I love this:

Very,very sad day.

I thought a unique challenge would be to try to reproduce some of the sounds from the classic synthesizer song “Autobahn” using just a regular guitar and EHX effect pedals.

Autobahn (German for “motorway”) is an album by Kraftwerk, released in 1974. The album’s 22-minute title track was edited to about three minutes for single release and reached #25 on the US Billboard charts, charting even higher around Europe, including #11 in the UK.

The first part of the challenge was to produce a motor-like pulse that would run throughout the track. I found by using the pre-delay function of the Holiest Grail I was able to produce this effect. With the feedback set to 100%, moving the Delay slider up very fast produced this sound. Once in self oscillation I ran the Holiest Grail out put through a MicroSynth and varied the filter up and down by hand.

To produce the bass sound I used the effect chain below.

I used a compressor in front of the MicroSynth to even out the guitars attack.
This gave the effect an more even, predictable sound of a keyboard synthesizer. Below are the settings for the bass sound.

The melodic chords of this clip were done on two tracks using two different sounds. The combination of the two produced the effect I was looking for.

Track One is a organ sound with a fast attack and fast decay in the upper frequencies of the sound.

Track Two used a Big Muff Fuzz to emulate the sound of an analog square wave analog synthesizer.

Using the HOG I was able to produce a major chord while playing just a single note on the guitar. Buy using the foot pedal in the octave bend setting, I lowered the pitch of the HOG down one full octave. I then used the setting below to produce the 1-3-5 triad chord all from just one fuzz note played on the guitar.
The attack was set slow to allow the bright attack of the first organ track to stand out.

Below is a screen grab of the Pro Tools session. The session was done in 13 tracks.

This track was recorded direct to the board with out a guitar amp.
If you using an amp with the settings above set the amp for a clean, flat nuetral sound.

Thanks for listening,

Bill Ruppert

Hi everyone,

The first time I played the HOG I was amazed at how close some of the functions were to an actual Hammond organ. So much so, I am surprised the name HOG did not stand for Hammond-Organ-Generator!

The different sliders on the HOG closely resemble the look and functions of the sliding drawbars of a Hammond B-3. Below is a representation of the B-3 drawbars. Compare them to the HOG sliders and you will see just how close they really are.

The next Hammond related feature I found was the envelope section. This brilliant design allows the unit to mimic the percussion feature of the B-3.

Here’s a little background on the B-3 percussion.

A distinctive sound of the Hammond is the harmonic percussion effect. The term “percussion” does not refer to a drum-type sound effect. Instead, it refers to the addition of the second and third harmonic overtones, which can be added independently to the attack envelope of a note. The selected percussion harmonic(s) then quickly fade out, creating a distinctive “plink” sound and leaving the tones which the player has selected using the drawbars. The percussion retriggers only after all notes have been released, so legato passages only have a percussion on the first note. Older Hammond models produced before the 3 series organs (such as the B-2 and C-2) do not have the harmonic percussion feature.

Below is the HOG setting I used for this clip. The second half of the clip has the spectral gate switch on to produce a more pure jazz organ sound.

To increase the sustain of the guitar I used a compressor in front of the HOG.
This allowed me to hold on to chords and notes longer like the endless sustain of the Hammond organ.

A rotary speaker, Leslie amp or Leslie emulator can be used for added realism.

Below are several different EHX pedals and settings which produce a great rotary effect on their own. If you have one of the pedals give it a try.

Thanks for listening,
Bill Ruppert

Suzi Matthews is a brilliant collage artist.
This may be one of her works!

Her is her sight:

http://www.suzimatthews.com/

Check out her work, it is absolutely stunning!
Bill Ruppert

Thanks for the clip Julian!

At 0.53 in it sounds like a monk singing Gregorian chant in a chapel.
Cool!

Bill

Limon.
Thank you very much for the compliment!
I am sorry I do not have music or TAB written out for the harmonica riff.
It was just something I made up on the spot to show the sound off.
The harp riff was all around the 5th to the 7th fret in a standard blues scale.
I used a lot of two note chords playing intervals of a third.
Its pretty easy to play, I am sure if you use your ear you will find the notes.
Thanks again and have fun!
Bill

Part 3

The POG was used to create a small amount of sub-octave and a large amount of the +2 octave.

The Poly Chorus provided the doubling or ensemble effect to make the sound much large than it really is. The Poly Chorus is an analog device that has by nature a very limited high frequency response. The output of the POG contains frequencies much higher than the Poly Chorus was ever designed to reproduce. Unable to reproduce these high frequencies, the Poly Chorus distorts in a very unique way.

This distortion added a very high-pitched raspy noise on top of the original signal. With the Poly Chorus feedback increased, the raspiness increased as well.

This rasp reminded me of a sound I heard produced by a real orchestral string section.

One of the finest studios ever built here in Chicago was called Universal Studios. I was very luck to have played guitar on hundreds and hundreds of sessions in their Studio A. This room was gigantic, large enough to hold a full rhythm section (guitar, bass, drums) and a full orchestra including percussion and choir!

I sat right next to the large string sections. After we would record a basic track, the string section would often add a second part. As the strings overdubbed their next part, I would take my headphones off and listen up close to what the strings really sounded like in an isolated environment.

I was amazed at how much upper-end noise and garbage was produced by all the bows rubbing against the dozens of strings. This noise is not often heard in the finished track when it’s masked by other instruments or reverb.

The Poly Chorus distortion reminded me of this “real life” noise.

I used the Stereo Memory Man with Hazarai set for a long repeating delay and reverb using the decay knob.

You will notice in the String Pad effect chain I used a volume pedal right before the Memory Man delay. Using a volume pedal allowed me to slowly fade in each chord producing swells while removing the guitar’s original attack.

I recorded this piece using an Ibanez Jem guitar direct into the computer. No guitar amps were used. If you are using a guitar amp, set it for a very clean, flat or neutral sound.

Below is a screen grab of the Pro Tools session.

Thanks for listening and please experiment!

Bill Ruppert