VG-99 - Patch Creation / Programming Examples

[sixeight]

In the early VG-99 days, I did hear and save a couple of these clips. Very inspiring. But I have never been able to recreate the sounds.

I agree on the amp tones. They sound a bit dated, though at the time Bill Ruppert's amp tones were better than mine. But the synth tones are really great. I love the VG99/Helix combo. I really have the best of both worlds. A VG99/AxeFX III combo may sound even better. Not sure about the midi control possibilities of the AxeFX.

[aliensporebomb]

Remember this demo dates back a decade so a decade of musical development and a decade of amp tones have come and gone.
I'm sure anything he did today would be right on.  We have more tools now too but I've got a couple of 99 overdriven patches that work for me.
Bill did get the Stevie Ray Vaughan style tones down that's for sure.

Getting back to convincing 99 overdriven sounds:

You want the amp trick???
Here it is.
And I say this as the box is ending its production.

Clean use the cln twin with a advanced comp and two eq's.
For a med gain its a clean twin amp model with the natural od in front.
Use the custom speaker option in the amp. Use eq to taste...dont be afraid to use several eq's as it adds phase notching like a speaker
Marshall amp...use the MS1959(1) with the boost overdrive in front.
Here USE two eq's.
Metal sound...what do you think?
Hint its what you think.

The rest of the amps...eh

And what I've found on distortion sounds:
I picked up a trick from Per Haar on using the metal lead amp because he used it on the GR-55 with the HH strat on his rc-300 demo and I liked the sound (but watch the high end, it can be a bit harsh unless you tame the higher end contours).   The 99 doesn't have the HH strat but I use it in a patch with Cosm Guitar A with a Les Paul and B with a classic strat and the sound is an aggregate of both.

https://aliensporebomb.bandcamp.com/track/new-century
This track I did recently has the metal lead amp with the EQ highs -3 db on the total eq and -4 on the actual amp itself.
There's a lot of VG-99 synth pad and string sounds in this track too.

[aliensporebomb]

Here's the pump organ patch - the controls to make it more pump organ like were right in front of my face.
And, I made mine a little more dull in tone to make it sound more like an old time pump organ - less timbrally rich.

-For realism, I find playing with your fingers with your picking hand around the 17th-18th fret produces more realistic rounded timbre.
-For my own purposes I used my thumb to keep the bass line going.
-Pay attention to the slow attack on the notes and realize guitaristic voicings and picked notes by the bridge will just make it sound like a guitar through a weird effect.
-Play at slow relaxed tempos or that slow attack will trip you up.
-Keep your dynamics at an even level.
-Enjoy!

[aliensporebomb]

Rather than completely aping the second patch in the demo, I used one of my own and added a new feature to it to add ridiculous pitch swoops.

This is probably the fourth or fifth variation of this patch since I created it many moons ago.

It's the Pod Luxe Orchestra patch 2019 version with pitch swoops.  I've got it connected to the ribbon controller instead of the FC-300 since not everyone can afford or have the FC-300.   Although, all you have to do is edit the patch to suit if you do have one. 

And yes, again:

This sound is two Les Pauls and clean amps, plus processing

.

[aliensporebomb]

After today I'm thinking rather than imitating specific sounds from Bill's demo, I'd like to turn this into a VG-99 programming thread where we discuss various sounds:

Guitars (all kinds acoustic and electric)
Bass (both strung and synth)
Synths (analog and digital sounds + mellotron)
Organs (various types)
Other strung instruments such as banjo, violin, etc
Percussion sounds
Ship Horns and other sound effects.

The demand for this info on a 10 year old processor is low but I figure there's a big enough brain trust here to come up with just about any sound we might need right?

[aliensporebomb]

Sorry all - I've been out sick with the crud - I'll be back to this soon.  I've thought about some specific patches in the patch exchange which might be a good jumping off point for your patch explorations - take an existing patch, see how it was built to create some of your own.

[alexmcginness]

Sorry all - I've been out sick with the crud.

African or European Crud?