Need some bass effect help from the experts!

[DARKMETL/]

Heres my problem.......I am having an issue when I have multi effects on (overdrive, phaser, flanger and a little chorus). It seems with all the effects on (they are not ALL the time, just in some very dynamic parts) the output totally overmodulates and distorts WAY too much....like too much signal is being sent. Does a Limiter pedal limit the effects or just the way YOU play bass (slapping etc)?

Please listen to the ending of our cover of BLUE MONDAY to hear what issue I am having, it really dominates the mix WAY too much. The easy answer is to say "Dont use all the effect...but I like the effect, just not the result of the overmodulation.

 

www.myspace.com/rocketpark

 

Any help or advice is greatly appreciated!

[Teleken]

What amp and is the effect loop line level or instrument level?

[Grumpy_Polecat]

My first advice is DON'T USE ALL THE EFFECTS AT ONCE!

 

Phaser, flanger and chorus are highly similar effects (they are all time-based and involve splitting the signal and slowing part or parts of it down in relation to the other.) It seems like something is cancelling another thing out.

 

The keynote is this: "Too much of anything is bad, but too much whiskey is just enough!" --Mark Twain.

 

You just have too much of EVERYTHING is my guess.

[DARKMETL/]

Yeah, probably too much. Well, the recording is NO amp, just direct to a board and no idea about the levels as a friend of ours runs our practices. I just plug in and he sets everything up.

[Benjamin]

Try buying a Boss OC-2 Octave. Use ONE of your chorus/flange effects and learn the song with your fingers, hopping octaves to get thet chunky choppy heavy sound. Add a slight overdrive, much better

[bassesofalessergod]

that album cover in your avatar makes no sense.

 

an amp doesn't put out the rock, so how is he getting a transfusion from it?

[Grumpy_Polecat]

I don't know what recording methods you used, but here's a tip to get more professional results.

 

Rig things up so the effected signal is what you hear while playing, but not what is recorded. All you should record is the 'dry' signal. You then go back and add the effects to the recorded track.

 

How you rig this up depends on what equipment you have, so I can't make a specific suggestion there. There are a lot of different ways it can be done.

 

Things will be much more 'under control' if you do this.

[bassesofalessergod]

dont use effects when recording. put themon in post production.

[DARKMETL/]

Hmmmm, thanks for the suggestions.....heres how we do it:

First of all, theses are all live takes at rehearsal. We record directly to cd (basically all the instruments into the board, the board into the cd recorder...kinda like if you were recording a live gig from a soundboard). We dont have anyway at this point to add anything to any specific track. We can add some effect to the overall song, just not to one instrument.

We arent really set up as a recording studio, only for practice. We have a fully mic'ed drum kit, bass is direct, guitar is combo of Pod/and live amp with split signals.

We pretty much record everything since its basically a practice. That song...BLUE MONDAY that I am talking about, was the first time we played it through with our decided on arrangement...once again no overdub possibilities.

Thanks again for listening and suggestions, please send more.

[Benjamin]

That's still a good approach while you're writing and/or jamming. Captures some golden moments and you can always re-record your songs and never forget them. Unless you delete accidentally...

 

One trick I used on a past recording was running direct to one track, then running that track back later through effects and amp to a miked cab. Then you can mix the two sounds nicely. That's post production stuff though and I doubt you would re-record a whole jam that way, only for real demos and test recordings for fun.

[vismund624]

try putting the overdrive at the end of your signal chain so it doesnt effect the intensity of the other effects as well

[liko]

First of all, make sure the level of each effect is set so there's no difference in volume between effect on and effect off (with the exception of distortion/OD). If each effect is just 10% louder than your clean tone, 5 effects end up being 1.6 times as loud when everything's on versus your clean level; that can be more than enough to peak the amp if you have a hot axe with the amp gain turned up.

 

Chorus, phaser and flanger are all modulation effects; that is, the effect synthesizes one or more copies of your tone slightly higher or lower in frequency. When the waves misalign, they cancel; when they match, the signal increases. If you have all three turned on, when all the synth waves match up, that can easily be 3 times the signal strength.

 

I'd try a limiter pedal. If you don't use the Enhance effect, the LMB-3 is pretty good and can be had used for about $30. Place it at the end of all your effects, and set the threshold and ratio so that the signal with effects on doesn't peak your amp, but you otherwise can't tell it's on (in other words, don't turn the ratio down to the point where you can't get dynamics, nor the threshold to the point where every note is limited).

[DARKMETL/]

Cool...sounds good. I did notice that some of my effects do not have a LEVEL control. I have an Ibanez flanger/chorus and it does not have a level control and even if you have all the controls turned down, when you turn the pedal on...it seems to still increase the volume a bit. That is kinda good because I will use it as a "accent" effect on a chorus or a bit of a heavier part that needs a little more "ooomph".

Here is our web page that has some of our versions of the songs we do. Check some out if you like....we are a 1980's new wave/pop/alternative/rock band.

 

www.maggiemedia.com/rocketpark/