Distortion ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter chessrock
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chessrock

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Hello,

I was wondering if I could ask for some assistance from the kind, knowlegeable folk here . . .

What's a common/popular means of getting some nice, fat distortion and/or drive to a keyboard track?

Nothing too radical, let's say a classic Rhodes drive; extra fat. :D What's the prefered method?
 
The AIPL SpinCycle (directx) is a good Leslie sim, and it has an input drive section that's great for fattening.

I recall you were using Amplitube on bass di, right?

On keys, try the Tube Clean pre into the British Class A eq into the Vintage 4x12 closed cab, maybe with some stomp box overdrive if you need more level, or just more distortion.

MP
 
Hey, thanks, guys. I'm actually tracking (going DI), so no virtual or midi or anything like that.

I was thinking of maybe horsing around with the Sansamp GT2. I also have a POD pro, and a bunch of plugins (Amplitube, Quadrafuzz) that I suppose I could try. Mallcore, thanks for the amplitube suggestion. I'm writing it down right now on a post-it.

Just wondering if there was any sort of "standard" or something or other that's been used a lot for distortion on hammonds or whatever through the years.

What did they use before plugins, anyway? :D Guitar amps? Pedals? Don't laugh, here, I'm serious.

Thanks again!
 
You could use any guitar pedal - an Ibanez tube screamer pedal or a Boss distortion pedal used judiciously should provide the sort of noise you want.

You may want to consider mixing the dry sound and the wet sound to control the amount of gunge present.

Another option might be to use a pre-amp, like a little dbx mini-pre.
 
Mic up a dirty amp:

From what I've gathered, that's been the prefered technique for Three Dog Night, The Beatles, Eels, and Elvis Costello.

I think most of the classic grit of your favorite hammond track comes from a combination of the organ and the leslie.

Do you have a real instrument (rhodes, organ) or a synth?


Else, try overdriving a preamp, or use the tube pre setting on the POD


-Chris
 
I just picked up a couple of Daddy-Os and Mig Muffs for my K2600 (mostly for bass and drum sounds). It's got a B3 mode that I don't really have a use for but if you want I can put some organ sounds through them and tell you what I think. Don't know if I can be of much help in comparing it to those "classic" sounds as I was never into them, but might sound interesting enough in it's own right.
 
Ok, I know this is kinda old but I have one that might appeal to the dead broke among us. If you have any single channel solid state outboard preamp you just set it up going into a mic channel on your mixer. If it's a line level device just set the volume at a reasonable halfish level before plugging it into the extra pre. Then adjust the mixer to a good level to monitor the synth, instrument or mic. Don't worry if it's not very loud yet. Use the extra preamp to drive the signal (pull those red faders down...) to near the board's nominal level.
I'm sure some preamp board combos will have different sounds but I have found that with two preamps in a chain like this, (a thing you aren't supposed to do) there are a few flavors of distortion you can get. I can almost always get a mild grit that makes things sound pretty strained and vital. Pushed harder it sounds like you are breaking speakers in a little room. The trick is playing with the knobs and driving the gain stages right. I've used it for vocals and some synth sounds.

I guess you could patch two pres together on the same board if you have busses, never tried it.
 
I'd keep it simple and real and mic an amp. Sometimes a direct line through a pedal is enough if you want a more fuzzy sound.
 
Well, put the Big Muffs and Daddy-Os through their paces. Right off the bat I am gonna say that Big Muffs probably wouldn't be the right choice for organs and electric pianos. They do however work well with snares, bases and buzzy sounds.

I found that at mild settings the Daddy-O works really well with electric pianos and even organs though. It offers more tonal controls to shape the sounds, and overall it tends to sound rounder than the Big Muffs.

So, if you're looking for an easy way of introducing some overdrive type stuff, then of the two choices that I have at hand, I'd recommend the Daddy-O for electric pianos and organs.
 
Hey Chess,

I am a little late on this I think, but I have found the GT2 to be excellent on a Rhodes track. I actually used the 'Mesa' setting w/ real low gain and lots of bass and reamped it through my Eden WT300 and 4x10 cabinet. That was a pretty thick and groovy sound.

Same thing w/ the Wurli, although I have the student model that sits on top of a speaker cabinet kind of like the suitacase for the Rhodes. I have found that just turning it up all the way and practically blowing the speakers works best there.

Dont be afraid to ruin your equipment for cool sounds!

Twonky
 
Any decent OD pedal should do - it would prolly come down to what flavor you prefer.

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