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DEP Parms


joel_brown
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I was a little bored today and decided to revisit one of my hi gain tones.  I only adjusted Res, Thump, and Decay.  Wow, this had a bigger effect than I remembered.  I had adjusted these before but forgot how important they are.  Maybe not tweaking them for a year and playing a lot gave me a better appreciation of what they do.

 

Reducing Res really got rid of some left over fizziness and reducing Thump and Decay really tightened up the tone. 

 

I just wanted to pass this along.  Sometimes it's hard to remember all the things you forgot you almost knew.

 

 

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I just wanted to pass this along.  Sometimes it's hard to remember all the things you forgot you almost knew.

 

Good Going!!

 

My motto is try everything once when it comes to sound. It's important to remember to give the ears a break and come back to reevaluate the tone. Sometimes stepping away is important.

 

Those settings do change things and should be toyed with occasionally to remember how they affect tone. I don't how anyone could possibly remember everything they do when building a tone without taking notes or something of the like, lol.

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Don't forget about a person's current mood. If you like to tweak a lot, one day you'll like something and some other day you'll wonder what the hell you were thinking. And then even another day you'll go back to the first sound and suddenly remember what you were thinking, until you discover yet again something is wrong.

 

That might be the time to set things aside for at least a couple of days.

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Don't forget about a person's current mood. If you like to tweak a lot, one day you'll like something and some other day you'll wonder what the hell you were thinking. And then even another day you'll go back to the first sound and suddenly remember what you were thinking, until you discover yet again something is wrong.

 

That might be the time to set things aside for at least a couple of days.

Good point, Ear fatigue is a factor especially in guitarists. This has made me realize why I fall asleep when I mix right after tracking. LOL Its not the trite at all! LOL

Then when ears are fresh the mix needs less of what I did. Almost always.

In the past it was when I got like bed sores from sitting in the studio playing that I thought it was time for a break.

Nowadays I counter with a stool for playing. Next I have to get used to hold the guitar the proper way on the left leg as on the right leg is pinching nerves in my back and making it hard to fall asleep.LOL

 

Tweaking for a good tone happens anytime for me but fresh ears would be best.

 

I almost always end up re reading the manual of something after I have gotten to grips with it. It opens up new possibilities always.

It is always good to have knowledge. 

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Nowadays I counter with a stool for playing. Next I have to get used to hold the guitar the proper way on the left leg as on the right leg is pinching nerves in my back and making it hard to fall asleep.LOL

 

 

LOL! Some of the contortions guitar players have to go through...

 

Talking about physical conditions and knowing when to quit; I currently have one of my fingertips sliced open from a guitar string and I just can't make myself quit playing for a few days, so I end up each day making the slice worse than it was the day before. Of course the cold, dry weather in Milwaukee doesn't help but this has been going on for a couple of weeks now. Isn't this a definition of some kind of insanity? :lol: Doing the same thing over and over, hoping for something to change?

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Super glue is what I use.  I'm an instrument mechanic by trade.  (The measurement/process control kind, not musical) and I deal with cuts and pokes all the time.  Super glue has helped me get through many weekend gigs.  Add it to your emergency guitar kit.

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LOL! Some of the contortions guitar players have to go through...

 

LOL, Insanity indeed. Maybe you should start learning how to play with thimbles on each finger. :)

 

Do like stumblinman suggested and superglue it. I have to admit I've superglued some large slices on my arms before, worked like a charm.

 

20010119065310_1.jpg

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Next I have to get used to hold the guitar the proper way on the left leg as on the right leg is pinching nerves in my back and making it hard to fall asleep.LOL

 

 

This might help: http://originalguitarchair.com
 
They're not cheap, and they're made to order, so it takes a while. But they are really nice, and the design shifts you right into the "tradional" playing position. The back is nicely padded and provides good lumbar support. I've gotten so used to it, I almost can't sit with the guitar on my right leg anymore. 
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Don't forget about a person's current mood. If you like to tweak a lot, one day you'll like something and some other day you'll wonder what the hell you were thinking. And then even another day you'll go back to the first sound and suddenly remember what you were thinking, until you discover yet again something is wrong.

 

That might be the time to set things aside for at least a couple of days.

This is me at least once every week or two :lol:  (or probably more often if I'm being honest).

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 Isn't this a definition of some kind of insanity? :lol: Doing the same thing over and over, hoping for something to change?

It seems the Psychs like making up disorders to profit with their pharmaceutical buddies! Short answer YES. LOLThe correct answer, your an artist striving for musical mastery LOL

 

LOL, Insanity indeed. Maybe you should start learning how to play with thimbles on each finger. :)

 

Do like stumblinman suggested and superglue it. I have to admit I've superglued some large slices on my arms before, worked like a charm.

 

20010119065310_1.jpg

Those string cuts are great for perfecting the other fingers! making them take up the slack.

I recently went back to a very heavy bass string gauge and it hurts. Blisters on blisters. My other bass has light slap pop strings and I woose out and tape my thumb and fore finger when it gets too much and I haven't finished..

On guitar those thimbles might be the go. heavy metal! Might even become part of your tone and reliant on them ever after LOL

 

 

 
They're not cheap, and they're made to order, so it takes a while. But they are really nice, and the design shifts you right into the "tradional" playing position. The back is nicely padded and provides good lumbar support. I've gotten so used to it, I almost can't sit with the guitar on my right leg anymore. 

 

Not a bad idea and portable too.

I need one of these but aussie dollar was 78 cent US yesterday. By the look of it I could do similar at home with one butt cheek cushion . Thanks

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It seems the Psychs like making up disorders to profit with their pharmaceutical buddies! Short answer YES. LOLThe correct answer, your an artist striving for musical mastery LOL

 

 

I've known some musicians in the past, some guitarists, some drummers, singers, keyboard players, etc. All of them had something that seemed a little off ... at least to a normal person. As for me, I've always been a lot off. And please insert your own definition for the word "off".

 

 

 

Those string cuts are great for perfecting the other fingers! making them take up the slack.

I recently went back to a very heavy bass string gauge and it hurts. Blisters on blisters. My other bass has light slap pop strings and I woose out and tape my thumb and fore finger when it gets too much and I haven't finished..

On guitar those thimbles might be the go. heavy metal! Might even become part of your tone and reliant on them ever after LOL

 

 

Unfortunately for me, my style of playing - the lead parts anyway - doesn't allow my other fingers to take up the slack. They're all busy >80% of the time.

 

One of my bass strings broke recently. They were the coated elixir kind. Pretty smooth to play. Replaced them with some d'addario pro steels. Much rougher on the fingertips, but they sound better to me, brighter. More piano-like.

 

Those thimbles could be interesting. Maybe you could produce some really weird, new type of slide guitar technique. And put them on both hands and go nuts with the tapping in combination with sliding. Hmmm.

 

 

 

I used to suffer from some really bad neck/shoulder/arm pain. Was so bad sometimes, I couldn't even think about picking up a guitar. Never went to a doctor about it. But what eventually worked for me was a daily, persistent use of weight lifting. Nothing much, about 20 minutes each day. And nothing really heavy either. I've actually never felt physically better since I started doing this a couple years ago.

 

Another thing is to try and catch yourself while engaging in unconscious bad habits that can result in terrible pain.

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I got the Roto swing bass stainless steel strings.

But I would of preferred a brighter and more piano sounding sting. But these were on special and are great for jazz rock. A very big sounding low end on them.

Proper technique, including how you hold the guitar is important but the bad habit of a lifetime

might actually cause body back problems.

I guess if you recognize a bad habbit in yourself you are on the way to rectifying it.

 

 

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I got the Roto swing bass stainless steel strings.

But I would of preferred a brighter and more piano sounding sting. But these were on special and are great for jazz rock. A very big sounding low end on them.

 

Another one I was probably gonna try is Dean Markley Helix. I've read good things about them. They're stainless steel and with much tighter windings than normal, so probably a smoother feel, elliptically wound, and the core is exposed at the bridge for better sustain and vibration transfer. They are supposed to be quite bright and really good lows and low-mids.

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I've known some musicians in the past, some guitarists, some drummers, singers, keyboard players, etc. All of them had something that seemed a little off ... at least to a normal person. As for me, I've always been a lot off. And please insert your own definition for the word "off".

 

Normal is very hard to define when it comes to the human mind, lol. I have a hard time understanding why "normal" people have to bust their hump working to support those who are mentally incapacitated. Especially, when I see the mentally ill enjoying cigarettes and coffee, eating good food they don't even have to go out and buy or cook, living in a house that's maintained by someone else. Then to see those working hard to support them get ill or permanently hurt themselves doing so and ending up in a worse situation than the ones they're supporting, lol.  What a cycle I say it's a conundrum.

 

I should add: "All in the name of science!" Which I heard by a doctor who was in a wheel chair, fitted with a colostomy bag, and barely functional, who was getting ready to torture a patient with an instrument which basically electrocutes said patient repeatedly to get some reading that's supposed diagnose a nerve issue.

 

This message will self destruct in 24 hours, lol.

Edited by Brazzy
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Normal is very hard to define when it comes to the human mind, lol. I have a hard time understanding why "normal" people have to bust their hump working to support those who are mentally incapacitated. Especially, when I see the mentally ill enjoying cigarettes and coffee, eating good food they don't even have to go out and buy or cook, living in a house that's maintained by someone else. Then to see those working hard to support them get ill or permanently hurt themselves doing so and ending up in a worse situation than the ones they're supporting, lol.  What a cycle I say it's a conundrum.

 

I should add: "All in the name of science!" Which I heard by a doctor who was in a wheel chair, fitted with a colostomy bag, and barely functional, who was getting ready to torture a patient with an instrument which basically electrocutes said patient repeatedly to get some reading that's supposed diagnose a nerve issue.

 

This message will self destruct in 24 hours, lol.

 

You're right. Normal is hard to define in the context of human behavior. I guess I would say the broadest definition of normal would be what society as a whole deems normal behavior. Even that can be different though for different countries because of differing cultures. What a society in a country in Africa might say is normal would most definitely be considered abnormal or strange in America and vice versa. It's all relative.

 

But then zoom the scale to an individual basis and things become very muddy. An individual may think, or tend to think, that there version of normal is, or should be, the standard, and that if everyone behaved and held the same beliefs, everything would be OK. I'm not saying everyone out there has this view but there must be some, and I'm would bet money that you've at least crossed paths with this type of person. Suddenly you have more than one individual holding this same idea in there heads and there's a conflict because two individuals can't possibly hold the exact same beliefs about nearly everything. Add in another person, and another...

 

I recently heard that applying electricity through specific parts of the head and for a specific amount of time will make said person a temporary super-genius who would essentially be able to diagnose himself for said nerve issue. :lol:

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I recently heard that applying electricity through specific parts of the head and for a specific amount of time will make said person a temporary super-genius who would essentially be able to diagnose himself for said nerve issue. :lol:

 

Such a rich post! Thus, you are "normal", lol, and yes I've run into those people, lol. Seriously though your quite intuitive "D".

 

You know what's kinda funny? The post's title is "DEP Parms", Seems as though we aren't off topic, lol.

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For my first pro band, I had to learn 40 songs in two weeks, with note for note solos. I practiced 18 hours a day for a fortnight until I had horribly bleeding fingers. But it was worth it!

 

That's a lot of songs. Resulting memory overload almost certain. Maybe that's one reason why guitar players can be like they are, whatever that might mean. :lol:

 

 

You know what's kinda funny? The post's title is "DEP Parms", Seems as though we aren't off topic, lol.

 

Just a little bit. Do you think that's normal for that to happen?

 

 

Back on topic. I tried adjusting the res to zero and 25% - and different combinations of thump and decay - for the current song I'm working on, and it sounded ok, but I much preferred the more aggressive sound and feel of a higher res, around 60-80. Anything lower and it starts to sound a little too smooth.

 

I'm strictly a recording person, so live tones are entirely different.

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Funny you should mention that.  As I tested my tone in a mix, it sounded better the way I had it originally.  It's amazing how much difference your tone can be by itself or with a full band.  Oh well, guess I'll go another year without tweaking it again.  Maybe by then the PODUltraHD will be out.

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Just a little bit. Do you think that's normal for that to happen?

 

Good One! :) Maybe "normal" should only be used for describing how a machine (robot) should operate, lol.

 

As far as the res setting I fool with it but mostly leave it be.

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  • 1 month later...

Funny you should mention that.  As I tested my tone in a mix, it sounded better the way I had it originally.  It's amazing how much difference your tone can be by itself or with a full band.  Oh well, guess I'll go another year without tweaking it again.  Maybe by then the PODUltraHD will be out.

This is a mixing engineers realm. An Electric Guitar being such a broadband instrument , on its own is big when combined in a band situation compromise is the wrong word , crafted is better to get instrument separation.

Of course Pre Production is where to get separation, for eg if a combo Guitar amp is on the floor it will swamp the bass.

There is a whole art in combining two instruments of very similar tonal ranges and ignored wash outs and fights ensue.

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I tried cooking up some new DEP Parms last night but they came out too cheesy... guess I bit off more than I could chew.  Think I will stick with Chicken Parms...

 

mare_chicken_parmesan_h.jpg

 

Looks like someone captured a possum in their backyard, tortured it to the point of vomiting, cut its abdomen open, and proceed to plop the contents on a plate.

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