Constant volume with expression-modified Master+Output

prometh

prometh

Power User
I have an expression pedal applied to an amp's master and output volumes.

At heel position, the master goes to 10 and the output goes to -15dB
At toe position, the master goes to 4 and the output goes to 0dB

At the extreme positions, the volume is the same, but at the half-way point, it's louder. How can I fix this?

I have tried changing the modifier slope and mid values with little success.
 
In theory, if a linear line, the half way point would be master 7 and output -7.5.

If you copy the preset and remove the modifiers and use the aforementioned settings how is the volume?
 
Oops, my bad.. my max master volume was 8, not 10. The two 50% positions are now the same volume.

And, by "inverse curves", do you mean start:100% end:0%? Then, yes.
 
No. While the two 50% locations match, they are still louder than the 0% and 100% locations
 
I didn't see how that would make a difference, but I humoured you :)

Same issue as before, only offset by the new values.
 
If you are trying to do what I think you are trying to do (which is actually pretty clever) I think that you are going to have to make a non-linear curve for the sweep (probably for both). I don't know how to do it off the top of my head, but I think that it can be done.

Basically you want to change the gain structure while maintaining the same volume level correct?
 
Yes, exactly. And, I've tried a few different curves, but the volume boost between the extremes never quite went away; sometimes it'd just move from 50% to 25%, etc.
 
I'll take a look in a minute to see if I can do anything with it. I'm pretty confident that you're a lot further ahead of me in the modifier area, but I want to try it out now. :)
 
OK, got kind of lost in there, but I think that because you already know what your min and max are that its just a matter of going to the halfway point of your pedal and setting the mid level between the two to get the right balance. After that its probably the slope of each. After I stopped messing with the 'start' and 'end' and just using the 'min' and 'max' settings it got a lot easier.

It doesn't seem like its going to be very easy to do and the biggest thing I noticed was that not only the gain structure changes, but the tone to the point that it almost sounds like a filter sweeping. I still had a few places where it dropped out a bit.
 
Depending on the amp and how high the master is set, it should sound kinda like a filter sweep. I plan to mix this with other effects to create some subtle differences to common sounds.

I think you're suggesting the use of a filter block with a mid position volume drop. If so, that sounds like it would work. Although, I'd really like to keep things as minimal as possible.
 
prometh said:
I have tried changing the modifier slope and mid values with little success.
Click to expand...

I do this sort of thing routinely. I link a modifier to Drive, Master, and Output. Heel down is clean, toe down is high gain.

I start out by obtaining the sound I'm after at the extremes. Next, I set the Output extreme levels such that the volume is constant at the extremes... and just as in your case the volume at the half way point is often too loud. To remedy this I do the same thing I did at the Extremes with the Mid setting. I lower it until the output is at the desired volume level.

I know you said you adjusted the mid value, but maybe it just requires going to an extreme. If you set the mid point all the way down, then it has to make a difference as the volume level would drop out at the mid point.
 
prometh said:
Depending on the amp and how high the master is set, it should sound kinda like a filter sweep. I plan to mix this with other effects to create some subtle differences to common sounds.

I think you're suggesting the use of a filter block with a mid position volume drop. If so, that sounds like it would work. Although, I'd really like to keep things as minimal as possible.
Click to expand...
No, I think that this way will work, but it sounded like I was using a filter when I was adjusting it. I know that I wasn't, but it had that effect on the sound to me.
 
chrisallen8888 said:
is the master volume's increase/decrease on output even linear to begin with?
Click to expand...
It was, but the volume at 50% was too loud.

Rich G. said:
maybe it just requires going to an extreme. If you set the mid point all the way down, then it has to make a difference as the volume level would drop out at the mid point.
Click to expand...
Doing this just moved the volume hike to other locations such as 25%, etc.
 
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