Taming the Monster - Series and Parallel Routing

Great job, Scott. Your tone in this video is killer. What cab are you using? From watching your other videos I am guessing it is an IR of mixed cabs that you created??
 
Thanks for another informative video Scott. I'd already decided to run my delay and reverb in parallel, as I like the cleaner sound (at least to my ears). Having seen this I'm going to experiment with using other effects in parallel too.

I really wouldn't be surprised if I end up "borrowing" your grid layout as it seems to do everything I want my Axe-FX to give me.


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Great job, Scott. Your tone in this video is killer. What cab are you using? From watching your other videos I am guessing it is an IR of mixed cabs that you created??

That's a mix of the Chinese V30 (R121, SM57, CND70). Cab Lab will be out soon, Ill do a video/thread about that and get into the specifics.
 
thanks for sharing your thought process when setting up your fx chains.
was puzzled when i first noticed your wah in parallel but now it makes sense.
this will be a tweaking weekend... if the missus allows, that is.


btw, it's so nice to have fellow gear geeks to discuss such things!
 
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Learn something new everyday. I been using my effects in parallel for awhile now, BUT I've always turned my amp way down to compensate for the volume jump. Thanks to you I know a better way of controlling the volume.

I also noticed you clicked on the output in AE, and there were adjustment you could've made. Are these the same thing as I/O on the front panel? Still not to familiar with every thing you can do with AE. Maybe in the future you could do a video using the AE, and some of the cool things that can be done using it? I'm still a AE, noob.
 
Nice video Scott! Thanks.

Yek, thanks also for Wikifying this knowledge.

I have just one little comment after reading the first line which says:

You can put effects in parallel rows, below or above the main routing (branches). This makes it possible to have, for example, independent delay and reverb paths, or more than 12 effects per preset.

... might want to note that you don't have to use parallel routing if the only goal is to use more than 12 blocks. You can use send\return blocks to get up to 24 blocks serially connected. (Well, actually, you end up with 22 blocks to play with since snd\rtn use up two blocks in the grid.)
 
cool stuff. i didn't think there would be anything i didn't know but i never realized that when the outputs are set to thru it would sum the levels down the line. proof you can always learn something new.
 
This was great and exactly the type of video users need to discover the depth of the AxeFX. Having AxeEdit as the visual as you are talking, playing, and editing is the most effective way to communicate with users. Simple. And simply great.
 
great vid Scott... some very interesting and informative points made... and very clearly too..

here's another simple use for parallel routing
let's say that you have a basic tone that can meet all your riffing and soloing needs
but when you solo you'd like to boost the tone, and maybe alter the EQ a little
solution:
place 2 GEQ [or PEQ] blocks in parallel, set the bypass to mute
in one scene have the 'riffing GEQ' active and the 'soloing GEQ' is muted
and in another scene they switch over so that the 'riffing GEQ' mutes and the 'soloing GEQ' becomes active...

ok.. so this is not really 'parallel effects', more like "parallel placement" to enable multiple alternative "series paths"
this is exactly what the four GEQ blocks are doing in the preset below

 
great vid Scott... some very interesting and informative points made... and very clearly too..

here's another simple use for parallel routing
let's say that you have a basic tone that can meet all your riffing and soloing needs
but when you solo you'd like to boost the tone, and maybe alter the EQ a little
solution:
place 2 GEQ [or PEQ] blocks in parallel, set the bypass to mute
in one scene have the 'riffing GEQ' active and the 'soloing GEQ' is muted
and in another scene they switch over so that the 'riffing GEQ' mutes and the 'soloing GEQ' becomes active...

ok.. so this is not really 'parallel effects', more like "parallel placement" to enable multiple alternative "series paths"
this is exactly what the four GEQ blocks are doing in the preset below

Exactly. Your preset there is far more complicated; but is proof of concept. You are bending the technology to YOUR preference; not the other way around. That's a good thing. And one of the major points that I find so much fun in the Axe-FX; you make it your own.
 
You are bending the technology to YOUR preference; not the other way around. That's a good thing. And one of the major points that I find so much fun in the Axe-FX; you make it your own.

very well said... cos THAT is the KILLER point.. you bend IT to YOU and your needs..

funny you mention this cos this came up in a chat I had with someone not so long ago regarding my early experiences with the Axe-II
all fx units have various and different strengths and weaknesses..
when I first got the Axe-II I was of cos a noob to the Axe-II, but I was not a noob to using fx units..
initially [and well armed with preconceived views as to how things can and should be done] I kept running into config brick walls
but it turns out that they were not brick walls at all
the Axe-II actually could do everything I needed.. I just needed to figure out a different approach..
IMHO, the Grid is one of the single most powerful tools within the Axe-II that seriously sets it apart from the rest that are fx 'chain' centric

All you guys...
when you're thinking about series vs parallel you have more considerations open to you than tone alone
because as Scott pointed out, many individual fx do not sound that different [unless of course you start chaining them]
you can also use parallel fx to shorten the fx chain and save on Grid real-estate [on my preset you can see this with the phaser and wah, and the placement of the pitch block]
so you can shorten the chain

you can also create multiple parallel chains - just like when you have two or more chains of stomps and a X-Y box so you can switch between them..

you can also use parallel fx to solve problems
in my preset above, the PEQ in parallel with the shunt is used to boost the extreme lows and highs as my dirty tone is 'cleaned' to prevent the tone from thinning out too much
the mixer cross-fades between them.. so when the XP is half cocked, you hear half of the PEQ and half of the shunt that is parallel to it..

the Grid, parallel and series routing are a big deal for sooooooo many reasons...

I seriously suggest taking note of Scott's vid and then go have a major play around with all this..
the possibilities that all this opens up have no limits..
 
Great stuff Scott!! Using your tutorials, I'm really able to dial in a more organic tones, and the Friedman preset you helped me dial in sounds amazing. Thanks for all the help.
 
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