EH Bi-Filter

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soundguy
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EH Bi-Filter

Post by soundguy » Sat Nov 05, 2005 1:18 pm

anyone use one of these?

can it deal with a +4 balanced input ok?

is there a provision for stereo tracking?

dave
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Post by pscottm » Sat Nov 05, 2005 2:18 pm

yea they're neat, lots of modulation options but can't do stereo. same as sherman in that regard. it has a single input and multiple output options.

dave you need a mutronics mutator, king daddy of filters, imo, and does stereo. built like a tank, +4 db no prob. classic sound.

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Post by inverseroom » Sat Nov 05, 2005 4:58 pm

I love the Sherman. Actually Scott I have been wondering if Mark Linkous uses one on his voice on the last Sparklehorse record...I've done a few vocal takes with mine lately that seem to have that crisp, driven, animated vibe to them. Great box, it would be awesome if it were stereo.

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Post by pscottm » Sat Nov 05, 2005 6:06 pm

hey inverse, i don't think we ever even tried it on vocals but it certainly was used alot elsewhere. bass, percussion, synths, samples, guitar. thanks for the reminder, he has my sherman right now and i need to get it back for something i'm working on next week.

i have to admit i have a special attachment to mine just from the circumstances surrounding getting it. i happened to be in belgium so i thought i'd attempt to buy one directly from them, in which case they insisted we meet in person, so i met up w herman and mieke for drinks, food, talked about music and electronics for hours. had a great time, and i left w 2 shermans. herman prepared both of them w some extra tweakage and even provided a bag full of additional power adaptors for every country. the best. they rock.

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Post by joel hamilton » Sat Nov 05, 2005 10:10 pm

Is that what we used for the drums on "apple bed" scott?
That thingy was great.

That coupled with the destructo chain I had set up for those drums is still one of my favorite parts of that record.

I really like the EH bi-filter.

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Post by pscottm » Sun Nov 06, 2005 9:01 am

joel hamilton wrote:Is that what we used for the drums on "apple bed" scott?
That thingy was great.

That coupled with the destructo chain I had set up for those drums is still one of my favorite parts of that record.

I really like the EH bi-filter.
no that was a waldorf on apple bed. yeah that 2x tape speed thing you had going was cool too. that's one of those classic tricks that's a PITA on a computer. a PITA to do so simply anyway. in the case of apple bed, i love it when that happens, when joking around, dicking around, abusing something, then boom, all of a sudden that track takes on new life.

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Post by joel hamilton » Sun Nov 06, 2005 9:48 am

inverseroom wrote:I love the Sherman. Actually Scott I have been wondering if Mark Linkous uses one on his voice on the last Sparklehorse record...I've done a few vocal takes with mine lately that seem to have that crisp, driven, animated vibe to them. Great box, it would be awesome if it were stereo.
On what songs did you feel that way about the vocal?

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Post by inverseroom » Sun Nov 06, 2005 2:16 pm

Well, Apple Bed was one of them. But most of the album in fact. His voice is sibilant all the time, but it's like the sibilance is overdriven and resonant in some high frequency. Ultimately I just love his singing style I guess.

Anyway, I realized I could get a bit of that vibe by running vocals through the Sherman Filterbank, but not completely fucking it up...setting it so that each of its various effects--both filters, the FM, the AM, etc etc--is doing the bare minimum to the track. It doesn't sound all "effecty" but gives the impression of, I dunno, singing into a cold wind or something.

I haven't ended up using this effect much on my new stuff because, um, I don't wanna sound like I'm cribbing off Sparklehorse. :oops: But the Sherman is proving itself really useful nonetheless, on vocs and elsewhere.

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Post by inverseroom » Sun Nov 06, 2005 2:17 pm

BTW Joel I should have at least one of my Photosynths finished as early as tomorrow if you're still interested... :D

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Post by joel hamilton » Sun Nov 06, 2005 3:32 pm

There was no filter on the vocal on apple bed, at least on the way in...I just used a u67 or a soundelux U95 into a V76, and a Voce compressor, straight to tape.


PM me about the photosynth!!!

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Post by inverseroom » Sun Nov 06, 2005 4:49 pm

Damn, it's just the way the guy sings! I can't rip that off... :?

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Post by soundguy » Sun Nov 06, 2005 5:46 pm

pscottm wrote:yea they're neat, lots of modulation options but can't do stereo. same as sherman in that regard. it has a single input and multiple output options.

dave you need a mutronics mutator, king daddy of filters, imo, and does stereo. built like a tank, +4 db no prob. classic sound.
man, I wish. that would be kind of an extravagant expense for me right now, hard to justify with a minimoog sitting next to the console too. I wish a minimoog could deal with +4 better. boo.

the EH thing seems like its a lot less money which for what Id use it for unfortunately rules the day. One of the mod synth companies was doing a kit a while back that seemed to look pretty cool but could never find anyone that built it.

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Post by joel hamilton » Sun Nov 06, 2005 6:26 pm

soundguy wrote:
pscottm wrote:yea they're neat, lots of modulation options but can't do stereo. same as sherman in that regard. it has a single input and multiple output options.

dave you need a mutronics mutator, king daddy of filters, imo, and does stereo. built like a tank, +4 db no prob. classic sound.
man, I wish. that would be kind of an extravagant expense for me right now, hard to justify with a minimoog sitting next to the console too. I wish a minimoog could deal with +4 better. boo.

the EH thing seems like its a lot less money which for what Id use it for unfortunately rules the day. One of the mod synth companies was doing a kit a while back that seemed to look pretty cool but could never find anyone that built it.

dave
Reamps arent just for reamping with AMPs.

I use them all the time for FX and synth and filter stuff that never really wanted to see +4 ever.

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Post by pscottm » Sun Nov 06, 2005 6:41 pm

soundguy wrote:the EH thing seems like its a lot less money which for what Id use it for unfortunately rules the day. One of the mod synth companies was doing a kit a while back that seemed to look pretty cool but could never find anyone that built it.

dave
yeah i see, now that i look at bi-filter prices, looks like they now go for less than half of what they were originally asking back when they first got released. used to be $900 or something, pretty high, that's more or less what a mutator goes for. at $400 the EH is a much better proposition. well worth a try i think. i don't think it'll have any probs w +4 but you may need to short pin 3 to ground going into it from a trafo balanced feed, but you know that drill i'm sure..

speaking of DIY, i have some PCBs sitting here for a stereo 'steiner' filter. got them from CGS in australia. looks like an easy build, and what's cooler is it's an all-transistor filter design. just need to get off my arse and get a BOM together. you may want to check out CGS yourself unless time is a big premium.

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Post by joeysimms » Sun Nov 06, 2005 7:11 pm

pscottm wrote:.. in the case of apple bed, i love it when that happens, when joking around, dicking around, abusing something, then [ b]boom, all of a sudden that track takes on new life.[/b]
That's what to live for. No matter whether it's the writing, arranging, recording, or mixing stage, so long as it happens.
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