Source Audio Spectrum Inteligent Filter!!!

[shaggy45]

Finally got around to ordering one of these. I had a c4 when they first came out but I think this will be more my style. I loved the bef pro. Can’t wait.

 

[fivestringgecko]

Ok great! Last one is really cool. Will try them out.

Have fun! If you have a couple minutes after you try them, I'd be interested to hear what adjustments you make to dial in any of them for your particular setup/style.

5sg.

 

[Les Fret]

Have fun! If you have a couple minutes after you try them, I'd be interested to hear what adjustments you make to dial in any of them for your particular setup/style.

5sg.

Yes, I had fun today trying them out. I like them and most translate well to my basses! What I noticed is that some presets have nice lows (like Filter twin) whereas the Juan Alderte Discumbulator has very little lows, almost no lows. The Dirty Manta is also cool. But somehow it sounds a bit messy (maybe not the right word). It could use some noise gate or something (don't think the Spectrum has one?). You have to be really precise with your muting.

Also tried both your Manta After Imagine presets. They don't translate well to my basses. For the first few notes I have a nice sound and then after that I only hear sub lows without any definition? It is very hard to control. Maybe it is supposed to sound like that? Do you have an audio clip of those Manta presets?

 

[fivestringgecko]

Yes, I had fun today trying them out. I like them and most translate well to my basses! What I noticed is that some presets have nice lows (like Filter twin) whereas the Juan Alderte Discumbulator has very little lows, almost no lows. The Dirty Manta is also cool. But somehow it sounds a bit messy (maybe not the right word). It could use some noise gate or something (don't think the Spectrum has one?). You have to be really precise with your muting.

Also tried both your Manta After Imagine presets. They don't translate well to my basses. For the first few notes I have a nice sound and then after that I only hear sub lows without any definition? It is very hard to control. Maybe it is supposed to sound like that? Do you have an audio clip of those Manta presets?

Glad to hear most translate well! Curious about the Discumbobulator patches though... Was the lack of low end in both? I'll got back and check both patches and re-upload if necessary! Both sounded quite good with my rig though, and the soundclips were a pretty good representation... at least for my gear! In the meantime, you could also try adjusting the Lo-Retain control. (That control basically creates a crossover-style split in your signal, and only applies the effect to frequencies above the cutoff point. That might help bring back some of your lows).

Regarding tracking on the Dirty Manta, that patch uses an ADSR filter, which behaves quite a bit differently than just an envelope sweep. ADSR = Attack Decay Sustain Release. It's much more of a synth type filter, so having good clean technique and muting helps here. If you ever get a C4 and try patches on that pedal, you'll find that effect happening a lot. My technique before I got the Future Impact and C4 wasn't bad, but both pedals are highly unforgiving, and really helped me clean up my technique and muting even more!

The Manta Afterimage patches aren't mine, they're direct ports of patches from @Quatschmacher as I mentioned in my post. But same as the Dirty Manta patch, they're using the ADSR filter, which is much more synthy, so it will require some rethinking. He did send me a couple reference audio clips though, here you go!

5sg.

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[Les Fret]

Glad to hear most translate well! Curious about the Discumbobulator patches though... Was the lack of low end in both? I'll got back and check both patches and re-upload if necessary! Both sounded quite good with my rig though, and the soundclips were a pretty good representation... at least for my gear! In the meantime, you could also try adjusting the Lo-Retain control. (That control basically creates a crossover-style split in your signal, and only applies the effect to frequencies above the cutoff point. That might help bring back some of your lows).

Regarding tracking on the Dirty Manta, that patch uses an ADSR filter, which behaves quite a bit differently than just an envelope sweep. ADSR = Attack Decay Sustain Release. It's much more of a synth type filter, so having good clean technique and muting helps here. If you ever get a C4 and try patches on that pedal, you'll find that effect happening a lot. My technique before I got the Future Impact and C4 wasn't bad, but both pedals are highly unforgiving, and really helped me clean up my technique and muting even more!

The Manta Afterimage patches aren't mine, they're direct ports of patches from @Quatschmacher as I mentioned in my post. But same as the Dirty Manta patch, they're using the ADSR filter, which is much more synthy, so it will require some rethinking. He did send me a couple reference audio clips though, here you go!

5sg.

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Ok great! Thanks, now I know how they are supposed to sound. They only work when playing super staccato. I didn't know that and played normal funk lines and that doesn't work. I am not familiar with the Manta After Image pedal. Plenty of (sub) lows on those two patches, maybe too much.

By the Discumbobulator patch with the lack of low end I mean the Up one. It's better with the Low Retain at about 50% as you mention. I compared them to the two DOWN ones, these have more low end and are also a bit louder compared to the other one. But it's easy to adjust myself.

I have tried all presets on three basses by the way.

 

[Les Fret]

I have just added two presets that are variations on Fivestringgecko's dirty manta preset. Just a very very quick spontaneous fretless bass line to show the two sounds. One with octaver the other one without. Nothing fancy.

 

[Stephen]

Glad to hear most translate well! Curious about the Discumbobulator patches though... Was the lack of low end in both? I'll got back and check both patches and re-upload if necessary! Both sounded quite good with my rig though, and the soundclips were a pretty good representation... at least for my gear! In the meantime, you could also try adjusting the Lo-Retain control. (That control basically creates a crossover-style split in your signal, and only applies the effect to frequencies above the cutoff point. That might help bring back some of your lows).

I also noticed that there was very little low end on the Discumbobulator patch. On your clip there was more bass noticeable but it did not translate to mine. Lo retain did not change this.

Thanks for all your amazing patches !!!!!

 

[Quatschmacher]

I am not familiar with the Manta After Image pedal.

It’s the Source Audio Manta Bass filter pedal that my patch was based on. The “afterimage” refers to the fact that I was trying to recreate one of my old patches from memory as I sold the pedal in order to part-fund my C4.

 

[FilterFunk]

Yeah, I'll upload it and report back today so you can cross it over. May not sound particularly special to anyone here, but it's just the exact kind of meat, resonance, and response that I want.

Here's a quick sample...

THAT is a truly great envelope filter sound!

The voicing, the response, the fatness...even though it's not as resonant as I usually like, it still sounds...just right. Well done!

 

[Les Fret]

Does anyone know how to get this Alphonso Johnson's envelope filter sound? It sounds very hollow and dry. He used that sound a lot on his fretless. Not sure what he used for envelope pedals back in those days?

In this video at 8:24 and on



And this clip from 2:03 and on.



Also in the beginning of this song:

 

[Les Fret]

One more sound added to the fretless filter fuzz bag (deleted the other video)....
Which of the two sounds in this video do you prefer?

 

[Jamie_Funk]

One more sound added to the fretless filter fuzz bag (deleted the other video)....
Which of the two sounds do you prefer?

This one

 

[Les Fret]

This one

I meant which of the two in above video. But I know what you mean

 

[SirTarquin]

@rsmith601, do you think it would be possible to get the alt control for Resonance to change the Q on both filters instead of just the first one? I've currently have the Spectrum set up to have a dry signal to go through Mono Input/Voice 1 for the envelope to read and then the filter to come in on Input/Voice 2 so that I can have the effect come in toward the end of my chain instead of the front, sorta like Nathan's External Loop Template C4 preset. Thing is, the Resonance control on the pedal only effects Filter 1 which is usually assigned to Voice 1, so in this situation it would have no affect, and the Q on the filter being used would not change. My current work around for this is changing the possessor pan so that the Voice 1, the direct input, goes to Filter 2 and Voice 2, the effect, goes to Filter 1. It would still be nice to have the alt control to change both though, just like the Frequency and Speed knobs already do.

 

[Gibs210]

@rsmith601, do you think it would be possible to get the alt control for Resonance to change the Q on both filters instead of just the first one? I've currently have the Spectrum set up to have a dry signal to go through Mono Input/Voice 1 for the envelope to read and then the filter to come in on Input/Voice 2 so that I can have the effect come in toward the end of my chain instead of the front, sorta like Nathan's External Loop Template C4 preset. Thing is, the Resonance control on the pedal only effects Filter 1 which is usually assigned to Voice 1, so in this situation it would have no affect, and the Q on the filter being used would not change. My current work around for this is changing the possessor pan so that the Voice 1, the direct input, goes to Filter 2 and Voice 2, the effect, goes to Filter 1. It would still be nice to have the alt control to change both though, just like the Frequency and Speed knobs already do.

You can remap the promary knob controls to control both filter Q, but the alt functions are locked in on spectrum.

 

[Les Fret]

Does anyone know how to get this Alphonso Johnson's envelope filter sound? It sounds very hollow and dry. He used that sound a lot on his fretless. Not sure what he used for envelope pedals back in those days?

In this video at 8:24 and on



And this clip from 2:03 and on.



Also in the beginning of this song:

No love for Alphonso? I have been fiddling with this sound the last week but it is hard to replicate exactly.

 

[rsmith601]

No love for Alphonso? I have been fiddling with this sound the last week but it is hard to replicate exactly.

@fivestringgecko ??

 

[fivestringgecko]

No love for Alphonso? I have been fiddling with this sound the last week but it is hard to replicate exactly.

@fivestringgecko ??

I've been meaning to take a crack at it! Just need to find some time... I can't believe how busy things have been and how fast time has been blazing by despite the current state of things!

Will see what I can do a.s.a.p.!

5sg.

 

[fivestringgecko]

Does anyone know how to get this Alphonso Johnson's envelope filter sound? It sounds very hollow and dry. He used that sound a lot on his fretless. Not sure what he used for envelope pedals back in those days?

In this video at 8:24 and on



And this clip from 2:03 and on.



Also in the beginning of this song:

Okay, so I finally had a chance to sit down and really listen to these... and I'm pretty convinced Alphonso is actually using a wah instead of an envelope filter.

In the first video, the effect seems much more controlled than an envelope filter, which has more of an automatic effect. Listening carefully in the first video, I'm hearing him change his sound slowly on the fly... at 8:24, it's thinner and more nasally, and then at 8:31 there's a brief slow sweep, which definitely feels like a wah. And then again at 8:44, there's a slow downward sweep down to a little later at 8:51 which is really in the low frequencies and stays there through about 8:56. Then at 9:01, he adjusts his bass, maybe his tone I think, because his basic sound gets darker before he kicks on the distortion at 10:02. At first, I even thought it even might be a really slow phaser or flanger, but listing to the original album version is what really convinces me that it's a wah, because if you check it out at 1:57 and again at 4:16, there's a distinct and separate down sweep/up sweep that seem quite controlled.

For Flight to Hamstead Heath, I'm not really hearing an envelope filter either... I think it's just the "fretless mwah" here. I think if he were using an envelope filter or wah, it would be more pronounced. It actually sounds a lot like Jaco's sound through his Acoustic 360 at 2:03, if I dare say that... perhaps that's why Jaco go the job after Alphonso? Anyway... he then adds other effects at 2:21, but none sound like a filter to me. (LOVE the prog(ish) part for the last third of this one!!!)

On Lusitanos, I'm again convinced that this is a wah... Envelope filters have a much more consistent sound to them, and through the first couple minutes, Alphonso's sound is much more organic. It changes in a way that envelope filters can't really do. Really giving it a listen (particularly in the first 2-3 minutes), I'm hearing the sweep of the bass sound go to higher frequencies sometimes and stay quite dark at others, and the speed of the sweep changes slightly here and there.

@Les Fret - Do you have an expression pedal set up with your Spectrum? I don't currently have a wah patch set up on my Spectrum as I handle Wah on my HXFX, but I've been meaning to set one up....

5sg.

 

[Les Fret]

Okay, so I finally had a chance to sit down and really listen to these... and I'm pretty convinced Alphonso is actually using a wah instead of an envelope filter.

In the first video, the effect seems much more controlled than an envelope filter, which has more of an automatic effect. Listening carefully in the first video, I'm hearing him change his sound slowly on the fly... at 8:24, it's thinner and more nasally, and then at 8:31 there's a brief slow sweep, which definitely feels like a wah. And then again at 8:44, there's a slow downward sweep down to a little later at 8:51 which is really in the low frequencies and stays there through about 8:56. Then at 9:01, he adjusts his bass, maybe his tone I think, because his basic sound gets darker before he kicks on the distortion at 10:02. At first, I even thought it even might be a really slow phaser or flanger, but listing to the original album version is what really convinces me that it's a wah, because if you check it out at 1:57 and again at 4:16, there's a distinct and separate down sweep/up sweep that seem quite controlled.

For Flight to Hamstead Heath, I'm not really hearing an envelope filter either... I think it's just the "fretless mwah" here. I think if he were using an envelope filter or wah, it would be more pronounced. It actually sounds a lot like Jaco's sound through his Acoustic 360 at 2:03, if I dare say that... perhaps that's why Jaco go the job after Alphonso? Anyway... he then adds other effects at 2:21, but none sound like a filter to me. (LOVE the prog(ish) part for the last third of this one!!!)

On Lusitanos, I'm again convinced that this is a wah... Envelope filters have a much more consistent sound to them, and through the first couple minutes, Alphonso's sound is much more organic. It changes in a way that envelope filters can't really do. Really giving it a listen (particularly in the first 2-3 minutes), I'm hearing the sweep of the bass sound go to higher frequencies sometimes and stay quite dark at others, and the speed of the sweep changes slightly here and there.

@Les Fret - Do you have an expression pedal set up with your Spectrum? I don't currently have a wah patch set up on my Spectrum as I handle Wah on my HXFX, but I've been meaning to set one up....

5sg.

Thanks for this great post fivestringgecko!!!
I think you are right. I have listened to all clips again and now i also think it is wah. Somehow I had in my mind or read somewhere that he used an envelope filter in those days or a phaser. I couldn't quit grasp exactly if it was an envelope filter or a phaser or both together. But it sounds more like a wah I agree.

I have tried to emulate those sounds on the Spectrum and came up with some nice sounds but none were exactly right. I also have a Dunlop bass wah and will hook it up again with my fretless bass and see if it comes closer.

What strikes me the most on his sound is the really nasal sound with not much sustain like at 2:03-3:14 or so of "Flight...". it is not just his fretless but there is some effect on it. If you compare it to the sound of the beginning it sounds very different. Maybe he uses his way cocked, so fixed in an in between position? Or something else? Or maybe he has an out of phase switch on his bass or something? He is using this sound fairly often in other songs as well.