How do I get a Gilmour like rotary?

BrickGlass

Inspired
I've been trying some things out with the rotary block trying to emulate that classic Leslie sound that you hear on old Pink Floyd albums, but I can't quite dial it in. What settings are you guys finding work for that vibe?
 
I believe DG used a Yamaha RA-200 rotating cabinet in parallel with his Hiwatt rig. So, best to have a dual amp parallel set-up, one with the Hiwatt and perhaps a simple preamp with a Rotary on the other. I believe he would vari the mix between the two depending on the song.
 
I've been trying some things out with the rotary block trying to emulate that classic Leslie sound that you hear on old Pink Floyd albums, but I can't quite dial it in. What settings are you guys finding work for that vibe?

Try rolling off the highs with a PEQ or Filter with the freq pretty low, 4-5K, 6db per octave
 
The secret there being the Rotary speed is controlled by an expression pedal - so you can roll it up and down and make it 'swirl' a bit (vari speed) to suit

Also, Yek's got a Rotary that uses X ( slow ) & Y ( fast ) that's pretty cool and Moke's got one where the speed is linked via a controller ( ADSR1 ) I think so it ramps up and down automatically ....

Lots of options ... !
 
I think the first guitar solo in Dogs has the Yamaha RA-200 mixed in. Sounds like it is combined with a Big Muff Fuzz through the Hiwatt, although according to several DG websites (there is one that goes into excuating detail on DG's rigs), DG used an Alembic preamp and used the Hiwatts as Power Amps.
 
Can you share a clip here or the preset?

I'm still screwing around with it, but here are the settings that are sounding pretty good right now:

Tempo- I'm going with option 41 which is 22/64 (11/32). You can obviously hook this up to an expression pedal and change the rate around a bit. Gilmour seems to be going with something right around this tempo, or slower.

Hi depth 52%

Low depth 35%

High level -4 db

Mix I've got it at 44% right now. Been trying it at different settings. Seems good anywhere between 35-50%

I do find that I have to increase the level by 2 or 3 db to balance the sound with the block bypassed.

Everything else I've got at default.

I know you can throw a PEQ in there and do some in depth EQ'ing, but I haven't tried that yet. Not sure I need to honestly. Sounding pretty damn good. Let me know what you think if you try these settings.
 
Hey @BrickGlass thanks so much for sharing your settings! I'm working with the FX8 unit, so being able to read detailed settings or save blocks is the only way for me to pick up on the awesome discoveries by other members. It's a great way to quickly get going on some recognizable effects and reference tones, and provides a fantastic usable starting point and education for me, who has only had traditional stomp box effects previously. If you've dialed your Gilmour Rotary in any further, I'd love to hear about it! Thanks again. :)
 
Hey @BrickGlass thanks so much for sharing your settings! I'm working with the FX8 unit, so being able to read detailed settings or save blocks is the only way for me to pick up on the awesome discoveries by other members. It's a great way to quickly get going on some recognizable effects and reference tones, and provides a fantastic usable starting point and education for me, who has only had traditional stomp box effects previously. If you've dialed your Gilmour Rotary in any further, I'd love to hear about it! Thanks again. :)

I have made a couple very minor changes but that is it. I have the hi depth at 54%, low depth at 38%, high level is still at -4 db, and I've got the mix at 50%. I did speed up the tempo just barely. I now have it set to option 37 which is 18/64 (9/32). Sounds particularly great on clean or edge of break up tones.
 
Do the RA-200 or the "Doppla's" actually have a variable speed control ? I always though it was just a fast or slow setting and Gilmour, to my knowledge, just uses them on a slow setting, mixed with his main outputs to add a touch of rotary.

I usually dial the mix back to about 10 or 15% and just set the speed control to a slower setting, seems to do the trick quite well.

I've always found the key with Gilmour is that he doesn't use any of the modulation in an over the top manner, its a subtle touch of rotary, a fairly subtle mix of EM flanger, a subtle CE-2 chorus etc. Put it all together and its quite a lush sound, but no one effect jump out at you
 
Do the RA-200 or the "Doppla's" actually have a variable speed control ? I always though it was just a fast or slow setting and Gilmour, to my knowledge, just uses them on a slow setting, mixed with his main outputs to add a touch of rotary.

I usually dial the mix back to about 10 or 15% and just set the speed control to a slower setting, seems to do the trick quite well.

I've always found the key with Gilmour is that he doesn't use any of the modulation in an over the top manner, its a subtle touch of rotary, a fairly subtle mix of EM flanger, a subtle CE-2 chorus etc. Put it all together and its quite a lush sound, but no one effect jump out at you

Yes, you are absolutely correct, his use is quite subtle. By taking the mix to 50% and speeding up the tempo a tad, I've gone away a bit from "his" sound, but it went to a place that I really like, at least on subtly distorted or clean tones. For the vibe he gets I think you need the mix around 30-35%, with a tempo around 28/64 or so. Like I said earlier, I think the mix sounds pretty great anywhere between 35-50%.
 
When you're setting a specific tempo, it's dependent on what your tap tempo happens to be set at. A setting of 28/64 on your unit won't sound like 28/64 on my unit.

IOW, it's better to state the Rate in the block, not the tempo -- or both.
 
I've been trying some things out with the rotary block trying to emulate that classic Leslie sound that you hear on old Pink Floyd albums, but I can't quite dial it in. What settings are you guys finding work for that vibe?
What songs do will you use this rotary effect? I will be jumping in to the Gilmour tone quest soon and a preset exchange would be a good start :)
 
When you're setting a specific tempo, it's dependent on what your tap tempo happens to be set at. A setting of 28/64 on your unit won't sound like 28/64 on my unit.

IOW, it's better to state the Rate in the block, not the tempo -- or both.

I've never done anything with the tap tempo feature so mine is set to whatever default is. My tempo setting of 28/64 gives a rate of 1.143 if that helps anyone.
 
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