Preset Building: Tone Morphing

ok guys...
I've worked out that my audio clip needs to contain 8 mini-clips to demonstrate where we're up to so far..
so I'll keep each one very short.. just enough to illustrate the tonal impacts of each small thing we add one by one...
so musically... it'll be pretty dull... but that's not what this is about...
 
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ok guys...
here's a lil' clip

1- the basic riffing tone / bridge pup

2 - modifier: extern1 assigned to amp: drive, XP heel down
notice the tone isn't totally clean - but that's how I like it with the bridge pup
notice that it's pretty thin too due to the low drive level

3 - XP heel down but with the neck pup
neck really cleans the tone but it's still missing stuff.. that's ok right now

4 - set XP to the mid-point, modify graph settings: min=0, max=100, start=0, mid=50, end=100
bridge pup then neck pup..
XP to heel, move to toe [checking the feel and rate of change in gain] and then back to heel
I think the mid point is too gainy

5 - set XP to the mid-point, modify graph settings: min=0, max=100, start=0, mid=30, end=100
now with the mid set less hot I try the same test again..
to me it feels much nicer

6 - XP to heel, bridge pup without the compressor
7 - now with the compressor
they don't sound too different but you do feel it.. like it's less brittle

8 - same as 6 and 7 but on the neck pup
the compressor's tonal impact is more noticeable and the feel is much better..
to me it has a little more polish in all respects

9 - only have the compressor on the cleaned part of the tone cos it makes the toe down tone a little woolly
set compressor: mix modifier to extern1
graph settings: min=0, max=100, start=100, mid=0, end=0
notice we are reversing the direction of the graph so that the comp is in on clean and out on dirty
also notice that the comp only starts to come in once the XP passes the halfway point as it travels to the heel position
so only the clean tonal area gets compression
the test hear is with bridge and neck pups, moving the XP from toe to heel and back
we're looking for smoothness..



what you notice is that there is still work to do on the tone
 
Next task: Corrective EQ for the 'cleaned' tone

you'll have noticed by now that the 'cleaned' tone, due to the very low amp: drive setting will lose bass
with some amps it may also lose a little top too
so this is what we are about to fix up...

our chain so far is:

in -> shunts -> comp -> amp -> cab -> shunts-> out

so let's take a look at the EQ of the 'cleaned' tone
in my case, you'll hear that my cleaned tone loses a lot of low end and maybe just a little top
so what I need to do is to have more lows and highs added as the tone cleans up - as the XP moves from toe to heel
and likewise, as the XP moves from toe to heel, strip out that low and high boosts

one of the things the Axe don't let you do is to assign EQ controls to modifiers
this includes:
amp: pre tone controls
amp: EQ band gain controls
GEQ: band gain controls
PEQ: freq / Q / gain / type controls

don't worry about this for now... I have a solution..

task:
add a PEQ after the cab
set the XP to the heel position ['cleaned' tone]
PEQ: F1
type = shelving
gain = initially to 6.00
experiment with the freq / Q and gain controls until you hear all the low end you want put back into your clean tone

PEQ: F5
do the same thing again, but now you are boosting / correcting the highs

if the 'cleaned' tone is still not loud enough yet, don't worry cos we can fix that later if need be
the main thing here is to dial in the 'cleaned' tone's voice

if you need to further sculpt your tone with other bands [F2 thru F4] feel free
personally though I've not found the need to do this...
 
Finally had a catch-up day tonight. I've got the compressor mix assigned and tweaked, and the PEQ set up for the clean tone. Still a radical difference in level from one end to the other, but I can wait, :)

This is fun...
 
ok guys
so with all that bass and top added by the PEQ fixing up the 'cleaned' tone, you're not going to want that getting onto your nice riff tone..
so here's how we get around this lil' prob...
immediately after the PEQ, add a mixer block
move the PEQ up to row1 - so it's controlled by mixer1: gain1
make a new connection from the cab [mine is in row2] throw to the mixer [mixer1: gain2]

so now we have a PEQ in parallel with the direct tone coming from the cab block...
assuming your glid layout is the same as mine:
row2: in -> shunts -> comp1 -> amp1 -> cab1 -> shunt* -> mix1 -> shunts out
and in parallel with shunt* you have PEQ1

we now need to cross-fade between the PEQ1 [XP=heel] and 'direct' [XP=toe]

assign mix1: gain1 to modifier: extern1
assign mix1: gain2 to modifier: extern1

these guys will run in opposite directions
gain1 start= 100, end = 0
gain2 start= 0, end = 100

what we get is
XP=toe: PEQ signal is down & direct signal is up
XP=heel: PEQ signal is up & direct signal is down

and now we need to check the tone throughout the sweep of the XP from toe to heel and back to ensure everything is smooth..
 
lil' thought: why am I not looking at the loss of level on the cleaned tone yet?????

because our 'cleaned' tonal 'fix-up' work [comp and PEQ] is having an impact on level
so we let all these things do what they do before we address the level corrections...

the addition of the comp and PEQ may even have impacts on our cleaned tone..
so before we fix-up the level, we may wnat to make a few small addjustments..
so I can still noodle with:
- amp: drive min setting
I may need to drop this lower to clean up, or if I'm clean enough I'll want to push this up as high as I can get away with

- comp: level
I can drop this a little if need be to put a softer signal into the amp [which will clean the tone further]
but this will have a knock on effect to my XP=toe tone.. so to counter this I'd set the amp: drive: max value a little higher

- comp: general settings [thresh, attack etc]
I may want to strengthen or relax the comp for tonal reasons

goofing with the settings above may mean small changes are needed to the PEQ

it's like knocking in a nail with a small hammer, carefully, with little taps at a time..
each one being a small fine-tune / refinement

when we're happy, we address the level difference..
 
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Mixer: gain modifier graphs

there are a few things that need to be considered with respect to the mixer gain1 and gain2 graphs because they are cross-fading..
to ensure that you avoid creating ramps or troughs in overall level throughout the travel of the XP from toe to heel and back, the two graphs must:
- have the same shape / curve
- work like mirror images of each other
- have the start, mid and end points occur in the same location on the horizontal axis

sounds tricky don't it... but it's not...
create the same graph for gain1 and gain2, and then simply reverse the min and max settings of one of them

for my tone, I personally like the sound of the PEQ hi/lo boosts to occur late in the XP's travel towards the heel
as in.. very late...

here are my modifier graph settings:
gain1
source = extern1
min = 0
max = 1
start = 100
mid = 0
end = 0
slope = 100
scale = 2
offset = -100

gain2
source = extern1
min = 1
max = 0
start = 100
mid = 0
end = 0
slope = 100
scale = 2
offset = -100

notice that the curves for both are exactly the same
but that the min and max settings are reversed..
so XP at heel, PEQ is at max level, and the direct is at min
as the XP travels to toe, the PEQ [gain1] fades out at the same rate that the 'direct' [gain2] fades in

on the grid, select the mixer and hit edit so you can see all the controls
then slowly move the XP from heel to toe and back
you should see that the gain1 and gain2 controls move:
- in opposite directions
- at the same speed
 
now let's fix the cleaned tone's level.....

you will obviously have noticed that the cleaned tone is kinda soft...
I think the best place to fix this is in mixer1: level
assign mixer1: level to extern1 and create a graph that is very similar to those used for the cross-fade
but this one don't need to be quite so steep as the mixer1: gain1 / gain2 graphs
also the min [due to the direction of the graph] = 0dB for your XP=toe riffing tone.. basically we're not changing it
the max value is the amount you need to boost the clean tone by when the XP = heel

here are my settings
source = extern1
min = 0
max = 7.5
start = 100
mid = 0
end = 0
slope = 100
scale = 1
offset = 0

considerations:
I like my 'cleaned' tone to be a fair bit softer than my dirty tone so that when I make the clean to dirty transition there is an impact..
if I want a loud clean tone I'll create a clean preset that is loud cos to me that's a whole different thing..
when morphing dirty to clean from a performance standpoint it's because the band is now playing more softly.. and as such I want to suck out some of the energy.. and then when the song winds up to a crescendo I want to throw in the gain, wind up the level and really take off.. expressive impact ! ! !

move the XP slowly heel to toe and back strumming chords, and then palm muting..
you are listening for ramps and troughs during the travel..
a way of demonstrating this is to set the min=15 or 20.. the ramps will be obvious..
XP=heel will be a very loud clean that will gradually get louder, then fade, and then get louder again as the XP moves to toe..
not what we want..

1 - use the max value to set the right difference in level [remember max=heel down=clean for this graph]
2 - if you get a ramp / trough but absolutely do not want to change the max level setting you must change the shape of the curve..
-- XP to heel and strum / palm mute repeatedly
-- slowly move the XP to toe watching the graph and listening to the level of your tone as it changes
-- see where the level ramp / trough is and note if you are gaining or losing level there..
-- experiment with the graph settings until you dial out the level issue by either:
---- stretching / compressing the graph on the horizontal axis [mid, scale and slope]
---- changing the curvature of the graph from being more curved vs more straight [mid and slope]

this part can take a little getting used to.. so experiment to get the feel for how the different modifier graph 'curves / lines' sound and feel..
 
here's something to try out

place a reverb block in parallel with the shunt that follows the mixer
set up a nice big cathedral
use the level control to get the right balance with the cleaned tone
assign the input gain to modifier: extern1 and use the same graph settings you used for mixer: Gain1

XP toe keeps your riff dry
XP heel will add ambience to the cleaned tone
 
Finally I got another catch-up day. Sorry for the delay...I didn't mean to leave you talking to yourself. :)

I've got the mixer in. Your default settings worked great, except that I wound up with the Scale at 1.472 and Offset at 50%. Sounded smoother to me—my clean tone is really clean, and I needed the PEQ to last a bit longer in the sweep.

I've got the clean and dirty ends leveled also. Because my clean tone is so clean, I had to set Min at -3 dB and Max at +20 dB. I also had to bump up the Mid point to about 15% to avoid a level drop (I love your palm-mute suggestion—it really highlights what's happening to the level when you sweep the pedal).


Keep it coming, Clark! I've done a little morphing in the past, but never at this level of detail. It's an eye-opener.


Edit: I see you've tossed a little reverb in with the next step in your tutorial. I'm hoping tomorrow will be another catch-up day for me.
 
awesome...
different amps clean up at different rates across the throw of the XP so they will need different shaped curves to make them work
this really is a trial and error thing..

in my main presets I use two amps
the tricky part is getting them to clean up at the same rate because they need slightly different graph shapes..
this is actually the most time consuming stage of the config..
working with a single amp is quite a bit easier..
it's simply a matter of 'tweak and play' until you find the balance
because the amps are panned hard, if one dirties faster than the other, your tone momentarily 'leans' to one side..
maybe when we have this preset done we can make a copy of it and add a 2nd amp
it's a bigger pain in the rear to config but so worth it when you hear your tone 'grow'
 
Rex said:
Keep it coming, Clark! I've done a little morphing in the past, but never at this level of detail. It's an eye-opener.
Click to expand...

what I hope you're seeing with this kind of preset construction is how it's a series of 'layers of fixes'

1 - you start with a basic idea
2 - you implement that basic idea
3 - you listen to the tone and determine what's gone missing
4 - one by one you add each fix-up
 
here's the final thing I've just added for a little more 'colour' on the cleaned tone

In the grid column that has the reverb I have:
row1 = reverb
row2 = direct

in row3 I've added a pitch shifter
type = detune
mode = stereo
voice1 detune = -7.0
voice 2 detune = 7.0
voice 1&2 level = 100
voice1 pan = -100
voice2 pan = 100
mix = 100

assign the 'in gain' to modifier: extern1
I've used the same graph settings as with the reverb so that the pitch 'fades in' as the tone gets clean
min = 0
max = 100
start = 100
mid = 0
end = 0
slope = 100
scale = 1.000

set the XP to heel and use the shifter's level control to set the amount of pitch shifting you want
what you have here is essentially a stereo chorus but without the LFO
I like this because I think generates similar widening and sparkle, but the effect itself is less obvious / intrusive
 
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Finally...another catch-up day. All is good, and I've got my pitch shifter dialed in to where I like what it does to my tone, but a couple of things are puzzling me.


If I set the pitch shifter's level to anything less than +10 dB, the preset's volume actually drops when I engage the shifter. I'd expect any Level setting to increase the volume, if anything, when it's engaged. I can't figure out what's canceling what (if that's what's going on).


Also, your statement below threw me:
clarky said:
in row3 I've added a pitch shifter...

I've used the same graph settings as with the delay...
Click to expand...

I don't remember anything about a delay in your walkthrough. Did I miss something?
 
Rex said:
If I set the pitch shifter's level to anything less than +10 dB, the preset's volume actually drops when I engage the shifter. I'd expect any Level setting to increase the volume, if anything, when it's engaged. I can't figure out what's canceling what (if that's what's going on).
Click to expand...

my shifter level is -9.2dB
is the mix of your shifter 100%?

looking at the col with the reverb from the top you should have
row1 = reverb
row2 = shunt
row3 = shifter

prior to this col, the shunt should split 3 ways to each of these rows
after this col they should re-combine back into a single shunt
so looking on the grid your cabling should look like a diamond shape
so... with XP at heel
the direct tone should not be altered
reverb and shifter are being added
if anything, things should be getting a touch louder..
 
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