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Effectology Vol. 9
Terrifying Effect PedalsBelow are the settings for sounds heard in Effectology episode 9.
Stormy Gave Yard sounds:
The wind sound was done using a Big Muff pedal with a dummy plug in the input jack to turn the unit with out haveing anything directly connected to it.
The white noise sound was filtered by hand using a MicroSyth filter.
The resonance slider was set high to add force to the wind sound.The thunder boom was done by detuneing the guitars low E string to almost slack.
It can be done with the guitars tuners or if you have a vibrato bridge, press the arm down to lower the pitch of the strings.
With the the Cathedral reverb blend and reverb time set very high, a pluck on a slack low E string sets off a giant boom.The”voice from the other side” was done by looping Mike Matthews in the Stereo Memory Man and reversing it in the loop mode.
The reverse loop was run into the Cathedral reverb also in the reverse mode to add the final haunting touch.Cathedral Organ:
Below are settings for both POG and POG2.
Theremin:
The Thereimn was invented by Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device in 1928. It is played by moving your hands near conductive antennas which control volume and pitch.
The theremin is responsible for the eerie sounds heard in many vintage sifi movies and TV shows.To capture this sound we used a TubeEQ in self oscillation and controlled the pitch with the frequency knob.
The TubeEQ will oscillate on its own, but with the help of a Radio Shack Y-Adapter you can send it or almost any pedal into crazy oscillation.
The adapter sends the output signal back into the input of the pedal.
Signal pad was used to lower the output going into the Deluxe Memory Man to prevent distortion.
The Memory Man added the spooky vibrato and well as darkened up the sound.
Below is the TubeEQ settings and the info on the Radio Shack adapter.By connecting a simple photo cell into the TubeEQ EXP jack you can control the pitch with light.
Its very simple to wire a photocell plug and will work in any of the EHX products with a EXP jack.
Below is how to wire it and where to buy the photocell.The final sound reminds me of a bell like sound of Polysynth.
Below are the settings I used.Good luck and thanks for listening.
Bill RuppertEffectology Vol: 8
Telstar (The Clavioline)“Telstar” is a 1962 instrumental written and produced by the legendary Joe Meek.
The record was performed by The Tornados. It was the first single by a British band to reach Number One on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and was also a Number One hit in the UK. The record was named after the AT&T communications satellite Telstar, which went into orbit in July 1962.
The record featured a Clavioline, a very early analog synthesizer keyboard built with vacuum tubes.
The Clavioline has a unmistakable sound all its own.
Joe Meek’s Telstar was one of the first pop hits to feature a synthesizer.
Our track starts with a rocket lift-off. The sound was produced by slapping the strings of a compressed guitar near the bridge. This creates a huge explosive impulse within the Cathedral reverb.
The reverb was held in the infinite mode and processed by a MicroSynth. The MicroSynth distorted the reverb with a slow rising fliter sweep to give the sound a VERY loud rumble like a real rocket passing a microphone.
The outer space sounds and Morse code were done with a Poly Chorus in self-oscillation by turning the feedback up to 100%.
The Clavioline chain and settings are below:
The backing rhythm drum-like track was done using the white noise of a big Muff into a square wave tremolo of a Pulsar. The Big Muff uses a dummy plug in the input jack to turn the unit on without a guitar connected to it.
Pure noise!The IBM random note generator at the end of the video was done by hitting random notes on the guitar neck with the right hand.
The chain and settings are below:
The bass sound was the MicoSynth with the Sub Octave up and the stop Freq slider up a very small amount.
All other faders are down.All sounds were done recording direct without a guitar amp. Adjust your amp and its tone controls for a clean flat or neutral sound when using the settings above.
Thanks for listening,
Bill RuppertRené,
Thank very much for you kind thoughts.
I can not wait to hear what sounds you get with the HOG!
Good Luck!
Bill RuppertQuote:Hello guys.I had to join up on this forum to tell the creator of this what a huge impression this video made on me.
I’m a bassist (a regular on http://www.talkbass.com) and very much into effects.
Now I’m definately getting a HOG. I was thinking about it before, I heard some soundsamples of someone making their bass sound like a celtic flute (or something alike).
But I always liked violins, and I regret that I never had the chance to learn it as a child.
Maybe that’s why I play fretless bass exclusively now.
And if the HOG can make my fretless bass sound like a cello or violin that would certainly get a lot of use in my situation.I’m going to try those settings out on my POG… that from the string section.
Compressors and delays I’ve got enough. Just no chorus and reverb… never liked chorus and reverb on bass. (Like it on guitar though.)
But, after hearing Bill’s “cello concerto” there might be an EHX Stereo Polychorus in my future.Maybe I should hang out here more.
greetings, René (Belgium)
Effectology Vol. 7:
Reverb Tricks
— or —
Reverb in All the Wrong Places
This episode of Effectology demonstrates some old and new effects using reverb.
Each one of the four sounds in this video has the reverb positioned in unusual places within the signal chain…proof once again there is no correct way to order your effect pedals.
Changing positions of effects can lead to new and unusual sounds that might have gone missed by following conventional thinking.
EXPERIMENT!
#1 Overdriven “Surf-Verb”
In 1961 Fender introduced the stand-alone reverb unit. It was designed to be an add-on unit and plugged into the front input jack of a guitar amp.
Unlike reverb units that are built into the guitar amp, the add-on reverb is plugged into the front of the guitar amp or before the preamp. That equals an extra gain stage.
When the amp is cranked up, the reverb distorts and produces a very trashy, edgy sound. Think Dick Dale raw surf music.
To achieve this sound we placed the reverb in front of the English Muff’n overdrive. This gave the sound the raw edge.
A Stereo Memory Man was added last in the chain set for a fast slap-back delay. This produced a “boing” sound like the small springs in real spring unit.
Below is the effects chain and individual pedal settings:
Surf Sound
Seagulls Sound
Overdriven”Surf-Verb” Sound
#2 “Angel Harp” Reverb
Placing the Holy Grail reverb before the Soul Preacher compressor accentuates the reverb’s decay and causes a interesting “bloom” effect.
Last in the chain is a Stereo Memory Man in a multi-tap delay mode. This effect produces many notes from just one note. Playing major chord arpeggios across the neck produced a harp-like effect.
Below is the effects chain and individual pedal settings:
#3 “Sky Rocket” Reverb
Placing a Micro Synth after the Holy Grail reverb and Soul preacher compressor produced a explosive attack with descending reverb trails like fireworks exploding in the air.
Below is the effects chain and individual pedal settings:
#4 “Infinite Sustain”
The new Cathedral Stereo Reverb is one of the most beautiful reverbs I have ever heard.
One of its finest features is the infinite switch. Pressing this down after playing a chord or note will freeze the sound for as long as it is held. It suspends the sound like cloud above what you continue play.
Its a brilliant effect and one of EHX’s finest!
Below is the effects chain and individual pedal settings:
Don’t forget to experiment with the order of your pedals. You never know where it may lead you sonically.
Thanks for listening!
Bill Ruppert
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin, which was the world’s first sample-playback keyboard. The heart of the instrument is a bank of magnetic audio tapes, which have approximately eight seconds of playing time each. Playback heads underneath each key enable the playing of pre-recorded sounds.
The Mellotron uses a strip of magnetic tape, a pinch roller, tape head, pressure pad, and a rewind mechanism for each note on the keyboard.
Before the day of electronic “samplers” which are devices capable of capturing and storing (usually digitally, using computer memory rather than tapes) sounds, the Mellotron was really the only way that a keyboard instrument could produce the real sounds of violins, cellos, flutes, choirs, horns, etc.
To emulate the sound of the Mellotron flutes I used the chain below:I started with a Soul Preacher compressor to even out the attack of the guitar.
Next in line is the POG2.
I used only the dry, non pitch shifted signal, filtered to create more of a flute-like wave form.
The attack control removed the guitar’s attack, giving the sound more “breath.”The Poly Chorus was set for a vibrato effect.
The Mellotron “Strings with Brass and Bass Accordion” sound used the effect chain below:
This sound started with a Soul Preacher compressor to increase the sustain of the guitar.
This was run into a POG2 using the -1 octave for the bass accordion and +1 and +2 octaves for the brass and strings.
The dry signal was set to 50%. Detune was set high.
To fatten the sound I used the Poly Chorus in the chorus mode with a high feedback setting.
From there the signal was feed into a volume pedal to swell the chords in.
For ambiance I used a pair of stereo Memory Man pedals.
The first pedal is optional. It was used to create a wider stereo signal using a Mod-delay setting. Its not a necessity.The second Memory Man was set for a long repeating delay with a reverberant decay.
All sounds were recorded direct with out a guitar amplifier.
If using an amp, set it for a very clean sound using its tone control to shape the sound.Thanks for listening,
Bill Ruppert
Just no chorus and reverb… never liked chorus and reverb on bass. (Like it on guitar though.)
