Duane Eddy sound

[Jim]

I'm trying to setup my Genos for his Rebel Rouser song.  I've recorded that record and loaded it into my Genos to work it out.  So far, I'm using the Hoedown style at 106 tempo and using the Shadowed Guitar for the lead.  I'm having trouble finding a tremolo function to emulate that wonderful Duane Eddy sound.  I can't seem to find a setting in the Voice Edit section to do that for me.  I've tried the Modulation function but that didn't sound right.  Any help or ideas for a work-around would be appreciated.  Thanks much....

Jim

[mikf]

I am not sure exactly what you are trying to simulate, but what is often referred to as a tremolo arm in a guitar is actually bending pitch by moving the bridge, so pitch bend wheel is the way to go. Some people are good at this- the late Don Mason was a master, But I found it much easier to achieve using an expression pedal to control the pitch bend function rather than the wheel. And it needs to be subtle, it's almost more of a wah than actual tremolo if I am guessing properly what you are trying to emulate.
The setting of the pedal is key, set direction so that full pitch is full up. Set span to about 1.5 notes.
Then you slightly depress and release the pedal as you hit the note. Practice gets it right. And experiment with the pedal settings to suit you. Keep it subtle. You can also depress the pedal slightly more just before the note is hit, then release to simulate a guitar string bend.
Mike
Here is an example of me doing this many years ago using a pedal on a psr3000.
https://app.box.com/s/mv78f0klsu8wkrlz2o0sol958neyq2q5

[Jim]

Thanks very much, Mikf for your reply.  I'm familiar with Don Mason's playing and was sad to hear of his untimely death.  If you listen to Duane Eddy's Rebel Rouser song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGPG_Y-_BZI), you'll hear the tremolo that I'm trying to emulate.  Thanks again....

Jim

[mikf]

Jim - I and listened and this is real tremelo.. A completely different sound from what I thought you were wanting made by the tremelo arm and used in a lot of 60s guitar music. I am afraid I don't know how to produce that sound.
Mike

[RoyB]

If you watch videos of Duane Eddy playing this live, he uses the tremolo arm only occasionally. The story is that for the original recording in 1958, the sound was obtained by placing Eddy's speaker at one end of a large (empty) water tank and the microphone at the other end, and used it as an echo chamber.

A few years ago, I posted my recording of this on this forum, which is also on my PSRTutorial Performers page and my Youtube channel. I would not pretend that I got the sound perfect, and if I was doing it again today I would probably do it a bit differently, but you might want to try my settings as a starting point. These are (for my Tyros 5):-

Voice:    Tremolo Guitar (Tyros 5 Legacy voice)

Filters:  Harmonic Content +15 (79 on the scale 0-127); 
             Brightness + 63 (127 on the scale 0-127)

Effects: Modulation 71
            Reverb Hall 1 Value 127
            Chorus 6 Value 40

EQ:      High 40
            Low -40

+ modest use of Pitch Bend wheel while playing.

I started in the key of E in the octave below middle C, so you my want to use the transposition function to move the right hand part down an octave while playing.

Regards

Roy

[jwyvern]

Hi Jim,
If you want to persist with the Shadowed guitar you can assign a Genos modulation dsp Tremolo1 to it, editing LFO Freq to 5.72 with say AM at 66 and PM 6. That puts in a base level of modulation which is then enhanced if you require it by bringing in extra eg. Via the stick or a live control knob. Adjust the "Modulation+" section in the voice editor to suit (Amplitude and LFO AM, PM).
For extra short term emphasis you can also use After Touch (improved by editing AT Amplitude to 75 with LFO Pitch at 10 or whatever suits).
If you find the Shadowed guitar needs more presence you can assign a multi FX Dsp to it (eg. Legacy Comp+OD+Tmp Delay 4 works well). You might find that with this enhancement and adjustment to Controller settings the use of the stick provides sufficient modulation (without the need to also add the Tremolo1 Dsp).
John

[DrakeM]

I don't know what the Shadow guitar setup sounds like on the Genos as I have a PSR-S950 keyboard. I can get just about any guitar sound out of it I need, so I gave it shot at the sound you are looking for today.

Below is the guitar sound I came up with and the guitar clip is played over the Hoedown style which is in the second link.

Here is a clip of the Guitar set up sound:
https://app.box.com/s/lprk602td6c5vrqrc5p7inydk5fnjk88

Hoedown style with the Guitar set up in MAIN A:
https://app.box.com/s/g0b4vdf255u6d2iggjzlspvg2qmmna77

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This evening I sat down at the keyboard and add this guitar setup to the Country Strum style. I deleted the PAD. PHR1 and PHR2 slots and added some Sax voices into PHR1 and PHR2. Here is what I came up with:

https://app.box.com/s/yql3oxpp8pj3x9canm2nzk50nxzjiehj

Regards
Drake

[Jim]

Thanks again, Mike for your reply.  I've come pretty close now thanks to suggestions from Roy, John, and Drake.  I'm using the Legacy Tremolo Guitar 2 and, as best I could, with the suggested settings Roy and John mentioned.  I've also been looking for a style that better matches what Duane Eddy used so will try Drake's suggestion tomorrow since it sounds even closer to what I'm looking for than the Hoedown one does.  So thanks, Guys, for your very informative help.  I may get there yet!

Jim