Drone/Noise Dudes...

[Wes Mantooth]

What's your set-up look like? I want to see pedalboards, instruments, amps whatever else you use. I'm also curious about how you go about creating your songs, how you use your gear and all that. I'm always looking for inspiration and insight into others creative process. Also I always need more pedals to lust after

Oh and clips are strongly encouraged

Here are mine:

[soundcloud]http://soundcloud.com/eelfistnoise/void-walker[/soundcloud]

[soundcloud]http://soundcloud.com/eelfistnoise/abyssal-plain[/soundcloud]

[skullservant]

I used to rely heavily on a Trogotronic t86, but I've been straying away from it since it only has a few sounds out of it. Been heavily using my MFOS Weird Sound Generator in all of my projects...

4MS Noise Swash was another one of my big staples, but the clone I have gets a bit finicky and something needs replaced. I'm waiting on three Moogerfoogers atm, after I get those in I'm going to fool around with a chain that looks something like: MFOS WSG-> Tall Font Big Muff (to fatten up the low end of the synth)-> Bass Murf -> Moog Low Pass -> Moog Ring Mod -> Strymon El Cap

I usually just pile delay onto whatever source I'm using and it most often suffices.

[Wes Mantooth]

I used to rely heavily on a Trogotronic t86, but I've been straying away from it since it only has a few sounds out of it. Been heavily using my MFOS Weird Sound Generator in all of my projects...

4MS Noise Swash was another one of my big staples, but the clone I have gets a bit finicky and something needs replaced. I'm waiting on three Moogerfoogers atm, after I get those in I'm going to fool around with a chain that looks something like: MFOS WSG-> Tall Font Big Muff (to fatten up the low end of the synth)-> Bass Murf -> Moog Low Pass -> Moog Ring Mod -> Strymon El Cap

I usually just pile delay onto whatever source I'm using and it most often suffices.

I like it

I heard your quick little demo of the WSG with some other pedals, sounded awesome, can't wait to hear what you do with all those Moogs

I suppose I never really went through my rig. Right now I mainly use my Grendel Drone Commander through my big pedalboard, mainly using my Snazzy FX Mini Ark and Wow and Flutter (the Mini Ark is awesome for adding another drone to your sound) along with my Atomi Clock Delay usually set on the brink of out-of-control self oscillation and my Dr. Scientist Reverberator for my verb needs. I usually apply a reverb plug-in as well to give it an even more spacious sound. I also like to fade in my ss/bs Year4545 using the clean volume and fuzz volume knobs, I like the effect of gradually adding more dirt with drones. Also just discovered the Dwarfcraft Robot Devil sounds awesome with synth stuff and really fattens things up.

I also have two Monotonic Lab synths, the N37 (4 step sequenced oscillator) and the U73 (chaotic oscillation machine) that I sprinkle on tracks to give them some variety or make things more interesting. I'll have pics once I get another pedal I'm waiting on.

[skullservant]

Awesome! How are you liking the drone commander?

[Wes Mantooth]

Awesome! How are you liking the drone commander?

It's so much more complex than I imagined really, it definitely takes some tweaking to get exactly what you want and can be kind of unpredictable but a lot of times that leads to me discovering a sound or pattern I hadn't even thought of.

I sometimes wish there was a way to tone down how harsh the filter can get at times, but not a huge problem because 75% of the time I like it that way or I just use some heavy verb to tone things down.

[skullservant]

nice! I've always thought they were cool pieces of kit

[Achtane]

I'm not exactly prolific but I really want to start making some stuff now that the EMX is up and running again. I want to exploit its non-OONTZ OONTZ OONTZ potential. Nothin' wrong with the OONTZ, though.
So the current process is:

Choose!

Pick one!

Run it through whatever, then into EMX! Wank around randomly until acceptable sounds are produced!

I may or may not run the EMX's left and right outs into some pedlulz, and from there into the two inputs on my Presonus Audiobox USB. Actually recording things is annoying because unless you give it some words of encouragement first, this interface clips at nothing. Given the intended use this wouldn't seem like an issue, but the distortion its creates really sounds like shit. And not "shit" as in "brootl shit-core noisegaze release from Achtane, buy it or fuck yourself". Just shit. Maybe a little mixer would be nice sometime.
I don't ever mic my cab because the one I'm using now is lifeless, so there's nothing to be gained. That and I'm not very experienced with mic'ing anyway. When I get replacement speakers to throw in this empty bass cab I might educate myself.

I use Cubase 5 mainly because I like the interface, but the way I actually go about putting a track together can be accomplished with Audacity just the same. There are plugins and stuff that I haven't messed with too much...
I think what I want to do is put individual parts together rather than do the harsh noise thing, or just leave the guitar feeding back for ten minutes, or whatever. There are sounds and textures in the harsh jank other people make that I appreciate, but whenever I create something just a bit too...uhh...wall-like, I scrap it; it's nothing, doesn't do anything for me. Along the same lines, I try not to drown everything in reverb, although when I do that it also sounds good sometimes...well, there are no absolute rules I guess. I dunno. If I played a noise show it wouldn't be the kind where I step on a keyboard and then walk out after seven seconds; that specific emotion isn't what drives me to make nonsensical shit. maybe it's just because I never actually practice
I'm not as interested in throwing one thing through my entire pedalboard and recording that as I am smaller parts using a few pedlulz. Except for when using the Utter Stutter. That is always fun.

Need to start working on something for the noise comp. Did that thread get deleted with ILF's Great Leap Forward?

[GardenoftheDead]

For noise: I make my Fuzz Factory self-oscillate, run it through some effects, into a mixer for reverb effects and the ability to fuck with the EQ on the fly, then into my DAW (Presonus Studio One Pro). Sometimes I layer some sub-bass and other things with Native Instruments VSTs.

For drone: Fender Jazz Bass and my Drop B Stratocaster into the appropriate amp. For the Strat I use my Swollen Pickle and Carbon Copy for effects. On the Bass I use my Fuzz Factory, Devi 33, Boss ODB-3, and Carbon Copy. Mic'd with Shure SM57 and MXL 990.

[Wes Mantooth]

I'm not exactly prolific but I really want to start making some stuff now that the EMX is up and running again. I want to exploit its non-OONTZ OONTZ OONTZ potential. Nothin' wrong with the OONTZ, though.
So the current process is:

Choose!

Pick one!

Run it through whatever, then into EMX! Wank around randomly until acceptable sounds are produced!

I may or may not run the EMX's left and right outs into some pedlulz, and from there into the two inputs on my Presonus Audiobox USB. Actually recording things is annoying because unless you give it some words of encouragement first, this interface clips at nothing. Given the intended use this wouldn't seem like an issue, but the distortion its creates really sounds like shit. And not "shit" as in "brootl shit-core noisegaze release from Achtane, buy it or fuck yourself". Just shit. Maybe a little mixer would be nice sometime.
I don't ever mic my cab because the one I'm using now is lifeless, so there's nothing to be gained. That and I'm not very experienced with mic'ing anyway. When I get replacement speakers to throw in this empty bass cab I might educate myself.

I use Cubase 5 mainly because I like the interface, but the way I actually go about putting a track together can be accomplished with Audacity just the same. There are plugins and stuff that I haven't messed with too much...
I think what I want to do is put individual parts together rather than do the harsh noise thing, or just leave the guitar feeding back for ten minutes, or whatever. There are sounds and textures in the harsh jank other people make that I appreciate, but whenever I create something just a bit too...uhh...wall-like, I scrap it; it's nothing, doesn't do anything for me. Along the same lines, I try not to drown everything in reverb, although when I do that it also sounds good sometimes...well, there are no absolute rules I guess. I dunno. If I played a noise show it wouldn't be the kind where I step on a keyboard and then walk out after seven seconds; that specific emotion isn't what drives me to make nonsensical shit. maybe it's just because I never actually practice
I'm not as interested in throwing one thing through my entire pedalboard and recording that as I am smaller parts using a few pedlulz. Except for when using the Utter Stutter. That is always fun.

Need to start working on something for the noise comp. Did that thread get deleted with ILF's Great Leap Forward?

I really dug that clip you put in the noise thread, sounded really good. It wasn't too wall like but still noisy and interesting

I love pouring reverb onto my shit as you can tell
None of the tracks I have up are finished products though, I'm probably going to add more shit to them and tone down the verb a bit just to make the more identifiable and distinguishable from one another. Tonight I'll be recording something a little more harsh and unsettling that I'm really psyched about. I always try to keep a certain atmosphere in mind when I'm creating something.
I'm digging what's made so far so once I add parts to each piece to make things different and have a sense of movement and mix and master everything I'll be releasing it on Bandcamp, hopefully a couple people dig but I'm not holding my breath, noise and drone is kind of a niche genre.


Oh and the Noise Comp thread is still going! Submit your stuff because it's died down significantly! The ILF label is still in the works as well so hopefully we can release all ILFs drone and noise stuff on it.

[dase]

I've got one of those large warwick 'rock cases' and I try to limit myself to only what's going to fit into that, and nowadays I'm trying to condense even further. The point being that I want to be able to ride to shows with my stuff in my backpack so I can get hammered haha.

By far the biggest breakthroughs for me in the last like, six or seven years have been getting a mixer so I can run a couple of discrete chains at once and mix and match them, and finally getting away from using a guitar entirely. I find the less stuff I use, the more I like what I'm doing so it's just a matter of constantly paring things down. That said I don't think I could ever go without reverb, my frostwave filter and my trogotronic 655.

Most of the sound sources I use are from the trogo and an electro faustus drum thing. I just got a boss RC3 recently and I've been pissing about with using that for pre-recorded drum loops.

[soundcloud]http://soundcloud.com/theriverofheaven/an-emphasis-on-work-life[/soundcloud]
[soundcloud]http://soundcloud.com/theriverofheaven/while-you-were-still-sleeping[/soundcloud]
[soundcloud]http://soundcloud.com/theriverofheaven/no-more-room-in-the-cattle[/soundcloud]

[kbit]

ACHTANE WE CAN BE PSS BROS

I haven't been at it for very long, but currently this is my set up:
Yamaha PSS-470 -> Ibanez PM7 -> Dwarfcraft Robot Devil -> Line 6 Verbzilla -> DOD DFX94 Delay/Sampler -> bass amp

This is my set-up for everything, but I do make noise with it.
I usually just find a progression/sound I like and go from there. I like improv/impermanence.

Currently I can use the PM7 -> Devil as an oscillator, but I hope to add a WSG to my arsenal sometime soon.
Wanna add some pedals & possibly a mixer, contact mic, and personal recorder down the line.

[Wes Mantooth]

Yeah I am definitely looking to score a cheap contact mic some time in the near future.

I also definitely like the spontaneity of noise and drone music, all the stuff I record is basically improvised. I start with a base sound, tone or feeling and just kind of go from there.

Also Achtane, I'm definitely in agreement with not turning the whole pedalboard at once, I like to pick and choose for different tones and for different points.

[Achtane]

ACHTANE WE CAN BE PSS BROS

HELLS YEAH! I saw that thing on CL a little after you made a thread about yours, and got it as a Christmas present. The drum thing is neat to run into pedals to get instant industrial toans. The synth is the best part of it though.
+1 on the contact mics. I have five incoming. Field recordings would be fun too.

I always try to keep a certain atmosphere in mind when I'm creating something.

I think this is useful as well, especially when you're trying to make something atmospheric. The best is when you start to unsettle yourself.
Thanks for the compliments 'n stuff.

[Wes Mantooth]

I've got one of those large warwick 'rock cases' and I try to limit myself to only what's going to fit into that, and nowadays I'm trying to condense even further. The point being that I want to be able to ride to shows with my stuff in my backpack so I can get hammered haha.

By far the biggest breakthroughs for me in the last like, six or seven years have been getting a mixer so I can run a couple of discrete chains at once and mix and match them, and finally getting away from using a guitar entirely. I find the less stuff I use, the more I like what I'm doing so it's just a matter of constantly paring things down. That said I don't think I could ever go without reverb, my frostwave filter and my trogotronic 655.

Most of the sound sources I use are from the trogo and an electro faustus drum thing. I just got a boss RC3 recently and I've been pissing about with using that for pre-recorded drum loops.

[soundcloud]http://soundcloud.com/theriverofheaven/an-emphasis-on-work-life[/soundcloud]
[soundcloud]http://soundcloud.com/theriverofheaven/while-you-were-still-sleeping[/soundcloud]
[soundcloud]http://soundcloud.com/theriverofheaven/no-more-room-in-the-cattle[/soundcloud]

Digging these tracks dude

[Officer Bukowski]

I used to rely heavily on a Trogotronic t86, but I've been straying away from it since it only has a few sounds out of it. Been heavily using my MFOS Weird Sound Generator in all of my projects...

4MS Noise Swash was another one of my big staples, but the clone I have gets a bit finicky and something needs replaced. I'm waiting on three Moogerfoogers atm, after I get those in I'm going to fool around with a chain that looks something like: MFOS WSG-> Tall Font Big Muff (to fatten up the low end of the synth)-> Bass Murf -> Moog Low Pass -> Moog Ring Mod -> Strymon El Cap

I usually just pile delay onto whatever source I'm using and it most often suffices.

How's that new El Cap treating you dude? When I got mine it was borderline life changing haha