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Fun Stuff => BAND => Topic started by: Kwaping on 28 Oct 2010, 09:39

Title: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: Kwaping on 28 Oct 2010, 09:39
Musicians and music lovers, what's your favorite effect? You can answer either in general terms (heavy distortion, shimmery plate reverb, etc) or specifics (Big Muff, Empress Superdelay, Pigtronix Mothership, etc). I'm thinking in guitar terms mostly (because that's my instrument), but feel free to answer in your own perspective.

For me, it's tremolo. I think it's possibly one of the most underrated effects around. I love a nice subtle trem on blues and surf, and heavy trem on experimental stuff.

Specifically, I'm deeply in love with my new Empress tremolo box. Check out Andy's demo (http://proguitarshop.com/store/effects-tremolo-pedals-c-602_10/empress-effects-tap-tremolo-pedal-p-382) for a good overview of its capabilities. I demoed a lot of units and this one was the winner by far.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: valley_parade on 28 Oct 2010, 11:22
Straight up filthy, heavy germanium transistor fuzz.

Shin-Ei, Superfuzz, that sort of stuff. Think Fu Manchu in the later 90s. Or Wata's lead on Naki Kyoku.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: Kwaping on 28 Oct 2010, 11:38
I am definitely developing a taste for fuzz. It's too bad my budget won't allow for a fuzz and a distortion, and I already have the distortion. :(
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: ThePianoMan on 28 Oct 2010, 11:55
Spring reverb. Or plate reverb. Vintage reverb in general, I suppose.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: Scandanavian War Machine on 28 Oct 2010, 15:38
i don't know if this even close to being relevent or if it's something completely different, but....woodblocks.

I have a huge boner for woodblocks. It's like a much classier cowbell.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: spoon_of_grimbo on 28 Oct 2010, 21:17
funny, i heard this song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elCaFQWNXbw) for the first time the other day and and immediately got a similar boner for woodblocks.  at least i think those are woodblocks...


also, i'm not sure if it counts as an effect, but a well placed pickslide can do wonders for any up-tempo song.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: Melodic on 28 Oct 2010, 22:51
BZZT ZAP VVUVUUVUVUVUVVMMmmmmmmmmmm
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: Lummer on 29 Oct 2010, 00:05
CHUGGA CHUGGA
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: KharBevNor on 29 Oct 2010, 00:41
VUVUZELA
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: BeoPuppy on 29 Oct 2010, 01:31
Distortion. You gotta. Crunchy guitar tones are mandatory.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: KharBevNor on 29 Oct 2010, 03:56
TENSE

ANGULAR
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: JD on 29 Oct 2010, 08:11
Cowbell
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: celticgeek on 29 Oct 2010, 08:28
Bagpipe.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: KharBevNor on 29 Oct 2010, 08:30
Sweet melodica solo.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: leftandleaving on 29 Oct 2010, 10:05
Bitchin' harpmonicker jam
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: jackmort on 29 Oct 2010, 14:28
I'm a big fan of the Leslie cabinet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_cabinet)
One of the best known examples of it's use would be Tomorrow Never Knows by the Beatles (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a3NcwfOBzQ)
Basically it spins a speaker on a turntable to create a Doppler effect
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: Kwaping on 29 Oct 2010, 14:42
The Leslie effect is growing on me. Do you know if the Black Keys used a real Leslie on Hard Row (Thickfreakness album) or was it simulated? Because if it was simulated, it was a very good one.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: Kwaping on 29 Oct 2010, 14:51
RJD2 discusses Leslie speakers starting near 4:25 in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3_cK3pL7SM
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: jackmort on 29 Oct 2010, 14:58
Cheers for the link
I doubt if anyone's used a real Leslie cabinet for a decade or more, I think almost all effects are done digitally these days. Shame
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: David_Dovey on 29 Oct 2010, 16:04
I am all about delay, particularly long, in-tempo delays that go on for just about forever. Think "Us or Them" or "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd. I pretty much think any vocal take would sound better with that on it. It's an actual struggle to stop myself from doing exactly that on every vocal part I record, whether it's actually appropriate or not.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: Cernunnos on 29 Oct 2010, 21:00
REVERB!

if you get this joke you have officially been here forever

hell if i can find the thread
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: Spluff on 29 Oct 2010, 21:30
I like my guitar to sound like it has been ported directly through all nine levels of hell and then back again

failing that a massive fuck off fuzz pedal will do the trick
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: KvP on 30 Oct 2010, 00:52
Rubber band acid bass (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmYL4aNGJHE&feature=related)
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: KharBevNor on 30 Oct 2010, 09:31
Actually my favourite musical effect is the horrible, grinding noise at the beginning of 'Black Metal' by Venom, which was obtained (according to the liner notes of my special remastered edition of Black Metal) by cutting the door of Kronos' flat in half with a chainsaw.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: squawk on 30 Oct 2010, 11:28
Honestly?
Toy piano.
I mean, fuck yeah.
That is just a sound
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: David_Dovey on 30 Oct 2010, 12:13
That is nothing to be ashamed about and anybody who says otherwise can just eat a massive dong
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: Kwaping on 30 Oct 2010, 13:03
Hey Sam, make sure you check out the Empress tremolo before you make your purchase decision.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: Lummer on 30 Oct 2010, 13:45
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs918.snc4/73190_452034593558_586053558_5284925_3806245_n.jpg)

This little fucker!
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: NotAFanOfFenders on 30 Oct 2010, 15:55
At least it isn't a Metal Zone.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: Nodaisho on 30 Oct 2010, 22:33
I think it is achieved by a mix of chorus and reverb, I know there is a preset on my Tascam track manipulating mp3 thing that makes the same sound. Best seen in this song, at the beginning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaddQxNa66E
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: darkdrgon on 30 Oct 2010, 22:35
Not so much an effect as a preference, but I tune my snare very tight, so it makes a sound similar to the slap you hear after you punch someone in the face
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: Kwaping on 31 Oct 2010, 07:47
David, check out the sweet in-tempo delay in Zoey van Goey's "The Best Treasure Stays Buried". It's guitar, not vocals, but it's a great sound.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: De_El on 31 Oct 2010, 15:02
Oh my god that's awesome
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: Inlander on 31 Oct 2010, 18:13
I'm a big fan of the Leslie cabinet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_cabinet)

Thanks to that link, I navigated to the wikipedia page for the Doppler effect and it was there that I discovered that wikipedia has now branched out into dinky animated gifs:

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Dopplerfrequenz.gif)
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: KickThatBathProf on 01 Nov 2010, 09:25
Theremins (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW0B1sipLBI) are hot shit
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: valley_parade on 01 Nov 2010, 14:57
I ended up at an xmas party last year with a bunch of LARPers who had a theremin.

My ex kept calling me, so at one point we played her a theremin solo. Too many g&ts, I suppose.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: Cernunnos on 01 Nov 2010, 16:15
Theremins (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW0B1sipLBI) are hot shit

there's a theremin in there? all i saw was a beautiful fender bass VI.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: kittymao on 02 Nov 2010, 12:38
I'm a pretty big fan of the bass bomb, but it's really annoying if it's overused.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: Kwaping on 03 Nov 2010, 09:43
I really like the bass effect in Ra Ra Riot's new song "Boy". I'm thinking it's a delay with a short delay time, high level and quick decay. Kinda slapback-y but different.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: Lummer on 03 Nov 2010, 10:44
At least it isn't a Metal Zone.

No, it sounds far worse than that.
 :mrgreen:
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: Koremora on 03 Nov 2010, 17:08
Granular synthesis a la Tim Hecker/Fennesz gets me wet.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: PintsizesBloodyCock on 03 Nov 2010, 18:39
Oh fuck...just one?

Bitcrushed 808-stlyle drums, binaural recording, pitched feedback, tablas, natural reverb (mono drum room mics <3), fuzz (Shin-ei FY-2 and Big Muff are my faves), the tweed Bassman sound, heavy sidechained compressors on the master buss in a context other than just house music (Phoenix's Wolfgang Amadeus, Thrice's Fire EP), overdriven Rhodes, and reedy cello with plenty of rosin scrape.

Least favourite would have to be audible autotune in a genre that doesn't suit it. Sure, it works for Daft Punk, but when it's a Smiths cover (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWAtdN6KrHA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWAtdN6KrHA)) and there's audible warbling, that's just shitty.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: David_Dovey on 03 Nov 2010, 19:20
By binaural recording, do you mean Dummy Head/Kuntskopf (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dummy_head_recording) technique? Cos uh, that shit be mad gimmicky and not really necessary or even noticeable at all ever
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: Christophe on 03 Nov 2010, 19:36
Favorite musical effect: Oscillating delay that folds in on itself and making wild noises.
Least favorite musical effect: Wah. At best it's mildly tasteful, at worst it's fucking cliche and stupid.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: PintsizesBloodyCock on 03 Nov 2010, 20:11
By binaural recording, do you mean Dummy Head/Kuntskopf (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dummy_head_recording) technique? Cos uh, that shit be mad gimmicky and not really necessary or even noticeable at all ever

Yeah, dummy head recording. I think it's a spectacular effect when heard on headphones. Of course, it doesn't sound so great on speakers. I'm still a fan.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: Spluff on 03 Nov 2010, 22:01
That stuff is brilliant. I'm not sure how much I'd want it in an album but in terms of accomplishing directionality it is brilliant. Ideally they'll port it into the vidya gaems eventually.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: Kwaping on 04 Nov 2010, 10:12
Best musical feedback evar: Zhong Nan Hai (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001GEJCCG?ie=UTF8&tag=kwap-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001GEJCCG) by Carsick Cars. Keep listening after it sounds like the song is over.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: David_Dovey on 04 Nov 2010, 13:31
Incorrect the best feedback is from the start of "Limbs" by Agalloch
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: The Duke on 04 Nov 2010, 15:52
Crunchy distortion.  When it's done well, I cannot stop myself from air guitaring along.

I cannot

I have tried
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: Spluff on 04 Nov 2010, 18:09
Incorrect the best feedback is from the start of "Limbs" by Agalloch

pretty sure that's an ebow
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: Patrick on 04 Nov 2010, 18:29
Cheers for the link
I doubt if anyone's used a real Leslie cabinet for a decade or more, I think almost all effects are done digitally these days. Shame

I want to take a closer look at the Leslie that they have at the church I used to play with in Oakland. Old as shit and the speaker horn speed switch needs to be fixed but ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh god that thing is lush as fuck. I really want to fix it and connect my Jag to it. Strats are cool and all but I really really want to hear "Little Wing" on my Jag.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: NotAFanOfFenders on 13 Nov 2010, 18:08
Strats are my least favourite musical effect ever ( :mrgreen:).
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: pstrealer on 29 Nov 2010, 01:31
Not so much an effect as an "actually making use of the equipment". Actually USING stereo mixing to add location to the instrumentation, instead of just blasting everything equally ala entirely too many bands(essentially mono despite having stereo or better hardware). Just setting all the "pan" knobs on the mixing board to dead center is half-assing it, the only exception to which is if you're using panning and stereo as a jury-rigged way to get in-ears working for everyone on stage because of gremlins.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: Jimmy the Squid on 29 Nov 2010, 05:14
I am all about delay, particularly long, in-tempo delays that go on for just about forever. ... It's an actual struggle to stop myself from doing exactly that on every vocal part I record, whether it's actually appropriate or not.

This. So much this.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: David_Dovey on 29 Nov 2010, 18:27
Not so much an effect as an "actually making use of the equipment". Actually USING stereo mixing to add location to the instrumentation, instead of just blasting everything equally ala entirely too many bands(essentially mono despite having stereo or better hardware). Just setting all the "pan" knobs on the mixing board to dead center is half-assing it

Does this ever actually happen?
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: pstrealer on 29 Nov 2010, 19:44
Not so much an effect as an "actually making use of the equipment". Actually USING stereo mixing to add location to the instrumentation, instead of just blasting everything equally ala entirely too many bands(essentially mono despite having stereo or better hardware). Just setting all the "pan" knobs on the mixing board to dead center is half-assing it

Does this ever actually happen?

Yes, but with depressing rarity these days, and more in studio albums than in live shows(where it's hard if not impossible to do). :|
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: pwhodges on 30 Nov 2010, 01:49
... live shows(where it's hard if not impossible to do).

Pah!  Shouldn't be.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: valley_parade on 30 Nov 2010, 12:51
Honestly, I hated how the Stooges handled it in their first few albums. I thought my headphones were busted, only hearing guitar on one side.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: Patrick on 01 Dec 2010, 01:51
I am all about delay, particularly long, in-tempo delays that go on for just about forever. ... It's an actual struggle to stop myself from doing exactly that on every vocal part I record, whether it's actually appropriate or not.

This. So much this.

Oh hey I didn't know you guys were into U2

So guys I've always been kinda curious but how DOES horse dick taste, anyway?
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: Jimmy the Squid on 01 Dec 2010, 05:57
It's sort of unpleasant at first but you learn to tolerate it. Kind of like domestic abuse or Ted Leo.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: Jimmy the Squid on 01 Dec 2010, 05:58
I'm just kidding. I could never learn to tolerate Ted Leo.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: Nodaisho on 01 Dec 2010, 12:09

Oh hey I didn't know you guys were into U2

So guys I've always been kinda curious but how DOES horse dick taste, anyway?
Step 1) stick out your tongue.

Step 2) touch your hand to your tongue.

You have just tasted a dick. Thank me later.

Not serious, I just couldn't resist.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: StarF on 01 Dec 2010, 15:56
I know I'll probably catch some hell for this one, but lately I've been really into chiptunes. Particularly when they're incorporated into other genres, such as the artists POWERLIFTER, Bomb The Music Industry!, or I Fight Dragons.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: David_Dovey on 03 Dec 2010, 21:21
I am all about delay, particularly long, in-tempo delays that go on for just about forever. ... It's an actual struggle to stop myself from doing exactly that on every vocal part I record, whether it's actually appropriate or not.

This. So much this.

Oh hey I didn't know you guys were into U2

So guys I've always been kinda curious but how DOES horse dick taste, anyway?

It's so cute when you try to get all snobby about things, Patrick. Probably best you leave it to the experts though, k? Lest I dig up all those posts where you jump on Smashmouth or Cake's dick.

You fuck
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: KharBevNor on 04 Dec 2010, 07:05
Honestly, I hated how the Stooges handled it in their first few albums. I thought my headphones were busted, only hearing guitar on one side.

Unless I'm gunning for a strobe effect or something I have a rule when I'm making music that nothing strays outside of a range encompassing about 60-80% of the stereo pan around the centre line. When I helped record a friends band I just imagined one person standing on one side of the room and another person standing on the other, thought what they would probably hear, and mixed that.

My approach to music production is pretty much designed to make more technically minded folk cry, I think. Although more maybe for like the death industrial/cybregrind stuff I used to make where I would deliberately try to constantly make every monitor guage throb in the high red till you could hear the cones in the speakers rattling out of time to the music.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: valley_parade on 06 Dec 2010, 09:36
This is going to sound odd as an "effect" per se, but..tone knob.

Lately I've been playing with the bridge humbucker on my Tele, with the tone set at zero. Full treble cut. I don't know exactly how to describe the tone except for "hollow", but I love it.
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: NotAFanOfFenders on 06 Dec 2010, 11:40
What is this... tone knob you speak of?
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: valley_parade on 06 Dec 2010, 11:44
It's like a volume knob, though..it doesn't control the volume.

(http://www.warmoth.com/Assets/ProductImages/VKST1B_t.jpg)

Actually, mine looks like this:

(http://www.warmoth.com/Assets/ProductImages/DK1B_t.jpg)
Title: Re: What's your favorite musical effect?
Post by: greenMonkey on 07 Dec 2010, 11:44
I recently discovered that I can make an absolutely nasty, fat, grinding distortion by using the neck humbucker on my ASAT Classic Bluesboy, tone all the way down, going through my Boss SD-1 super overdrive with level, drive, and tone turned all the way up into the high gain output on my Fender Champ 600.  I'm sure this is doing terrible things to the speaker, but frankly it kind of deserves it.