Adding some bass!

In December 2014, I finally purchased the BOSS GT-10B. I'd wanted the bass processor for a couple of years and now I finally had one. In terms of bass sounds, the RC-505 is pretty limited. There's the 'guitar-bass' track effect, and the 'flanger' track effect is pretty bassy too. The GT-10B however, has endless possibilities!

I googled and browsed the web to try and find a bit of guidance in using this bass effects processor as a tool for voice manipulation. I couldn't find anything really, apart from an interview with dub FX where he simply mentions that the unit is great for delays and reverbs. Knowing myself how frustrating it is, having to work it all out for yourself, I want to help others using the GT-10B for live looping by sharing my experiences.

I got stuck in straight away. Firstly, flicking through the 200 pre-set effects whilst humming low noises into the mic to listen to the sounds created. 

These pre-set effects are intended for bass guitars so most are irrelevant in my opinion when it comes to vocal live looping. That being said, many of the pre-sets created interesting sounds and with a little tweaking could be impressive in live performance. I found a handful of pre-sets that nearly matched the sounds I was looking to create. One pre-set is the 'HEAVY T-WAH' effect. I was eager to start making original tracks with more impressive bass lines so I began creating a song straight away, without altering the effect at all.

'Throw a little whisper'

'Throw a little whisper' is the first song I created using the GT-10B. The lyrics in the song a recycled from an older, unfinished song that I wrote a good few years back. I build up the hi-hats and harmonies to give myself a sense of timing before bringing in the bass sounds. After kicking in a basic drum and bass beat, I then add a second layer of bass over the initial 'HEAVY T-WAH' bass riff. Don't get confused here, the second bass effect is the 'guitar-bass' effect from the RC-505. I wanted the attack of the GT-10B, but I also wanted a more subtle bass-line in the background to fill the sound out. 

  

You may notice as well, that once I have both the bass lines recorded on one track, I add a filter and merge the bass sounds together into a slightly deeper sound. That's the bass sorted.

There's always room for improvement and there are always things that irritate me about a recording once it's finally up on youtube. The HEAVY T-WAH effect has a tendency to feed back terribly. When I lay down the first bass sounds you can hear the squeaks and tinny squeals. This is due to the OD/DS (overdrive/distortion) settings mostly, and partly the T-WAH effect. If I'd tweaked the OD/DS before recording this track I probably could have got rid of the nasty squeaks and feedback. Or I could have turned off my speakers whilst recording. Duh! The OD/DS is responsible for the attack I wanted in the effect though, I can't just remove the effect so it requires some finer tuning.

Turning the speakers off if you're performing on stage isn't an option whilst it may be when recording. So, well worth playing around with the settings and getting your sound just right. I often position my speakers pointing at me or close by whilst adjusting effects so I can judge the settings for a live performance. It's one thing being able to record a song in a controlled environment, but my intention is to be able to recreate my tracks on stage. Getting your effects set up on your GT-10B or other processors therefore, is essential.

A good way to get the sound your looking for just right, is to loop your bass line into your loopstation using NO EFFECTS whatsoever. Have the output of you loopstation go into the GT-10B and plug some headphones into the GT-10B. Now you're free to play with the sound for as long as you need to without making noises for ages and risk loosing your voice. You'll also be fully focussed on the effect and get it exactly how you want it to suite your voice. 

Button layout is also due some consideration. You have 50 banks of customised effects, within each bank you have 4 effects and within each effect you have the ability to add more effects. For example, the CTL1 and CTL2 can be designated and pressed to apply some delay or OD/DS to your pre-existing effect. The options are as endless and as complicated it sounds. I've found there's often more than one way of achieving your desired outcome on this piece of kit.

Much of the time you will want to bypass the effects unit altogether. For example, often when singing I'd rather just use a bit of reverb on the RC-505 itself. You can bypass the GT-10B by simply pressing the tuner/bypass button or programme one of the numbered buttons (1-4) to simply have NO effects. I find using the tuner/bypass button quite comfortable. Just make sure you have it set to bypass and not mute. It's easy to forget that you have an effect selected to when layering so many aspects of a live loop. Having a simple layout of the effects you use can help avoid mistakes and make building a song a faster process. When you're hitting a loop button over there, choosing an effect over here and then going back to the loopstation to adjust the reverb, it can all be a bit chaotic.

I'm still in the early stages of learning what this tool is capable of. There's loads of things I haven't tried yet. Such as linking the RC-505 and the GT-10B together via midi lead. I found a nice lead guitar effect in the pre-sets that I'd like to use in a future performance. Again, with this effect there is a lot of potential for feedback on stage so I'm going to have to have to do some tweaking. Lots to be getting on with! I'm sure future posts in my blog will cover more of the GT-10B. It's difficult to judge how far I should drag you down the rabbit hole so I'll leave it here for now.