Synth Bass on Steroids: The Power of EFX Pedals

In this video, Anthony reveals one of his personal favorite trade secrets. He shows us how to transform any synth bass sound into a synth bass on steroids by using various combinations of 5 different guitar efx pedals including the Electro Harmonix Big Muff, MXR MX-134 Stereo Chorus, Musitronics Mu-tron Phasor II, MXR MX-118 Analog Delay and A/DA Flanger. He illustrates the difference and importance between the wet sound (efx only), the dry sound (no efx) and mixing the wet and dry sound together. By running both of these sounds into a mixer, you have the option to add as much special personality from the wet sound without losing the energy and definition of the solid dry bass sound. You can then add as much of the wet sound as you prefer, much like adding spice to your food. Think of each pedal as a spice from a different part of the world. When you get the spice balance between wet and dry just right, you’ll create a sound with a unique personality. This is one of the special powers that comes from using EFX pedals with synthesizers and a sure fire way to create synth bass sounds on steroids.
CHAPTER TIME STAMPS
0:00 Intro
0:16 Electro Harmonix Big Muff (silicon fuzz)
1:37 MXR MX-134 Stereo Chorus
2:58 Musitronics Mu-tron Phasor II
4:19 MXR MX-118 Analog Delay
5:32 A/DA Flanger
6:53 Summary
Anthony's musical touch as both composer and performer is connected with some of the most influential creative minds over the last 40 years. He’s composed and conducted original orchestral scores for over 80 feature films including Young Guns, Internal Affairs, The Man From Elysian Fields, 15 Minutes and Planes, Trains & Automobiles, been commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic for his symphonic work "In the Family Way", written over one thousand TV commercials in a myriad of musical styles, co-founded Levels Audio Post (LA's premiere post production facility) and performed and arranged on big-box-office films and influential hit records such as Michael Jackson's Thriller.
His extensive work as a young arranger, orchestrator and performer for Quincy Jones, Jack Nitzsche, Lamont Dozier, Arthur Rubenstein and Giorgio Moroder was vital in launching his own career. His early years pioneering modular analog synthesizers along with his wide-ranging music scholarship positioned Anthony at the center of the music technology revolution. He attended the University of Southern California School of Music as a piano and composition major.
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[@culttelevision]

The phase shift bass was a great trick in 80s tv soundtracks and movies . Tangerine Dream on Streethawk . Sylvester Levay on Airwolf . Don Peake on his Knight Rider S3-> cues etc

[@olik136]

I only caught about 2 episodes of Streethawk (in the 90s- stuff used to travel much slower..) but the melody is stuck in my head since then

[@culttelevision]

@@olik136 it was classic Edgar Froese era TG with plenty of filtered arps and huge pad sounds . Lots of Jupiter 8 sync lead etc. they never released the soundtrack which is a shame as it’s classic mid 80s synth . The tv version of the main theme was also never released in its original form with the heavy Simmons drums and prologue / epilogue.

[@williamtell1477]

@@culttelevisionreal bummer with some of the 80’s tv music not getting more officially restored releases. Lots of fantastic music.

[@flickeringvideo]

You videos are so niche but to those of us who are passionate about sound they’re absolute gold. Thank you for putting these videos together, I wish your channel every success

[@Ancaja123]

That MXR stereo chorus sounds fantastic on synth

[@testohtoby]

The more I enjoy your videos the more I want to lock myself in the studio with my trusty synths but I've got 7 exams to do so I must wait until mid October to "patch & play" ☠️👌👌👌

[@robertavila1863]

I’m such an efx junkie. I’ve been buying 1 every month for years now. Sound design just gets more & more fun with each new addition to the signal chain

[@KingMJForeverAndEver]

So cool you worked on 7 songs on Thriller. 7 is Michael’s favorite number ⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@waldemar.golebski]

This is a great reminder to don't forget about final effects. Thank You Anthony! 👍

[@PostingCringeOnMain]

Who doesn't love a spicy bass sound? Thank you again, Anthony for sharing your deep and hard earned wisdom. There are a lot of videos talking about using guitar pedals with synths (heck, there's a reason I own a good collection of guitar pedals and no electric guitar) but none of them are presented with this level of intuition, experience and diligence. It also served to give me a great deal more confidence in using a chorus pedal on my bass patches! I tried it once and fell in love with that secret sauce, but since I never saw anyone else doing it, I wondered if I was 'wrong' to do that. Thanks to you, those doubts have been seared from my mind. Now I've just got to find myself a nice fat fuzz pedal >:D

[@miguelhijarmusic]

Yes to all of these! Gotta try the flanger. I’ve been loving tube distortion on my bass synth lately 💥

[@mymodularjourney]

Oh yes! Great demo’s. Running to the modular to have a go with these patches.

[@ssommerfeld]

Another great video! I have to try some outboard pedals on my synths now. Thanks for all of the awesome examples and encouragement to try it.

[@cvwatch]

Very cool engineering on that bass! You're truly the mad scientist of sounds! My outta the box favorite synth to use is a Roland rubber bass. Always gets lots of attention⚡️

[@thatdude378]

I want to say thank you for taking the time to put together your educational videos. It opens our eyes to so many possibilities especially when you're an amateur. I think it's just amazing what you do and again thank you.

[@jarrodleeott]

Awesome video. My favorite is a gated or "velcro" fuzz. Such a great way to add some spice to bass sounds.

[@suga4all]

Man, thanks for sharing! It is so cool to learn from the legends 🔥👍

[@nsjx]

Fantastic, Anthony! You give me a lot more confidence to experiment w my fx 🙏

[@Soundpaintmusic]

Wow! These are gorgeous! Nice grind on the attack!

[@neurosmos]

I seem to recall some type of transformer that was used on the Minimoog sound. I don't remember the exact details I saw it on a forum long ago. It would be interesting if you had some insight on that. I would like to add that I like to put my bass synths through bass guitar amplifiers, especially clean bass sounds, it sometimes makes it pop like nothing else. Also just a speaker sim plugin can do wonders. Thank you for the videos by the way very inspirational and nice to see some of these legendary tones having some context to them, the stories are epic keep them coming please!!

[@o.g.tommye7580]

Thank you for sharing your expertise. I have been a fan since I was eight years old this is gold for all musicians. Peace and love brother!

[@robertelovsson8344]

Spot on, very cool, thanks!!

[@WizeChoice]

Amazing video buddy ✨

[@PurpleMusicProductions]

Wow thank you for demonstrating this it was really helpful!

[@williamtell1477]

Very cool. Effects are huuuge! I have some 80’s vintage synths that have no effects and when you add some magic to them they get amazing! One I really like is the old Yamaha SPX-90 doing its Pitch Shift C program which does about 8 cents (opposite) each side for a nice additional thickness and width.

[@lotionmedia]

Absolutely love this format. It's like sitting next to Anthony as he's giving a class. Brilliant stuff!

[@6dbthreshold]

Love your channel. I’m learning a lot!

[@jerryknows6357]

I love that you want to share your knowledge. Thank you for al your videos

[@RyanHeinzman1985]

The sounds remind me of horror movies from the 80s like the shining, the fog, even terminator. Love the deep bass synth

[@maxheldmaier5448]

I will try use that, thank you!

[@issiewizzie]

learning so much ...thanks

[@YoshixVR]

Reminds me of my teenage years... I'd like to buy all the Roland pedals to modify the sounds of my DJX! It works so well to use distortion pedals and create unique sounds! Thank you Anthony! 🎹

[@guysmiley7289]

Awesome video.

[@NexxuSix]

3:24 Reminds me of Joe Walsh’s Life Been Good. Love the bass at 6:34 as well! Awesome sounds… who knew that guitar pedals work so well with analog synths 😊

[@stolatbao]

Amazing, you're kind of answering my if I should try getting a 2600m at some point soon question, if only I was turning 50 soon (leaves comments open for wife to see)!

[@hdsubstance1]

Great examples

[@mdmn8160]

Amazing ❤ from Burundi 🇧🇮

[@PabloLaConecta]

I could just watch you jamming on the synths

[@adrianoconnor3020]

Sounds great,as usual Anthony.Fuzz really fattens the bass while the chorus widens it, could dominate a mix though

[@mastersoftoday]

the whole time i was just staring at the Sherman Filterbank and wondering what that thing could do in your hands… waiting for my Dual Rack model to arrive

[@RossTotino]

That bass patch sounds great even without the effects.

[@els1f]

sansamp is pretty cool too, btw😋

[@GizzyDillespee]

Is that a Sherman to the left of the 2600? That does pretty good with bass too...

[@Roland_Tr909_Swing]

This is exactly what I do everytime I make a new synth patch to get ideas

[@peturmagnason]

I would love to hear how you use the Sherman Filterbank on bass

[@mdmn8160]

❤ from Burundi 🇧🇮

[@cmath8577]

Thanks for making this video. I have that MXR chorus but I use it on guitar. It is a bit loose. Had you tried other chorus pedals like the CE-1 and preferred the MXR or was it sort of like yeah I'll just whatever chorus is around?

[@Kettupaini]

Thriller is one of my favorite albums of all time and now I know who has made those awesome basslines! I'm also a bass player and making some electronic music after 20 years. I have a technical question: I understand that the synthesizer is connected to the mixer but how about all efx pedals? Is it the synthesizer going straight to the pedals and then to mixer or is there some other way to make things happen?

[@ChrisHopkinsBass]

I used to own a Mu-Tron Phasor II - really regret selling it on :(

[@tihinter]

Anthony, thanx a lot for this great clip! Please allow me one question: Do you remember which pedals were used on Thriller and Bad, I mean which ones exactly and on which sound exactly? I once asked Bruce (RIP) about this, but he couldn’t remember exactly. I was always curious which FX were done with studio units like the Eventide 1745M, 910 and 949 or that Lexicon 97, vs. „just some clever use of guitar pedals“ back in the days…

[@crnkmnky]

📝

[@cnfuzz]

Sounds allright in solo , in a mix this is gonna struggle though

[@greenhousesound]

What are you using to hold the pedals in place?

[@craigsurette3438]

Thankyou for an awesome tutorial ! I have a few quick questions: Because pedals were designed for the quieter signals of guitars , do you ever need to worry about the hotter signal coming from a synth clipping/not having enough headroom in the pedal? I run into this problem especially when I use digital multieffects designed for guitar with synths.I have to be very careful of my levels, and certain synth/pedal combinations just do not really work Also how are you running your dry signal split so some does not go through the pedals to keep your fundamental intact?

[@robertavila1863]

In-Line pads will take the hot synth levels, where they’ll play nice with fx units

[@nativesonno.1113]

when I put a distortion on my bass sound I always have the phasing problem. I use a send on my mixer to go to the distortion. Maybe it would be better to use an insert or output 3-4?

[@lundsweden]

I wonder if the different versions of the Big Muff sound different. I had a Russian Big Muff (in green) that sounded very muddy compared to this.

[@KickzNBeatz]

Does anyone know if Warm Audio's clone of the Musitronic Phaser happens to sound like the same?

[@falangistavaleroso9689]

John Carpenter stuff!

[@CaseJams]

Again, thanks for sharing before …

[@CaseJams]

Don’t mean to be morbid, but too many of my peers (and I’m young) have moved in … truly you are doing g-d”s work here by partaking this knowledge upon us “normys” in comparison to your achievements

[@Chris-St-DE]

So what's the diff between a phase-shifter and a phaser?

[@crnkmnky]

I think they're the same.

[@Swat-ed5bt]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@captivednb]

Are you carrot top's dad?

[@Fred_Free]

The last filter sweep was devastating for my tinnitus. So injudiciously done. I'm unsubscribed.

[@crnkmnky]

_Dear Mono Chrome,_ _We sincerely apologize for any discomfort caused by the recent sound experience. Your feedback is greatly appreciated, and we deeply regret the inconvenience you've experienced. We understand the importance of ensuring a comfortable and enjoyable listening environment for all our subscribers._ _Our team is dedicated to continuously improving our content and taking your concerns into serious consideration. If there's anything specific you'd like to share with us regarding the incident, please feel free to reach out. Your satisfaction remains our top priority._ _Best regards,_ _Marinelli Music Customer Service_

[@stoatystoat174]

Electro Harmonix Big Muff Bass pedal is good distortion if you are on a budget with something simple like Volca Keys, because you can set it to let the fundemental of the note through if you cant split the paths different oscillators go on. (edit: Phasor added to my list of things to aquire 🔫🎛😀)