SPICETONE 6APPEAL - Shawnb's Tips & tricks

Started by shawnb, September 19, 2015, 12:38:15 AM

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shawnb

I love hex distortion.   I've been thinking about one of these for a while, & finally ordered one.  Roland burnout?   Deep desire to try something new?

A little concerned that it focuses almost exclusively on hex distortion.   But looking forward to experimenting with a new architecture & product.   

I seem to have skipped the GP-10 & SY-100 (for now).   I am more of a sonic explorer, and may yet be interested in the SY-100 one day.

I'll share my thoughts once I've spent some time with the 6Appeal.
Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

shawnb

#1
I've been able to spend a few hours with this now, & figured I'd share my initial thoughts. 

Learning the Unit & my First Preset:
I read the manual about 10 times before I "got" it.  No exaggeration - I have a highly annotated and dog-eared copy of the manual.  The way all the features work together is beautifully engineered, logical and highly intuitive.  The UI is unique, however, and has a learning curve.  Over time, you get to appreciate reading a lot of info at a glance, but this will take time and a healthy set of grey matter/memory.  (Having grown up in San Francisco in the '60s and '70s, I'm not sure I have the latter...) 

I spent most of my time thus far in "Menu 1", the basic sound sculpting menu, learning the features & making a preset for jamming with my buddies.  The unit allows you to defeat the tone knob (Menu 1.10), and doing so creates a fuller sound that was more appealing to me.  I used a Peavey Wolfgang with nice hot pups and a set of 9s.   I suspect that lighter gauge strings like 9s may warrant defeating the tone stack. 

As much as I love hex distortion, you don't want to overuse it.  Fortunately you can turn on processing of your mag pup signal (Menu 1.10).  Then you can mix a bit of your processed mag pups in via the Mono pot. 

THAT was an exciting discovery - the mix of hex distortion + some mag pup distortion to fill it out sounds fantastic. 

Since I was driving it from a GK3 mounted close to the bridge of my guitar, I used BOTH Root Boost circuits (Menu 1.7 & 1.8 ).  At the time, I was at home doing this at low volume...   

A note on the manual - it uses a notation of "0On_16Off" when describing Root Boost and Output Boost settings.  the "0" refers to the mono channel and the "16" refers to hex channels 1-6.  Thus, to affect your mono/mag pups and your hex processing, you would use the setting 0On_16On (red).

First Jam:
I've been playing with my friends for years, using various gear & software, including a GR-55, a VG-99, tube amps, Amplitube, etc...  This was the first time my drummer said, "THAT thing is BADASS!"

You can't really get a feel for this unit until you *feel* it live, at playing volume. 

I had no other processing - just my guitar via 13-pin to the 6Appeal to my PA.  Playing over a PA, the first thing I realized was that one Root Boot circuit was plenty.  I immediately disabled one of them.   

The 2nd order low-pass filter is fun and dangerous.  I was feeling my oats & started experimenting with the 2 frequencies & resonance at playing volume - which the manual tells you NOT to do.  After calling all dogs in a 20-mile radius, my amp reset itself.  I will not do that again. 

Pros:

  • Hex distortion - if you love hex distortion you'll love this unit; it's what it does...
  • ANALOG distortion circults, full ANALOG path through the device - a very cool rich sound
  • Mono mix - your mag pups add some ooomph to the Hex distortion
  • Two pole (2nd order) low-pass filter - lots of variability in how you roll off your highs
  • Sequencer - a highly configurable slicer effect, up to 24 steps of filter, panning and/or drive settings
  • Spread knobs & "smile" vs "tilt" - a unique idea that allows you to differentiate how the above effects are applied across the 6 strings
  • Envelope - there are 3 ways to define envelopes; hex envelope processing requires external note on/note off generation, e.g., via using an FTP or a GR-55's MIDI OUT.
  • Small company of dedicated folks - you send in a question and get a rapid response - maybe even from the primary engineer
Cons:

  • Learning curve & UI
  • Cost
Bottom Line:
NONE OF THE DEMOS DO THE SOUND JUSTICE.  This is fully analog hex distortion.   Does anybody else even try to do this?  I dunno...  It's pretty freaking glorious when dialed in. 

The features are pretty deep.  This mix of deep features & a radically unique approach to a UI means there is a steep learning curve.   

Those who love exploring new gear & new sounds (like myself) will have a great time with this.  I could easily see pros/techs having fun with this.  Folks who want to zip thru presets will be frustrated - you must adjust settings for your gear. 

I'm still getting familiar with the basic settings & the filter.  As I learn the Sequencer & Envelope better, I'll share my learnings & some sound samples. 


Open disclosure: Spicetone gave me a promotional discount, in the hopes that I'd get jazzed & start writing about this.  Well, I got jazzed...   
Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

aliensporebomb

I'd love to hear YOUR demo of this unit!  Sounds like a lot of fun!
My music projects online at http://www.aliensporebomb.com/

GK Devices:  Roland VG-99, Boss GP-10, Boss SY-1000.

shawnb

I'll be working on a demo shortly.   There is a lot of depth to the settings, I'm still figuring it out.   
Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

shawnb

#4
A lot of very interesting settings on this unit, my settings have been evolving over time.  A couple of things other 6Appeal users might find helpful:

Mono & GK Vol

I now keep the Mono pot up at/near MAX and the GK Vol setting ON at all times.  Since I use the short cable connecting the mag pup to the GK unit, the mag pup signal is fed to the 6Appeal's mono channel.  You can apply FX to the 6Appeal's Mono signal.  The Mono pot on the 6Appeal governs how much Mono (mag pup) signal is mixed into the output. 

With the Mono setting at/near max, your guitar's volume knob basically dictates how much processed Mono signal is mixed into your output.  The GK Vol setting allows you to control overall output level.  Between these two knobs on your guitar, you can configure the mix of mag pup vs. hex processing remotely, without touching the unit.  Very handy. 

Root Boost

The intent of the root boost is to compensate for your GK pickup's sound.  Since the GK is usually mounted close to the bridge, its output is usually pretty brittle/thin.  Root boost is designed to bring fullness back into the GK hex signal for a richer, more natural sound.  (I'm sure Roland's COSM circuits need to do something similar.) 

There are root boost options for pre & post processing.  Pre-process root boost affects the EQ of the input signal.   Post-process emphasizes the EQ post-processing, which fattens up the FX as well, adding some chunky power.

What is interesting is you can also apply Root Boost to your mag pups, both pre & post.  Your mag pups, of course, are mounted wherever they are mounted for a reason, & don't necessarily need more root boost...   

I find I ALWAYS have pre & post root boost on my hex processing now, to warm up the GK signal.   

I do have some "hot" voices setup, in which I apply root boost (pre-) to the Mono (mag pup) signal.  It can make the sound so BIG...   Helpful if there is no other guitar or keyboard.   Or if you just want the biggest sound in the room...   
Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

shawnb

#5
By far the most interesting feature of the 6Appeal is its pretty extensive set of "Spread" functions, that allow you to vary FX parameters across the strings.  There are 6 pots and two switches that define how Spread works. 

Some of these spread controls are tied specifically to LFO & Sequencer processing.  The LFOs themselves can control either the primary sound parameters (Drive, Gain, Level, etc.) or the Filter Settings or Stereo Panning settings.  The LFOs can follow many different shapes, including sine, triangle, rising, falling, pulse & random. 

There are some very cool & completely unique effects you can achieve with these settings...

What these parameters do might not be obvious just by reading some text, so I will try to explain what they do using pictures & a couple of .mp3s. 

The 4 primary Spread Pots
These knobs vary the Drive, Tone, Level and Dry Mix across the strings.  Each of these knobs has a neutral middle position.  Clockwise, the effect operates in one direction; counter-clockwise produces the opposite effect.

How the effect varies per string depends on the Tilt vs Smile  setting...

Tilt vs Smile Setting
The Tilt vs Smile setting (Menu 2.12) defines whether the effect is applied linearly, top-to-bottom (tilt) or whether the effect is emphasized on the inner strings vs the outer strings (smile).  See the attached picture for tilt vs smile. 



Freq vs Phase Setting
The Freq vs Phase setting (Menu 2.11) alters the behavior of Pot 8 for the LFOs (Menus 3, 4, 5).  This setting will determine whether Pot 8 varies the frequency of the LFO across the strings, or the phase of the LFO across the strings.  See the attached picture. 



Modulation Freq-Phase Spread Pot
Pot 8 for LFO1, LFO2 and the Sequencer (Menus 3, 4, 5) determines how much variance in frequency or phase across the strings. 

Modulation Level Spread Pot
Pot 10 for LFO1, LFO2 and the Sequencer (Menus 3, 4, 5) varies the wet/dry mix for the LFO effects across the strings. 

Samples:
Each of the samples includes a couple strums before & after applying the effect. 

In Spicetone-Level-Smile-Spread.mp3, I strum a couple chords with the Level Spread setting at neutral, then I strum a couple chords with the Level Spread setting emphasizing the inner strings.  The Tilt/Smile setting is set to "smile", which is why the inner strings are emphasized. 

In Spicetone-Freq-Spread.mp3, I strum a couple chords with the Pot 8 set at neutral, then I strum a couple chords with Pot 8 set to increase the frequency of the LFO on the lower strings.  Here, the LFO is driving the basic sound parameters, such as Drive & Tone.  A pulse shape is used for the LFO. 

In Spicetone-Phase-Spread.mp3, I strum a couple chords with the Pot 8 set at neutral, then I strum a couple chords with Pot 8 set to vary the phase of the LFO top-to-bottom across the strings.  Here, the LFO is driving the stereo Panning effect for each string.  With Pot 8 at neutral, all the strings' LFOs are in phase, a tremolo effect.  With Pot 8 increased, the phases no longer line up, producing an arpeggiator-like effect.  A pulse shape is used for the LFO, to get a hard left/hard right pan.

Lots of subtle, complex possibilities here...
Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

shawnb

#6
Spicetone has released a full-featured editor.  Works great.
https://liveweb.spicetone.com/downloads/

The Spicetone editor can read & write presets & make updates in real time.  An editor definitely helps sound creation with this device. 

(Of course, I had written my own editor using Using Hollyhock - completed it about 1 week before Spicetone released theirs... Sigh...  I may yet share my editor as it uses a different paradigm - all controls are visible on one screen, so it's a little easier to see what affects what.) 
Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

Elantric

#7
http://online.spicetone.com/Manuals/6%20APPEAL%20-%20Editor%20Manual%200.9b.pdf



https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=12104.0

Now available: a standalone control app for both Mac OS and Windows! Using the the software, you can control everything in 6Appeal with a Ableton-style GUI. You need a MIDI interface or a MIDI equipped soundcard and two standard MIDI cables.

See how to take full advantage of 6Appeal using Editor:
http://www.spicetone.com/pages/6appeal-editor-and-firmware-update

The main screen looks like that:


Among other things, the editor gives an excellent overview of what 6Appeal does and can do further.

Actually there are two things that 6Appeal users have told they've been not so happy with:
1) price - we cannot do much there, because it's a very ambitious enthusiast project - it just costs so much to produce one that even this price is a give-away (not joking here),
2) learning curve - this is something we could fix, and this is where the editor comes in! You can just click the settings, move from tab to tab instantly, and it's really intuitive now:)

Oh, and don't forget:
Use discount code 10%OFF to get the pedal 10% cheaper.
Discount is valid until the last day of December!

See more at: http://www.spicetone.com/

PS We hope you don't mind us posting here in VGuitar; 6Appeal is an analog device unlike modern Roland devices (which we like very much also), but on guitar side, it's the same tech needed = a divided pickup, be it GK-3 or anything else.

Oh, and a new demo. God save the Queen!

shawnb

#8


I just uploaded my SensoMusic HollyHock2 parameter editor for the 6Appeal on the Sensomusic site.  Screenshot attached. 

If you use HH2, and you have refreshed your add-on list, you will now see a patch named "6Appeal" available for use within Hollyhock. 

Simply load the patch, make sure your MIDI OUT is connected via 5-pin MIDI cable to the 6Appeal's MIDI In and you're good to go.   

This is a simple patch, and only modifies patch parameters.  If you want to save your patches on the 6Appeal, you must use the 6Appeal's patch save function.  It does *NOT* read patch information. 

There is so much depth to the 6Appeal I wanted to see *ALL* parameters on one screen while editing, in order to learn how they all interact.  Others may find this editor useful for learning the 6Appeal. 

*** If you want full read-write editing, use Spicetone's editor, available on their site, screenshots provided by Elantric above. ***
Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

Elantric



chlorinemist

I'm in love with my 6Appeal. Had it for about a year or so now. I've ended up building my entire rig around the 6Appeal and am now completely dependent on it. It is the best pedal I've ever used, hands down. Delivers in spades in every way possible, way moreso than I couldve ever expected.

In my view this pedal is not simply a hex distortion but a full blown multitimbral polyphonic analog synthesizer, complete with filters, lfos, step sequencer and polyphonic adsr envelope controls, but with guitar strings substituting for VCOs, and a selection of 3 excellent sounding distortion circuits serving as waveshapers.

Poly distortion, combined with all the modulation on offer here, yields a sound much closer to a massive super saw synth than to a normal guitar. I've seen reviews that complain about this but personally after using it for a year, I can positively say I will never be going back to monophonic distortion.

I use the Cycfi Nu 6 multichannel pickup for the hex section and a Cycfi Nu for the neck pickup mono section, and use the Cycfi Nexus 19-pin system to transmit CV from the guitar knobs and switches and convert it to MIDI to control the most important controls on the 6Appeal: Dry (clean volume), Mono (neck pickup volume), and Level (dirt volume), Filter On/Off, and a knob assigned to the filter resonance. I control both filter cutoffs simultaneously with my Source Reflex expression pedal, and when I crank the resonance and distortion this creates some dramatically synth-like and beautiful sounds, all 100% sculpted from the sound of your naturally generated guitar tone.

Unlocking the ADSR feature is extremely key to getting the most out of this device. You can use the MIDI out of a ROLAND GR device in MIDI MONO mode to the midi input of 6appeal to provide it with a "pluck generator". This enables polyphonic envelope modulation, which opens up a universe of possibilities. The attack control in particular  enables a fully tunable polyphonic slow-gear type effect when assigned to modulate volume levels. This is especially notable since many ROLAND hex devices have a cripppled poly-slow gear, lacking even an attack time paramater, much less full blown ADSR.

I actually don't use any ROLAND gear however personally, so I use a Fishman Triple Play as pluck detector instead. The way to send the notes to 6 seperate midi channels is not explained in the manual, but is a very simple procedure once Fishman explained it to me. (Create up "hardware synth plugin" devices on tracks 1 and 3, set them to mono, click "show splits", drag the block for track 3 down the software fretboard all the way to the nut. done.)

I hope to make an in depth video demo of this pedal at some point. I have spent a huge amount of time uncovering its secrets and really feel like more people need to experience what it has to offer

jodama

I'm having a similar experience with the thing, and I've also built my board around my 6appeal. I never even really liked distortion/overdrive effects, but now I'm hooked on hexaphonic fuzz.

So far, I've been alternating between driving it with a piezo system and a GK-3, but I've been seriously looking at the Cycfi Nu stuff. Do you notice a difference in sound between the different drivers (if you have tried them out)?



shawnb

I have used the 6Appeal with both mag pups (GK) and with piezos (Gibson Darkfire).  They are decidedly different, as there is no "GK setting" like on the Roland products to attempt to normalize the sound

The raw signal is processed.

The mag pups sound flipping awesome, with big, bad, warm distortion.  Yes, you need to use the filters to take the edge off.  But the net sound can be pretty big.  Especially if you're a little crazy & flip on the root boost.

The piezos produce more of a "synthy" sound, much closer to a keyboard sound.  The filters & 'root boost' feature can help make it sound more natural, more like a mag pup, but it won't sound like a mag pup.

But again, since there is no 'GK setting', you are working hard & fast with the raw pup output, and the differences between mag & piezo are dramatic.  In a way, amplifying & exaggerating the strengths of each. 
Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

chlorinemist

Quote from: jodama on May 16, 2017, 01:28:12 PM
I'm having a similar experience with the thing, and I've also built my board around my 6appeal. I never even really liked distortion/overdrive effects, but now I'm hooked on hexaphonic fuzz.

So far, I've been alternating between driving it with a piezo system and a GK-3, but I've been seriously looking at the Cycfi Nu stuff. Do you notice a difference in sound between the different drivers (if you have tried them out)?

I unfortunately have not had a chance to try it with GKs or piezos. what i can say though is that the Cycfi pickups are simply breathtaking. With no processing whatsoever, the raw tone rivals the best (hex or not) pickups I've ever heard. I've played guitar for 20 years and obsess over pickups and mods ad nauseaum (Lace Sensors, alumitones, emgs, JBEs + Bill Lawrence blades, qtuners, etc._ and to my ears the tone of the Nu's is almost completely unrivaled in pure richness of tone. The only other pickup I've ever tried that's in the same league are my Cycfi XRs... (however i've heard some demos of chapman stick/bartolini and alembic instruments that do very close. Never played those before tho)
In Summary, i say GO FOR IT!!!! 1) Rivals the best pickups in the world in tone, hex or not 2) the most optimal sound source for polyphonic fx available 3) cheaper than a gk, easy to install, all internal, no clunky plastic device mounting needed 4) If you go for the full nexus system, you get an extremely flexible new platform for your guitar i/o, ability to record all pickups simultaneously for max flexibility in the mixing stage, and plus the cable supplies Phantom power! no batteries! Weeee

GuitarBuilder

Quote from: chlorinemist on May 16, 2017, 12:18:09 PM
I'm in love with my 6Appeal. Had it for about a year or so now. I've ended up building my entire rig around the 6Appeal and am now completely dependent on it. It is the best pedal I've ever used, hands down. Delivers in spades in every way possible, way moreso than I couldve ever expected.

In my view this pedal is not simply a hex distortion but a full blown multitimbral polyphonic analog synthesizer, complete with filters, lfos, step sequencer and polyphonic adsr envelope controls, but with guitar strings substituting for VCOs, and a selection of 3 excellent sounding distortion circuits serving as waveshapers.

Poly distortion, combined with all the modulation on offer here, yields a sound much closer to a massive super saw synth than to a normal guitar. I've seen reviews that complain about this but personally after using it for a year, I can positively say I will never be going back to monophonic distortion.

I use the Cycfi Nu 6 multichannel pickup for the hex section and a Cycfi Nu for the neck pickup mono section, and use the Cycfi Nexus 19-pin system to transmit CV from the guitar knobs and switches and convert it to MIDI to control the most important controls on the 6Appeal: Dry (clean volume), Mono (neck pickup volume), and Level (dirt volume), Filter On/Off, and a knob assigned to the filter resonance. I control both filter cutoffs simultaneously with my Source Reflex expression pedal, and when I crank the resonance and distortion this creates some dramatically synth-like and beautiful sounds, all 100% sculpted from the sound of your naturally generated guitar tone.

Unlocking the ADSR feature is extremely key to getting the most out of this device. You can use the MIDI out of a ROLAND GR device in MIDI MONO mode to the midi input of 6appeal to provide it with a "pluck generator". This enables polyphonic envelope modulation, which opens up a universe of possibilities. The attack control in particular  enables a fully tunable polyphonic slow-gear type effect when assigned to modulate volume levels. This is especially notable since many ROLAND hex devices have a cripppled poly-slow gear, lacking even an attack time paramater, much less full blown ADSR.

I actually don't use any ROLAND gear however personally, so I use a Fishman Triple Play as pluck detector instead. The way to send the notes to 6 seperate midi channels is not explained in the manual, but is a very simple procedure once Fishman explained it to me. (Create up "hardware synth plugin" devices on tracks 1 and 3, set them to mono, click "show splits", drag the block for track 3 down the software fretboard all the way to the nut. done.)

I hope to make an in depth video demo of this pedal at some point. I have spent a huge amount of time uncovering its secrets and really feel like more people need to experience what it has to offer

I also love my 6APPEAL - you forgot to mention an important property: ZERO latency and perfect tracking, as in the famous GR-300.  I own both and consider the 6APPEAL a worthy successor.
"There's no-one left alive, it must be a draw"  Peter Gabriel 1973

jodama

Quote from: shawnb on May 16, 2017, 01:48:38 PM
The mag pups sound flipping awesome, with big, bad, warm distortion.  Yes, you need to use the filters to take the edge off.  But the net sound can be pretty big.  Especially if you're a little crazy & flip on the root boost.

The piezos produce more of a "synthy" sound, much closer to a keyboard sound.  The filters & 'root boost' feature can help make it sound more natural, more like a mag pup, but it won't sound like a mag pup.

I friggin love the mono channel distortion tone. It has this beautiful "round" sounding attack that I'm really hoping to recreate on the hex channels. They have their own (also awesome) sound that's a bit different. The attack is flatter or more "twangy" no matter which driver I use. This is why I'm looking into Cycfi...I was hoping it would have the same tone across mono and hex channels. Does it?

I actually installed a GK-3 (after previously only using piezo pickups) just to see if I could get that tone, but it seems to do a worse job at it than the piezos. Again, these are also great sounds...just different. I've spent a lot of time tweaking the filter and tone knob, but I haven't been able to dial it in quite right.

chrish

#17
Thought I read a gr 300 comparison. Will the wave shaper do a similar waveform and what other waveforms can be produced.

It'd be cool to support a small company like this with their hex products. Any chance for a large group buy?

Maybe one day this company will be producing an all analogue VG 99 quality synth without the amp and Strat, Les Paul, etc, imitation guitar models but with analogue effects.

  And it would be nice if it had pitch CV and gate trigger outputs derived from an audio input source.

And digital control of the analogue audio path features such as Reverb parameters and delay parameters. And responding to MIDI CC numbers. Is that too much to ask for?

admin


CodeSmart

But I got more gear than I need...and I like it!

chlorinemist

#20
Here's another 6Appeal demo, demonstrating its poly-envelope capabilities, string panning, and LFOS.

https://soundcloud.com/chlorinemist/envlfos/s-tOA9F

All tremelo fx, volume swells, string pans and filter sweeps were achieved with 6Appeal. No volume pedal swells, all automated via 6Appeals ADSR.

The envelope ADSR is assigned to modulate all level parameters simultaneously on both hexaphonic paths (dry and distorted) but the mono pickup is left unaffected. I start off with the attack set very low, then gradually increase it to achieve a polyphonic "slow-gear" type effect. At some points I blend in my monophonic pickup, which is unaffected by the envelope, to layer a traditional guitar sound over the synth-like swelling hexaphonic sections.

The 2 LFOs are assigned to alternating strings (lLFO1: E, D, B LFO2: A, G, E) and are both modulating the level parameters as well, achieving a sort of poly-tremolo effect. I adjust the 2 LFO speeds with my BCR2000 throughout, creating lots of polyrhythmic patterns. Using the 32 step sequencer (I don't in this clip), which has all the same modulation capabilities, you can imagine things could get much more complex.

These are just some of the most simple, basic techniques you can achieve. The envelope and both lfos can do much more than swells and tremelos. They can be assigned to control the cutoffs, resonance and gain of the filters, or modulate the panning of the individual strings. The LFOS, Sequencer and envelope can be setup to be controlled by pitch bend messages, breath controllers or mod wheels. I feel like I'm just scratching the surface at this point, which is crazy considering how much cool stuff I've already managed to get it to do. Wish more pedalmakers had such ambition

Brak(E)man

#21
Should I buy one ?

And how is the sound straight into PA or Daw ?
Do I need a guitar amp sim?
swimming with a hole in my body

I play Country music too, I'm just not sure which country it's from...

"The only thing worse than a guitar is a guitarist!"
- Lydia Lunch

Peter the GR-eat...

Quote from: chlorinemist on May 28, 2017, 03:04:38 AM
Here's another 6Appeal demo, demonstrating its poly-envelope capabilities, string panning, and LFOS.

https://soundcloud.com/chlorinemist/envlfos/s-tOA9F

All tremelo fx, volume swells, string pans and filter sweeps were achieved with 6Appeal. No volume pedal swells, all automated via 6Appeals ADSR.

The envelope ADSR is assigned to modulate all level parameters simultaneously on both hexaphonic paths (dry and distorted) but the mono pickup is left unaffected. I start off with the attack set very low, then gradually increase it to achieve a polyphonic "slow-gear" type effect. At some points I blend in my monophonic pickup, which is unaffected by the envelope, to layer a traditional guitar sound over the synth-like swelling hexaphonic sections.

The 2 LFOs are assigned to alternating strings (lLFO1: E, D, B LFO2: A, G, E) and are both modulating the level parameters as well, achieving a sort of poly-tremolo effect. I adjust the 2 LFO speeds with my BCR2000 throughout, creating lots of polyrhythmic patterns. Using the 32 step sequencer (I don't in this clip), which has all the same modulation capabilities, you can imagine things could get much more complex.

These are just some of the most simple, basic techniques you can achieve. The envelope and both lfos can do much more than swells and tremelos. They can be assigned to control the cutoffs, resonance and gain of the filters, or modulate the panning of the individual strings. The LFOS, Sequencer and envelope can be setup to be controlled by pitch bend messages, breath controllers or mod wheels. I feel like I'm just scratching the surface at this point, which is crazy considering how much cool stuff I've already managed to get it to do. Wish more pedalmakers had such ambition

Absolutely beautiful!

chlorinemist

#23
Quote from: Brak(E)man on July 08, 2017, 12:28:08 PM
Should I buy one ?

Yes! lol

QuoteAnd how is the sound straight into PA or Daw ?
Do I need a guitar amp sim?

Great question! This is an important aspect of the 6appeal (and hexaphonic distortion in general) that has not been discussed enough. The short answer is you definitely don't need a guitar amp sim.

The sound is excellent straight to PA or DAW. Totally tube-amp like, completely different from what you experience from a mono distortion. The hexaphonic distortion process inherently produces far less dissonance and harshness, and I've found that traditional distortion-taming tools (I used a Two Notes Torpedo Studio and ultimately sold it after I realized I didn't need it anymore) are unnecessarily complex and inflexible. After repeated listening tests I concluded that any kind of IR or alogorithmic cab simulation actually makes the hex distortion sound worse, and offered virtually no benefits, besides a fixed low pass filter (that was usually set way too low).

I even tried comparing the direct 6Appeal signal to a mic'd Mesa/Boogie guitar cabinet and came to the same conclusion that the direct signal sounded superior. I use full frequency range pickups too, they have no high end roloff whatsoever, and despite all this extra high end, the direct unfiltered signal at 100% distortion is totally useable. It is certainly very bright, a lot like a supersaw synth sound, but it is not harsh or unpleasant.

To tame the high end of hexaphonic distortion, it is much  more musical and logical to use a resonant low pass filter. The 6Appeal has a stereo resonant low pass filter built in and sounds awesome. I control the cutoff frequency with a MIDI expression pedal (Source Reflex) and this gives me extremely flexible control over the timbre of my guitar at all times. I use it exactly the same way that you would use a filter on a synth. This adds a whole new dimension to guitar playing in general that makes that instrument much more interesting and useful.

chrish

#24
Quote from: Brak(E)man on July 08, 2017, 12:28:08 PM
Should I buy one ?

And how is the sound straight into PA or Daw ?
Do I need a guitar amp sim?
yes you should buy one and demo it. I run mine into a mixer and send it out to whatever effects I need to. Mix  wet and dry to taste at the mixer channels .

Then it goes to a stereo micro tube power amplifier. I don't find I need an amp Sim because of the tube amp.

From there I run into 2-15 closed back jbl's with tweeters.



I also like to run a parallel chain of either the VG 99 or a clean signal from another analog preamp.

The VG 99 works good with this pedal in a parallel chain because it can provide a midi note on message to the spicetone in order to trigger the adsr envelope.

The thing is basically an analogue guitar synth with 6 note polyphonic capabilities.

Well actually 7 because there is a mono Channel input in addition to the 6 channels from the 13 pin input.



The wave shaper inside is of course distortion for this pedal, but you can also modulate a clean tone (sine wave) from the guitar using the overdrive setting and just turning down the drive and gain. (The actual clean setting does not pass that signal through to any of the synth parameters, if I remember correctly)

So I guess it could be thought of of having a sine, a pulse and a Sawtooth wave as well as a double distortion wave to work with through the filters and modulators.

This is from the white paper which is definitely worth reading from the website.

This pedal " delivers three kinds of Overdrive/distortion which we call overdrive, Crunch, and fuzz. The overdrive setting is the smoothest one. The crunch adds some asymmetrical processing and makes even-number harmonic's level higher (in synth terms it takes a pulse signal closer to Sawtooth). The fuzz is a double Distortion and the strongest one in sense of distorted signal."

As mentioned in the o p there is however a learning curve to getting at the parameters from the box itself.

I haven't tried the software editor that is supplied by spicetone because I don't have a 64-bit operating system, but that would be the way to go for editing the pedal.

The only things I wish this pedal had were and on off switch and a selector switch so the 13 pin input could be passed on through to the 13 pin output.

Right now the 13 pin output is setup to pass through the effected signal (which can also be clean).

It does some interesting things when you put that 13 pin output from the pedal into the input of a GR-50 and have the GR50 trigger a midi tone module.

A highly distorted wave from the spicetone, along with analog noise produce so many sustained midi false triggers
from the tone module it's an effect onto itself.

I've also experimented with running the pedal 13 pin output into a vg 8.

But what is really needed is for this company to put out another hex pedal.