Wish DeEsser

Alex Kerezy

Inspired
Hi,
I'm running an acoustic violin with a piezo pickup [LR Baggs] into my Axe-Fx iii - and I get a lot of bow noise. I am using a notch filter and an EQ to tweak the sound.

A DeEsser might be a nice bloc

Yeah I know; I'm one of the few acoustic owners
Thanks,
 
I also would love a deesser in the axe (as I will buy a 3 in the future). I have been using DMG Essence and Weiss DS1 alot lately - there are some seriously cool deessing tricks out there for sources other than vocals!
 
Here you go.......................P L E A S E ........... H E L P.............. I need help to make the instrument sound thicker and not so dry. Please, Please, Please...... don't tell me to just add reverb. I want something more. I want a richer tone before I ever get to the place of adding reverb.

My audio file has:
  1. Totally dry with no blocks engaged
  2. Just a little compressor - that has a side chain
  3. Just a pass filter - cutting off the very lows and highs
  4. Just an EQ - to try to bring some frequencies to help enrich the sound
  5. All three - Compressor; Band Pass Filter and EQ
  6. All three - plus a touch of Reverb
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Here's my audio recorded directly off of the axe into Audacity on my tablet.

Will I get slapped if I post this in the main discussion topic for the axe-fx-iii????

Thanks for any advice on making the piezo powered violin sound richer
 
"richness" to me is usually more of a mid to low frequency thing. you chopped off highs, then put +9dB of 4k and +5dB of 8k back in. those are "clarity" to me, not richness.

you might try the Amp block and the Tube Pre type. run the Input Gain so you get a very small touch of "grit" - this grit is what creates harmonic richness, maybe what you're looking for. or are you the one that recently said the Tube Pre makes your instrument sound like a trumpet?

does your violin have the capability of producing the tone you want in the first place? i don't really hear much going on in the low end on it at all. it's like people here who want an alto ukulele to "sound like a bass." like. it can't. it literally doesn't produce any low notes.

is there a recording of a violin that sounds like what you want?
 
@Alex Kerezy take a cab block, find the factory IR that says something about "totally flat", then turn on the preamp in the cab block. Turn off all your other compression and EQ...

Turn the preamp to tube, high quality, bump up the drive 2 or 3 db, then bump up the bass 3 or 4 db. There are a bunch of different preamp types you can change it to, tape shaves a bit more high end off, modern sounds pretty clean if you want to keep it super clear but still add richness. But between the preamp drive and bass, I bet that will add what you're looking for. (Bass boost to highlight the resonance of a high register instrument)

To find the bow noise freq, use a high pass filter to cut the lows until you get right under the bow noise, then turn off the filter, then set the multi comp crossovers so that the mid-band of the multi-comp is centred wherever that bow noise peak is, to take a few db off at that peak.
 
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Here you go.......................P L E A S E ........... H E L P.............. I need help to make the instrument sound thicker and not so dry. Please, Please, Please...... don't tell me to just add reverb. I want something more. I want a richer tone before I ever get to the place of adding reverb.

My audio file has:
  1. Totally dry with no blocks engaged
  2. Just a little compressor - that has a side chain
  3. Just a pass filter - cutting off the very lows and highs
  4. Just an EQ - to try to bring some frequencies to help enrich the sound
  5. All three - Compressor; Band Pass Filter and EQ
  6. All three - plus a touch of Reverb
View attachment 52484

View attachment 52485

View attachment 52486

View attachment 52487

Here's my audio recorded directly off of the axe into Audacity on my tablet.

Will I get slapped if I post this in the main discussion topic for the axe-fx-iii????

Thanks for any advice on making the piezo powered violin sound richer


Well the good thing is, if there is anything that can do what you want, it's the Axe-Fx.

I've never done this with a violin, but I think, this Cooper Carter trick would help here:
Insert a Tonematch-Block after your comp, filter and geq/peq - turn off all the effects except the tonematch.

1. Tonematch Reference - "recording of a violin that sounds like what you want"
2. Tonematch Local - set a looper in front of the tonematch, play something; comp, filter and GEQ/PEQ in front of the looper and "on" and start local tonematch - now tweak GEQ, restart local tonematch, tweak again etc. until your "local" has almost the same EQ-curve as the "reference" (luckily there are graphics that help you with this or in any case the "RTA")

Now: Tonematch local -> "match" -> save as IR-Player or CAB -> insert saved IR instead of Tonematch -> after that IR-Block insert a "Tonematch-Block" again and tonematch your new sound again!

2 tonematches should do there job, but in any case, you could also do more.

After that you can fill in reverbs etc.

I really hope this can help :)
 
@Alex Kerezy take a cab block, find the factory IR that says something about "totally flat", then turn on the preamp in the cab block. Turn off all your other compression and EQ...

Turn the preamp to tube, high quality, bump up the drive 2 or 3 db, then bump up the bass 3 or 4 db. There are a bunch of different preamp types you can change it to, tape shaves a bit more high end off, modern sounds pretty clean if you want to keep it super clear but still add richness. But between the preamp drive and bass, I bet that will add what you're looking for. (Bass boost to highlight the resonance of a high register instrument)

To find the bow noise freq, use a high pass filter to cut the lows until you get right under the bow noise, then turn off the filter, then set the multi comp crossovers so that the mid-band of the multi-comp is centred wherever that bow noise peak is, to take a few db off at that peak.


First - THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I do appreciate the expertise here. I tried two things:
  1. Just a Cab with the TOTALLY FLAT Cab
    • Jokingly - I recorded it first with the Gain up to 9
    • Then I recorded it with the Gain at 2
I like this - it is a little "fuller" or maybe "thicker" than using a compressor; filter; EQ by themselves or in combination

2. Then I tried a Tonematch - I did the Tonematch and tried it by itself only (No Cab block), then along with the Cab block - At the end of the recording I have the reference source. The tonematch absolutely makes the tone "less bright" and a little "deeper".


I'm actually thinking of kind of keeping, or building out both - one for more fiddle sounds or songs, and the tonematch for more string type sounds.
I'm STILL OPEN TO TWEAKS and SUGGESTIONS HERE ---
  • Did I do the Tonematch right?
  • What about something that provides some sustain, without reverb?
  • What about the mic placement settings in the Cab block - can those help provide a sustain or thicken the sound?
  • Since the tonematch took away some of the brightness (which is OK), how do I boost the volume back up?
Again - thanks for taking the time to read and listen to the recording!!....and more importantly....provide suggestions here

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First - THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I do appreciate the expertise here. I tried two things:
  1. Just a Cab with the TOTALLY FLAT Cab
    • Jokingly - I recorded it first with the Gain up to 9
    • Then I recorded it with the Gain at 2
I like this - it is a little "fuller" or maybe "thicker" than using a compressor; filter; EQ by themselves or in combination

2. Then I tried a Tonematch - I did the Tonematch and tried it by itself only (No Cab block), then along with the Cab block - At the end of the recording I have the reference source. The tonematch absolutely makes the tone "less bright" and a little "deeper".


I'm actually thinking of kind of keeping, or building out both - one for more fiddle sounds or songs, and the tonematch for more string type sounds.
I'm STILL OPEN TO TWEAKS and SUGGESTIONS HERE ---
  • Did I do the Tonematch right?
  • What about something that provides some sustain, without reverb?
  • What about the mic placement settings in the Cab block - can those help provide a sustain or thicken the sound?
  • Since the tonematch took away some of the brightness (which is OK), how do I boost the volume back up?
Again - thanks for taking the time to read and listen to the recording!!....and more importantly....provide suggestions here

View attachment 52497


View attachment 52498

It sounds good with the flat cab, the Tonematch can't be right, though. That is a more complicated thing, the manual should help there a lot. I'd just say, try the amp, cab and the tonematch and experiment with the "amount" or "smoothing" of the tonematch - it may give you what you want, but really check the manual, with the tonematch you have to really do it right.
 
If you're looking for more tone advice, I'd post a thread in 'Preset Exchange'. Yes, Violin players are a bit like Unicorns on this board, but the EQ advice and tools advice will be second to none.
 
Is't there a violin IR on axchange? Pretty sure there are some TM IR's and some have used the gtrbody IR as well.

Thanks for the suggestion. I found one TM, but no IRs. Now perhaps somebody put something out there with a name other than 'violin', and I missed it. I'll try the tone match tomorrow.

To be honest - I'm still not HAPPY with the sound I'm getting. It may just be the piezo pickup, but I'm just not happy. It's so hard to explain too. The sound just doesn't carry or sound full the way a violin would if it you recorded it with a microphone in a room. I don't want some intense reverb (I know somebody's going to suggest it get a fuller sound). I posted the link to what I want the tone to sound like here.

If you hear my tone match violin recording (link here), you can hear how this instrument "rings out" and "carries". I am using the best words I know to describe the sound I'm hearing, but not getting. It's almost like there's a sustain of the instrument, but again, it's not a echo type reverb.....the instrument sound just carries.

I honestly followed the tone match instructions, but it came out weird. It really dampened the tone. I mean excessively dampened the tone.

Thanks again for the suggestion.
 
you can hear how this instrument "rings out" and "carries". I am using the best words I know to describe the sound I'm hearing, but not getting. It's almost like there's a sustain of the instrument

Try adding a Compressor block at the beginning of your signal chain. I like the Optical or Studio models.
 
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