Slicer Effect for Axe Fx 3?

Ant Music

Ant Music

Fractal Fanatic
Yes I know a slicer type effect is currently possible with the Axe Fx 2 but it is very laborious to set up and experiment with using the sequencer. One of the beautiful things about the Boss Slicer pedal is that there are a wide array of preset patterns and you can edit them to your taste and there are more parameters than simply the volume that help to make it a very cool effect. It'd be great to see some more newer innovative Effects Blocks appear in the Axe Fx 3.
 
that is one effect that L6 recently modelled that was very cool the Goatkeeper .It does that pattern trem /slicer thing ,I agree would love to see that type of chop shop effect in AX3
 
I do it with the trem/pan block using the Envelope set up like this - for me it's "scene #5" (that I toggle to for a song ending). FYI - the main line get's muted (1st reverb block) so all signal is routed to Trem/Pan. Because the rate is driven by ENV/signal strength, I get a nice slowing effect as the chord dies out. So many ways to skin a cat ...


Slicer_fx_w_trem-pan_1.jpg


Slicer_fx_w_trem-pan_2.jpg
 
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I've struggled to get a good slicer effect with the AxeFX. For me, it works best to use the sequencer or an LFO to control the Volume parameter of a Volume/Pan block, instead of using a Tremolo block. That way you can trigger the sequencer or LFO to start on the beat with the same pedal you use to turn the effect on. Otherwise, the pattern won't play in sync with the beat. The LFO Type parameter doubles as a run trigger, so attach your pedal to that in you're using an LFO. If you're using the Sequencer attach your pedal to the Run parameter.

The attacks on the AxeFX sequencer and LFO are too slow to achieve a the kind of trance gate slicing effect I'm after, but if you set the damping on the modifier to 0ms you can get close.
 
Yes would be nice to have a slicer effect in the Axe. Maybe you can come close with the sequencer and panner or volume block. But it's a bit of a hassle and I am not sure if it can do these cool really square effects like this pedal, for example from from 2:50 to 3:50

 
I use the trem block like fractals above, but I like to tie the rate to the input envelope so when you hit the strings it starts fast then the rate decays with the input. Then I use autoengage and tie that to a momentary switch. More of a special effect.
 
GlennO said:
The attacks on the AxeFX sequencer and LFO are too slow to achieve a the kind of trance gate slicing effect I'm after, but if you set the damping on the modifier to 0ms you can get close.
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How can a square wave have slow attack???
 
GlennO said:
When designing a digital oscillator, it's important the square shape not be perfectly square, there must be some attack. Otherwise, at sub-audio frequencies you'll get clicking and at audio frequencies you'll get aliasing.
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I'm not following you. Clicks are audio-frequency phenomena with significant midrange and high-frequency content. They have no sub-audio content (which, by definition, you wouldn't hear anyway). And if the anti-aliasing filter is properly designed, you won't get audible aliasing from any signal.
 
Rex said:
I'm not following you. Clicks are audio-frequency phenomena with significant midrange and high-frequency content. They have no sub-audio content (which, by definition, you wouldn't hear anyway). And if the device's anti-aliasing filter is properly designed, you won't get audible aliasing from any signal.
Click to expand...
 
Rex said:
I'm not following you. Clicks are audio-frequency phenomena with significant midrange and high-frequency content. They have no sub-audio content (which, by definition, you wouldn't hear anyway). And if the anti-aliasing filter is properly designed, you won't get audible aliasing from any signal.
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I'm referring to the frequency of the _oscillator_. See any of the instruments I've written, like Omnisphere or Trilian for examples of band-limited square waves. Anyway, Cliff is doing it right, but for this particular application it would be useful if the LFO and/or sequencer had an option to make it less conservative.
 
GlennO said:
I'm referring to the frequency of the _oscillator_.
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Understood. But the same things apply. The faster the atttack, the more high-frequency content you get. It doesn't add to the low-frequency content. And the anti-aliasing filter at the end of the chain will trim off any content with high-enough frequency to cause aliasing.

GlennO said:
Anyway, Cliff is doing it right,...
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Agreed. :)


If I understand you correctly, you're saying that digital signal processing isn't capable of generating the kind of sharp slicing that you need, due to limitations on the LFO slope. If so, what are you using?
 
Rex said:
If I understand you correctly, you're saying that digital signal processing isn't capable of generating the kind of sharp slicing that you need, due to limitations on the LFO slope. If so, what are you using?
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What do I use in Omnisphere? I made the square waves band-limited so they have a fast attack without artifacts, so yes, it's possible. I haven't been able to get the same fast attack when I try to create a slicer effect in the AxeFX. I believe it's due to the LFO and sequencer step shapes being conservative, because even with the modifier damping turned off the attacks are still relatively soft. Being conservative on the shapes is generally is a good idea for a guitar processor. But for the particular application of a fast trance gate slicer effect, it would be useful if the AxeFX LFO had an option to be more like what you find in synthesizers.
 
GlennO said:
What do I use in Omnisphere? I made the square waves band-limited so they have a fast attack without artifacts, so yes, it's possible. I haven't been able to get the same fast attack when I try to create a slicer effect in the AxeFX. I believe it's due to the LFO and sequencer step shapes being conservative, because even with the modifier damping turned off the attacks are still relatively soft. Being conservative on the shapes is generally is a good idea for a guitar processor. But for the particular application of a fast trance gate slicer effect, it would be useful if the AxeFX LFO had an option to be more like what you find in synthesizers.
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You're right. The LFO attack isn't immediate. Still very useful, IMO, for all but the most aggressive machine-gun gating.
 
GlennO said:
I believe it's due to the LFO and sequencer step shapes being conservative, because even with the modifier damping turned off the attacks are still relatively soft.
Click to expand...

This is probably due to the parameter being controlled. Vol/pan volume and any block output level will use several ms damping even with modifier damping at 0.

The actual LFO or sequencer value change is immediate. A mixer block's row level with damping at 0 ms can go from zero to full level in one sample.

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Ability to lowpass LFO/sequencer signal and choose different damping curves would be nice options. I don't think the log damping curve used on previous Axe-FX models is a great choice for most parameter control.
 
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