Even Your Worst Pedal Is A Potential Synthesizer

[@MrJemoederopeenstokj]

After conducting my own experiments for years i wonder why i never landed on this side of the tube before, but i'm very happy i did. I dug up one of my pedals at the start of the video, by the end i dug up and dusted off all my gear,now if you'll excuse me i'll go back to playing with my knobs. You're right about using more pedals, keep adding stuff till you can add no more! Keep up the good work bro.

[@AndreijRublev]

Thanks Simon for having me again! The gods of feedback are hap.... Shouldn't have said that 😂 And yeah, my bad I haven't showed it but splitters have to be mono! I hope these explorations will be useful and interesting for everyone!

[@DoctorWhomThe1st]

I can attest that these videos are very interesting. After the first one myself and a handful of other musicians quickly started exploring feedback loops. I even started using some older pedals I rarely use just to see if I can squeeze more interesting sounds out of them. Thank you all!

[@AndreijRublev]

@@DoctorWhomThe1st Thank you so much! I'm super glad to hear that!

[@guerrillaradio9953]

I've always wanted to experiment with Eurorack equipment, but I don't have much money. I DO have a bunch of cheap used guitar pedals, however! This is so cool! I can make drones forever!!!

[@AndreijRublev]

@@guerrillaradio9953 Yeah! Let's go!

[@MrJemoederopeenstokj]

Useful is an understatement, i got stuck in a musical funk for years and this pulled me out

[@DetroitMicroSound]

A great thing about a lot of the Boss style pedals, is that you can remove the spring-loaded tread part, exposing a regular and easy to very rapidly tap on and off, push-button. One more expression/ornamentation tool.

[@gutbucket6184]

Dude you could auto tune the feedback and play notes with it.

[@AndreijRublev]

Totally! I used an harmonizer in the last jam and it is very useful if you want to make the feedbacks sound more melodic!

[@reinaldoman24]

What would you use to autone the feedback ? I thought about this for a while and can't wrap my head around how id get to play feedback as key notes

[@Rr0gu3_5uture]

@@reinaldoman24 You could plug your audio feedback source into something like a Roland VT-4, or E-4 Voice Tweaker, and use a MIDI keyboard to control the Auto Pitch, Harmony, or Vocoder. Alternatively, you could just record random feedback into your DAW and use a plugin.

[@Rr0gu3_5uture]

This kinda reminds me of a technique I stumbled across in the early 90s when a friend and myself decided to record a really terrible Hip Hop track using an Oberheim DMX that I'd bought in a junk shop. My friend had a pair of cheap direct-drive decks, a mixer, and a couple of mics. I had a Bass guitar, a Boss PS-2 delay pedal, and a 4-track. We recorded a basic rhythm track and then tried a bunch of records to scratch, but we sucked at it. I ended up finding an old 1970s BBC test tone record that had recordings of a bunch of different waves at various pitches, since the tune was in E, we used E. I bunged one of the decks through the Boss delay and then played the record and manipulated the sound by both scratching and using the record player's pitch control. We later sort of honed the technique by using a guitar tuner and then marking the chromatic notes on a piece of gaffer tape stuck next to the variable pitch control slider. It sounded pretty cool, we ended up calling it the 'Vinyl Theremin.'

[@babzenuda]

@@Rr0gu3_5uturelove it, thanks for sharing!

[@RadonX9]

i just recorded my first noisy track today! i used a mic into a mixer into an effects pedal chain to my blackstar amp and generated a feedback loop and messed about with the knobs on the effects, mixer and amp to interesting results :3 recorded the whole thing with a cheap cassette tape recorder too, super warbly and grainy~ now this video is giving me lots of ideas haha, super fun video as always simon and andrei ^^

[@AndreijRublev]

Wow! That sounds great! Happy you are having fun! ❤

[@RadonX9]

@@AndreijRublev thank you andrei! i am!

[@MrJemoederopeenstokj]

Cassette decks make decent enough amps/mixers on their own, as long as you have enough splitters and cables

[@RobFlaxMusic]

I love the look he gives at 16:33, where he finds a chaotic but stable sound, just burbling, not exploding… what a magical in-between universe that has never been before!

[@AndreijRublev]

Exactly the look of surprise that I have every single time this sound world gives me something unexpected! And it still happens a lot, after so many years!

[@viiririiv]

I bet your DS-1 wasn't behaving like a synth like the MT-2 was because it was actually the filters on the MT-2 that were producing the sound. That's why changing the filter frequency changed the pitch of the sound. Resonance on a filter is literally feedback, and what you're doing here is essentially maxing the resonance on those filters, driving them into self-oscillation. It produces a pure(ish) sine wave and this is also why it sounds so smooth. Btw. these feedback experiment videos have been super interesting to watch! Hope you find more crazy experiments to try.

[@SOBINTAXIDRIVER]

This is actually so damn revolutionary. No need for a synthesizer, just pedals and that's all.

[@theothertonydutch]

Get a freeze pedal and a pitchshifter.

[@MrJemoederopeenstokj]

​@@theothertonydutchYou know what's even better? 2 shifters. I was surprised how good Korg Toneworks is for this kinda stuff

[@hyperactivists9390]

This shit is great! And your pedals are so creative too! I just discovered you recently and that led me to one of Andrej’s videos and I listened to one of his albums too. So, big love I am fascinated and will continue to watch and learn.

[@AndreijRublev]

Thank you so much! ❤❤❤

[@PabloGarcia-sf7bn]

Andre, Simon Gentlemen! My KZbin friends i can literally feel the rabbit hole dragging me in! You guys are inspiring. Thanks forever!

[@AndreijRublev]

Thank you! Happy you appreciate it!

[@Simplertous]

LOL Simon please don’t change the way you end your videos abruptly! Today’s ending was especially funny. 😍 😂

[@stevewright8201]

WOW! 30 seconds with a Zoom multi stomp (up to 5 fx in a chain) gave some fantastic results, Thanks for this!!

[@JHVE]

Things I Never thought about - butI've also always thought about happy accidents and misusing gear, I thank you both -GREAT IDEAS

[@AndreijRublev]

Thanks! Happy to hear that!

[@seedmole]

Really makes me wish I documented my pedal feedback stuff better. Didn't have a clean recording path at the time, but before I got my first actual synth I would shove a bunch of guitar pedals into a loop and use that. Every type of pedal would affect it differently, and the best was putting a fuzz, delay and chorus in the loop (along with an overdrive that had a mixer out). Feels very full-circle to see this stuff today after a decade+ long detour into synths lol. The sounds around 12:10 are suuuuper familiar to me.

[@1974UTuber]

13:20 Sounds exactly like the car engine sounds in very early 80's racing games. Also the same noise as the car on my Amiga 500 racing game.

[@spdhc]

This is great! All this 'no Input mixing technics' videos has been truly inspiring. I have a Roland SP 808ex with slicer and D-beam and I can spend HOURS playing with it, Ive had tons of fun, even tho my music is not even close to sound half as good as yours Thanks for all your great content and for being a huge source of inspiration for me since the cat keyboard. Greetings from Central América!

[@jeronym_noise]

He just fall to the noise rabbit hole of never ending exploring simple and obscure gear used in the wrong way.

[@domek.]

Of all the pedals I've tried in the past the Boss MO-2 is my favourite for feedback looping, it produces a really nice modulating drone at certain settings.

[@gwendohshidt]

this is the first one of these that i could try! i had an insane amount of fun and recorded some awesome sounds. thanks guys!

[@AndreijRublev]

Super glad to hear that! Happy you are having fun!

[@silvansky]

BTW, this technique works well also with software effects. I do these things in Logic Pro X Pedalboard plugin and make some noise.

[@jennoscura2381]

My favorite pedal channel is 60 cycle hum. He has a series called Afordaboard where he reviews cheap pedals. One thing he always does with delay pedals is tweak the knobs so the pedal will self oscillate and create what he calls space ship noises. I got two Knise delay pedals the digital and the analog; specifically for the space ship noises. The analog pedal self oscillates really easily. So you have to be careful with the knobs if you want to use it as a regular delay. So a cheap delay is worth picking up to play with.

[@Simplertous]

Fun fact: He shouted out Magpie’s Bubbles pedal once. He wanted to name his collaboration pedal with Big Ear Pedals: Bubbles. But he didn’t because of Magpie’s Bubbles. He named it Whac-A instead.

[@jennoscura2381]

@@Simplertous Oh right on.

[@tungtobak]

This is bascially the concept of the Death by Audio Total Sonic Annihilation-pedal, just a controllable feedback loop.

[@doctorc-ton1099]

It is entirely cool to hear this. I used to do this a lot with my gear, and would record the chaos. What I didn't know that you could do this stuff with anything and get results. My first "discovery" with this type of sound making was when I turned my Fender guitar amp into a synth. At the time, I wasn't sure what I was doing, I just know I got spacey sounds out of the "Fender Princeton Chorus" amp when I had the chorus circuit active, and I added another device into the chain to help give it a little space and some control: the Realistic PA reverb box, which is a bucket brigade delay with reverb, and the unit I had was not working perfectly, but it did the job, and was an interesting "first pedal" of sorts since it had a nasty distortion with the "mic gain" slider, it had a fixed-time delay (which is what I think was wrong with it) and a noisy reverb slider. The sounds the amp made were dependent on the EQ knobs manipulated. I would get some low frequency sounds, and with the increase of mids and highs, it would squeal with a sweeping LFO shimmer of modulation. For sure it was a cacophony and I recorded it onto reel to reel tape. Other no input sounds I would get of course was the tape echo feedback, which sometimes was awful, other times was very cool depending on the machine, and of course, controlled feedback with a variety of Boss pedals. Loads of fun, and this can be done virtually in your DAW too with plugins. Yep!

[@AndreijRublev]

Sounds great! Thanks for sharing your experience!

[@mjbsmusic]

Simon! What happened to your old circuit bent boss pedal videos? They were mad

[@pconalbi]

first of all...amaaazing! tremendo! Beautiful a very cinematic sounds....second: France. Greetings from Argentina!

[@shuasaladbar]

That was the best catch phrase! Also I'm going to do this with my Circuit Rhythm as the end because it has the ability for punch in FX to get stutters and flutters with the push of a button

[@cravensean]

Oh, holy smokes, this is instructive. The idea of pulling these kinds of experiments into a conventional song is amazing. Thank you so much.

[@scramblesthedeathdealer]

I love the Metal Zone in the effects loop of my Egnater Tweaker 15. I got a Metal Zone for my son, he was so happy!

[@mikhel4048]

Yay more noise content 🖤🖤🖤

[@adrianlikins1314]

Absolute favorite pedal for feedback loops: DoD Meatbox. Turns any drone or loop into a room shaking sub.

[@valentetorrez3398]

A really simple pedal that would give you an even greater element of control would be a splitter with some attenuation control & a tricked out on/off switch or switches with latching & momentary functionality. Maybe some form of pitch control. Plop that between the output->input chain.

[@mathaze9122]

With the patrns it was sick !!!

[@crnkmnky]

Michael Jackson would've loved this. Who needs a Synclavier 2 if you've already got a Tone Bender, Space Chorus, and Small Stone Phaser? 🎛️😸

[@NicStage]

No-input table jams next? Catch phrase idea: "Bye, I'm the Magpie"

[@kenny6920]

I accidently discovered this on my old TC Hall of Fame and it sounds great through a cranked amp as an alternative to the mixer, just as a noise maker, live or studio.

[@pdrowlan]

You've got the best catchph

[@navicore]

great one - especially inspiring amazing sounds around 16:30

[@AndreijRublev]

Thanks ❤

[@tdtrecordsmusic]

just use the mixer to split the signal. You'd also gain an EQ. signal chain is like this [[ pedal output >> mixer channel input >> mixer channel send or aux out >> pedal input ]] The split is that you can also hear the signal via the normal summing bus of the mixer aka master output

[@AndreijRublev]

Yeah there are so many possible configurations.

[@chinmeysway]

Maybe that’s more about embellished mixer based feedback loops but yah rad to combine regardless

[@AndreijRublev]

@@chinmeysway it depends a lot on your goal and you composition choices, but the possibilities are really a lot and the combinations of different elements have a really vast palette in terms of timbre.

[@maxmatson1578]

I used to use a technique years ago I had a mixer that had 2 auxiliary send's and 4 band EQ. I had a bucket brigade RadioShack delay, and DOD Death metal distortion. I would do the old trick of putting the effects from the auxiliary send back into their own separate channel on the mixer and I would put the delay on auxiliary send 1 and the distortion on axillary send 2. But my trick was I would feed some of auxiliary 1 into 2 and then vice versa feed some of auxiliary 2 into 1 as well. It would create this cross modulation feedback sort of thing where the feedback of the delay was mixing in with the signal of the feedback distortion and it would create this clanging rhythmical sound that would constantly mutate and evolve and then you mess around with the EQ for each of them as well. I came up some really good noise tracks 🎚️🎛️🎧👌

[@AndreijRublev]

So cool! The possible setups are really countless and they create unique sounds. Such a fascinating technique!

[@maxmatson1578]

@@AndreijRublev thank you 🙏✌️

[@Bleats_Sinodai]

I wanna try cassette recorders myself, I just learned you can get them to oscillate by connecting the input and output.

[@ex35240sx]

Hell yeah cant wait to see you go mad scientist mode

[@dewittsnyder4212]

I made a whole entire harsh noise album with this boss metal zone ,tascam mixer, delay pedal, contact mic, super crazy

[@EarlyMist]

Pretty sure I heard 14:40 in a sleep paralysis state, same buzz distorted tone drone but it was talking some lamguage...

[@axo4947]

I can't express how inspiring your videos are...I've always wanted to get into the world of anqlog synths but was diacouraged by the high prices.

[@13opacus]

This is becoming the best thing on KZbin 👍🤘🖤

[@AndreijRublev]

let's go! ❤

[@svenjansen2134]

It must.

[@Eidraify]

i've been aware of these techniques for some time and wanted to try setups with more than 2 or 3 pedals but my only obstacle is powering all the pedals at once, it's kind of a headache... Cool video as always Simon !

[@kacychavez5827]

Actually a pretty good choice for this.

[@unsoundmethodology]

Oh, man, I already took my sleeping pills, so I'm moving slow, and the first pedals off the top of the stack were a complex digital reverb and a volume pedal. Putting the volume pedal inside the feedback loop made the amount adjustable, and the different reverb models made the squeals interestingly manipulable. Nifty! Shall have to do more once awake.

[@hadleymanmusic]

Thank you Simon ive been looking for a smoothe drive not clippy

[@lainalien]

if u go slow on something resonant and modulated like a flanger it can kinda step and glide through sweet spots. I used to run 0-input thru cheapo fab pedals with room feedback on other channels for a fun crunchy ambient wail

[@AndreijRublev]

Sounds like a great setup!

[@ryanberry4670]

Hey Simon! Thanks for the content!

[@SimonTheMagpie]

Thanks for the thanks 😄

[@ExcessiveSpareTime]

you can do some pretty vicious shit with just a couple pedals in a loop it helps to consider what roles your pedals have in a standard setup--once you've got some experience, you pick up an ear for what'll sound good self-oscillating. Although, I wouldn't use any REALLY expensive/high-end pedals, if only because there tends to be a point of diminishing return.

[@AndreijRublev]

Absolutely! It's such a vast a fascinating world and it's also not so wild as it can appear, after a little bit of work on it.

[@BevisFriend2010]

Love this. I've had hours of fun with just a cheap NUX delay-core deluxe & NUX mod-core deluxe. They have tons of settings to mess with.

[@SimonTheMagpie]

The time core is one of my all time favorite pedals ever to circuit bend! So cool

[@BevisFriend2010]

@@SimonTheMagpie I think that entire NUX deluxe range of pedals is fantastic. I ended up buying them all pretty much. The build quality, sound & features are excellent for anyone on a tight budget wanting diversity, stereo and multi-features.

[@ginopezzini]

Good for dark ambient.

[@alanbg2278]

Great ! So now I'm thinking why did I buy that Lyra 8 ? Oh wait, now I remember ...now where did I put that cable ? Done no input mixer stuff for a while but this opens new doors ( or windows ). Cheers!

[@olGrandpaby]

just ending the video mid-sentence as you do is far better than any sign off catch phrase

[@emmaessex]

yes!!! it continues!!! hahahaha - bubbles has been an indispensable part of my no-input pedal setup ever since i bought it.

[@SimonTheMagpie]

So cool! And thank you 😁

[@AndreijRublev]

Ohhh that sounds great! If you feel like sharing something, do it, please! I'm super curious!

[@leewightman8619]

My pedal is a synth as it's a boss synth bass and it is amazing with my keyboard it's just a rompler but makes me feel like I'm playing a proper f.m synth

[@innapinch7112]

16:03 like a slinky in a tornado being pulled through a back hole.

[@grantlazenby8192]

Really awesome! This is how a lot of the guys in the noisecore scene operate. Check out Jay Randall from the Grindcore band Agoraphobic Nosebleed for some really awesome electronic music/noise creations.

[@jonirons]

I got 2 Weirds to feed each one into the other. Highly recommended.

[@SimonTheMagpie]

Ooh v.1 + v.2? If I ever make V.3 then you deserve one for free in that case 😄

[@jonirons]

@@SimonTheMagpie It was two version 1s. When I saw your original v1 video, I thought the relationship between input amplitude and delay time would be perfect for feedback, so I got two just for that purpose. A combination of v1 + v2 or two v2s would be even cooler to try!

[@AndreijRublev]

​@@jonirons that sounds pretty cool!

[@jonirons]

@@AndreijRublev It is! Your suggestions of putting more pedals in between would probably add a lot to the sound. Thanks for teaming up with Simon!

[@AndreijRublev]

@@jonirons Glad you appreciate it!

[@Lol_Pig]

Would sound badass through a Hologram Microcosm 🤘

[@stoatystoat174]

You get a like for the thumnail alone 👍

[@greatbingus]

MORE MUSIC RESEARCH I love this stuff

[@edbrito-swdev]

I wanted to try the no input technique but I didn't have a mixer. I have some stereo pedals though, sooooooo.... Let's try to do this!

[@wolfchan4389]

I have boxes and boxes of pedals..... definitely gonna try this out

[@YlowX7]

what I like to do is combine these techniques with my ms20 mini to make the synth sound even crazier. I havent tried feedbacking my pedals into themselves though. I need more pedal. I only got 2.

[@AndreijRublev]

the filter section of that synth is super good!

[@YlowX7]

@Andreij Rublev yup. it's pretty much the main selling point. it even got filters on the external signal processor, although without the resonance. the filters sound pretty dirty, too. A software couldn't even come close to the sound as far as I'm aware. Edit: I plan to get a Behringer 2600 to replace the ms20 mini, but I am a little hesitant since I love the thing so much. the 2600 would open so many more possibilities, but I am so familiar and in love with the sound of the ms20. If I end up selling my ms20 mini to get a 2600, I'll have to buy an ms20 mini or Behringer K-2 to replace that emptiness inside in the future when I can afford to.

[@stephenparry6811]

Inspirational stuff

[@JohnPaulsonJohnisaStegosaurus]

whether you have an oscillator or a feedback loop, when you put them through filters and have sequencing and stuff, after a certain point you're kind of re-inventing the wheel. but if you're looking for a quick way to build up a custom interface with a lot of knobs, you could do worse.

[@AndreijRublev]

I agree. That's why I prefer to keep the feedback "wild" because if you use too many programmable external controls (sequencers, cv signals, etc) it loses a little bit of charm and starts to become more of a limited synt. Nonetheless the timbre is always great.

[@SaumBodhi]

Actually metal zone passed throughthe effect loop of a guitar amp sounds nice and full, and actually really good. No joke. Huge difference.

[@drillbag]

There is an Australian Power Electronics duo called Ebola Disco who get the bulk of their sounds through a mass of pedals all in a feedback loop, it's beautiful.......

[@DewtehDew]

That was insane, sounds like cyber punk horror.

[@DroctorKloebner]

I'm not young but I could definitely hear this at 8:58 and so did all the dogs in my neighborhood.

[@travisguide4516]

Im kinda bummed i sold most of my guitar petals now I think I only have a 78 super distortion a eq and bass chorus ill be exploring this thanks magpie

[@Caoimheisonline]

Didn't hear a thing when the DS1 was on, fuck. Very cool though!

[@AndreijRublev]

same here 😂. I guess my age starts to hit 😅

[@SimonTheMagpie]

Honestly I think youtube cut it. Cause I only hear it a tiny bit before I cut right when I say the age thing. Like mixed with the voice. And I sure did hear it in editing I promise, hehehe

[@AndreijRublev]

I hope you are right, or I have to worry about my ears 😂

[@maggiepie8810]

I think we've gone through train, whalesong, rainwater, creeky stairs, and a lot of unidentified alien noises. ❤

[@tonalaxis]

Its all about the expensive tables :)

[@threemealsaway]

hope this experimentation leads you to noise music in general, theres a whole slew of freaks who have been doing this for years! crazy doberman is a group everyone should hear

[@AndreijRublev]

Didn't know Crazy doberman, will check it out! Thanks for the suggestion!

[@thehorriblebright]

Also this is when a matrix mixer is the best tool to put in the middle of the insanity.

[@AndreijRublev]

I've never tried a matrix mixer but I will totally do it in the future!

[@thehorriblebright]

@@AndreijRublev There are a bunch of really good demos and tutorials here on the tubes.

[@prokesuk]

I was doing this with an Electro-Harmonix Hot Tubes pedal about 35 years ago.

[@svenjansen2134]

These feedback techniques are getting a lot of feedback!

[@AndreijRublev]

Feedback for feedback. Legit😂

[@Toolsquatch]

Man, throw a gritty breakbeat to this and you've got some Dälek songs 👌

[@ViktorSarge]

A friend figured out a way to overdub his guitar on the tape deck of his stereo when I was a kid in the 90s. I tried it hooking up my amp to the stereo, got a feedback loop and bam instant flame. This seems very interesting but I'm scared to try it :)

[@AndreijRublev]

Using devices that are built to handle line levels is safer (pedals, passive mixers, etc) and very difficult to break. If you use amplified signals (like amps, preamps, active mixers, stereos, etc) they fry stuff way more easily.

[@MisterRorschach90]

You should make the worlds weirdest repurposed synth. Get some vintage mixer with super nice compression, filters, and reverb on each channel, and the modify it extensively to become a modular synth. Add effects into the chain from effect pedals and a vcr modified to play low fi music.

[@DJWESG1]

B4 i owned a synth i used feedback through ableton to generate sounds, but since buying a synthesiser ive stopped trying to make mysic all together.

[@melokit-music]

i'm exited 🔥

[@captchagod64]

Actual sounds start at 6:10

[@jefgirdler7232]

I wonder what an octave pedal would do.

[@VirtualModular]

So you'd think it just shifts the feedback up or down an octave, but because it's in a loop it keeps going up or down until it gets to a point where it's out of the frequency response of the mixer. At that point, it stops feeding back but then the original resonant frequency comes through again, so in fact it oscillates up and down constantly. I do this with a harmonising pitch shifter and it's nuts.

[@willlemieux3850]

Welcome to Power electronics

[@screamengine]

A new genre is born "Space Horror Stomp". Or "Stomp Thing".

[@garrettboomerbender]

I'd also recommend getting a tuner pedal that acts as a mute

[@volsteh]

have only a stereo compressor/limiter pedal (ehx platform), wonder if will work

[@SimonTheMagpie]

Compressor might be really cool! Remember circuit bending boss compressor pedal and it became really crazy

[@volsteh]

@@SimonTheMagpie this is a great potential sound source for the deluge, considering it can use line in as a oscillator and play it chromatically, thanx dude

[@lanceg1312]

Check out the dogman devices ouroboros! Might give you some ideas for things you can make

[@deepstahl13]

This is fantastic! Been looping and feedbacking the shit out of my delay and reverb pedals. Added a pitchshifter and octaver to play chords (kind of).

[@khoio149]

I wonder how does the wah reacts with this? has anyone tried it before?

[@VirtualModular]

Any sort of filter changes the frequency the system feeds back at, so rocking a wah up and down would give you kind of divebombing pitch sounds. I prefer to use low-pass filters or phasers (which are basically all-pass. Wahs are band-pass which usually ends up fairly screechy ).

[@Impotantmink]

I have loved this pedal for almost 20 years. I don't know why people hate it so much.

[@SimonTheMagpie]

Yeah I am honestly also a big fan of it, haha

[@thehorriblebright]

The metal zone is an amazing pedal. It's very easy to use wrong, hence the bad reputation. If you do noise music it's the best that there is.

[@AndreijRublev]

In the noise scene it's a classic ❤

[@travisguide4516]

9:50 hilarious acting out how we all feel looking for something in a video to be elaborated that we know will not

[@B4cchy]

11:41 the sound of tinnitus

[@travisguide4516]

Wow metal zone sounds nice