wah help

[chrisjnyc]

Need some help setting up the wah on a preset:

1. I am looking to use the wah block on scene 3, with auto engage set to slow. How can keep the wah bypassed on scenes 1 & 2, even if I move the exp pedal slightly.

2. For scene 3, the wah turns on OK, but having a little trouble with turning off the wah. I have assigned one of the foot switches to disable the wah, but it takes two stomps to turn it off. Is there a better way of doing this?

 

[atquinn]

Could you upload your preset for us to look at? I have some thoughts, but I'm not at AX8Editor right now. My initial thought is to set the wah to wah Y on the scenes where you do not want the wah to be active and to make sure that the wah block is disabled in those scenes. On wah Y don't assign a controller to the block. So there will be no way to turn in on using the exp pedal.

As for the wah not turning off properly; if you have it set to auto-engage, you shouldn't need a footswitch to turn it off. You can either park it in toe up or toe down or set it to turn off when it it inactive for a given amount of time.
-
Austin

 

[iaresee]

1. I am looking to use the wah block on scene 3, with auto engage set to slow. How can keep the wah bypassed on scenes 1 & 2, even if I move the exp pedal slightly.

Use a mixer block post-wah and set it to pick the wah line on scene 3 and the non-wah line on any other scene you use. So like this:

IN1 -- WAH -- MIXER
            /
IN2 -------/

In Scene 3 you'd set the MIXER gain for 1 to unity and for 2 to -inf, and then invert those settings for the other scenes. Use a scene controller attached to the gain settings to make the change.

You could also use VOL blocks after each line if the MIX block is daunting and just set them to mute when in bypass. That's what I'm doing here:

In scene 5 the VOL block near the start of row 2 mutes and the one near the start of row 3 unmutes so the signal is routing through the pitch block instead of the wah block. I have a single controller assigned to control both the pitch block (classic +1 octave whammy style) and the wah block and this lets me use them both. Requires +1 more block to accomplish this though.

2. For scene 3, the wah turns on OK, but having a little trouble with turning off the wah. I have assigned one of the foot switches to disable the wah, but it takes two stomps to turn it off. Is there a better way of doing this?

If you're using auto-engage then you shouldn't mix it with an IA to turn the wah off. Just park the wah and let auto-engage do its thing.

 

[atquinn]

Use a mixer block post-wah and set it to pick the wah line on scene 3 and the non-wah line on any other scene you use. So like this:

IN1 -- WAH -- MIXER
            /
IN2 -------/

In Scene 3 you'd set the MIXER gain for 1 to unity and for 2 to -inf, and then invert those settings for the other scenes. Use a scene controller attached to the gain settings to make the change.

You could also use VOL blocks after each line if the MIX block is daunting and just set them to mute when in bypass. That's what I'm doing here:
...
In scene 5 the VOL block near the start of row 2 mutes and the one near the start of row 3 unmutes so the signal is routing through the pitch block instead of the wah block. I have a single controller assigned to control both the pitch block (classic +1 octave whammy style) and the wah block and this lets me use them both. Requires +1 more block to accomplish this though.


If you're using auto-engage then you shouldn't mix it with an IA to turn the wah off. Just park the wah and let auto-engage do its thing.

There is no Mixer block in the AX8 and only 2 Vol blocks. So it would be best to find a solution that required neither. The vol block solution requires 2 vol blocks which wouldn't leave any for use in other areas of the preset.
-
Austin

 

[chris]

Need some help setting up the wah on a preset:

1. I am looking to use the wah block on scene 3, with auto engage set to slow. How can keep the wah bypassed on scenes 1 & 2, even if I move the exp pedal slightly.

2. For scene 3, the wah turns on OK, but having a little trouble with turning off the wah. I have assigned one of the foot switches to disable the wah, but it takes two stomps to turn it off. Is there a better way of doing this?

Why would the pedal move slightly?

Why is there a switch if you are using auto-engage?

 

[chrisjnyc]

Could you upload your preset for us to look at? I have some thoughts, but I'm not at AX8Editor right now. My initial thought is to set the wah to wah Y on the scenes where you do not want the wah to be active and to make sure that the wah block is disabled in those scenes. On wah Y don't assign a controller to the block. So there will be no way to turn in on using the exp pedal.

As for the wah not turning off properly; if you have it set to auto-engage, you shouldn't need a footswitch to turn it off. You can either park it in toe up or toe down or set it to turn off when it it inactive for a given amount of time.
-
Austin

I tried that, but the same controller settings are set for both X & Y on the wah block

I need to check the settings, but I thought it was heel down to disable. How do you set the off value so it doesn't turn on and off when you rock the exp pedal back and forth.

Here is the patch

 

[atquinn]

I tried that, but the same controller settings are set for both X & Y on the wah block
...
Here is the patch

Doh!

I'll check out the patch tonight and report back unless somebody else beats me to it.
-
Austin

 

[ethomas1013]

Could you upload your preset for us to look at? I have some thoughts, but I'm not at AX8Editor right now. My initial thought is to set the wah to wah Y on the scenes where you do not want the wah to be active and to make sure that the wah block is disabled in those scenes. On wah Y don't assign a controller to the block. So there will be no way to turn in on using the exp pedal.

It does not work that way. If Auto Engage is on, it applies to both the X and Y states. You cannot set up the controller separately for X and Y.

To the OP, you need to set up two paths, one with the Wah in the signal path, and one with it out of the signal path. See this thread:

http://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/can-one-expression-pedal-with-x-y-and-scenes-do-this.108189/

I downloaded your preset and made the following changes:

• I added two GEQ blocks to the beginning of the signal path and set the Bypass Mode to Mute for each. One feeds the Wah block, one bypasses the Wah block. Note: The GEQ blocks are set flat and are only used as a way to route the signal.
• Scene 1 and Scene 2 bypass the Wah block. Scene 3 routes the signal through the Wah block.
• I changed the Controller for the Wah Block to use Slow Position for Auto Engage
• I set the Way Block to the X state

You do not need an on/off switch for the Wah. Change to Scene 3 and the Wah will come on when you move it.

Hope this helps. Here's the edited preset:

 

[iaresee]

There is no Mixer block in the AX8 and only 2 Vol blocks. So it would be best to find a solution that required neither. The vol block solution requires 2 vol blocks which wouldn't leave any for use in other areas of the preset.

Filter blocks. PEQ blocks. GEQ blocks. Anything that'll pass an unaffected signal when engaged works. Doesn't have to be a VOL block.

Edit: @ethomas1013 did it above with GEQ blocks. They use more CPU than VOL blocks unfortunately.

I've asked for 2 more VOL block instances and a MIX block for the AX8.

 

[ethomas1013]

I tried a few different blocks. I only used the GEQ because I don't use those for anything and they didn't seem to use any more CPU that then others you mentioned in the AX8.

I would like to see FAS create a new "Router" blocks specifically for this purpose that has no parameters other than the Bypass Mode. Certainly that would use the least amount of CPU possible for signal routing. I have not submitted this as a "wish" item to FAS yet but adding 4 instances of the MIX block would be even better.

 

[iaresee]

I would like to see FAS create a new "Router" blocks specifically for this purpose that has no parameters other than the Bypass Mode. Certainly that would use the least amount of CPU possible for signal routing. I have not submitted this as a "wish" item to FAS yet but adding 4 instances of the MIX block would be even better.

Yea, a "router" block would be neat, but even 2 more VOL blocks would suffice I think. Not sure that'd be any less real CPU than the VOL block approach. We'll see what 2016 holds for firmware updates!

 

[atquinn]

Need some help setting up the wah on a preset:

1. I am looking to use the wah block on scene 3, with auto engage set to slow. How can keep the wah bypassed on scenes 1 & 2, even if I move the exp pedal slightly.

2. For scene 3, the wah turns on OK, but having a little trouble with turning off the wah. I have assigned one of the foot switches to disable the wah, but it takes two stomps to turn it off. Is there a better way of doing this?

Others have given you the help you need to have wah on in certain scenes and off in others. For the activation of the wah itself, you have the controller Auto Engage set to Slow Speed and the off value set to 5%. So the wah should turn off when you leave the the pedal in the toe up position for a while. This works fine when I try it, but personally, I find Slow to be a little to slow. I set it to Medium speed and it works better for me. If it is not turning off at all when you leave your pedal in toe up, you might try recalibrating your expression pedal.
-
Austin

 

[chrisjnyc]

It does not work that way. If Auto Engage is on, it applies to both the X and Y states. You cannot set up the controller separately for X and Y.

To the OP, you need to set up two paths, one with the Wah in the signal path, and one with it out of the signal path. See this thread:

http://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/can-one-expression-pedal-with-x-y-and-scenes-do-this.108189/

I downloaded your preset and made the following changes:

• I added two GEQ blocks to the beginning of the signal path and set the Bypass Mode to Mute for each. One feeds the Wah block, one bypasses the Wah block. Note: The GEQ blocks are set flat and are only used as a way to route the signal.
• Scene 1 and Scene 2 bypass the Wah block. Scene 3 routes the signal through the Wah block.
• I changed the Controller for the Wah Block to use Slow Position for Auto Engage
• I set the Way Block to the X state

You do not need an on/off switch for the Wah. Change to Scene 3 and the Wah will come on when you move it.

Hope this helps. Here's the edited preset:

Thanks! I think this is working much better now.