Got a question for the post-rock experts on here. My board is built around a Strymon BigSky and a TimeLine and I'm struggling a little with combining them both to get a really nice epic post-rock sound for tremolo-picked washes. I'm using a Fender Tele with Monty's PAF replica in the neck or a Gretsch Tennessee Rose, into a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, a J Rockett Archer for clean boost and a Red Witch Famulus as the distortion. I've come up with a couple of things using the Pattern setting on the TimeLine and the Cloud or Bloom on the BigSky, but I find that either the picking attack is too audible or it becomes so vast it takes over everything else in the mix. Either way, it doesn't sound quite right. I'm shooting for the kind of sound Sigur Ros, Explosions In The Sky, Daughter, The National etc get and I'm sure I can get something perfect with the combination of the BigSky and the TimeLine but I've been searching for the best part of a year and it's still eluding me. Would really appreciate any suggestions
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Try a modulated tape delay at about 400ms with a fairly long plate reverb, both set fairly at about 50% mix as a basis for tremolo picking
Maybe a slightly higher mix and longer reverb (maybe with an octave-down shimmer) for swells and chordal stuff
Also, I've just got home from jamming, I love both of those pedals so much.
Glad it works
Band Stuff: https://navigationofficial.bandcamp.com/album/silhouette-ep
Put them right up front, before any of your distortions. Then use the mix knobs to dial in just a very tiny amount, feedback to taste.
What will happen is that on the first pluck, you'll get a bit of delay..... and if you stop playing, it'll echo off quite cleanly. But if you do multiple plucks, the tails of the delay and reverb will build and build and build, because the amp/distortion will get more driven at the front end.
This is the secret to big post-rock washes imho. Checkout my band if you want to hear how this sounds: www.bridgedisaster.co.uk
Worth noting that Jonsi from Sigur Ros doesn't use delay at all. He uses a cello bow and reverb. I think it's an old TC M350 studio rack unit into the loop of a Marshall stack. He also uses bass drives for dirt and treble booster built into his custom made LP-esque guitar.
Personally this is where the Eventide probably edges it over the Strymon stuff for these sort of sounds, it takes over your sound in a good way if that makes sense!
Do they tend to be less useful in a live context as opposed to the studio/home practice
As I've said on other occasions, Nick McCabe is my hero and that's the kind of sound I'm after, but I can't help but think that too much reverb live is going to teeter from ethereal to mushy.
The Big Sky is great. It has so many options that work for me, but you have to love verb to fork out. Quite often I pair it with a Stereo Wet. They pretty much cover all bases.
I'd definitely say you have the gear so get in the fx ballpark, but Nick also a pretty unique style. That's a whole other topic!
Check this for early Verve-esque tones:
A mono delay (e.g. Carbon Copy) into the BigSky sounds better to me, or the Timeline into the Hall of Fame on the Plate or Room setting.
I've tried out some of the suggestions on here - distortion after delay/reverb and turning down volume and tone controls to good effect. However I saw Mogwai last week, and I was just as impressed by their total noise sections. I can get close to it with a Muff going in to my Avalanche Run - I've found the Muff totally comes alive going in to the reverb/ delay. I guess the rest of the effect just comes from sheer volume.
Any other solid wall of noise tips?