Harmonic Tremolo - why the fuss?
- Telliot
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Re: Harmonic Tremolo - why the fuss?
Harmonic tremolo is my favorite tremolo, but I tend to play mostly clean and the subtle nature of the effect adds nice movement and texture. It’s just more complex to my ears and unlike anything else.
The cool thing about fretless is you can hit a note...and then renegotiate.
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Re: Harmonic Tremolo - why the fuss?
It's my favorite tremolo.
It doesn't sound like a Univibe to me... but it does sound a bit more lush and complex than a normal bias-vary tremolo (which can be very good), and is much nicer than an optical tremolo (black/silver-panel style) to me for almost everything.
"Harmonic vibrato" was always a bad name, and the Univibe comparison is pretty misleading as well.
Basically, it splits the signal into high-end and low-end, and amplitude-modulates those two bands out of phase with each other. This is a pretty cool thing unlike anything else, but it's still fundamentally an amplitude-modulation tremolo... just a very rich, interesting and unique one
- fuzzjunkie
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Re: Harmonic Tremolo - why the fuss?
The Roger Mayer Voodoo Vibe is one of my favorite pedals and has been on my board longest despite its giant size.
It has 3 functions: tremolo, vibrato, and chorus, based on a lightbulb circuit. There are 3 waveforms as well.
Obviously the tremolo is a Blackface Fender style optical tremolo. The chorus is the Univibe, but it has a lot more controls than a standard Vibe pedal, symmetry and bias being very important to the sound, along with the waveform. It can also go much slower, so you can get a number of Harmonic Tremolo type sounds out of it. I actually use it more for that than for Univibe and the optical Tremolo is top notch too.
It has 3 functions: tremolo, vibrato, and chorus, based on a lightbulb circuit. There are 3 waveforms as well.
Obviously the tremolo is a Blackface Fender style optical tremolo. The chorus is the Univibe, but it has a lot more controls than a standard Vibe pedal, symmetry and bias being very important to the sound, along with the waveform. It can also go much slower, so you can get a number of Harmonic Tremolo type sounds out of it. I actually use it more for that than for Univibe and the optical Tremolo is top notch too.
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Re: Harmonic Tremolo - why the fuss?
Hmmm, I've always loved the sound of the Catalinbread Pareidolia in demos, but never realised that it was a harmonic tremolo (or even that such a thing exists).
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- thegreatbigsby
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Re: Harmonic Tremolo - why the fuss?
I really don't get why a lot of demoers only seem to be interested in "wild" settings, which is a gripe I have with 90% of demos of pretty much anything.
This here is a pretty good example of a subtle sound. At times, it could also be a bias trem. What I really like about harmonic or a good bias trem is that, when you dig in, it almost seems to disappear, only to fade back in slowly when the notes decay.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhB6s20xYN4
(Phil Cook is an avid Flint user.)
This here is a pretty good example of a subtle sound. At times, it could also be a bias trem. What I really like about harmonic or a good bias trem is that, when you dig in, it almost seems to disappear, only to fade back in slowly when the notes decay.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhB6s20xYN4
(Phil Cook is an avid Flint user.)
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Re: Harmonic Tremolo - why the fuss?
Yes, one of many things about these tremolo topologies... and a sneaky one that might be elusive to duplicate exactlythegreatbigsby wrote: ↑Tue Oct 04, 2022 9:29 amWhat I really like about harmonic or a good bias trem is that, when you dig in, it almost seems to disappear, only to fade back in slowly when the notes decay.
- jthomas
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Re: Harmonic Tremolo - why the fuss?
I have a Flint and really wanted to like the harmonic trem, but the whomp-whomp-whomp just sounds odd. The cut off is too severe and trying to adjust the speed of the trem doesn't make up for the cut-off. I have not tried any other harmonic trem, and maybe there is some other pedal or outrigger that would sound better to my ear.
EDIT: Just listened to the Phil Cook video. Really good stuff. Maybe the key to using harmonic tremolo is to not try for a very slow trem which I likle sith bias anbd roach trems.
EDIT: Just listened to the Phil Cook video. Really good stuff. Maybe the key to using harmonic tremolo is to not try for a very slow trem which I likle sith bias anbd roach trems.
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Re: Harmonic Tremolo - why the fuss?
I had an EQD Night Wire harmonic tremolo for a while. Great pedal, but somehow didn't quite do it for me. Too sweet or something.
Now I use a Fairfield Randy's Revenge ring modulator. It's not technically a harmonic tremolo, but it covers a lot of the same ground and more (well, ring modulation). More of a vibey tremolo I guess? It's also a lot more intuitive to control than the Night Wire. I think any good ring mod pedal would make for an excellent harmonic tremolo pedal.
The optical tremolo in my black panel Fender (AB763) rarely gets used. It's a one trick pony; instant Bo Diddley. It's a great, but limiting trick.
Now I use a Fairfield Randy's Revenge ring modulator. It's not technically a harmonic tremolo, but it covers a lot of the same ground and more (well, ring modulation). More of a vibey tremolo I guess? It's also a lot more intuitive to control than the Night Wire. I think any good ring mod pedal would make for an excellent harmonic tremolo pedal.
The optical tremolo in my black panel Fender (AB763) rarely gets used. It's a one trick pony; instant Bo Diddley. It's a great, but limiting trick.
- bubba899
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Re: Harmonic Tremolo - why the fuss?
I'll echo the perspective that it's the subtle movement that does it for me. Regular Trem is also great obviously but I like that to be more present in the mix. There's something about the harmonic setting on the Flint, where you set it so it's almost imperceptibly there, that just suits me perfectly.
- del
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Re: Harmonic Tremolo - why the fuss?
I use this sort of setting with the Caroline Parabola, too. And then that pedal's "havoc" footswitch can be engaged to momentarily increase speed and depth when a more dominant effect is warranted.
And that pedal also has a more conventional amplitude-modulation setting that can really bring on the chop when that's what you're looking for!
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- bubba899
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Re: Harmonic Tremolo - why the fuss?
I've never tried Caroline pedals, but every time I see a demo I realize I should change this. Thanks for the tip!del wrote: ↑Wed Oct 05, 2022 9:25 amI use this sort of setting with the Caroline Parabola, too. And then that pedal's "havoc" footswitch can be engaged to momentarily increase speed and depth when a more dominant effect is warranted.
And that pedal also has a more conventional amplitude-modulation setting that can really bring on the chop when that's what you're looking for!
- garyfanclub
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Re: Harmonic Tremolo - why the fuss?
Yep, 100%.bubba899 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 05, 2022 5:24 amI'll echo the perspective that it's the subtle movement that does it for me. Regular Trem is also great obviously but I like that to be more present in the mix. There's something about the harmonic setting on the Flint, where you set it so it's almost imperceptibly there, that just suits me perfectly.
I'll use the Harmonic setting when I want to accentuate some arpeggios when playing up high on the neck, works perfectly for that kind of thing - almost sounds like an electric piano with the right voicings and tone settings. Doesn't work in every situation, but when it's good, it's really good.
If I just want subtle movement I'll go with the bias setting, unobtrusive but adds some lushness and movement without being overbearing. Perfect for playing behind vocals or when there's a lot happening in the song/mix.
- pj
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Re: Harmonic Tremolo - why the fuss?
I like that it kind of sits between Univibe and regular trem.
- blacktiger
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Re: Harmonic Tremolo - why the fuss?
As many have already said, if you haven’t heard it on a ‘60s brownface Fender, you haven’t really heard it. I’ve listened to a lot of pedal demos, and none of them really had that sound. I don’t think the circuit in the amps sounds anything like a univibe. It’s definitely trem, just with a little more wobble to it. It’s got a depth and complexity that I haven’t heard in the pedals. All my actual Brownface amps are long gone, and I’d love to have that sound in a pedal, but I haven’t heard one that does it.
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