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

[lordgalvar]

Not to mention that 1200 euro oscillator....

[BoatRich]

Galvar, any tips on using ring mod in a hardcore/punk setting? It's seems like that's a lot of what you play, and I'm trying to get some more clangy textures. I've mainly been considering a green ringer like the tentacle or something running into my YBA-1 which is always distorted. I had the Moog both big and small and they were both rad for drone/synth but I couldn't mesh with them on guitar/bass/vi

[lordgalvar]

Loose all talent and inhibition... go for broke. Live fast, die whenever. If your parents hate it, your on the right track. The typical stuff haha.

I dunno. I just kinda went for it from a rhythm stand point. I really didn't/don't know anything about music and don't really have a good ear for pitch so I tried to just bring out different accents and rhythms. I was just reliable...so I got to be in a band haha.

I kinda looked at how crass was set up and thought, " Well, Andy Palmer is just strumming nonsense while Phil Free is doing that melodic and sparse rhythm thing (sometimes straight punk). Pete Weight kinda holds the whole thing together and is pretty clear throughout. And penny was doing the hippie/kraut rock kinda tribalixed with machine thing"

So I kinda tried to emulate Phil and Andy's playing as if they were one person with some devo and cabaret Voltaire rhythmic stuff...and chose a ring mod so I didn't have to try to figure out what my way more advanced keyboard player (later bass player, same dude) was playing with a heavily effected Sid station and my lack of pitch recognition...haha. Plus the name ring modulator sounded bad ass.

So I just tried to kida attack when I was needed or fill when I was needed or tried to be off for weirdness. I also used it to cancel frequencies for like muddy noise and then come back in sharp like a stab. It was all relative to the other people in the band. To me, I guess, drums were the most important and I tried to bring out accents and different rhythms within (like either be way longer of a pattern or way shorter than everyone else). I also wanted to hit higher frequencies than most people were used to hearing. Just wanted to do something different and noisy haha. Was into harsh noise stuff at the time too. I really dug the silence versus blast relationship. Like loud/silent, fast/slow, things coming out of each other...broken rhythms.

I guess some kraut rock and cabaret Voltaire listening on help too. Devo is good too.

Do whatever you want and sounds cool or gets ya where you want to go. There is no punk sound or punk set of rules (whole nother thread). Punk is in the ethics, methods, and mythos. Just gotta find your voice with it I guess and don't listen to people like me haha.

I dunno if that helps. It's not really advice I guess...just the reasoning behind approach. I find it very hard to do any of that outside a band. It just doesn't make sense without context I guess?

[Chankgeez]

Good direction, galvar.

And now I'll put in a plug for the Green Ringer. I don't necessarily play "punk", but I think the Green Ringer is appropriate for just about any type of music. Good for most kinds of playing too (not complex chords though). Great for leads, great for rhythm power chords. What's not to like?

One of it's main advantages is it's simplicity. Just stomp on it and play. You don't even have to think. Just play. It sounds good stacked with a regular ring modulator too.

[lordgalvar]

Yea, green ringer has an awesome sound. I've only used the octave divider, but can add some searing cut on power chords like Chankgeez mentions. Can't go wrong there! In Chankgeez's videos, the green ringer always cuts through and it sounds badass and he stacks dirt way more than I do.

I was thinking maybe specific things i did might be helpful. Like I would slap my guitar for mud chaos and then mute strings and let some ring out for like a changing space fill. I would run a compressed or open distortion in front of the ring mod to bring out the harmonic content more (something like death metal, mt-2, 250, dist +) and kinda stayed away from fuzz (though superfuzzes I liked the sound of with ring mod)...this is specific to the slap style.

I would also kinda do some slap mixed with finger picking to drone a note and use my striking strength to change the harmonics and growl.

Double stops, below the bridge picking, slides, feedback with hammering, mute switching... just random stuff to build up different rhythms. It was all about being creative!

I dont know if i was successful at playing ring mod or if any of that helps, but I guess it speaks to approach.

The most trouble I have had with ring mods is in the preamps I think...sometimes they just don't have the headroom and would kinda get mushy to me (the moog mf102 has done that to me a few times but it would also over distort the next in line sometimes too... I like sharp clang...moog likes simplier setups in my opinion ).

[autopilot]

listen to this album, i'm sure after you'll be able to have an idea of how to add ring mod to punk rock

http://franticmantis.bandcamp.com/album ... nformation

[autopilot]

they used synths, but you get the idea

[Dandolin]

Does Antenna 2 count as ring mod? I'm kind've obsessed with Antenna 2....

[autopilot]

i wouldnt think so, but you can fake it

[Dandolin]

[lordgalvar]

Or WNG it with antenna arrow airwaves?

Autopilot, you updated your site or at least I just noticed that the product page looks different.

Boatrich: I'm trying to ramble instead of posting clips of my old band too haha. There is a version of UK Subs "Tomorrow's Girls" that has some ring mod sound effects. I'm sure nervous gender did at least on some of the synths:
[youtube]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BRZ7nTTLP1s[/youtube]

[Dandolin]

Day-umm

[lordgalvar]

Haha, yea those are expensive! Saw one on eBay not long ago.

Huh, when I try to post certain links it gives me that 403

Factrix probably used rm too
[youtube]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TCp6TuqJ4-o[/youtube]
Nervous gender is in that video too

[Dandolin]

^^lurve it

[lordgalvar]

Heck yea, that video is awesome. Kind of an overlooked part of California punk rock. My friend was DJing last year and I think red shirt dude came in to talk and stuff. I don't think they ever had a wide release of anything but there has been talk of a rerelease (who knows though). Factrix are more well known though.

It's really nice that Target Video/New Wave Theater and others documented stuff like Screamers, Geza X, Flipper, etc.

If you can have a xylophone in punk, ring mod shouldn't be too hard haha.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvgaNC-KQEg[/youtube]
[youtube]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YUdDIWcVBjg[/youtube]

Excuse to post Geza X

Speaking of Geza X and ringmod...I think there are some ring mod keyboard sounds in the song after the story at 26:05 in this video:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ay-glH_6bBE[/youtube]
(Song starts at 30 min but you'll miss blood drinking and cow carcasses).

Keep trying to find the back of my head in the audience...but I don't know what it looks like...Everytime I turn around, it does too.