Boss Slow Gear and Slicer - can the Ax do these effects

Both FX are replicable with the use of Modifers.

- Slow Gear, attach an envelope or ADSR modifier to a volume block to get a swell effect.

- Slicer, use one of the 2 LFO modifiers, also connected to a volume block, preferably at the end of the FX Chain. You could connect both LFOs and sync them via tap tempo except use different waveforms for some interesting results, or alternatively use 2 separate volume blocks panned left and right both with their own LFO for some poly rhythmic type stuff.

Hope this helps,

T
 
teejay said:
Both FX are replicable with the use of Modifers.

- Slow Gear, attach an envelope or ADSR modifier to a volume block to get a swell effect.

- Slicer, use one of the 2 LFO modifiers, also connected to a volume block, preferably at the end of the FX Chain. You could connect both LFOs and sync them via tap tempo except use different waveforms for some interesting results, or alternatively use 2 separate volume blocks panned left and right both with their own LFO for some poly rhythmic type stuff.

Hope this helps,

T
Click to expand...
Hey tejay, can you share your ADSR settings for the slow gear effect?

[edit: I have this backwards - I had come to the conclusion that neither the ADSR or Envelope worked that well for a Slow gear effect - but I had my reasons the wrong way around here - see my post further below. Also thanks to this thread, I HAVE found some envelope settings that work really well IMHO - see next page.]

I found the ADSR (retrigger mode) works better than the envelope controller for this effect, but it's really finicky (it seems you need to consistently pick above the trigger threshold level, and not re-pick until the signal has decayed below the threshold level - really doesn't work well IMHO. It works at times then loses the plot. Hopefully I've just overlooked something basic in the settings.

BTW, the synth block attack works really well because (I guess) it detects a sudden change in input level, so it re-triggers consistently, regardless of picking strength. Of course, you can't get guitar tones through the synth block.

I've been thinking of requesting an item to the wishlist for the ADSR to be able to trigger from an increase in level instead of a set threshold level for this exact reason.
 
yek said:
Slow gear: copy the settings of the Volume block in factory preset 257.

Or read this.
Click to expand...
thx, yek - I think that's what I was doing from WIKI, but will check again tonight.
thx also for the preset tip - I've never bothered to use them, but I know Cliff's put in a lot of effort with these to showcase special effects.
 
ok - tried again with the ADSR and Envelope for the Slow gear effect, and neither works well IMHO:

ADSR Controller
The WIKI recommends the ADSR - it works, but the pick attack still gets through. The whole point of the slow gear effect is to remove pick attack and swell the volume up. So the ADSR doesn't cut it. btw, the WIKI says the sustain setting doesn't matter, but it matters a lot: if you have this set too low, the sound will cut out after the attack period times out. It needs to be set high.

Envelope Controller
Preset 257 is better. It uses the envelope which DOES successfully suppress note attack. While it works to an extent, I can't find settings that work well:

GAIN needs to be at least 2 or more to prevent loss of sustain - using the volume envelope to control volume effectively multiplies signal level by itself, so at half volume the actual volume is one quarter. (0.5 x 0.5 = 0.25) So this needs to be set high, no problem.

If you set RELEASE to a low level, then once signal level drops below threshold, the sound cuts out (it's set to minimum in the preset). Setting release higher solves that problem, but now when you pick the next note, the volume starts from the current volume level, instead of muting and swelling volume from zero.

[edit: Thanks to this thread, I HAVE found some envelope settings that work really well IMHO - see next page.]

Gate/Exp Block
The best I've found in the AxeFX for a Slow Gear effect is the gate/expander block which can successfully do very short swells (up to 100mS).

Has anyone found a better way? I'm thinking that either we need a true zero retrigger time in the ADSR or even better, we have a threshold trigger for volume increase regardless of level, to detect picked notes.
 
GM Arts said:
Gate/Exp Block
The best I've found in the AxeFX for a Slow Gear effect is the gate/expander block which can successfully do very short swells (up to 100mS).
Click to expand...
How did you set it up ? Haven't tried the Gate/Exp block for that efffect yet, but I also agree that it's very finicky to set up a perfect slow gear type of effect. It works, but it's really gotta be tuned for the guitar, pickups, output and playing style and your playing has to be adjust to it as well...
 
VegaBaby said:
GM Arts said:
Gate/Exp Block
The best I've found in the AxeFX for a Slow Gear effect is the gate/expander block which can successfully do very short swells (up to 100mS).
Click to expand...
How did you set it up ? Haven't tried the Gate/Exp block for that efffect yet, but I also agree that it's very finicky to set up a perfect slow gear type of effect. It works, but it's really gotta be tuned for the guitar, pickups, output and playing style and your playing has to be adjust to it as well...
Click to expand...
No problem, VegaBaby. I'll get the settings and post over the weekend. Only works with very short swell times, because the maximum attack is 100mS. But it works well.

And yes, the envelope controller is finicky. Even by muting all strings before picking the next note, I seem to be getting inconsistent starting volumes. Not really sure why.
 
The Vol and Envelope settings from 257 work for me. For a slow gear effect it's normal having to mute the strings everytime before hitting the note, to get the swell effect.

Also try presets 157 and 378.
 
Yeah, the ADSR is limited in its use for this type of effect. It is fine for slow bursts of swell but no good if you want to sustain the resulting note.
Whilst i have no real use for a Slow Gear type of effect i have experimented and for best results have found the Envelope to work quite well. Of course, settings will vary depending on your pickup sensitivity etc but here are settings that i've used;

Threshold -65
Attack 100ms (this will vary depending on how fast you want the note to swell in)
Release 1.00ms
Gain 1.50

Cheers,

T
 
VegaBaby - My gate settings are:
THRESHOLD -53.9dB
ATTACK 100mS (max)
HOLD 10mS
RELEASE 10mS
RATIO 2.08
SRC SELECT INPUT 1
LOW CUT 10Hz
HIGH CUT 20000Hz

And tee jay, thanks for those settings - it's helped my pretty much remove the problem of the short release time cutting off sustained notes. The key is to use low threshold with high gain and minimum release. The low threshold means that it doesn't matter if the short release time cuts off the a note that's already very quiet. The envelope settings I'm trialling at the moment are:

THRESHOLD -70.2dB
ATTACK 296.8mS (or however fast you want the fade-in)
RELEASE 1mS
GAIN 2.46

IIRC and IMHO these settings work at least as well as the Slow Gear effect. :D
 
I had a boss gt8/10 and enjoyed the slicer/slow gear on those modellers. I'm sure my Axe can perform even better with methods proposed here. My 2 cents is that the best slicer effect I've ever been able to get is to become proficient at using the pickup switch on a 2volumeknob guitar (one volume off / one on). If you've got a nice clean non scratchy switch like I do on my Gibson SG Standard and have done some practice I believe your slicer sound will be better than whan can be produced in an automated way. Same for slow gear - I find practice on the volume pedal (placed before time based effects) gives me a better slow gear than what I've been able to automate. No offense to the Axe Fx, but sometimes simpler is better.
 
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