Some ring mod talk

zRobertez · Post by **zRobertez** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 12:52 am

Yobroz, first is a ring mod basically just a really fast tremolo? Cause really fast tremolo sounds like a ring mod.

ANyway, been thinking about getting a modulator of rings. What's good to look for and which ones do ya like? And are they really that useful or just hella fun? Cause I think John Frusciante uses them everywhere and I really dig it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmxDxRyB2IU[/youtube]

Around 0:20 on the guitar here

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71LSWZr0dHA[/youtube]
And all over at 1:20 here

if these aren't ring modulators I'm hearing, what is it? I know he's got like a billion moog pedals so it's probably some crazy combination of those.

kosta · Post by **kosta** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 1:43 am

Those tracks don't sound metallic enough to me to be ring mod, but it's hard to tell. To go after those tones I'd use more of a tremolo or vibrato approach maybe? Like you said he's probably using some crazy combo of Moog pedals. It sounds like he's definitely sweeping some of the params of whatever he's using while he's playing.

Best ring mods to me are the Randy's Revenge and the Moog. Randy's seems to be better at cleaner more pleasant but still clangy, sweet bell-like tones, while the Moog can do some of those but then also more of the biting dischordant metallic stuff. The Moog can also be used at lower speeds for a pretty great tremolo effect.

Nerd details from the wiki: "Ring modulators frequency mix or heterodyne two waveforms, and output the sum and difference of the frequencies present in each waveform. This process of ring modulation produces a signal rich in partials, suitable for producing bell-like or otherwise metallic sounds. As well, neither the carrier nor the incoming signal are prominent in the outputs, and ideally, not at all."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_modulation

greyscales · Post by **greyscales** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 1:58 am

I'm pretty sure the second track is just a trem set to max rate. Ring mods usually don't sound that choppy. Try a squarewave tremolo.

nad · Post by **nad** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 2:16 am

I have hours upon hours of noise made with my Frostwave Blue Ringer.

Since getting a Randy's Revenge, I don't use the Frostwave too much.

I <3 ring modulation. It is the greatest thing ever in so many, many ways.

This noise/sound/thing has multiple ring modulated bass tracks:

[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/adrian_smith/inclination[/soundcloud]

kosta · Post by **kosta** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 2:39 am

^^^ That is rad.

Ghost Hip · Post by **Ghost Hip** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 2:45 am

zRobertez wrote:Yobroz, first is a ring mod basically just a really fast tremolo? Cause really fast tremolo sounds like a ring mod.

To address this a little further and add on to kosta's post... notes are essentially high frequency vibrations, when a tremolo is increased to an incredibly high rate it creates a "note" that interacts with the input signal. Not technically a ring modulator, but can imitate if done right. There are phasers such as the Ibanez PM-7 that can get into ring-mod territory as well with a square wave or saw-tooth mode.

nad · Post by **nad** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 3:10 am

kosta wrote:^^^ That is rad.

Thanks!

nuclearfamily · Post by **nuclearfamily** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 5:23 am

kosta wrote:Best ring mods to me are the Randy's Revenge and the Moog. Randy's seems to be better at cleaner more pleasant but still clangy, sweet bell-like tones, while the Moog can do some of those but then also more of the biting dischordant metallic stuff. The Moog can also be used at lower speeds for a pretty great tremolo effect.

Randy's Revenge also has awesome tremolo sounds on the lower settings as well. I love that pedal.

12XU2A3X3 · Post by **12XU2A3X3** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 11:33 am

any time you modulate something at audio rates you are going to generate overtones. whether this is done in FM (DX7) AM (ring mods) Phase (Casio CZ) the result is partials that not necessarily related to the fundamental.

kosta · Post by **kosta** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 12:59 pm

^^^ Well said.

sonidero · Post by **sonidero** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 1:01 pm

I remember that "The Sum and the Difference make Something Different"...

I like my Ming Rod, but there are a ton of simple 70's Ring Mod circuits out there to build...

kosta · Post by **kosta** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 1:22 pm

Nice, is that the passive TSP one? Haven't heard one of those in the flesh.

12XU2A3X3 · Post by **12XU2A3X3** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 1:23 pm

i made this a few years ago, it shows cross modulation in an FM situation: the inputs of one oscillator is the output of the other and vice versa. what you are hearing is the output of one of them (i think).

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okc9FuHcFbo/youtube]

i hope the video works, still trying to get this embedding down

12XU2A3X3 · Post by **12XU2A3X3** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 1:25 pm

sonidero wrote:I remember that "The Sum and the Difference make Something Different"...

I like my Ming Rod, but there are a ton of simple 70's Ring Mod circuits out there to build...

i never heard that, i like it!

sonidero · Post by **sonidero** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 1:26 pm

12XU2A3X3 wrote:i made this a few years ago, it shows cross modulation in an FM situation: the inputs of one oscillator is the output of the other and vice versa. what you are hearing is the output of one of them (i think).

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okc9FuHcFbo[/youtube]

i hope the video works, still trying to get this embedding down

Make sure the brackets are in there and take off the s from https... :thumb:

kosta wrote:Nice, is that the passive TSP one? Haven't heard one of those in the flesh.

Yes I love it with AM radio static as the carrier...

ilovefuzz.com

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