http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCYJuJjyvF0
I love the tone in this song. I'm pretty sure it's layered moog bass with real bass, though. Do any of you have any wise words about achieving something similar?
Here is a video of me playing it with a dry tone.
THANKS ALL. :-)
Posted Mar 17, 2014, 2:11 AM UTC · edited
There's definitely some sort of synth going on there. If I had to guess, I'd say they were using a keyboard on the recording, but I don't know. You can get similar sounds from a Markbass Supersynth (though it's quite expensive), or a Boss SYB-5 (it doesn't track as well, but it's half the price of the markbass).
Or, you can save up about two grand, and stalk ebay and craigslist until you find someone selling an Akai Deep Impact, which is essentially the creme de la crop of synth pedals.
I disagree about the Markbass SS - I owned one for a bit and the sound was very harsh/digital. The sound in this song is very warm and analog-like. I think OP is right about the Moog.
Akai Deep impact could help but still quite different from the song.
@OP keyboard synth is hard to beat, let alone Moog synth. Your best bet is auto wah/low-pass filter, compression, light fuxx, and sub-octave.
I owned one too. Yeah, it can be very harsh, but if you mess with the sounds on the computer you can get something close.
If I was covering this song, I'd use a synth pedal + octave pedal and play it an octave up. Haven't used a moog, so I'm unsure of its capabilities.
Why Akai doesn't reissue the Deep Impact is truly a mystery. The could pull some serious cash out of that...
Honestly, it's probably a synth/octave mix. I recently got a pedal by Zoom that is able to emulate tons of different pedals, and the sound is similar. Here is a link if you are interested.
For something like this, I wouldn't go the synth route - but that's my own preference. You would probably get pretty close to the tone, but the feel of playing synth pedals can get really strange (particularly if they're monophonic and you accidentally let a string ring out while you're playing something... then it starts to sound like a gerbil going through a woodchipper).
If you want a similar tone while still remaining bass-like in the way it handles on the instrument, some creative usage with a Brassmaster distortion pedal (or a clone - I use the Source Audio Bass Distortion Pro) and an EQ would get you very close (I use the BM to get the sound for Herbie Hancock's "Chameleon" intro, which is kind of in the ballpark as far as the attack goes).
It depends on what you want of course.
I agree about the synth pedals. Along with auto filters, I find they can sometimes disguise bad playing too.
It's definitely a synth to my ear. You might try and contacting Sigma Sound where it was recorded and see if they know/remember. Joseph Tarsia produced it.
http://sigmasound.com/contact/
You're amazing. Thank you!
My google-fu is strong but I'm not amazing. Let us know if you find out.
Will do!