POG2-style attack/volume swell? (Different from normal autoswell)

Whynot Jansveld

Whynot Jansveld

Member
Hey guys, AX8 wait lister here. I was wondering about the ability of the AX8 to create an attack/volume swell like the POG2 can do. Now, I realize people have asked about autoswells before (there's another thread just below), but there's something very unique about the POG in that regard -- very different from the Slow Gear or any other autoswell pedal I've ever heard: on most pedals, you play a note or a chord, and you get your volume swell, and if you keep playing the volume will stay up and you can hear everything you play. You have to mute your strings in order to get another swell. On the POG by contrast, there's some pretty great voodoo going on where *every* note you play will be swelled in, and you don't have to pause between notes to get that effect. It gives a very cello-like effect. I suspect the clue is that pitch is used to engage the swell in addition to envelope. Don't have an AX8 yet to experiment with this, but curious if any of you have any thoughts on the matter.
 
I used a volume block with the auto swell mode and it worked pretty good

I also tried using the volume block with regular volume mode with the volume set to envelope as a modifier, with a log5a taper and that worked too....tweak the curve and attack times and you might get some decent results

Paging @simeon and @Bakerman for advice as well....
 
Also just checked the wiki on the volume block, this might help too:

For automated volume swells
Guitar players can fade in notes and chords by using their pink finger to operate the volume knob on their guitars. BOSS automated this method in their discontinued Slow Gear pedal.

Axe-Fx II, AX8, FX8:

Attach the Envelope internal controller to the Volume parameter in the Vol/Pan block, Input Gain in a Delay block or another effect block's Level or Input Gain parameter. Fine-tune the effect by adjusting the modifier settings, selecting the Taper in the Volume block and the Envelope settings. The Envelope's Attack and Gain parameters and the Volume block's Taper parameter determine the swell rate.

Example settings: Volume block at default with Log30 taper, modifier settings at default, Envelope: Threshold -36, Attack 290, Release 1, Gain 1.75.

Or simply copy the effect and Envelope settings from a factory preset that incorporates volume swells.
 
what you're asking for is the ability to swell in one note while another note is already playing. i've no idea how the pog does this, or how it could be achieved on the axe. some sort of gypsy magic, i reckon...
 
A short (20-50 ms) delay at 100% mix before an ADSR on volume block is the best approach I could think of for this. Without the delay you'll hear some attack before the ADSR has time to react. Classic enhancer at maximum width (20 ms delay, use before amp and set amp input select = left) can work, but a slightly longer delay can prevent some noises getting through if you're fretting a chord (without exceeding ADSR threshold) just before picking. A small dead zone at 0 on the volume modifier can reduce attack sounds like string buzz, later strings of rolled chords, or pick noise when early fretting actually triggers the ADSR.

Use "once" ASDR mode with retrig on, decay/sustain/level at maximum. Attack is the swell time and release doesn't matter very much since it stays at 100% for 20 seconds and you'd probably play a new note/chord by then. The modifier could be inverted with 1 ms attack, decay acting as swell time, level at 0. Then it would stay at full volume indefinitely until retriggered.

For consistent ADSR triggering with more rapid chords, this transient detector setup could be added: https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/various-presets-tricks.135770/#post-1607737

Here's an Axe II preset. The clip is normal signal left, swell right.

 

Attachments

  • ASDR swell.syx
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Thanks for your advice guys, as soon as I try these settings, I'll let you know how it goes!
 
Hey guys, I've been meaning to do a video about how I eventually came up with a workaround to the autoswell question for my particular purpose, which I have now posted. The short answer is that I didn't really find a way to swell notes like the Pog/Hog do, but I got close enough with delays and reverbs (with the Mix set to 100%) to serve my purpose, which was to create a shimmer pad that doesn't react too strongly to every note played. It may not have any bearing on what any of you were trying to do, but maybe it's interesting regardless:

https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/shimmer-pad-video.158811/
 
Pog 2 is so good in removing attack of every note because it differentiates notes by their pitch, not by their dynamics. That’s why you can play even fast legato lines where there’s no dynamic change of every note and still get attack of every note removed. So we need to deal with a pitch block. I’m curious if there’s something in fm3 that can do it?
 
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