Finbar Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 (edited) I wouldn't normally ask people 'what pedal' anymore. I'm pretty good at doing my own reearch into stuff. But I've found that I have enough space on my board pretty much EXACTLY for one more pedal. It seems wrong not to fill it :/ And I don't have much experience in the realm of single noise pedals. I've got most of my bases covered already. I've got a distortion I like, my amp overdrives just fine, I have a nice compressor, a perfectly good tuner, and my M9 covers just about anything else practical. I use it for reverb, delay, looping, synth, and pitch shifting duties. I really have very little interest in modulation, and even if I ever have cause to use it, the M9 has bucketloads of it. So what do you get the man that has everything? I really want a ridiculously stupid noise pedal. I used to have a massive pedalboard, and about half of it was probably given over to pedals that did nothing but make noise. Weird filters, glitching, self oscillation and frequency/pitch sweeps, lo-fi distortion... All that stuff. But I really have nothing like that now. I have a scene set up on my M9 which is full of noise effects, but it's a bit inconvenient. It'd be nice to have a stompbox that is capable of just being totally bizarre as well. So any suggestions? The only limits are that it must not be any bigger than an MXR stompbox. That's literally all I have room for. And it'd be nice if it could generate its own noise, rather than rely on me constantly having to make 'musical' input - I want a real knob-twiddler. Edited January 13, 2010 by Finbar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finbar Posted January 13, 2010 Author Share Posted January 13, 2010 (edited) Infact, for a bit of inspiration, something like this would be ace: [url="http://www.alien-devices.com/alienosc.html"]http://www.alien-devices.com/alienosc.html[/url] It is actually an isntrument in itself, but is pedal sized. So it would still fit on a pedalboard! Might be worth looking into these kind of things more - off to find noise music forums I think! Another one on the same theme, but nowhere near as fun sounding: [url="http://www.fxdoctor.com/site/ceasetransmission.html"]http://www.fxdoctor.com/site/ceasetransmission.html[/url] Edited January 13, 2010 by Finbar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbass4k Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 [url="http://www.martoneaudio.com/LoTechNoFiBot.htm"]http://www.martoneaudio.com/LoTechNoFiBot.htm[/url] First thing that sprang to mind, I'm sure I'll remember other things once i've had caffiene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 (edited) TBH I think a delay with its own feedback loop send/return would be pretty grand. Doubt you'll find one MXR-sized but it would be easy to get creative with something like that. I think I'd get bored of a one-trick noisemaker pretty quickly. Edited January 13, 2010 by thisnameistaken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finbar Posted January 13, 2010 Author Share Posted January 13, 2010 I'll check the LoTechNoFiBot out I considered a Subdecay Noisebox, but I'm not sure it's 'noise' enough for me. I hear what you're saying about the one trick pony thisnameistaken. I'm not throwing up too many successful results yet, but I'm sure there must be something perfect and really obscure out there! It doesn't need to do massive amounts of things, but the ability to make 3/4 nice unique sounds from it through various parameters would be really nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryharold Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 you could build yourself one of these [url="http://musicfromouterspace.com/analogsynth/YOUR_FIRST_SYNTH/WSG_Reborn/WEIRDSOUNDGENERATORREBORN.php?page=WSG"]http://musicfromouterspace.com/analogsynth...RN.php?page=WSG[/url] i guess it wouldn't be too hard, it's something i've been meaning to do for a while. If you do a search you can find some people who have managed to cram one into a pretty tight space. failing that you always place one of these after your m9 [url="http://zvex.com/ringtone.html"]http://zvex.com/ringtone.html[/url] and you have weird sound o'clock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Get a feedback loop on your board, see what it does with your other pedals. In fact, one of Umph's switching ones, so you can use it as a bypass loop too, in case of catastrophic board failure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfie Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 I had a 3XFx Fatman that I sold to a basschatter and I think it has been sold on again since. It is a light sensor based occilating fuzz with an enormous volume boost. 'twas a crazy little mo-fo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbass4k Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 [quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='711852' date='Jan 13 2010, 08:08 PM']Get a feedback loop on your board, see what it does with your other pedals. In fact, one of Umph's switching ones, so you can use it as a bypass loop too, in case of catastrophic board failure.[/quote] Forget that, It's catastrophic butt failure I'm worried about Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finbar Posted January 14, 2010 Author Share Posted January 14, 2010 I'm really taken by the FX Doctor Cease Transmission actually. But his customer service rep is so shocking that I'm not entirely sure whether it's worth it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBassBob Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 I don't know too much about noisy, lo-fi, glitchy pedals, but if you haven't heard it (or have one) I'd suggest checking out the Subdecay Noisebox. I actually keep one on my board because there's nothing in particular that would be there anyway and it's just pure fun to fiddle with it and get crazy glitch-synth sounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fxpedal.co.uk Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 The Subdecay Noisebox is definitely one to try out. I'd also suggest looking at ring modulation. Another one that may not be obvious as a noisemaker is the Ibanez Airplane Flanger - you can get police sirens, laser guns and general mayhem out of it as well as more traditional flanging and chorus sounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umph Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 get a memory toy and let me put a feedback loop in it, that has a few knobs so should make some awesome sounds! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finbar Posted January 14, 2010 Author Share Posted January 14, 2010 I was lusting after the noisebox for a while actually, and while it looks like fun, it definitely seems like it will effect your signal and make what you play sound a little odd, rather than actually generate weird noise itself. That's really what I'm looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finbar Posted January 14, 2010 Author Share Posted January 14, 2010 [quote name='umph' post='713226' date='Jan 14 2010, 11:20 PM']get a memory toy and let me put a feedback loop in it, that has a few knobs so should make some awesome sounds![/quote] That's quite tempting actually. They're not even all that expensive new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBassBob Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 [quote name='Finbar' post='713227' date='Jan 14 2010, 11:20 PM']I was lusting after the noisebox for a while actually, and while it looks like fun, it definitely seems like it will effect your signal and make what you play sound a little odd, rather than actually generate weird noise itself. That's really what I'm looking for.[/quote] Actually, the Noisebox does produce the noise itself... whatever you run into it, it will take the notes it can and reproduce what you play with its own sound, however, the overall sound it produces varies greatly depending on your input signal and how the controls are set. For example, I find that it reproduces your notes cleaner if you roll off the volume on your bass. Even though I often play through it with the volume on my bass set to practically inaudible if I was running clean, the Noisebox plays every note you play like an actual synth and then cuts dead as soon as the note dies away and it stays the same volume you set the output to no matter what signal it recieves. As I said, very fun. In fact, I dismissed it after I first got it as I found it really hard to coax usable sounds out of it... after a while I went back and spent a few days trying different ways to control it. Glad I kept it now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finbar Posted January 14, 2010 Author Share Posted January 14, 2010 [quote name='BigBassBob' post='713245' date='Jan 14 2010, 11:31 PM']Actually, the Noisebox does produce the noise itself... whatever you run into it, it will take the notes it can and reproduce what you play with its own sound, however, the overall sound it produces varies greatly depending on your input signal and how the controls are set.[/quote] So wait... does it produce the noise itself, or does it take that you play and reproduce it? I'm not quite clear what you're saying. All the videos and clips I've seen/heard seem to suggest it is just a squealy, synthy, glitchy fuzz pedal with a neat frequency sweep knob - not something which can be used as an audio source itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umph Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 when i had a go with one it needed an input signal, it was really all that flexible though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbass4k Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 Yea, the noise box is just a regular pedal (well, in operation), just processes the input signal, doesn't generate any signal itself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBassBob Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 Ah, my bad I stand corrected. I was basing that on how it responded to different instruments. Other than the way notes decayed it seemed to completely project its own sound on any input I tried (bass, guitar, keys). Of course there were differences in the sounds, but they all had THAT sound the pedal does. I also assumed that it produced its own signal because its labeled as a "Harmonic Frequency Generator". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Fly Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 (edited) I would like to suggest you a different kind of device. Something a little bit more "lateral". On my pedalboard I have a pedal that I called "The Box". It is an interface between the pedalboard and the outside world. It has input (from bass), output (to amp), send (to the first pedal of the chain) and return (from the last pedal of the chain). It also has a mute switch that kills the output signal no matter what happens. It also has DC in (from power supply unit) and 2 DC out (to daisy-chain cables). Internally, it performs a few hidden functions: - Electrostatic protection. It kills the electrostatic charges that often we carry on our body and we end up discharging on the pedals through the jack. I have seen more than one pedal fried this way. - [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_frequency_interference"]RFI[/url] filtering. It stops radio signals. - Overvoltage protection. It protects the pedals if the power supply regulator stops working and it delivers a voltage higher than it should. - The unit can also be buffered if the bass is passive and the pedalboard has a lot of true-bypass pedals at the beginning of the chain. Mechanically it protects the first and last pedal of the chain where the jacks are constantly under stress. Moreover, it simplifies the life of stage engineers (if you have someone that connects your pedal board for you one stage). SF Edited January 15, 2010 by Silent Fly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M4L666 Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 [quote name='Silent Fly' post='713449' date='Jan 15 2010, 09:54 AM']I would like to suggest you a different kind of device. Something a little bit more "lateral". On my pedalboard I have a pedal that I called "The Box".[/quote] Is that the m:system on your site? Looks useful, how much do they go for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Fly Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 [quote name='M4L666' post='714371' date='Jan 15 2010, 09:35 PM']Is that the m:system on your site? Looks useful, how much do they go for?[/quote] There are similarities but they are two different things. The [url="http://www.sfxsound.co.uk/mainpage.asp?page=m_system"]m:system[/url] is just a standard for setting up connectors. It consists in a signal connectors (m:signal) and a power supply connector (m:power) and it can be implemented in almost all pedals and audio devices. "[i]The Box[/i]" is a device that I built for myself a while ago. I built other similar devices for other people and I can make variations of it. If you are interested please send me an email - [url="http://www.sfxsound.co.uk/mainpage.asp?page=about"]the address is on my website[/url]. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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