Musical Feedback and the Noise Gate

S

s.fitzsimmons

Inspired
Like the title says, looking to get some info on how to set this up well. I use controlled sustaining feedback quite a lot, and it's the only thing I'm having a hard time dialing in. Never having used a noise gate before, I'm unsure of how to set up the parameters. I can get it to work, but when I run side by side with my tube amp, I can never get it to react quite the same way. It's always weak sounding and dies out quickly.

Also, is the Noise Gate a "global" setting in the same way that Input Impedance does not change patch to patch?
 
Input impedance is set patch per patch, just as the noise gate.
The first thing you can do is lower threshold or just turn the gate off if you don't need it. To turn it off set your threshold to 0.
 
Note also that the expander gate block now allows you to assign modifier control of gate settings!
 
I edited my main high gain patch to reduce the threshold to a point just below cutting off the feedback. I also read that flipping the output polarity might have some affect, which it did.

Are there any other ways to get the feedback to work a little better? I'm running an A/B right now with my Fryette D60 and a Axe D60 patch through identical cabs. The Fryette amp still allows feedback quicker and longer than the Axe.

@ Admin M@- Thanks for the tip, but I'm too much of a greenhorn to even know what that means! Just trying to get the Axe to give me five basic amp sounds with a few "pedals" to make my rig ultra portable.
 
s.fitzsimmons said:
I edited my main high gain patch to reduce the threshold to a point just below cutting off the feedback. I also read that flipping the output polarity might have some affect, which it did.

Are there any other ways to get the feedback to work a little better? I'm running an A/B right now with my Fryette D60 and a Axe D60 patch through identical cabs. The Fryette amp still allows feedback quicker and longer than the Axe.

@ Admin M@- Thanks for the tip, but I'm too much of a greenhorn to even know what that means! Just trying to get the Axe to give me five basic amp sounds with a few "pedals" to make my rig ultra portable.
Click to expand...

Distance and angle of the guitar from the cabs plays an important role on feedback. That is why the polarity reverse sometimes helps (it is like moving your guitar to a different position). More volume and more distortion also make it easier.

Feedback requires a combination of volume, harmonic overtones (distortion), and proper distance and angle to you guitar. Different distances/angles will bring out or even cut different overtones.
 
Just thought there might be some deep edit parameters that I'm not thinking of because I'm so new to the unit. I can mess with the eq, but I literally have two stacks of identical cabinets and a real D60 in the same room, so I'm able to A/B them. The patch sounds and behaves like the real amp, just without the controlled feedback that comes with volume.
 
I still have a heck of a problem while rolling back the volume, the gate kills the tone that should be there despite messing with ratio and threshold settings.
 
if you have your threshold and ratio too high, it can't "musically feedback" because the fading string/note is being cut off by the gate, therefore there is nothing to feed the note to produce the sustain/feedback.
 
Touch your guitar's headstock on part of your cab (just a little prolonged touch - tip of headstock to edge of cab) - instant feedback if the cab is being driving at a moderate volume.

I struggle with the type of feedback from my atomic frfr cabs - tends to be a high end squeal as opposed to the desired middy feedback.
 
One point here is that your options are more limited with the gate in the input section. Unless you can either switch presets for the feedback section or live with the lower noise gate settings for the non-feedback parts of the song, you need to switch to the Gate block and turn off the input section's gate. As Matt said, you have the ability to assign a modifier to tweak it on the fly. Or you can just put an IA for the block on your board to turn it off completely.
 
Are you getting the right feedback when the input gate is set to off? It would help finding why the feedback is less with the AXE.
I struggle with the same lack of feedback, I set the input gate very low so I still hear some noise, to avoid hard gating. But even with these settings I have a hard time getting this musical, middy feedback.
 
lp59 said:
Are you getting the right feedback when the input gate is set to off? It would help finding why the feedback is less with the AXE.
I struggle with the same lack of feedback, I set the input gate very low so I still hear some noise, to avoid hard gating. But even with these settings I have a hard time getting this musical, middy feedback.
Click to expand...

I do get a fair level of feedback with the gate off, but like you mention, not quite the same. I'm kind of hoping that something in the speaker or dynamics section of the amp block affected it somehow. If there are any power users out there that might know which of those settings may help, let me know.
 
s.fitzsimmons said:
I do get a fair level of feedback with the gate off, but like you mention, not quite the same. I'm kind of hoping that something in the speaker or dynamics section of the amp block affected it somehow. If there are any power users out there that might know which of those settings may help, let me know.
Click to expand...

I was used to get feedback without an effort with my Shiva Anniversary, with the Axe I get the same tone but I must fight and play much louder to go into feedback territory. I can't explain why, are we only two guys with this feeling or you other player simply don't play much often with feedback anymore?
 
javajunkie said:
Input impedance is set patch per patch, just as the noise gate.
The first thing you can do is lower threshold or just turn the gate off if you don't need it. To turn it off set your threshold to 0.
Click to expand...

Where is the input impedance section in the Axe FXII, and how should you set the input impedance for a Fender Stratocaster.

I found this on the wiki noise gate section. This is all it said about it:
Global input noise gate
* Each preset also has an Input Noise Gate (Layout menu). The separate Gate/Expander blocks are useful for additional noise control.

Where exactly is Global input noise gate in the Axe FXII and how should it be set for a Stratocaster?
 
If you are using FRFR it will be a little harder to get it to Feedback. Boost the mids at louder volumes to get the expected tone instead of the high pitch squeal.
 
The clue is it's in the Layout menu :) It's the 3rd page called INPUT/GTE. That's the Gate, but it isn't "Global" as it can be saved differently for each preset.

Definitely read page 115 of the current manual. Or maybe I'll just paste it here for convenience and word count:

5.35 Input Noise Gate
Every Axe-Fx II preset includes a “built-in” Noise Gate connected directly to the main inputs. To edit noise gate
parameters, press LAYOUT and turn to the INPUT/GTE page.
The Noise Gate is always active but can be defeated by turning the THRESH control fully counterclockwise.
The Noise Gate is a downward expander with dynamic filtering. Any signal below the threshold is reduced by the expansion ratio. This can provide smooth transitions as well as abrupt open/close-style gating.
Parameters
THRESH – Threshold control. Sets the level at which the Noise Gate will start its downward expansion. If the
input signal drops below this level, it will be attenuated by an amount controlled by the ratio.
RATIO – Sets the downward expansion ratio of the noise gate, thereby determining how much quieter the signal will sound when the gate is closed. The ratio acts as a multiplier to further reduce signals below the threshold by a factor of “x.”
For example, with threshold is set to “-50” and a ratio of “2.0,” an input signal at -60 dB (10 dB below the threshold) will actually sound 20 dB below the threshold, (so, -80 dB).
ATTACK – Attack time control. Sets the rate at which the Noise Gate opens the gate.
RELEASE – Release time control. Sets the rate at which the Noise Gate attenuates the signal once the threshold has been crossed. Higher values will make the signal gradually fade once it drops below the threshold.

5.35.1 Input Impedance
The INPUT IMP parameter appears on the page with Noise Gate parameters, but is not part of the Noise Gate. Instead, it changes the actual analog circuitry of the INSTR input jack to alter the way the Axe-Fx II interacts with your guitar. This recreates the way that some classic effects (e.g. Vibe) “load down” the pickups, causing a change in frequency response. The Axe-Fx II recreates this effect by switching various (real) resistors and a capacitor in and out of the signal path.
In Auto mode, the impedance is automatically set based on the first active effect the input "sees."
Normally you will want to leave this on AUTO, but you may also select any of the following values manually. This
setting is saved with the preset.
 1MΩ+ Capacitor
 230kΩ
 230kΩ+Capacitor  90kΩ
 90kΩ+Capacitor  70kΩ
Click to expand...

The settings don't really depend on if it's a strat or a les paul or whatever. it has to do with how much "noise" there is when you are not playing. this is just a quiet hum or buzz though. if the noise is just as loud as the notes you are playing, then setting the gate for that noise will also silence your playing. tons of threads here trying to noise gate "amp feedback" but it also chops off the "good notes." again, if the feed back is just as loud as a good note, both will be muted with the gate, so instead figure out how to physically stop the feedback first.

as for the impedance, auto works well for most situations, although many people set it to 1 mega ohm manually.
 
trancegodz said:
Where is the input impedance section in the Axe FXII, and how should you set the input impedance for a Fender Stratocaster.

I found this on the wiki noise gate section. This is all it said about it:
Global input noise gate
* Each preset also has an Input Noise Gate (Layout menu). The separate Gate/Expander blocks are useful for additional noise control.

Where exactly is Global input noise gate in the Axe FXII and how should it be set for a Stratocaster?
Click to expand...
you don't set input impedance matching for a guitar. It emulates the impedance of certain effects (like fuzz, phaser, et al.). That can put a load on your guitar and effect the hi-frequencies. It is set to do this automatically by default.

Global gate is in the layout menu, a couple of tabs to the right. How it should be set depends on the amount of noise you have in your environment and what is called for in the patch.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom