Ring (and/or Balanced) Modulation for the modulator masses

[lordgalvar]

You can usually tell where on the spectrum it falls with the balanced modulator choice. Quadrant multipler vca chips (ad633, that one fancy ic I can't remember the name 2653?...mostly eurorack), 1496 ic (maestro, classic stuff), diode ring are usually pretty good ring mods.

The stuff using 4000 series logic, comparator ics, and plls are usually noise makers (side effects bug I assume, .holowon, seppuku, motormatic and I think outer rings).

There are some dual VCA op amp based ones (fonitronik), tube (metasonix), and transistor (buchla 100, Carlin...usually bad rejection) that are somewhere in the middle, but not too common (kinda like fast switches usually).

Of course, if you start getting wild with the carrier, any thing can be noisy. But it's usually that way for pedals and euro

Diode ring tend to be pretty smooth and musical no matter what you throw at em (monobius, DBA, ring stinger).

Usually, the controls are pretty telling to me.

[lordgalvar]

I think it's a little less subjective than some of the gear/things we talk about.

I'm sure some people'll wanna bicker over the finer details though.

Agreed.

Way less subjective than how a guitar reacts to a specific transistor in a tonebender or the finer details of other mojo components haha.

[Dowi]

I think it's a little less subjective than some of the gear/things we talk about.

I'm sure some people'll wanna bicker over the finer details though.

Agreed.

Way less subjective than how a guitar reacts to a specific transistor in a tonebender or the finer details of other mojo components haha.

Exactly.

Besides the fact that, compared to ods and fuzzes, ring mods are A LOT less used by guitar/bass players, so the amount of effects around is like the half of the half of the half of the half of the half of tonebender clones, therefore is easier to find differences from one another because they are more evident IMHO.
Personally i've started to use ring mods just two or three years ago, it's not the very first effect that somebody would suggest to a beginner (but maybe, it should? ) anyway it took me a while to find out what i really wanted from a RM, and when i found out the options were like 5 or 6.

(obiously i'm speaking as far as my experience is, i'm sure lordgalvar knowledge is faaaaaar wider)

[lordgalvar]

Ring Mod was the first effect I used really...mostly because I've got no musical talent and had no idea what I was doing. Ring mod gave me an "out"...oh, yeah, I totally mean to sound like that inharmonicresponseinplaceofanyknowledgetalentorskill

"Hey, play guitar for us, I like your flyer art"
Hmmm...never played guitar....RINGMOD rescue!

Always glad to have more Balanced Modulators (the people, not the devices) though...it's somethin' of its own to me know. Like a living part of an instrument less so than an effect. I try to play ring mod and attempt to leave any preconceived notions of music behind...it's an instrument with a choice of interface to me I guess.

[Chankgeez]

Also, looks like Jacques's gettin' rid of his vintage collection:

https://reverb.com/item/17782604-electr ... ram-s-head

[lordgalvar]

That is one awesome sale. That ehx is probably one.of the least neat things...that Daytona and Aria phase shifter...man, cool stuff

[LaoWiz]

Crap you guys have me on reverb looking at Ring Mods and I just got an end of the year bonus at work

This one looks awesome:

https://reverb.com/item/15672325-monaco ... modulation

[Chankgeez]

That does look amazing. I believe that lordgalvar has the Melos branded version.

[lordgalvar]

It's a fun one and supposedly a copy of the maestro. It's a good classic ring mod with a weird power connector....so two 9v batteries it is.
Mine is like nos complete haha.

Here it is on drum machine with some stupid not asked for GarageBand compression haha:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD2XjZ8hZzU[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD2XjZ8hZzU

(Spk, space ring, and ring worm too)

Rewatching it years later...kinda gave it the short end of the demo there....probably time to redo all those drum machine videos since I've gotten the hang of that a bit more. ring worm is too much haha...like just carrier modulation!

(I've got one of those EHX too....and a modified lamp extension cord for power )

[LaoWiz]

RAD! Don't think I'm going to buy it but love that big ass enclosure...

[lordgalvar]

Me too. I dig the similar mutron clone that factory made too (haven't seen one at a good price though)

And LaoWiz/Outsound boxes. Love my Foxx tone machine....it's a bad ass.

If you ever do a ring mod run, let me know.

(I believe I got my melos for around $250+$45 shipping from Italy NOS...so there are better deals than that one out there).

[LaoWiz]

Me too. I dig the similar mutron clone that factory made too (haven't seen one at a good price though)

And LaoWiz/Outsound boxes. Love my Foxx tone machine....it's a bad ass.

If you ever do a ring mod run, let me know.

(I believe I got my melos for around $250+$45 shipping from Italy NOS...so there are better deals than that one out there).

Yea, would be fun to try out as I never played with that Maestro circuit. I actually have the Craig Anderton Ring Mod in eagle for a layout but was looking into mods and got sidetracked. Thought it would be fun to release a batch as I always loved that one but mainly for it's effects loop so was thinking of putting another circuit on the board that you could switch on or off before the effects loop for some extra fun. We'll see, have so little time to make things these days!

Also, you are in LA, yes? I have a cool mod for your FTM if you want it. Depending on where you at, I worked in Santa Monica during the week and at home way out east on the weekends.

[lordgalvar]

I'm in West LA.

CA ring mod is great and I think there really is some excellent room for improvement. I've played both a mooseapotumous (spelling?) And dirge's mtl.asm version. I think the effects loop has some great possibilities (even some switching for it to be a feedback loop and replace the carrier would be cool for like a second on the fly pitch setting...esp. if it's like an oscillating delay in the loop). I'm interested!

Totally get the time thing though...I'm short on it myself these days. I'll message you about the mod and some other stuff (I'm working out in the garage and kind of filthy. Had to crawl under the house).

[Dowi]

Ring Mod was the first effect I used really...mostly because I've got no musical talent and had no idea what I was doing. Ring mod gave me an "out"...oh, yeah, I totally mean to sound like that inharmonicresponseinplaceofanyknowledgetalentorskill

you have my respect.

Always glad to have more Balanced Modulators (the people, not the devices) though...it's somethin' of its own to me know. Like a living part of an instrument less so than an effect. I try to play ring mod and attempt to leave any preconceived notions of music behind...it's an instrument with a choice of interface to me I guess.

Interesting, i've never tried to approach the ring mod as an "independent" instrument, but alway tried to make it work in the best way with the guitar signal to add some colours here and there. Since we're deep in the writing process with the band, during the nxt rehearsal I will try to take it differently and see what happens.

[lordgalvar]

NSFW: show

When I first started with LG, I would just listen to the song and do sound effects (like bridge...make metallic knife of hone sounds or it's an intro so make it like wind, or accent (or anti-accent for off beat) the drums).

When my friend switched from keys to bass and we sometimes ran in the same frequencies so it became more about phase canceling and harmonic control over what wasn't in the mix. Kind of like remixing and effecting the band with speakers instead of processors. It sounds pretty stupid outside of a band, but there were some moments of magic. As I got a little better at guitar, I kind of lost some of that "how can I make this work with extremely limited skills" experimental edge and became more standard punk rock guitar player....which is sadly where I'm at now (I think this is more because of not being in a band...and we went from a 5 peice to a 2 peice before it ended so I needed to be more of a solid rhythm player).

I honestly don't remember a single riff or how I did it...all kind of on the fly. I've always felt that ring mod gives me that ability to try stuff without worrying if I'm musically right...like focus on rhythm as a percussion synth or a sound effect texture guy or raw riffs (even just using it as an octave fuzz) or a ring mod guitar to voice talk box for fucked Peter Frampton.

I'm always interested in how people use it...We all approach so wildly different that it always amazes me the depth that these six components offer. To me, ring mod is a great illustration basic simplistic concept with near infinite depth and levels of interpretation.

Still ain't even a solid guitar player haha.

Post clips of any cool stuff you find or bad ass ring mods! More bands with more ring mod is always a good thing! (Hibagon is pretty dang fun!)