Moog Music Forum

I’ve got a live setup with drummachines, sampler and synths where the Minitaur does the bass. Very pleased with it’s solid sound and easy/fun tweaking live. But. I think I need a compressor with sidechain to make it suck a bit when the kicks hit. I’ve had a MachineDrum for many years and when I just bought an Analog Rytm I realised I’ve been tweaking my drum sounds om the MD very ”klicky”, letting the Minitaur take a lot of space in the low end. This hit me when I started using the Analog Rytm with the Minitaur and felt everything muddy. And sure, I could cut bass from the Rytm but in a way it’s the sound of it with a solid low end. So I thought it might be an idea sending the Minitaur through a compressor and letting the Rytms kick control the sidechain input.

So. Any tips on compressors for this purpose that doesn’t cost more than the Minitaur itself.

Got my eyes on an Alesis 3632 as a start.

Also, general discussion and experiences about compressing synth bass live is more than welcome!

Could be worth considering guitar pedals, or maybe a multi-effects unit if you're OK with the idea of digital modelling.

I realised I can just control the Minitaur volume with the Octatrack that’s already sending MIDI notes. That way I can also adjust or program the ducking easiky with just a knob. And the Minitaur doesnt have to be fed through a compressor that might colour/alter its sound. Very pleased!

Bravo!

Though after listening more carefully, there’s quite some noticable clicking noise when the LFO ducks the volume. Not at all pleasant. Just bought the Toraiz AS-1 and it ducks smoothly, with no effect on sound. What could cause the click noise on the Minitaur?

Keeley Bass Compressor is a DBX in a tiny box and sounds fantastic with the Minitaur, doesn’t mess with the tone just the dynamics, though it can make it a bit more beefy as comps do.

Mark Bass Compressore is a fabulous tube compressor, it sounds WAY too good for the price and form factor and no other compressor under $1k will actually use the tube for the compression section of the circuit.

Both can be found used under $150. Both sound amazing on Synth and Bass.

MBlom wrote: Sat Oct 20, 2018 3:46 pmThough after listening more carefully, there’s quite some noticeable clicking noise when the LFO ducks the volume. Not at all pleasant...
What could cause the click noise on the Minitaur?

Hi MBlom.
Any time you rapidly and dramatically change the volume of a sound (especially with sounds using simpler audio waveshapes) you will be temporarily simulating a Square wave (because of the nearly vertical line in the amplitude change), which contains a plethora of high-frequency harmonics.

This short burst of addition harmonics is perceived as a click to your ears.

Even a slightly longer volume change time will eliminate that "click."