Recreating The My Bloody Valentine 'Only Shallow' Lead Sound With Pedals

[@noisegenerator]

Sound On Sound article: www.soundonsound.com/techniques/classic-tracks-my-bloody-valentine-only-shallow

[@DoctorWhomThe1st]

I highly recommend people read this article because it's very inspiring. As you can tell from the video, there was a lot of meticulous exploration that is almost impossible to recreate live. And reading about some of Kevin Sheilds' sources for inspiration was a bit surprising to me.

[@CamiloSinger]

Amazing how nothing makes sense separately, but it all comes together when you play everything in the context of the mix. Great job!

[@noisegenerator]

Totally! That was probably the trickiest part about this - every time I wanted to test something different out, even if that was just something tiny like the way I was bending, I was sorta forced to lay down every part just so I could get a rough idea of what was actually happening haha. Thank you! :)

[@arnauvila2884]

I know most people think it sounds like a vacuum cleaner, but am I the only one who hears an elephant instead?

[@Downturn.]

yeah, kinda like the lead sound on who sees you. very elephant-y

[@JasonTMays]

unironically my roommate is currently vacuuming and that sound just synced up and vacuum sound is totally correct.

[@noisegenerator]

Hahaha, you gotta sample it!

[@attentionscum9040]

Great job dude. I’ve always wondered what exactly that high-pitched riff was doing. When I heard you play it on its own I thought “ah nah that doesn’t sound quite right” but you totally proved me wrong when you put it all together. It was spot-on. I’ve subbed as a result (and because you asked nicely without being obnoxious about it haha)

[@noisegenerator]

Thanks so much! I've never asked people to subscribe in a video before so I'm glad to hear it didn't come across too annoying haha

[@ambienttrash5234]

Dude, this is excellent. Sounds spot on, and I love that you explain the concepts and thought process so anyone could give this a shot in their own application, without necessarily having these specific pedals.

[@noisegenerator]

Thanks so much dude! Definitely, I feel like this would be really achievable with any number of pedals/amp setups - it's way more of a process thing than a specific gear thing!

[@YrougeCowell]

I’ve been chasing this since ‘91. You totally nailed it. Thanks for sharing!

[@electronicaudioexperiments]

Incredible. Whole time I just thought it was one basic lead with some fuzz on it and maybe a bit of tremolo in post!

[@noisegenerator]

Thanks man! Yeah, the amount of detail in that sound is wild. For years I assumed it had something to do with the reverse reverb, so it blew my mind when I first learned what the actual process was!

[@DestroyingAmpsGearDemos]

I have went through my life just thinking it was reverse reverb all this time....what a noob!! Great video.

[@noisegenerator]

I assumed the same thing for a long time! Thank you! :)

[@3sedem]

kevin has admitted to using reverse reverb on some of his tones

[@LaureanoMuller]

holy sh*t, this is incredibly close. I always thought that super high part was a synthline, I'm blown away.

[@billmcnelis5999]

Same. Never ever thought that was a guitar pitched up

[@Roodski]

After watching this I feel pretty confident in my ability to “*dut dut dut dut* VREEEE VRROOOMM VRREEEE VRRROOMMMM”

[@jeffreyweinberg3979]

The number one effect to achieve true MBV tone is VOLUME!

[@noisegenerator]

Haha true! Unfortunately the neighbors in my apartment wouldn’t like me very much if I tried to play at actual MBV levels

[@Diniles]

​@@noisegenerator Or neighbourhood even

[@jesuschrist2284]

Pardon?

[@TundieRice]

@@jesuschrist2284did anyone stutter?

[@akidodogstar5460]

@@TundieRice No, he was listening to MBV and his ears haven't recovered.

[@henrys.6864]

What a genius Kevin Shields is and also his use of alternative tunings. That was very impressive you figuring out how Kevin did that "vacuum" guitar sound. Great job! 👍👏👏👏

[@jessejordache1869]

He either borrowed or was similarly inspired by Sonic Youth, who have lots of CCCFCF and the like tunings starting all the way in 1982. The out-of-phase tremolo on the speakers has an antecedent in Primary by the Cure: two basses with choruses effects where one is slightly faster than the other. So you get a chorused chorus. I'm not knocking MBV's originalirty, because a) that would be crazy since nobody sounds like them, and b) lots of other reasons. I'm just sharing things that other groundbreaking bands did, because it's all fascinating.

[@jmurray911]

Superb experiment! I think you got it. It’s amazing how he (and you, here) managed to create such a rich and complex sound with just simple guitar parts and great sonic imagination.

[@noisegenerator]

Thank you! Agreed. Breaking this down was a nice reminder of how good production can take a simple idea and push it into something really memorable

[@agharta42]

believe it or not i think most of the sound is generated from the interplay of the tuning and the whammy-bent chords- there is some reverse reverb/delays too but he gets this sound however he chooses to play its just his style

[@mr.hankey1084]

0:59 like a mad scientist lol

[@El...Presidente]

Great job, so nailed it! VCR filter looks so bad ass in your vid’s man 🤘🏼

[@noisegenerator]

Thank you!

[@jspanos500]

I think it sounds less like the album and more like the live versions; which is absolutely magical. Nice work!

[@ragnid]

This is so damn accurate, amazing job on all the research, and the actual recreation, sounds insanely close and epic!

[@thejontao]

I love this! It gives me ideas about stuff I can try with my own music that never occurred to me before… different approaches to getting sounds. This was great!

[@theGentlemanCaller73]

This is neat. Thanks for the breakdown on what i consider the greatest album opener of all-time.

[@bret6484]

Wow dude sounds super close to my ears! Really impressive

[@mehmed6529]

I always new the mic had to be farther away but I never new about the quadro tracking tremolo bit and that the high part was actually a completely different part. I think on the record that high part has more reverb on it to blend itself in

[@noisegenerator]

You're probably right about that high part! That was the part I had the hardest time getting to feel right while making this

[@soundisles]

This is wicked cool - ya nailed it. Love the CT5 bits. Such an amazing sounding track/album too.

[@noisegenerator]

Thanks man! That album really is the greatest, even after so many listens there's still so much detail to unpack!

[@SoundOutSilence]

Bravo! so many whacky individual sounds to create that crazy squealing wah sound we love

[@xx_PCCR_xx]

Nice!!! Great job reconstructing that riff, that was very impressive!

[@JasonSchmidt-1979]

Man this is impressive. Between your talent and hard work you nailed this. Hope you can make a career from music

[@joeltunnah]

We used to try to copy Kevin's sound for fun back in the mid 90s. I got pretty close with just a boss delay pedal set to reverse gate, and strumming with the guitar's tremolo arm in my hand. The guitar mags at the time said he didn't use distortion or many other pedals.

[@mauricioandres7470]

The best MBV recreation out there, keep it up

[@timkluntz8362]

No pun intended, but it seems as if Kevin 'shields' his tone and ranks among some of the best kept secrets like original recipe KFC and Coke. But, you're right there! Only thing I would suggest would be to come back and revisit this tone when you got some of that ridiculous KZbin money, and seek out all the original equipment he used (i.e. gear that was made before late 1991), and then you'll be able to absolutely nail it!! Sounds amazing by the way, happy chasing!

[@shoestringmovies6530]

please do more My Bloody Valentine!

[@jamesleonard2870]

So rad! Thanks for walking us through that, I think it sounds awesome! 🌊🏄‍♂️☀️🌵

[@GrandmasDay32]

Sounds awesome. Loooooooooong time fan of MBV. You did it justice.

[@aldente42092]

Absolutely incredible. The high octave part really was that secret ingredient

[@resofactor]

Congrats man. Really nice freaking job!

[@FlameFlickers]

Awesome job, I wasn't expecting you to get that close. Also, your Jazzmaster is a beauty. I bet you spent a lot of time the first few days after you got it just staring at it and marveling at how gorgeous it is!

[@trent.langley]

Wow, excellent job! You have a great ear.

[@willflint5014]

This was absolutely beautiful. Thanks man! You’ve earned a subscriber!

[@noisegenerator]

Thanks so much!

[@willflint5014]

@@noisegenerator I also shared this in the “pedalboards of Shoegaze,” group on Facebook. People are digging it. I am not sure if I got the right name of the group but you get the gist. 😂

[@noisegenerator]

@@willflint5014 oh awesome, thanks so much for sharing! I really appreciate it! 😊

[@SnakeEyes1241]

this is incredible, i've been wondering what that noisey high-pitched ringing deep in the mix was and i had no idea it was a sampled guitar. great work!!!

[@ericrubenstein3877]

You have a nice sound collection going of course. Bravo!😊

[@smogity]

That "Wall of Sound" ™ Phil Spector, is righteous 💠

[@MrJmawiseman]

Loved em since the early days. Love this vid 👍

[@david_bu]

Excellent work

[@only-legitness]

so fucking cool

[@douglasarthur2673]

How the sound was achieved ???………Why, by bankrupting Alan McGhee of course 😂😂😂

[@mustafaalbaree]

this is awesome, subscribed, would love to see more of this (always been curious about the layers in when you sleep)

[@germtray9371]

For any one wondering how to get that reverse sound with a pedal or any others live means shields doesn't actually use a reverse reverb. Its actually a effect in an old Yamaha rack called early reflections (which is like a roomy faux reverb) on the reverse setting (which reverse the decay of the delay) then running that into a preamp stage (alot of people say reverb into fuzz but it's actually fuzz into reverb and then into a hi gain amp). Dome pedals I've found to get the sound are multi-tap delays capable of reverse decay think EHX hazari memory man.

[@jejelad]

I think you did great.

[@noisegenerator]

Thanks! 🙂

[@GabzitoHD]

May I ask how you did the chromatic aberration effect at 0:35 with the channels animating like that? After effects wiggle on "set channels"? Or is there an easier way?

[@theutilitymonster2615]

I've always wondered how they created that sound. Amazing work.

[@3xtan327]

I can’t unhear the upper octave in the original recording now

[@TimV93]

Interesting that Johnny Marr did the same trick with running multiple amps with tremolo at different speeds to achieve the iconic tone in "How Soon is Now"?

[@camillaquelladegliaggettiv4303]

I mean if you were British and into indie music in the 80s you were influenced by Johnny Marr when you picked up a guitar

[@zachjenkins9708]

one of ur best yet

[@mikeymumblesreal]

Saw them twice in Philadelphia in 92, I believe. Was warned about the strobe light ending and massive volume but was undeterred. It was true. Almost had to hold your ears and close your eyes at the very end.

[@PabloAntonio-q4n]

Just I want to say: perfect discover 💪

[@wilsonschannel6101]

This is awesome, well done.

[@e.r.559am7]

Very nice work!

[@broliclobster5045]

That's pretty doggone close

[@SlyHikari03]

The CT5 is such a rad pedal. I love using it as a multi tap delay with octaves (kinda like a Reverse reverb but with Shimmery octaves.) Also, this kinda reminds me of a part in “Just like you imagined” by nine inch nails.

[@telemachia]

Can you elaborate how you use the CT5 as a multi tap delay?

[@yolticjoestar]

Very tricky and creative! But how the hell do you play this live?!? This is incredible

[@fargoflagrant7796]

this seems so unnecessarily complicated, but the song does slap so i guess he was right

[@prodbykarzon6208]

Subbed great video. More of this of these unique processing’s techniques

[@giles9725]

great work. great insight. cheers!

[@thomaslafore-doc8992]

sweet. subscribed based on this exercise alone. very cool ...

[@VSMartins398]

Its like hearing the original song but remastered. Amazing

[@philippgrunert8776]

Also attempted this year's ago for a cover I did. But I did not know one part was in reverse. Really cool idea, explains a lot. 😅

[@sumika80]

Super cool!

[@nickybhoof]

this is great content, love it.

[@noisegenerator]

Thank you!

[@h.p.brownsaucecraft7966]

Great job, nice work

[@Lizzyemily04]

Omfg that was amazing

[@dronesandothertones8902]

That's damn close.

[@iandavidlocke]

Sounds fucking awesome dude! well done!

[@SundanceLemur]

You are a wizard.

[@luaslooms6805]

U killed this!

[@noisegenerator]

Thanks!

[@derekhuntingtonmarti]

Really nice work, and I appreciate the explanation. I also really enjoyed the sounds you got on your video on putting together a little shoegaze board with 5 pedals (and your Bowie/Fripp/Eno Heroes vid too). I heard a fantastic live performance of this song by the band Shiner (kzbin.info/door/TYAyCBH8LcSObFbmyqaDKg) in 2002, I think (in Houston), played as 2 guitars, bass and drums. I remember thinking it was pretty spot on and being impressed by how close they got it in a live setting (but perhaps one is more forgiving for a live rendition by a different band). I'm curious what they used. They did both have good-sized pedalboards, but I don't remember any of what they used (and I had not gotten into much effects use and knowledge myself yet, so would not have recognized much). It's possible they used some type of looping, since such devices were out by then (I saw a show around the same time where Joseph Arthur performed solo with an acoustic guitar but got a full band and electric sound using loops and effects and would even put the guitar down and paint at times while singing over the loops), but I don't remember loops being part of their other songs (though it's possible I just didn't realize). It's interesting to think about considering all the parts and the reverse doubling that Kevin Shields speaks of and you needed to replicate the sound. I do remember being inspired enough by the performance to pick out the different parts on my own later, but I had no idea about the reverse part or the different tremolo rates. I remember wanting to see MBV when they came through Houston 10 years or so before that, touring with Dinosaur Jr. I wasn't able to make it, I can't remember why, I did see a lot of great shows back in those days. Little did I realize that would have been my last opportunity to see them (until reforming, I guess, but I still haven't seen them).

[@louie8604]

what were your settings for the clean rhythm part? it sounds so amazing

[@TheLordcasio]

I saw them back in the early 90's....loads of AKAI samplers (rack units...not MPC's). Pedals were not a big part of it.

[@billmcnelis5999]

Wow that's very impressive. You pretty much nailed it - my only thought is, to me it sounds like the rhythm guitar also has a very dirty CHUG CHUG CHUG (tremelo) sound to it and only the bass is clean. But I couldn't have figured out the rest of what you did so obviously I could be wrong.

[@DiegoMedina74]

great! but i think Shields used a reverse reverb. there´s a lot of articles about it.

[@chidorirasenganz]

Yeah I definitely think that’s how it was done on the record. I think this is mostly right tho

[@noisegenerator]

He does, but I don’t believe he was using one for this part. I could be wrong though!

[@alexfletcher9915]

This is spot on!!

[@noisegenerator]

Thanks Alex! :)

[@KARZJR]

this was great and thanks for sharing the article i enjoyed it

[@bermudateenager]

Nice! I think you got super close!

[@noisegenerator]

Thank you!

[@markferguson3745]

The Soma is an interesting choice.It's wild card in the Greer catalog, and gets some radical sounds.The Benson is ,IMO, lacking as far as Germanium Fuzzes go; more of a job for a Zvex Vertical or Fat Fuzz Factory. Highly recommend the Hudson Broadcast for a huge range of sounds that can cut through a mix, and if you want unique and over the top, the Beetronics Vezzpa, Swarm, and Zombee.

[@C0nnie]

did not expect to see a fuckin model t lol good shit

[@jonny100]

Well done!

[@mitchellsnow9882]

Nice job!

[@kingerfd3341]

Well done!!!

[@noisegenerator]

Thanks!

[@davelafaro2174]

GREAT job

[@noisegenerator]

Thank you!

[@carljuztine3328]

so cool

[@MacianArt]

excellent

[@gcvrsa]

None of these expensive boutique pedals were available in 1991, and none of us back then used expensive boutique gear. What are now called "offset" guitars were popular with us original shoegazers precisely because they were unpopular with the mainstream musicians of the day, and were therefore cheap on the used market. This is the same reason amps like the Fender Twin Reverb were commonly used--they were well out of favor at the time, and cheap on the used market. But when it comes to pedals, we used mainstream stuff from Boss, Digitech, MXR, Morley, and EHX, because that's all there really was, back then.

[@noisegenerator]

Oh absolutely, this whole experiment was more about the process and less about the specific gear I think!

[@jazzblasterrr]

Ok gen X’er

[@stayelusive]

nailed it

[@loopydemos]

This was cool!

[@millennialanimal]

Great job!

[@delivrance3961]

nailed!!!

[@Mcknight777]

Superb

[@graememiller3897]

Vacuum cleaner? Oh you mean the elephant sound lol.

[@MERTORZ94]

great video

[@DanielKastner]

Amazing video. Everyone has basically said what's on my mind. Good stuff, and love the description lol!

[@noisegenerator]

Thank you so much!

[@flosstoyevsky5047]

That’s fire