Tiesto distortion

Morshu · Post by **Morshu** » Wed Sep 07, 2011 9:51 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EaE0_gQLw0&ob=av3e

sound starts at 1:14-

kinda wierd distortion- how would one replicate that with the r3? I've tried everything- i really thing its a square wave with distortion, but it never sounds quite right- i've put an EQ on it, and a lot of band pass filters and i've been unable to get that sound quite right... not sure what it is.

Morshu · Post by **Morshu** » Wed Sep 07, 2011 11:59 pm

I've found it hard to replicate this kind of distortion using the distortion effect- so i'm wondering if there are other ways to simulate distortion other than the effect- although i most likely would need to use both methods.

X-Trade · Post by **X-Trade** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 4:58 pm

my go-to for distortions like this is probably the decimator effect. Take the bit depth down as low as possible - I think 4-bit. This reduces dynamic resolution as well as introducing waveform stepping - the two go hand in hand. It can get a bit wild and sound quite fuzzy though.

However in this case it sounds to me like normal high-gain tube distortion like that found on a hammond organ. The distortion character is caused by the two notes of the chord clashing and after clipping is applied, the beating of the two notes naturally resolves to a kind of sync or ring modulation effect.

The same happens simply by playing two notes on a keyboard or guitar sound into any high-gain clipping setup.

Morshu · Post by **Morshu** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 10:05 pm

thanks man- never thought it was tube distortion until you todl me lol i wouldn't ever have thought that.

but what filters is it using? and what effects could i create the echo with?

btw how can one make a super long lasting echo? it seems to limit me whenever i attempt to make it last longer than default on any effect-

X-Trade · Post by **X-Trade** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 10:36 pm

Well it uses a lowpass filter, like 90% of synth sounds. The filter here isn't really doing much. It's just a standard plucky stab sound. Probably a triangle wave or organ waveform.

delays can be tricky, it's all about the balance of feedback and wet/dry. Generally you want to increase the wet/dry when you increase the feedback, but never past 40 or 50% wet.

If you don't want it to sound totally static and 'looped' then be sure to use the filter/damping parameters on the delay to take the highs and lows out. I'd typically go for either the standard Stereo Delay, or the Tape Delay effect, depending on how 'vintage' I want it to feel.

The tape delay can feedback forever as there is saturation in the feedback chain, it just mushes up into a crunchy mess

Morshu · Post by **Morshu** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 11:25 pm

thanks you got me about 20 steps closer to that sound- though it is heavy on effects and uses all 3 banks-

is there any way to make it use all 5 banks of effects for one timbre? or simulate such an effect?

X-Trade · Post by **X-Trade** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 11:45 pm

Not sure about on the R3 but on the Radias you can set the 2nd timbre to use the Audio Input and the Internal Bus to route audio from the IFX out of timbre 1 into timbre 2. Then put timbre 2 on mono playing and two-voice unison at 100% stereo spread. That would use up two notes of polyphony but effectively gives you a pass-through voice. Additionally can use the filters and waveshaper if necessary.

Pretty sure the R3 lacks the 'internal bus' feature though.

Morshu · Post by **Morshu** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 11:53 pm

any advice on making that dx7 tubular bell sound? I've made alot of good bells but can't make them sound as cool as that lol