chris.p wrote:Hi, I literally just got my MF-101 along with the EP-2 in the mail last night in hopes of achieving some sounds found in electronica and dubstep using a live electric bass (particularly a sub-bass w/ high freqencies cut off and wobble/modulation sounds like those found in dubstep). I couldn't help being drawn to your post and the photo of your setup. Very nice man.
A good reference point for the "live-tronica" sounds I'm going for with the bass would be a la bands like Lotus and the New Deal - having a bass that can both sit in the pocket with a sub-bass type groove, but also be on the front with more of the modulated sounds, maybe even some overdrive. I know Lotus' bassist has said that the MF-101 with expression pedal "revolutionized his tone."
If you don't mind my asking, can you get these types of sounds with the setup you're using? Do you use the MF-101 with the EH bass synth, or, what is the sequence/chain of pedals you have running to get some of these sounds (without sharing all of your secrets
)? I'd imagine you might have some of the same sound goals as I do.
I'd really appreciate any advice, as even briefly playing with the MF-101 and EP-2 alone gave me the impression of being more envelope following effects if alone, but they obviously have the potential to work with other pedals to get nice electronic/dubstep sounds. Just wondering what I might need to add to the setup next. Thanks in advance.
Hi bud,
No secrets here… I'll tell you what I can.
The LPF is the mainstay of the electronica bass sound… but alone it does little for the bassist. You need good Fuzz (Gated is best), Chorus or trem or phaser, Octave down, THEN LPF. (The chorus etc isn't really NEEDED but it does add depth to the sound). Basically Octave, Fuzz, LPF will do the sub swell into fizzy sparkle… and that make us bassists smile.
Thats your classic synth swell on bass… listen to John Davis of Nerve (
http://nerve.bandcamp.com/) or Bond from Miloopa (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2I35goc3l8) - Bond has the kind of sound I achieve and aim for, with a few tweeks of my own.
So… where my board concerned that main sound is done one of 2 ways…
1. Boss OC-2 set to octave down only -> Corvid Fuzz or Devi Ever Soda Meiser -> Unichorus or Phase Shifter -> LPF (sweeping cutoff from 250 upwards). This is a lovely warm soft swell from a sub rumble up. If you listen to track one on EP3 of the Nerve link above you'll hear him doing just that for the main groove.
2. My Bass MicroSynth has been modded to have the cutoff )Start/Stop) controlled with an expression pedal… so it does everything above (minus the modulation) in one (plus octave up and original signal). The BMS is a more aggressive burpy sound than the LPF so I get 2 contrasts…
This is where my signal chain comes in handy as at the centre of my board is a Line Selector…
My signal starts at the FreqBox, which I use more like a fuzzy Pitch Shifter, that goes into the Line Selector…
From there channel one is basically most of the board and channel 2 is just the MicroSynth. Both channels meet again at the delay and then the slicer. The reason for this is that I can do a nice fat warm swell and as it delay's off into the distance I can pop on channel 2 and swell the BSM with an aggressive squarewave swell, then back again… This means I have 2 totally separate sounds, that overlap and sound like 2 instruments, rather than layering or removing an additional effect onto an existing tone…
Its complicated… but it works and makes me happy.
If you have any questions about how I use certain pedals etc etc then fire away, I'm happy to tell all. If you're UK based and near Nottingham give me a shout and you're welcome to try the set up.
Shep
