Saxophone Effects Pedals Part II: The Sounds

[Dmorrowshares]

Tks for the knowledge Man!!!

[Sirvalorsax]

What kind of clip on wireless are you using?! I need more power from mine. Its a total wireless system (Shure) with one AAA battery. Know of anything more powerful

[deanmongerio]

@Sirvalorsax Yeah man. It's an AMT Wi-5. Great mic.

[Sirvalorsax]

Sweet Ass Playing dude!

[MrChicoSax]

Hi Dean, thanks for the post. Your sound is awesome and I do love your Breckerish licks. I imagine that you have done a heavy transcribing to get them.

Very interesting the way you shape your sound through that gear.

[deanmongerio]

@MrChicoSax Thanks! I think the trick is to get the essence of the player without resorting to copping their actual licks. More like playing something they might have played instead of something they did play. Best, Dean

[saxmaster45]

@deanmongerio I like the sound of this. I've always baulked at copying note-for-note, as I felt it took me out of the creative process. It's amazing to me that after a little while of listening to music I like, my mind is able to create similar, but different music.

How do you approach practicing? Do you listen to someone for a while and then just work out licks on your own?

[latincedrick]

Nice :)

[charlezurich]

really interesting and informative. Thanks for these vids

[superbigguru]

it seems to be very useful..

[avantijazz]

Thanks for posting these videos. I've been looking to get a decent wah for a long time, but everything I try (live) hits some horrendous resonance &or feedback, whereas without it I can go loud enough for most gigs without a problem. Do you have to take care with the Q tron particularly in a live setting?

Thanks again, and love the playing,

Rob

[deanmongerio]

@avantijazz Thanks Rob! The Q-Tron is pretty fickle, which is why I have it set outside of the normal sound chain, followed by a dedicated compressor to deal with the volume spikes and feedback problem. An EQ might help as well. Best, Dean

[javijazztazz]

That was great by the way how much it cost you all your effect pedals?? thanks

[deanmongerio]

@javijazztazz Thanks! Um...kind of a lot..

[chanykey]

You are great player.Im oboe Player from Bulgaria.And saxofon Fan...you are great man!

[deanmongerio]

@chanykey Thanks!

[andreicamataru]

killer player!!! i love you man!!!! can you give lessons via internet??

[deanmongerio]

@andreicamataru Thanks! Yes, I do, actually. Email me at dean@deanmongerio(dot)com

[wwwSUPERsk]

ELECTRO HARMONIX POG (dual octaver), ELECTRO HARMONIX NANO CLONE (chorus), Marshall RF1 Reflector - stereo reverb FX pedal ( smoothest reverb of them all I found ). VOX TIME MACHINE is waiting for the second batch ( wasn't going to lay it all out in one day ). It's killer sound for SKA. I'm my own horn section now :) . When I lay down those octaves with chorus, it's a wall of sound. Thanks again for inspiration :)

[deanmongerio]

@wwwSUPERsk Thanks for the kind words! I'm glad it helped! Sounds like a killer setup. You should post a vid so I can check it out! Best, Dean

[wwwSUPERsk]

@deanmongerio well, marshall DIED already :(. It just stopped working - huh. So I've returned it and got VOX time machine instead :) - this is nice one if you like analogue delay AND want to tap tempo. We are playing with the band on Dec 9. I'm sure someone will tape it, so I will post it. It sounds like a brass section now, wall of sound :).

I would like to hear some of your pedals without qtron. Like reverb & eventide harmonies. And what the EQ does ( with vs without sound ) thanks :)

[wwwSUPERsk]

You have inspired me! I did my stomboxe online reasearch for few days and today I've headed to my local music store where they let me play with ALL their guitar boxes :). MXR,BOSS, HARMONIX, MEMORY MAN, DIGITECH, VOX... ahhh what a day :)

Since I don't solo that much ( I play SKA with one band & some standards with my GF who sings) I just wanted to thicken and trick my sound a bit. I put this together so far: {more in the next post}

[JY146]

Hi Dean

I'm a saxophone player and was wondering what you would consider a good/decent microphone, at a not too expensive price, for recording and gigging?

And killer sound btw :)

Cheers

[deanmongerio]

@JY146 Thanks! You want one mic for recording AND gigging? Tough call. Honestly, I'd get different mics for each because there are much different considerations for each, but if I HAD to choose one mic to cover both applications, I'd probably opt for a Sennheiser 441 or 421. The problem is that the 441 is pretty pricey, but you might be able to find a cheaper 421 on eBay. Otherwise, I'd go for a Rode NT1-A, although if you're doing a loud live gig, it may not work. Otherwise, a Shure 58.

[natfandaggy]

It's different but a sax has a beautiful natural sound to begin with and i just can't help wondering what's the point ?

[deanmongerio]

@natfandaggy I agree! However, trumpets have been changing their sound with mutes for over 400 years, and why should they have all the fun? :)

[dell4bq]

Dean how would you be able to pull this off live though? In your video you're wearing headphones and I'm assuming you are running long enough cords into an isolated room where you can't hear the normal acoustic sound of the saxophone, only the 100% wet FX signal. I don't see how you'd be able to pull this off live without an isolation booth or a blend of wet/dry signals which wouldn't sound like this at all. Perhaps thast's why I'm not having much success as I'm only hearing 20% wet FX signal

[deanmongerio]

@dell4bq For this video, the pedal board was plugged directly into an Mbox II connected to my computer, which was exactly where the camera is. Everything was essentially recorded both through the camera and the sax mic, which I then edited to separate only sax from the sax mic and speaking from the camera mic. Depending on the size of the room one may hear a very small amount of acoustic horn, but only coming from the horn itself; what you hear on the video is exactly what comes through the PA.

[carmine6786]

sorry but i'm not italian and i can't understand everything...can you tell my the minutes were you use the overdrive?

[deanmongerio]

@carmine6786 Hi there. I actually wasn't using any overdrive at all, but I think you may be referring to the sound of the harmonizer at 09:25

[sh3zzer]

Killing man!

I play keys and bone and have messed around with main stage (logic) with effects for my bone.

thinking of buying a ART preamp taking the 1/4 out to a boss me 70 multi effects pedal.

You think that will work ok?

[deanmongerio]

@sh3zzer Thanks! It might work, it would just depend on adjusting your input signal to something your pedals can deal with. I wish I had a better answer, but honestly it's a lot of trial-and-error. Good luck! -Dean

[jazzigo]

great!

[BigSax1984]

Fantastic demo, and I've learned a lot from these two demos. You are sick as both a musician and as a sound engineer. ps. Very nice cover of "Scratch and Sniff"

[deanmongerio]

@BigSax1984 Thanks!

[dissonantrecoil]

On the Eventide's 4ths patch, is it adding a 4th above or below?

[deanmongerio]

@dissonantrecoil Both, actually.

[dell4bq]

Dean I've been trying for months to get distortion or wah to work correctly on sax. I mic my sax with an ATM-350 clip on and run that into an ART=Tube pre into a Digitech Rp255 multi FX. Reverb and Delays are ok.The distortion/whammy and other pitch modulation FX in the Digitech not much. I've tried dedicated FX pedals like a Dunlop Auto Q/Whammy and fuzz/distortion but it wasn't doing much to the signal.I've read you need a mod FX before distortion to get it to work but nothing works.

[deanmongerio]

@dell4bq I'm not really sure, but the problems usually occur from mismatched levels. Guitars (unless they have active electronics) generally put out a pretty low signal that pedals then amplify. The ATM-350 plugs into a preamp box with an XLR out, and then you're plugging that into another preamp? If the pedals get too much or too little signal they won't sound right, so I'd start with leaving the ART out of the chain and trying a reamp box. Hope that helps, Dean

[dell4bq]

@deanmongerio So I'm not sure how I could get my XLR out into an FX unit that only takes 1/4" inputs. How are you getting into your FX box or does the FX you use have an XLR in? Also what type mic are you using?

[deanmongerio]

@dell4bq I'm using an AMT Wi-5, and it has both XLR and 1/4" outputs with a switch to change from mic to line level. For you, I'd recommend getting a line transformer or a reamp box.

[dell4bq]

@deanmongerio What exactly is a reamp box? Was that a typo where you meant a geneeric pre-amp box? If so then I am already using a pre-amp ther ART MP Tube.

[deanmongerio]

@dell4bq A reamp box is essentially a direct box, but going the other direction. It's used in the studio to, say, take a cleanly recorded guitar track and send it out to a guitar amp to be re-recorded. It basically changes line or mic level to instrument level, which is exactly what you need to do to use guitar pedals with your setup. A line transformer will do something similar. If you Google either one of those you should get several results.

[dalmeidamusic]

Really nice playing and creative use for the effects, but i really would like to know what is your effects gear, are you using something like digitech vocal 300? thanks

[deanmongerio]

@dalmeidamusic Thank you! If you check out Part I of the two videos, I list and show all the equipment and go through it all. It should be near the top on the right hand list of videos. Cheers, Dean

[max999mood1]

this guy must be loaded! like rich even lol

[deanmongerio]

@max999mood1 I wish!

[blasmasters]

@max999mood1 Actually, I think he is just devoted ;)

[jftiziano]

hi you're great man...can you help me about split tones what's the right way to do it?

you modified lips on reeds or there's something special fingering?

thanks your so great man!!!

[deanmongerio]

@jftiziano Thank you! To play split tones on tenor specifically, it really requires a good facility in the altissimo register first. They are considerably more difficult to play accurately on tenor than alto, due to being less stable. I use some alternate fingerings for split tones (ie on B, C, and C#), and on others (G, G#, A, Bb, D, Eb) I just manipulate the embouchure and air stream. It's really a lot of trial and error, since all players and setups are different. Best, Dean

[williamandedward]

Hi Dean, what mouthpiece are you using?

[deanmongerio]

@williamandedward It's an Otto Link STM, worked on by MojoBari. The opening is a .107.

[joelmoorequartet]

Hi Dean,

Thanks for the great information. How would you suggest I configure an envelope filter and reverb along with the stereo chorus pedal I already use live. Also, do you have any problems with feedback through floor monitors with the Q-Tron?

[deanmongerio]

@joelmoorequartet Thanks Joel. Nice stuff, btw! If it were me, I would set it up envelope filter>chorus>reverb. The only problem would be if you're running a stereo input to your chorus, but I would imagine you're running mono in and stereo out. In that case, I'd recommend the Digitech RV-7 reverb pedal. It's inexpensive, indestructible, has all Lexicon reverbs and is stereo in and out.

[tuhsdxas]

Fantastic playing and fantastic pedals. I'm inspired to get some myself. And I have a hunch that you listen to a bit of Michael Brecker. :)

[deanmongerio]

@tuhsdxas Thank you! Yeah, I may have heard that Brecker fellow once or twice. :)

[tjplmn90]

That and what is giving you that great overdrive sound it sounds as good as the heavy metal bebop tone

[deanmongerio]

@tjplmn90 It's actually the combination of the Q-Tron and the 4ths patch I'm using on the Eventide, although I'm currently researching which overdrive pedal to get. :)

[tjplmn90]

What type of envelope filter are you using, and it all sounds great man

[deanmongerio]

@tjplmn90 Thanks! It's an Electro-Harmonix Q-Tron.

[APlaPi]

wow

[jsaxr54]

I'm a sax player in charlotte. What is the effect board you're using and what type of mic is that? Great sound and control of the altissimo!! Dig your website to bro.

[deanmongerio]

@jsaxr54 Thank you for the nice comments! If you mean the actual board, I'm not sure. I got it on ebay a while ago. I'm using a different board now, a Gator one with a bag and strap. As for the mic, it's an AMT Wi-5.

Cheers,

Dean

[jsaxr54]

I'm a sax player in charlotte. What is the effect board you're using and what type of mic is that? Great sound and control of the altissimo!! Dig your website to bro.

[JY146]

that's sick....

[bandersnacher]

I really love your sound. I'm a high school alto+tenor player, and I've been itching to get a mic and effect board for my sax. Which microphone do you use? And also, I'm wondering if you play all those sample pieces by ear (i.e. Scratch & Sniff), or if you get the music from some place (If so, I'd really appreciate if you can share the source. I'm looking for good riffs to play and practice on)

[deanmongerio]

@bandersnacher Thanks! The mic is an AMT Wi-5. As for the Scratch & Sniff line, I learned it by ear a while ago. I mentioned it in the video and had it in my ear again so it came out. Honestly, the best way to get those lines is by figuring them out for yourself. There's a great program called Transcribe that allows the music to be slowed down. If you hear something you like, I really recommend doing it that way. It's a little bit of work, but your ear will improve every time. Best of luck! Dean

[genesis344]

Do you fully understand how dryly hilarious you are? Informative video but very funny as well.

[karlodiaz71]

Thank you so much, that was very helpful, especially for most of us sax players that might be a bit guitar/tech illiterate. Any particular reason you went with the q-tron over an ol' school mutron or some of the other new ones I.e. Riddle q-balls etc. Did you a/b it with a bunch of others? I'm curious as it's my next purchase and I'm wondering which envelope filters work the best with saxes. It would seem that the pedals that effect the sound the most would be more useful as the harmonics on

[tikimon21]

Sounds great man, very helpful! I've been thinking about getting a Pitchfactor and I think you've sealed my desire to do so. What power supply are you using?

[deanmongerio]

Thanks @tikimon21 ! I'm using a BBE Supacharger for everything except the Pitchfactor. As for the Pitchfactor, I'm just using the stock adapter.

Cheers,

Dean

[Kizzarolyn]

is this just with effects pedals that are usually used for electric guitar?

[deanmongerio]

@Kizzarolyn Yep! Not all pedals will work that well for the saxophone, but these do quite well.

Thanks, Dean

[hubbardsax]

nice

[TheLittleOne77]

Kicks all sort of ass!