Playing Unsustainable

[james90]

2 hours ago, giovannicovanni said:

@james90 It's actually the opposite, I play it in Master (Volume) 2 out of 12, and still it gives a loud sound since the room I'm playing in is sooo small (heck, you can hear the sound of a mosquito like it's in your head which is so trippy).

I just borrowed a distortion pedal (Ehx Metal Muff Top Boost) from a friend of mine to try some combinations. I will try putting the distortion before and after the whammy, however looks like the best choice for me to do is use Fuzz Factory because my other pedals' cables are pinned under the pedalboard so it will be so hard for me to remove them, sooo I'm open to suggestions for Fuzz Factory Settings  

and thanks! The sound quality of the video isn't so good because like I said, the room is small af, so the mic of my phone captures also the acoustic sound of the guitar when I record, which can especially be heard when I hit the string tree. (I don't have an audio interface)

Live version is easier and much more simpler. You don't have to play the exact notes this way, you can just improvise (as long as you stay in the chord of course), that's probably why Matt plays it like this. 

I am using a backing track, all the instruments in the back (bass, drums, orchestra ) are midi except for the intro, and the sound of the robot and the reporter are slightly isolated. I will send you the whole project instead of just the middle part, so I'd appreciate if you tell me your opinion about it! 

I see what you mean - where do you have the gain (preamp volume) control set? If you're running those fuzz pedals, I'd definitely set the amp for a neutral clean sound without too much bass. Otherwise it'll likely be far too compressed sounding. If there's a bright switch on the amp, you'll probably want to have it switched off if it's at low volume.

As for the fuzz factory. I worked out some settings a while back which seemed to sound right - I think I wrote them down somewhere. It wasn't anything too extreme, but it was on an oscillating setting. If I remember correctly, it was gate 11 o clock, comp 1 o clock, drive... can't remember, and stab 2 o clock (?)

What I do remember is that I was intentionally turning the comp control up to the point of the oscillation cutting off, and then turning the gate control back down to where it was consistently/clearly oscillating.

Regarding the live version, the MIDI track is different during that part, but that's definitely true about not playing the exact notes.

And I got it thanks, will have a look and let you know. I set my backing track up based on the one from here (definitely check it out - great resource) and adjusted everything until it sounded close enough. Still need to work on the bass though, especially that big bend.

http://www.rppmf.com/muse.htm

It's in French, but easy enough to navigate and download the files. Most are fairly accurate, at least compared to the ones you get from converting the guitar pro files from ultimate guitar for example.

Also, as for those triplets being in -2 octave and returning to normal pitch - I think he just might be hitting the open strings instead, but it doesn't sound high enough for it to be that. 

I do have some ideas of what it could be, but it's something that only works for the DT. Basically requires using both sides of the pedal at the same time. Still experimenting with that though.

[giovannicovanni]

On 9/25/2019 at 5:07 AM, james90 said:

I see what you mean - where do you have the gain (preamp volume) control set? If you're running those fuzz pedals, I'd definitely set the amp for a neutral clean sound without too much bass. Otherwise it'll likely be far too compressed sounding. If there's a bright switch on the amp, you'll probably want to have it switched off if it's at low volume.

As for the fuzz factory. I worked out some settings a while back which seemed to sound right - I think I wrote them down somewhere. It wasn't anything too extreme, but it was on an oscillating setting. If I remember correctly, it was gate 11 o clock, comp 1 o clock, drive... can't remember, and stab 2 o clock (?)

What I do remember is that I was intentionally turning the comp control up to the point of the oscillation cutting off, and then turning the gate control back down to where it was consistently/clearly oscillating.

Regarding the live version, the MIDI track is different during that part, but that's definitely true about not playing the exact notes.

And I got it thanks, will have a look and let you know. I set my backing track up based on the one from here (definitely check it out - great resource) and adjusted everything until it sounded close enough. Still need to work on the bass though, especially that big bend.

http://www.rppmf.com/muse.htm

It's in French, but easy enough to navigate and download the files. Most are fairly accurate, at least compared to the ones you get from converting the guitar pro files from ultimate guitar for example.

Also, as for those triplets being in -2 octave and returning to normal pitch - I think he just might be hitting the open strings instead, but it doesn't sound high enough for it to be that. 

I do have some ideas of what it could be, but it's something that only works for the DT. Basically requires using both sides of the pedal at the same time. Still experimenting with that though.

Since Blues Junior amps are designed full vintage style, they don't have Fx loops, and I always use delay and modulation so I get my overdrive tones from my pedals, so I always have to set the amp clean. Volume (a.k.a. gain) is set between 3-4/12, and master (output volume) is no more than 2. 

I tried those settings but it gave me a lot of hum sound and hum noise affects playing of this song a lot. I tried to get a bit of oscillation, then turned comp to the point where the hum stopped, but this way I had to set comp to 3 o'clock, and I can't get any sustain this way 😕  However, I tried to put a buffered pedal between whammy and fuzz factory and it really changed the game for me. When whammy was on and in heel position, it gave a much cleaner sound without the buffered pedal, that may be one of the reasons the *dive bomb going on and off* sound when I hit the string tree sucks.

Lol I had my backing track based on that site too, only I made some modifications to it. For example, I removed the excess notes from the bass and added a thicc fuzz, then pitched it down by one octave.

I still don't get what you mean by those triplets being in -2 octaves at 1:34 of the video :// If you could be a little more specific, I can help with that.  

Is it certain that he uses a standard tuning for this song? Since this song usually uses an A note, if you tune down the B string a full note, it may sound good and correct when you play open notes!

[james90]

12 minutes ago, giovannicovanni said:

Since Blues Junior amps are designed full vintage style, they don't have Fx loops, and I always use delay and modulation so I get my overdrive tones from my pedals, so I always have to set the amp clean. Volume (a.k.a. gain) is set between 3-4/12, and master (output volume) is no more than 2. 

I tried those settings but it gave me a lot of hum sound and hum noise affects playing of this song a lot. I tried to get a bit of oscillation, then turned comp to the point where the hum stopped, but this way I had to set comp to 3 o'clock, and I can't get any sustain this way 😕  However, I tried to put a buffered pedal between whammy and fuzz factory and it really changed the game for me. When whammy was on and in heel position, it gave a much cleaner sound without the buffered pedal, that may be one of the reasons the *dive bomb going on and off* sound when I hit the string tree sucks.

Lol I had my backing track based on that site too, only I made some modifications to it. For example, I removed the excess notes from the bass and added a thicc fuzz, then pitched it down by one octave.

I still don't get what you mean by those triplets being in -2 octaves at 1:34 of the video :// If you could be a little more specific, I can help with that.  

Is it certain that he uses a standard tuning for this song? Since this song usually uses an A note, if you tune down the B string a full note, it may sound good and correct when you play open notes!

Right, I see - just as long as you don't have the preamp gain on the amp turned up.

As for the settings, you still want it to oscillate clearly and have good sustain, but not exactly the same as when the comp and gate controls are all the way down. It's sort of hard to describe the difference. Basically keep the gate around 9 o clock, turn the comp up until the oscillation and hum stops, and then turn it back down until the sustain is how you want. If that makes sense? The gain should be somewhere around half, with the stab around 1 or 2 o clock

As for the string tree sound, I looked at your file. First - it's really impressive, so well done on that. But as far as the string tree sound goes, there's more of a difference if you have the pedal actually switching on and off - especially if the fuzz factory is in front.

So with the whammy 5, you'll want to have it at CC 127 throughout that part and just have it switching between active and bypass on the dive-bomb setting.

If you look closely in the making of video a few seconds before Matt starts playing, you can just about see the computer screen with the automation patterns, and it appears it was done this way.

Regarding the triplets, ignore that - I had thought he was switching to a different setting, but it seems like it's just the open strings being hit when he's moving back up the neck. I will mention that I've experimented with the whammy DT a bit more, and while the whammy 5 is more than good enough, there are a few settings on the whammy DT that get those low notes and the sweep of the pitch sounding a bit closer. 

In other words, the drop tune (which also has upper octave settings) section is before the whammy section of the pedal. So you could basically have the pitch anywhere between +1 or -1 octave BEFORE it goes into the whammy part of the pedal. What this means is that the heel position of the whammy isn't the unaffected guitar sound, as it's already being shifted up or down by the drop tune part of the pedal.

As for the tuning, it's definitely in standard. You can see him play the E string on the 5th fret for that low A note in live performances. I only discovered this today, but I think it's due to the -1 octave + dry setting on the drop tune section of the pedal. You can combine this with the -1 octave setting on the whammy side and get a better sounding -2 octave, which is likely how he did it in the studio.

[giovannicovanni]

15 minutes ago, james90 said:

Right, I see - just as long as you don't have the preamp gain on the amp turned up.

As for the settings, you still want it to oscillate clearly and have good sustain, but not exactly the same as when the comp and gate controls are all the way down. It's sort of hard to describe the difference. Basically keep the gate around 9 o clock, turn the comp up until the oscillation and hum stops, and then turn it back down until the sustain is how you want. If that makes sense? The gain should be somewhere around half, with the stab around 1 or 2 o clock

As for the string tree sound, I looked at your file. First - it's really impressive, so well done on that. But as far as the string tree sound goes, there's more of a difference if you have the pedal actually switching on and off - especially if the fuzz factory is in front.

So with the whammy 5, you'll want to have it at CC 127 throughout that part and just have it switching between active and bypass on the dive-bomb setting.

If you look closely in the making of video a few seconds before Matt starts playing, you can just about see the computer screen with the automation patterns, and it appears it was done this way.

Regarding the triplets, ignore that - I had thought he was switching to a different setting, but it seems like it's just the open strings being hit when he's moving back up the neck. I will mention that I've experimented with the whammy DT a bit more, and while the whammy 5 is more than good enough, there are a few settings on the whammy DT that get those low notes and the sweep of the pitch sounding a bit closer. 

In other words, the drop tune (which also has upper octave settings) section is before the whammy section of the pedal. So you could basically have the pitch anywhere between +1 or -1 octave BEFORE it goes into the whammy part of the pedal. What this means is that the heel position of the whammy isn't the unaffected guitar sound, as it's already being shifted up or down by the drop tune part of the pedal.

As for the tuning, it's definitely in standard. You can see him play the E string on the 5th fret for that low A note in live performances. I only discovered this today, but I think it's due to the -1 octave + dry setting on the drop tune section of the pedal. You can combine this with the -1 octave setting on the whammy side and get a better sounding -2 octave, which is likely how he did it in the studio.

Thanks! There couldn't be any better explanation for the settings since fuzz factory is a pedal that's sensitive af and doesn't give the exact sound every time due to the +/- %20 pot tolerance, I'll try that and let you know. 

For the string tree part in my file, normally it was CC 127 throughout that part, but I had tried some different sounds that day before I sent you the file, so it may not be all the way 127, HOWEVER there shouldn't be any difference in sound because those parts where the CC is 0, are bypassed, so whether it's 0 or 127 or something in between, the pedal's technically off there.

In this photo if you look closely you can see the blue lines which represents expression control.  (cc 9 being Dive Bomb active, cc 30 being passive)

 

I really don't know what to say for those whammy DT combinations, it's so genius.. and for the tuning part, I meant if he may use something like EADGAE. This way when you hit open strings it may sound correct to pitch. I'm pretty sure he doesn't use a tuning like that, but in theory it may sound cool, just saying.. 🤷‍♂️

[Guest]

you guys are so much smarter than me lmao

[Guest]

How far is everyone thru the song in midi files?
 

 

Edited September 26, 2019 by Guest
removed smth cuz im dumb

[james90]

22 hours ago, giovannicovanni said:

Thanks! There couldn't be any better explanation for the settings since fuzz factory is a pedal that's sensitive af and doesn't give the exact sound every time due to the +/- %20 pot tolerance, I'll try that and let you know. 

For the string tree part in my file, normally it was CC 127 throughout that part, but I had tried some different sounds that day before I sent you the file, so it may not be all the way 127, HOWEVER there shouldn't be any difference in sound because those parts where the CC is 0, are bypassed, so whether it's 0 or 127 or something in between, the pedal's technically off there.

In this photo if you look closely you can see the blue lines which represents expression control.  (cc 9 being Dive Bomb active, cc 30 being passive)

 

I really don't know what to say for those whammy DT combinations, it's so genius.. and for the tuning part, I meant if he may use something like EADGAE. This way when you hit open strings it may sound correct to pitch. I'm pretty sure he doesn't use a tuning like that, but in theory it may sound cool, just saying.. 🤷‍♂️

 

Exactly. I know the one Matt tends to use in his live setup is a slightly older Vexter (the one after the initial black/green print version), but those shouldn't vary anywhere near as much as the old pedals did. Tolerances aside, the older pedals did have differences in component types as well, but it seems like they became fairly consistent after he switched transistor types in 2003/2004

But as far as the settings go, the sound I'm describing is... well, it's that effect you get when turning the comp control up. It seems to take away a bit of low end and make the high end a bit smoother? But you don't want to turn it too far (past where it stops oscillating) otherwise the sustain is affected. You basically just want it to have that subtle effect on the sound. I'd also keep the stab control on a higher setting (around 2 o clock as mentioned) since it does take away some low end. Same with the drive control (keep this above 12 o clock). I'd try to set the gate around 9 o clock, but you can lower it if it's affecting the sustain too much

Here's a good example. He probably has the comp control turned a bit higher than I'd suggest for Unsustainable, but you should be able to hear the effect I'm referring to. 

 

 

With the nut strike bit, I think I see what you mean. The reason it works better switching between active/bypass (rather than active with expression CC 0/CC 127) is because of the difference in high end when using the pedal. In other words, if the pedal is on the whole time, it will be reducing the high end the entire time, as the signal is going through the pedal anyway. But if you switch between active/bypass, the nut strikes stand out a bit more for the bypassed sound, since it's not going through the pedal's circuitry.

And yeah, I can't say for sure if they did it that way, but... the low notes sound so much better (even with the whammy straight into the fuzz factory) and the sweep of some of the pitch bends seems a bit closer. 

Another combination seems to be the second +2 octave triplet part. Seems like it might be the +1 octave dry setting mixed with something else. Have a listen to 1:36 in this video - almost sounds like the harmonizer?

 

 

As for the tuning, worth a try I guess. Might make the pitch bends sound a bit different though, but I guess that's less important than the low strings.

 

7 hours ago, nightleld said:

How far is everyone thru the song in midi files?
 

 

 

Got halfway through the middle part, but got sidetracked when I realized the DT is setup differently for the entire song. 🤦‍♂️ So I'm trying to figure that out at the minute. It doesn't really require rewriting anything, but just trying as many combinations of the drop tune/whammy sides as possible to see what works best.

[Guest]

14 hours ago, james90 said:

 

Exactly. I know the one Matt tends to use in his live setup is a slightly older Vexter (the one after the initial black/green print version), but those shouldn't vary anywhere near as much as the old pedals did. Tolerances aside, the older pedals did have differences in component types as well, but it seems like they became fairly consistent after he switched transistor types in 2003/2004

But as far as the settings go, the sound I'm describing is... well, it's that effect you get when turning the comp control up. It seems to take away a bit of low end and make the high end a bit smoother? But you don't want to turn it too far (past where it stops oscillating) otherwise the sustain is affected. You basically just want it to have that subtle effect on the sound. I'd also keep the stab control on a higher setting (around 2 o clock as mentioned) since it does take away some low end. Same with the drive control (keep this above 12 o clock). I'd try to set the gate around 9 o clock, but you can lower it if it's affecting the sustain too much

Here's a good example. He probably has the comp control turned a bit higher than I'd suggest for Unsustainable, but you should be able to hear the effect I'm referring to. 

 

 

With the nut strike bit, I think I see what you mean. The reason it works better switching between active/bypass (rather than active with expression CC 0/CC 127) is because of the difference in high end when using the pedal. In other words, if the pedal is on the whole time, it will be reducing the high end the entire time, as the signal is going through the pedal anyway. But if you switch between active/bypass, the nut strikes stand out a bit more for the bypassed sound, since it's not going through the pedal's circuitry.

And yeah, I can't say for sure if they did it that way, but... the low notes sound so much better (even with the whammy straight into the fuzz factory) and the sweep of some of the pitch bends seems a bit closer. 

Another combination seems to be the second +2 octave triplet part. Seems like it might be the +1 octave dry setting mixed with something else. Have a listen to 1:36 in this video - almost sounds like the harmonizer?

 

 

As for the tuning, worth a try I guess. Might make the pitch bends sound a bit different though, but I guess that's less important than the low strings.

 

 

Got halfway through the middle part, but got sidetracked when I realized the DT is setup differently for the entire song. 🤦‍♂️ So I'm trying to figure that out at the minute. It doesn't really require rewriting anything, but just trying as many combinations of the drop tune/whammy sides as possible to see what works best.

Awesome! I thought he uses a standard whammy 5 and not a DT tho?

[james90]

8 hours ago, nightleld said:

Awesome! I thought he uses a standard whammy 5 and not a DT tho?

It's definitely a DT in the studio video. You can see the extra switch and LED on it. 

The whammy 5 can still get super close and seems to track MIDI better, but the range/sweep of the pitch bends on the DT is slightly more accurate. The main thing is that it sounds much better on the low notes, due to the dry signal being mixed in.

 

@giovannicovanni here's some of the DT MIDI track if you want to have a look. I ended up splitting the program changes into two separate tracks (one for each side of the pedal) as it was far too messy, especially with two events often happening at exactly the same time. 

 

[giovannicovanni]

@james90 I tried the settings, yeah they sound close but one thing, if I don’t want to have any hum noise from Fuzz Factory, obviously I should turn up the comp, however if I do, the noise stops at somewhere near 3 o’clock, is it normal? (since you had suggested a much lower comp setting). A weird fact, I have settings of FF written for some songs, and I always used my SMBH settings for this song since it has the fuzz, the gate etc. kinda matching with unsustainable haha (but it’s the tone for the studio version so there isn’t any oscillation).

About the string tree strike, you are right, especially the sound of the fuzz itself really changes when you play with whammy bypassed vs active on heel position. What do you think about that part of my project? Do you think it’s correct? I’m asking because maybe it might be a problem caused by my setup/guitar tones. 

That 1:36 Triplet, it MIGHT still be the same automation, but perhaps it sounds like this because of matt’s playing? One thing I’ve experienced playing this song, tone really is in the fingers if you know what I mean. You play 12th fret on low A and you get a sound, then you do a pinch harmonic at the very same fret and boom, there is a much different sound. For example, when I was using low A 12th fret with -2 octaves, those +2 triplets were sounding MUCH different than when I started using Low E 5th fret with -1 octaves. So since Matt neversplays the same..

However, I think there are +1 oct parts too in the song (or -1 with drop tune + +2 with whammy), because in these videos he sometimes plays the highest notes in the fingerboard (17th etc.) and they sure don’t sound like +2 when he plays there. 

Thanks, I’ll definitely check that automation and compare with mine. 

Something weird happened earlier today, after months of trying to convince my band to play unsustainable, we had a big problem. I connected my whammy to my laptop with a Usb midi cable, then connected the audio interface and tried to play it with the backing track and automations. Now comes the big problem, the midi file had a lag, (like it was in a different tempo?!), I mean the program changes were so late.. The strange thing is when I checked the project, there wasn’t anything strange, everything were where they should’ve been.. 

[james90]

Yeah that's normal. You just don't want it turned up too high so that it affects the sustain. The other option is turning the stab control all the way up and the almost all the way up, but that doesn't sound quite the same to me.

I haven't tried the file myself yet, only just had a quick look at it. It's definitely a tricky one to get a decent sound for, and there are different ways you can approach it. For what it's worth, Matt seems to have recorded it with the 007 which does have a P90 (single coil) in the bridge. If that's the case, it would likely be pretty noisy with a fuzz pedal on high gain settings. But as far as I know, it's that same setup where he's running it direct, and has the input gain cranked up so it's clipping there (while having a reasonable setting on the fuzz pedal)

And maybe - I'll have to pay closer attention to what he's playing in the live videos, but it sort of sounded like there were two sounds at once. I did find the same about the 5th fret compared to 12th fret though. 

Here's what the DT file sounds like at the minute. No video this time, but better sound quality anyway. The expression automation is exactly the same as in the picture, but I corrected some of the program changes (mainly the ones for bypassing, so it doesn't make much of a difference I guess.) This is with the low A notes played on the 12th fret, using settings from both sides of the pedal.

The nut strikes will sound a bit off in this one. The guitar has a 3+3 headstock, so I just hit the open strings instead. Should still give you an idea though. This was just with amp distortion and some post EQ to brighten it up slightly.

One downside of the DT that I think I mentioned was that it doesn't seem to track MIDI well. You can hear that on the wider/slower pitch bends (the -2 octave ones).

As for the lag issue, go to the external instrument plugin and make sure the auto compensate latency box is ticked. I know mine has a significant lag if it isn't.

 

 

 

 

[giovannicovanni]

Oh thank god, I thought I had something wrong there. I really like the stab feature, the oscillating sounds it makes when you do vibratos.. In live versions, stab definitely isn't full since he has that dark sound , which I think comes from the stab not being full since it also kinda darkens that high end and also sounds.. compressed? (obviously he uses A LOT of effects but this may be a part of it)

I compared your expression automations with mine, and looks like the only part that's different is, that dive bomb automation after the +2 octave part (which I was doing it manually), so it made me pretty happy!

One thing I had wrong this whole time, that tremolo-ish sound at 1:38, I had it on +2 octave, playing with harmonic of low A's 12th fret. Changed it now to bypass mode though, like it has to be.

The low notes' tone is on point, it's just too too good.. 

For that "external instrument plugin", I have to connect it to the audio interface right? Since I don't own one, I use the bass player's one when she brings it to studio.

By the way one technical question (I'm really don't understand these advanced DAW things);

My guitar was connected to my pedalboard, that goes to my amp. However, when I connected the usb-midi cable from my whammy to my Macbook, there was a little sound of my guitar coming from the monitors that we connected the interface to??  Do you have an idea where that may be coming from?

 

Thank you for everything by the way, playing this song is pure joy and fun, and I don't think I could have done this without your help  

[james90]

Well it depends which live version - I think he was using the fuzz factory (or possibly the fuzz head?) in the T2L era (2012/2013) recordings. In that last video I linked (from 2018 I think) it seems to be one of the high gain channels on the VH4. It's definitely easier to get a good sound with amp distortion rather than a fuzz pedal. You could probably use that Strymon pedal with similar results though.

I think I get what you mean. I ended up changing that part slightly, but just so it wouldn't use the dry signal from the DT side of the pedal. Seemed a bit closer with the dive-bomb only. So at the minute, the only part using both sides of the pedal combined are the A notes on the 12th fret. -1 octave with dry signal on the DT side combined with -1 octave on the whammy side. 

As for external instrument, in this case, it's for the MIDI interface. It's that bit highlighted in blue in the channel strip (left of the window) where you select the MIDI interface and channel. It might just show up as "External I" until you click it, and then you'll see this:

 

 

It sounds like you already have it configured to work with the whammy, but you'll want to have that box ticked like above.

As for the signal bleed, that shouldn't be happening. I wouldn't think there's any audio that travels through the MIDI interface. I will say that I've noticed similar behavior with my setup, but I always assumed that it was due to the mic bleeding into the monitors - as if the gain control on the interface still let some of the sound through, even when turned all the way down. I'll have to look into it though - might be the exact same issue. My initial thought is that it's related to the computer, since the MIDI and audio interfaces are completely separate. 

And no problem at all - glad to help

 

[giovannicovanni]

Well, yesterday we had a little show and I requested Unsustainable a lot, so we decided to play it! In the backing track we only used the reporter, robot, and the orchestra sounds. Unfortunately the sound engineer decreased the sound of the backing track and my guitar in the middle of the song but it felt SO good to play it live.. Here are some clips!

@james90 I had problems with external instrument plugin before, because I didn't select that box when I was creating that midi external midi file in the first place   Anyway I changed it before the show.

 

 

[james90]

Sounds great - you're certainly brave for attempting that live, especially when Matt seems to have things go wrong with the MIDI stuff at times. Though I guess there's a lot more that could go wrong with the amount of stuff he uses.

The one time I played that in front of others (just to demo the track) I didn't have the box ticked. Didn't go too well. 

 

Also, unrelated, but if you're using a mac - I'd take caution if you plan to update to the new OS. I just did, and it doesn't recognize my audio/MIDI interface anymore. I gather it's more because steinberg didn't update their driver, but it does apply to other brands as well. 

[giovannicovanni]

Thanks! Well I’ve used as little data as possible, didn’t used midi datas for the backing track, just made them wav files since my macbook air is not so good for making music (8gb ram). 

In soundcheck, I always checked the midi file for Whammy, and thank god I did  It  didn’t do the program changes and automation at first, I restarted the computer and created a new plugin for it a several times, since the problem probably may have been caused with the other audio interface we were using. 

Unfortunately this week I had to update to latest software, it may be a part of the problem too I guess, I don’t know (the audio interface we were using was Focusrite 2i2). Maybe try creating a new midi external instrument plugin and put the file on that and try again. 

Also out of topic, which Steinberg interface are you using? I was thinking about getting a simple Focusrite but I heard they have some clipping problems. I was thinking about getting a Steinberg Ur22 since it has also got midi, which I always use, for nearly half price of Focusrite.

[james90]

Yeah that's definitely true. I stopped using my MacBook (same amount of ram) for these projects. Can't simply add more either, since it requires a completely different board. But yes, if you have several MIDI tracks with their own instruments and plugins going at the same time, it's going to slow things down a bit. So it does make sense to convert them into a single .wav file and re-import it into the project, just so you have that and the whammy control.

I haven't checked if the Focusrite stuff is having any issues, but I don't think those actually require their own drivers like Steinberg does. I did re-install the driver and it seems fine so far.

I think it was just the 1st gen Focusrite interfaces that had clipping issues. I had the 2i2 1st gen and I always had to keep the gain super low on it, but the 2i4 2nd gen that replaced it seemed fine. I recall it also had switches on the front to pad the inputs, which helped. I've not tried the 3rd gen models though.

The one I have is the UR-RT2. Not familiar with the UR22, but this one is pretty decent. Main issue besides the driver is that some of the features that would normally be on the interface itself (such as the input/playback control on the Focusrite) have to be adjusted separately through the included software.

I can't say I find their software particularly intuitive, though I've only used Cubase. It does appear to be easier on the computer, and is a little more flexible with drawing automation

 

[Guest]

THAT AWAS WESOME like seriously fucking great

 

what daw did you use?

 

do you intend on releasing the file for it and tab? cool if not but awesome if u r

 

also nice  telecaster my man

[giovannicovanni]

@james90 I’ll keep it in mind. Behringer UR22 is basically a Focusrite 2i4, but for much cheaper. Since I’m not going to be able to use it well (due to the computer being shitty) it won’t be necessary to get something too good I guess. 

@nightleld Thanks! I used Logic like I mentioned above. The file isn’t completely finished IMO, so I don’t think I’ll upload it in a near time 😕 However, it’s a pitch shifter, so it plays whatever you want it to, so the tabs depend on your file.

Btw it’s a weird tip, but if you really want to play it good, I suggest you at least try to create your “custom” file, because 1)like I said above, since it’s a pitch shifter you’ve got infinite possibilities to play it.

2) and most importantly; I’m %100 sure if I already had found a midi file for this song before, I couldn’t play it this well. 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, giovannicovanni said:

@james90 I’ll keep it in mind. Behringer UR22 is basically a Focusrite 2i4, but for much cheaper. Since I’m not going to be able to use it well (due to the computer being shitty) it won’t be necessary to get something too good I guess. 

@nightleld Thanks! I used Logic like I mentioned above. The file isn’t completely finished IMO, so I don’t think I’ll upload it in a near time 😕 However, it’s a pitch shifter, so it plays whatever you want it to, so the tabs depend on your file.

Btw it’s a weird tip, but if you really want to play it good, I suggest you at least try to create your “custom” file, because 1)like I said above, since it’s a pitch shifter you’ve got infinite possibilities to play it.

2) and most importantly; I’m %100 sure if I already had found a midi file for this song before, I couldn’t play it this well. 

oh awesome!

 

fair

 

i have no knowledge of this stuff lmao

[giovannicovanni]

I had no idea too tbh haha, just check 2-3 pages back in this topic, you’ll see that’s it’s my first time doing an automation too, I hadn’t an idea on how to even change the grids 😂

[james90]

1 hour ago, giovannicovanni said:

Btw it’s a weird tip, but if you really want to play it good, I suggest you at least try to create your “custom” file, because 1)like I said above, since it’s a pitch shifter you’ve got infinite possibilities to play it.

2) and most importantly; I’m %100 sure if I already had found a midi file for this song before, I couldn’t play it this well. 

 

Yeah this is definitely true. You could always get a file from someone else, but it will have to be played to match how it's written. Plus if you need to go in and fix something that doesn't sound quite right, it could become a bit tricky.

I've learned so much about DAWs and MIDI from writing this file as well, so it's worth it in a way.

[james90]

https://www.reddit.com/r/Muse/comments/f9xk7v/i_tried_to_play_unsustainable/

Sounds great giovannicovanni.

Some credit for helping you with the track would have been nice though. At the same time, it's just for fun - hence not posting mine on youtube etc. More trouble than it's worth.

 

[giovannicovanni]

I really thought and wanted to give credit but didn't know what to write since I don't know what's your reddit username, sorry..

I'm new to this reddit stuff so didn't know if you had posted or not, I only shared to see if some people liked how it was, and I was so surprised to see how many upvotes it got. I've changed the description though

[james90]

17 hours ago, giovannicovanni said:

I really thought and wanted to give credit but didn't know what to write since I don't know what's your reddit username, sorry..

I'm new to this reddit stuff so didn't know if you had posted or not, I only shared to see if some people liked how it was, and I was so surprised to see how many upvotes it got. I've changed the description though

No problem, and thanks. Wasn't actually expecting you to see this, as it's gone quiet here!

I haven't got an account actually. I'm really only in the facebook groups now. Not sure if you're in any of those.

Latest version is sounding great anyway. I recently read an old post on the Fractal Audio message board from the admin (probably a reliable source) and he said the axe FX was used. Not sure in what way, but I wouldn't think the entire song.