Ibanez JEM Forum banner

Good octave sound?

1K views 7 replies 7 participants last post by  AdamBilz 
#1 ·
I've tried a lot of octave pedals but for some reason I just can't get a consistent sound out of them...ie. the low E string gets hit but wavers, then a moment later the lower octave kicks in but still is wavery. Also, (this may be true of any pitch shifting) chords are impossible with the octave on. Bands like Incubus and 311, and of course Steve Vai use these and it always sounds flawless, thick and immediate. Any advice on getting an octave sound that actually works? Thanks!
~Adam
 
#5 ·
On studio projects you can also take the separate octave track and bump it back a few milliseconds so that it lines up with the original track perfectly. I've done that. Even the Eventide has some delay in the pitch shifting. It's inevitable. The only way to avoid it is to apply it digitally after the track is laid. Then you get an exact time match.
 
#6 ·
yeah speaking of that...I hear the delay you're talking about in Ballerina 12/24. I've never messed with an octave pedal so I don't know first hand. But listen to Is This Love from the Whitesnake days and tell me just what he's using. I mean, he must be using the eventide but is he using an octave effect for that multi-guitar sound? I just say that because it doesn't sound right if you try to play it with actual octaves on your guitar, it doesn't have the same effect. It sounds like two (or more) guitars wailing the main line, and unless he did like 2 or 3 layers (which is possible), how did he do that? I mean to say, how would you do that live? If you only had your guitar to work with, could you get that same sound without the delay? I just don't get it.
 
#7 ·
I have one of those Boss octave pedals, and the trick is to use the neck pickup. There is a new, updated model out now which has a special mode for use with chords. You might wanna check that out.

As for Ballarina 12/24, that's a patch on the Eventide where you play one note and it repeats it twice (each repeat coming out of a different speaker in stereo), and also shifts the pitch by a set amount of each repeat. I can't remember what it is for that song, but for instance you can set it so you play a note, and the repeats are the major third and the fifth, so you can play arpeggios just by playing the first note of the implied chord.
 
#8 ·
Nice...that's neat about the new model with chord capability. I've used the Boss ones (the newest for the times, I think the OC-2 and the OC-3) and for the price (over 100 bucks!) I was surprised I was getting delay and fizzle and such. Well, I guess I'll just keep trying. I would want more of a live capability for the octave sound but the recording and digital idea sounds like a good plan for that. Thanks guys!
~Adam
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top