ilovefuzz.com

from a live sound perspective i think drones work better going DI (assuming your setup includes a mixer or something to filter the sound to your own taste) but running into a separate (bass or keyboard) amp can have a better character depending on the kind of sound you're going for.
i would definitely avoid running drones into a mono amp with your guitar. an input mixer can help but it's so much nicer being able to distinguish sounds as coming from separate directions.
a lot of this depends on the places you're playing at. if you're playing somewhere with a nice big sound system then DI that shit and shake the floors while you blast your guitar amp with guitar.

backwardsvoyager wrote:it's so much nicer being able to distinguish sounds as coming from separate directions.
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Sort of what I was thinking, but wasn't able to really put into words

thanks for the input everyone (thanks for chiming in, Aen, I hoped you would ). To clarify - my budget is usually small and this time it's no different. Since I only started playing bass recently, I'm still in the process of acquiring decent gear for that, plus I just moved in with my girlfriend and I'm a student but even if i had more money, i'm not sure i'd like to spend much - for now, I just need to get my hands on a drone synth for the first time and actually learn how to use it and if it fits the music and if I gel with it. So i'm looking for something simple that can grow into something bigger sort of

in the more grungy, riffy band, right now, it would be used for one song. I might not even use it in the end with the other one, from the top of my head, it could be used in about a quarter of our set even without figuring anything out. And that one has the benefit of rehearsing in a studio our frontman owns, so I have lots of amps at hand for going separate like this. Live it might get much more tricky though, since i only own one bass amp right now, basically. Honestly though - i might get away with bringing a tube guitar amp as well, because I MIGHT end up playing both guitar and bass throughout the set, depends... anyway THAT is a possibility, althought i do understand that a bass or keyboard amp would be better limited resources, sort of Anyway - there are ways how to make this work, i think

Will wait for Schlatte's response on the custom synth. If it ends up being too much for me, I'll order one of those Rucci thangs
edit: thinking again, I could probably make use of the maximal drone and the 8-step sequencer, too... parhaps also the passive mixer. shit

If you're having it built, I'd have a level control built in to the synth. I'd probably also get a cut switch for output level (line/instrument) as well - some of the older guitar effects circa the DM2 don't love hot signals very much. The original bucket brigade battery powered stuff didn't have much headroom (which is why I went with the rackmount stuff and digital very, very fast).

It's easier to add those controls while having it spec'd than to have it retrofitted later.

that's one of my basic requests, yes

I played noisey droney stuff for years in all kinds of venues, sometimes just through amps, sometimes just through the PA, and sometimes through a mic'd amp. I can honestly say playing direct through the PA gives you a way more powerful sound and headroom to really push things if you want. Playing through an amp can add a lovely character but it can sometimes lead to a less powerful sound out front as the amp has a more limited frequency range.

Definitely have your own mixer on stage, and never give the soundman your FULL volume

Drones can be made dirt cheap. I used to make seriously nice bassy drones using a fuzz and an octave pedal run through a delay/reverb. Sounded HUGE!! If going the feedback loop route, don't forget to turn down the gain or volume on some pedals to gain more control and help create drones as opposed to noise. Curious to see what you end up doing on the end

DarkAxel wrote:

backwardsvoyager wrote:it's so much nicer being able to distinguish sounds as coming from separate directions.
.

Sort of what I was thinking, but wasn't able to really put into words

thanks for the input everyone (thanks for chiming in, Aen, I hoped you would ). To clarify - my budget is usually small and this time it's no different. Since I only started playing bass recently, I'm still in the process of acquiring decent gear for that, plus I just moved in with my girlfriend and I'm a student :

If your girlfriend is anything like mine, this means a huge deficit in gear funds.

Probably not, it's the moving part and buying stuff we need and shit like that, you know... definitely will have to wait till the paycheck in the middle of the month for any gear purchases

edit: Schlatte got back to me and we agreed that Rucci is the way to go will probably go with the Maximal soon

Is the Rucci Minimal Drone Arduino based?

Pretty sure it's not.