Atmospherics

[mahtone]

Hey guys...

I'm trying to figure out how to get some decent sounding atmospheric sounds out of my rig. In the past I've played mainly rock, blues and a little funk. In my playing, I like to hear definite attach in the notes, so a bit of light reverb is about as out there as I've ever been, except for a few kinds of overdrive or distortion. I've played around with chorus, flange and phasers and so on, but I've never really liked it on my usual playing. I've never liked to bury my playing under a pile of electronic mush. That said, I'm now looking for ways to expand my playing into a wider range of areas and maybe find ways of filling in harmonic layers when I might otherwise just be resting.

Anyone got any tips for pedal types, combinations, and settings that produce good atmospherics? Anyone got any good tips for how to play actual notes to acheive this?

Anyone actually use, or used, much of this in their playing? Anyone played in a pretentious icelandic rock band? Have experience on the bowtar? Have in excess of twenty pedals in their current rig? Now is your time to shine.

To my ears, this kind of playing is probably the hardest to pick out how a sound is made, as the notes aren't really that distinct as to when they are played and are subject to a lot of processing and delays etc. They can also be some of the harder sounds to describe in text.

Anyone?

[IkeKrull]

I think a delay is the best effect if you don't want to colour your tone but want to expand your palette. Because you can get so much variation, from a 'thickening' of your notes at very low delay settings to a 'soundscape' type effect with mid-high delay settings, right up to a 'looped' effect with very high delay, theres a lot of versatility.

Adding a wah in front of your delayed sound opens up some trippy effects too - puts your foot in direct control too, unlike the 'on/off' switch on a standard effect pedal.

[Timi]

Volume pedals, pitch shifting, and lush analog or tape delay for the win.

[Basket Case]

Try putting a compressor with a fair bit of sustain after your effects. What happens is that while you're attacking the strings, you hear your fx at normal level. Then when you sustain a note or chord, or when you stop playing, the compressor tries to keep a constant level going with your reverb and delay, so you get these cool swells going on.

[Capt. Black]

Go see Shocking Pinks at Dogs Bollix thursday night. Nick has a really simple rig. One distortion pedal, a cheap delay and a fuckin huge Orange 140. It's simple and effective and I think it might be a bit of what you're after. Some of it comes down to strumming notes the right way. Simple chords with open strings. Distortion and echo creating a wash that masks your picking.

[GrantB]

I agree with the delay recomendation...and the wah...we make lots of atmosphericy sounding stuff and I use basically a wah, into a drive unit, into the delay. Good fun. Once you master that basic sort of set up things like slow phasers, or Univibes can really add a new dimension, but remember to use them sparingly - nothing worse than a Univibe on every solo...