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Synthy Bass Distortion

#41
Theo,

You're absolutely right - the XXL falls far more on the Overdrive/Distortion side than the Blowtorch (although it still does a pretty good fuzz it that's not your bread and butter - I'm much more an O/D guy who wanted some type of fuzz capability ;) ) Tomorrow when I'm on my computer I'll send you a cool clip of the XXL with lower octave and Wah - if you know Dream Theater it's very close to a Bass version of the Talkbox/Wah "Wah-Wah" guitar riff from "Home".

Until then, these should help :D [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] is what I term my "NIN Industrial Distortion"... right on the verge of breaking up.
 
#42
cheers ian, unfortunately my compter wont play audio for alot of streaming stuff :( (youtube, myspace, soundclick, most FX website soundclips) but ill check it out on another computer when i get a moment. by the way, i know its probably hard to explain without the soundclips, but can you explain the 'warp' function, i heard it can make the distortion lighter, but its not a gain control is it?
thanks
theo
 
#43
if you want a kinda synth-esque distortion without actually having a synth, I'd 100% recommend the EHX Metal Muff, I was just trying my guitarist frineds one out with bass, and I bought one the next day, really fantastic pedal if that's what you're going for. And if you want to make it even more synthy, add in your Qtron
 
#44
hi sir juice, actually i have a metal muff, got it pretty recently but am gonna get rid of it, as i mentioned before (possibly elsewhere) the EQ is great but i feel that BASS control boosts the wrong frequency for bass guitar, which leads to my tone dropping out when im in a band situation (with two metal-influenced guitarists) on the plus side, i let them have a go and they're both getting them (one is gonna have mine), and it sounds sweet on guitar, altho kudos to EHX for that mid control, it really gives a bite to ur tone. also while id agree that its a very agressive tone, i dont think that its the sound ive been looking for.
but thanks for the suggestion anyway
Dosi
 
#45
DosiYanarchy said:
...can you explain the 'warp' function, i heard it can make the distortion lighter, but its not a gain control is it?
Click to expand...

It's nothing like a conventional gain control, although it can increase or decrease your volume. It's basially like a "Filter" control on an analog synth: it controls the amount of distortion based on how hard you play. Or, as Tech-21 puts it, "The XXL’s Warp™ control manipulates the structure and balance of odd and even harmonics and influences their relativity to the dynamics of your instrument and your playing style. Translation: you can achieve a variety of results, even within the same setting, depending on the manner and force of your pick attack."
 
#46
cool, so it sort of can be made to work on the same principles as a tube amp/pedal if you so wanted (with a tubes reaction to playing dynamics providing distortion), my EHX English Muff'n came in the post today, its a real tube overdrive, and it does the same thing, play soft and its a warm round sound, dig in and you've got some real crunch, but obviously, with the XXL it sounds like you can control whether you want the pedal to do this and what frequencies it'll do it on.
cool beans
theo
 
#47
DosiYanarchy said:
sweet man, im glad u liked us, i just wish we shared your optimism about us, the problem we have is that we're either too heavy for most people or not heavy enough, and we're not part of a 'scene' so our fanbase is serverely lacking.
Click to expand...

I guess I can kind of understand that being that you are in the UK - it seems like over there it's more the Muse and Radiohead kind of progressive sound that tends to be more popular, but your band would probably do really well in North America! I know it's probably not in the realm of possibility at this point, but you should consider coming out here or at least send some demo material to some North American labels just for the hell of it.

Anyway, I really enjoyed your tunes on Myspace - I'd buy a CD: )
 
#48
::Saint:: said:
it seems like over there it's more the Muse and Radiohead kind of progressive sound that tends to be more popular,
Click to expand...

LOL i wish, id kill to see more progressive bands, most bands we play with either want to be the Libertines or the Killers(british indie-pop-rock), or try to pull off a bad foo fighters impression. its pretty despicable, i swear that most people who come to gigs dont even like music, they just wanna get pissed(drunk) and have a laugh, now theres nothing wrong with that, but i see loads of what id call 'crap and unoriginal' bands get thru the net coz they appeal to the mass without pushing any borders too far, if you know what i mean. and i see loads of inventive and progressive bands going nowhere coz no-one other than musicians seem to care about music over here. im not saying that my band is particularly inventive or progressive, to be fair we just play our version of rock music. but ive played with some really boring bands who have more chance of being signed than the exciting ones, just because the masses dont seem to want anything new, they want every band to be the same as the last.

urgh, sorry everyone, thats just a rant, strike it from the record.


dosi
 
#49
DosiYanarchy said:
LOL i wish, id kill to see more progressive bands, most bands we play with either want to be the Libertines or the Killers(british indie-pop-rock), or try to pull off a bad foo fighters impression. its pretty despicable, i swear that most people who come to gigs dont even like music, they just wanna get pissed(drunk) and have a laugh, now theres nothing wrong with that, but i see loads of what id call 'crap and unoriginal' bands get thru the net coz they appeal to the mass without pushing any borders too far, if you know what i mean. and i see loads of inventive and progressive bands going nowhere coz no-one other than musicians seem to care about music over here. im not saying that my band is particularly inventive or progressive, to be fair we just play our version of rock music. but ive played with some really boring bands who have more chance of being signed than the exciting ones, just because the masses dont seem to want anything new, they want every band to be the same as the last.

urgh, sorry everyone, thats just a rant, strike it from the record.


dosi
Click to expand...


Believe Dosi, I KNOW what you are saying. In my city it seems like everything is thrash punk and hardcore, neither of which are genres I am interested in. I'm really trying to revive alternative rock around here and create some kind of a scene for the kind of bands I like and would like to be in. It may be a long journey, but at the same time once I get a new band together I am really going to push for us to go national and get record deals, etc.

Speaking of which, I think I've found a drummer and keyboardist - woot!
 
#50
great news about you getting a band together, when you get some tunes recorded, email our myspace and tell us. im listening to 'Cold' now, i really dig the sparse structure, your bass really carrys everything without the need for much else. i think ill write something along those lines, ill put it on my music myspace [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

i need a blowtorch (i lost the bid on ebay for the secondhand one, coz it was almost as expensive as a new one)

im gonna get cracking with a new tune
laters
Dosi
 
#51
Good luck, bud ;) I am planning on expanding Cold quite a bit once I have a full crew together, but being as I just play bass, most of the songs I'll be writing I'm sure will tend to be pretty bass-centric .. not a bad thing, I think.

I need to write a new second verse for it though - those lyrics were totally improvised and just sucky ;/ Perhaps I'll do that today!
 
#52
lol, cool man, you inspired me to do a tune too, using my new EHX English Muff'n. its got a sorta Dub flavour for some of it, im gonna add some guitar to it at some point, and maybe some other tasty morsels.
also i figured out what im gonna do for my synth-sound: im selling my Mini Q-tron for the full size one, and im upgrading the tubes in my Muff'n for ones with higher gain, and i think the combinatiion of the two will give the me sound i want. also im gonna get me a power boost pedal to boost the tubes when i want extra overdrive :D
Dosi
 
#55
I recorded a new tune with the blowtorch yesterday - so far it's just bass and drums, but I think it show-cases the blowtorch's ability to to a more subtle fuzz than the intense version in 'Cold' .. I think I kind of like it better, actually. I've got to fix a couple of things in the mix, but I'll post it to www.fire-forge.com/music in an hour or so probably, if possible. I also recorded another new version of cold - same basic stuff, but slightly different arrangement, and again, slightly different fuzz sound.
 
#58
Yeah I think the BMS is next on my GAS list. I had been planning on picking up a BSW in the meantime, but after hearing some of the sounds the BMS can come out with I think I'm sold. The only other pedal I could consider instead would be the Korg G5, mostly because it has presets, which would be handy on-stage. Feel free to post some sound clips of your BMS, if you can.
 
#60
i actually had the odb-3 for about a yr and a half, it served me well, but to be honest i just didnt rate the sound of it, i thought the features and the construction were excellent, i just got bored of the sound, to me it sounded too fizzy. i've just been thinking, i was gonna get a XO Qtron+ and a Little Big Muff for the fx loop on the Qtron, which comes to like £150 from this website ive seen (which is bloody cheap) but then again the BMS is like £170 and would do everything i want the other two for, and more, but then again, id need something that tracks very very well in terms of speed as well as pitch (some pedals get funny about drop D) - oh and also i have bugger all money, so maybe neither. and i noticed my Muff'ns input jack is a little faulty (its not the lead or my bass), so might have to find out what thats about. im still lovin the sounf of the Blowtorch tho, thanks to ::Saint::, hes shown me the versatility of it, also Saint - lovin the tunes i think you've probably got a great singing voice, your definitly better than me LOL, sounds like you were purposely trying not to sing too loud in the chorus of Cold, but i think it would benefit more from just belting it out IMO. however i do the same thing when im recording at home, the last thing i want is my parents shouting at me 'so u think you can sing?", so i try and sing a powerful section quietly. which personally never works for me, but you seem to pull it off. i might put some guitar in my tune while i have my Metal Muff.

so........ i could get the blowtorch, but that sorta makes my muff'n obsolete, and i only just boutght it (and theres no way i can justify having both, not at those prices), also, proper GASing for a Little Big Muff, i dont know why tho, i think its a symbolic thing, i just want one so i can have one.if that makes sense, and if i was to go all out and get a BMS, id need it to do everything id ever want and more. and perform excellent in terms of tracking and such.

urghhhhhhhhhhh

Dosi
 

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