Live house act bassplayer needs THAT sound LIVE. HELP!

FbassDave · 5th April 2009

Hey there, this is my first post - I need some help!

I'v done a search and found nothing directly addressing my issue, so I thought I'd post a thread about it: I play bass in a deep/soulful house act with a percussionist and a DJ. I've been using a Dunlop Crybaby 105Q for the kind of slow but fairly drastic filter sweeps on the bass you hear in these styles: Sort of a HPF thing were the bass line goes from full-range to sub lows, then slowly builds back up to full range again and LPF where the bass completely thins out and then drops back in for imapact. I incorporate subtle envelope filter and phaser into the chain when I try to do this; I get close-ish but I can't quite match what i hear on recordings and I'm getting frustrated...

The 105Q only applies the effect to the mids and highs, leaving the low end clean. Great in most applications, but not this one. Does anyone have any ideas for how I can achieve what DJ's/producers can do with knobs, live? It needs to be floor-based and preferably managed with feet, not hands...

Thanks!

carbon · 5th April 2009

Maybe something like this?

Electro-Harmonix Bass Micro Synth
This clip it's been modified to allow use of an expression pedal to control the filter

chrisso · 5th April 2009

Or the expensive option:
Controllers

If you used a cv pedal in conjunction with a synth you could process your bass limitless ways and also play synth bass lines from the keyboard on some tunes.

FbassDave · 5th April 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by carbon

Maybe something like this?

Electro-Harmonix Bass Micro Synth
This clip it's been modified to allow use of an expression pedal to control the filter

Nice pick

but I'm already using a Korg G5 Synth Processor with an expression pedal - what I'm looking for is a configurable high pass/low pass filter, preferably manged via an expression pedal. The Moog MF-101 can do half of it... The Line 6 FM4 can do that plus some other stuff (not particulalry well on bass though), beyond that, I'm out of ideas...

DntBelievtheHype · 5th April 2009

I've owned/used the G5 and all the other digital synth pedals and was not a fan of any of them. I would recommend ditching the G5 and replacing it with a Bass Micro Synth, or individual pedals-- but thats just a recommendation, use whatever sounds good to you!

The Moog LPF is king as far as I'm concerned for lowpass filters; super fat and comby and it gets a lot of use. I also use a Robot Factory Photron filter (ms20 style filter) and a Barge Grinder (meatball clone) for other filter duties. I would recommend the Grinder as it is cheaper and better made than the Photron-- they both sound great but as to which sounds better is subjective.

The Grinder can be used a LP/BP/HP and has expression input, so it can be used as a foot-sweepable lowpass, bandpass (replace that 105q if you want- it replaced mine), and as a highpass as well. So with the exp pedal plugged in, the 'envelope' level all the way down, and the 'depth' and 'decay' full clockwise, you can go from a sweepable lowpass filter to bandpass to highpass at the flick of a switch, as well as choose from multiple frequency centers, and use as a great envelope follower as well.

I recently got a live electronic project started where I play synth bass with a bass guitar as well. Here's my synth bass rig, there's been a few pedal changes, but this is pretty close to what Im using now; the Grinder is to the right of the 'Polychorus' on the bottom row of the big board. One of the new additions not pictured is the moog MP201 foot controller; the level of control with it is astounding and I can do things now I never though possible -- highly recommended if you have a few pedals with cv input!

*edit* I see that chrisso already mentioned the MP201. The modded micro synth really is a good option too and I'll say it again: I think you would be very happy with the results if you were to swap the G5 for a modded (for true bypass and exp- horrible bypass) bass micro synth. The BMS filter section is very comby as well, and the older big version sounds better than the new small XO models.. The G5 has presets and way more options, but sonically it's not even close to that of the BMS. In my opinion the G5, while having great tracking, was very lifeless and sounded like a cheesy 80's digital synth to me, as well as having an odd decay.

5th April 2009	#1
FbassDave Gear interested Joined: Apr 2009 Location: Adelaide, South Australia Posts: 4 Thread Starter	Live house act bassplayer needs THAT sound LIVE. HELP! Hey there, this is my first post - I need some help! I'v done a search and found nothing directly addressing my issue, so I thought I'd post a thread about it: I play bass in a deep/soulful house act with a percussionist and a DJ. I've been using a Dunlop Crybaby 105Q for the kind of slow but fairly drastic filter sweeps on the bass you hear in these styles: Sort of a HPF thing were the bass line goes from full-range to sub lows, then slowly builds back up to full range again and LPF where the bass completely thins out and then drops back in for imapact. I incorporate subtle envelope filter and phaser into the chain when I try to do this; I get close-ish but I can't quite match what i hear on recordings and I'm getting frustrated... The 105Q only applies the effect to the mids and highs, leaving the low end clean. Great in most applications, but not this one. Does anyone have any ideas for how I can achieve what DJ's/producers can do with knobs, live? It needs to be floor-based and preferably managed with feet, not hands... Thanks!

5th April 2009	#3
chrisso Gear Guru Joined: Oct 2002 Location: Oz Posts: 16,836	Or the expensive option: Controllers If you used a cv pedal in conjunction with a synth you could process your bass limitless ways and also play synth bass lines from the keyboard on some tunes. __________________ Chris Whitten

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5th April 2009	#2
carbon Gear nut Joined: Mar 2004 Posts: 91	Maybe something like this? Electro-Harmonix Bass Micro Synth This clip it's been modified to allow use of an expression pedal to control the filter

5th April 2009	#5
DntBelievtheHype Gear maniac Joined: Mar 2009 Posts: 156	I've owned/used the G5 and all the other digital synth pedals and was not a fan of any of them. I would recommend ditching the G5 and replacing it with a Bass Micro Synth, or individual pedals-- but thats just a recommendation, use whatever sounds good to you! The Moog LPF is king as far as I'm concerned for lowpass filters; super fat and comby and it gets a lot of use. I also use a Robot Factory Photron filter (ms20 style filter) and a Barge Grinder (meatball clone) for other filter duties. I would recommend the Grinder as it is cheaper and better made than the Photron-- they both sound great but as to which sounds better is subjective. The Grinder can be used a LP/BP/HP and has expression input, so it can be used as a foot-sweepable lowpass, bandpass (replace that 105q if you want- it replaced mine), and as a highpass as well. So with the exp pedal plugged in, the 'envelope' level all the way down, and the 'depth' and 'decay' full clockwise, you can go from a sweepable lowpass filter to bandpass to highpass at the flick of a switch, as well as choose from multiple frequency centers, and use as a great envelope follower as well. I recently got a live electronic project started where I play synth bass with a bass guitar as well. Here's my synth bass rig, there's been a few pedal changes, but this is pretty close to what Im using now; the Grinder is to the right of the 'Polychorus' on the bottom row of the big board. One of the new additions not pictured is the moog MP201 foot controller; the level of control with it is astounding and I can do things now I never though possible -- highly recommended if you have a few pedals with cv input! edit I see that chrisso already mentioned the MP201. The modded micro synth really is a good option too and I'll say it again: I think you would be very happy with the results if you were to swap the G5 for a modded (for true bypass and exp- horrible bypass) bass micro synth. The BMS filter section is very comby as well, and the older big version sounds better than the new small XO models.. The G5 has presets and way more options, but sonically it's not even close to that of the BMS. In my opinion the G5, while having great tracking, was very lifeless and sounded like a cheesy 80's digital synth to me, as well as having an odd decay.