I don't use this preset on the bottom 2 strings.

I just posted it - it's called "Little Bit Thickah"

 

[roleki]

As far as arthritis goes, movement is definitely recommanded generally speaking (except in crisis state where you need to pause completely). It seems to me that starting to play while discovering your arthritis, is a happy coincidence. Now as you are new to the game, you might want to stay aware of the tension while playing, position, playing duration... Because while learning you might not be 100% into those things. To be fair, even seasoned players continue to learn on that, not counting the constant adaptation to body changes due to aging... *whispers*

Also, in early stages of learning, you may "push" a little bit yourself sometimes, because you want to be doing certain things, because being passionate and all. Like a sport : it could be a good idea to have some kind of reasonable and tailor-made program, applied regilarily, so you can have a safe and consistent physical reinforcement and learning curve, without hurting yourself. Pushing, yes, but reasonably and regularly.

I'm saying this because i did the opposite many times in my life, i probably check all the wrong boxes, and now that i (re)starting to learn singing from the ground up applying this, i can appreciate progress and how i don't hurt myself doing things, for a change ^^ I think it applies to everything. I mean especially with things you love, it is easy to overdo... Playing hours in bad body positions and tension because you want to "get there", you know. And not playing at all the rest of the week because, you got "no time"... Better playing a smaller defined and efficient time, every day if that is possible, push things but not too much, and leave things to the next day to go further. Regarding our body use, even for arts, it is very similar to sports, there is physical awareness needed.

My two cents ^^

That's a lot of two cents I appreciate your taking the time! A lot of what you've illustrated here are things I *have* run into myself; some I've dealt with, others are still kind of underfoot. That said, it's encouraging to know that none of what I've run into is particularly unheard of or insurmountable. Thanks again!

 

[Trvbass]

I just posted it - it's called "Little Bit Thickah"

Very nice, thank you for sharing!

 

[Les Fret]

RE: "lowest note" The bass I'm using for this is tuned ACGCFBb,

that’s an odd tuning! Can you explain the logic and why behind this?

 

[gustobassman]

that’s an odd tuning! Can you explain the logic and why behind this?

Sure.. The songs in this band are in Drop A and Drop C. The guitarists have separate guitars for each tuning, I can get away with just using one bass. I dont do a lot live in the upper, upper register - but its nice to have it for the occasional "wow" fill with the guitars or whatever, lol.

 

[voodoobassist]

So,... I read that the latest apple update disabled the camera kit connection. Sure enough, now my ipad or phone won't connect to my C4. Is there any workaround on this yet? Thanks in advance.

 

[sunbeast]

So,... I read that the latest apple update disabled the camera kit connection. Sure enough, now my ipad or phone won't connect to my C4. Is there any workaround on this yet? Thanks in advance.

I can't verify it myself since I haven't updated the latest version, but I've read there is already a beta Apple software update v16.6 out there that is supposed to fix the camera adaptor issue the 16.5 update caused. I always wait a month before updates for this very reason!