Mystery Tour Effect

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konradh
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2014/12/31 19:33:29 (permalink)

Mystery Tour Effect

If you have a copy of The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour, please listen to how the background vocals sound starting at about 0:10: "Roll up.  Roll up for the mystery tour."
 
The vocals sound flanged by without the comb filtering.  It sounds as though someone simply dragged the tape reel.
 
How would one do that in Sonar?  And if it requires a purchased plug-in, what would you recommend?
 
I did this to a synth sound in a studio a long time ago using a hardware effect.  I don't remember if it was an Eventide Harmonizer or something called a "Time Machine."

Konrad
Current album and more: http://www.themightykonrad.com/

Sonar X1d Producer. V-Studio 700. PC: Intel i7 CPU 3.07GHz, 12 GB RAM. Win 7 64-bit. RealGuitar, RealStrat, RealLPC, Ivory II, Vienna Symphonic, Hollywood Strings, Electr6ity, Acoustic Legends, FabFour, Scarbee Rick/J-Bass/P-Bass, Kontakt 5. NI Session Guitar. Boldersounds, Noisefirm. EZ Drummer 2. EZ Mix. Melodyne Assist. Guitar Rig 4. Tyros 2, JV-1080, Kurzweil PC2R, TC Helicon VoiceWorks+. Rode NT2a, EV RE20. Presonus Eureka.  Rokit 6s. 
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    Lynn
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    Re: Mystery Tour Effect 2014/12/31 19:56:55 (permalink)
    I see you're still on X1d, so give the Sonitus modulator a try.  It comes pretty close, and is, at least, quite usable.  Even Cakewalk has some useful modulation effects in their line of direct x f/x.

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    #2
    benjaminfrog
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    Re: Mystery Tour Effect 2014/12/31 20:15:16 (permalink)
    Although it's still not cheap, UAD's ATR-102 is on sale till midnight for $120 off the usual price, and it has separate controls for wow and flutter (unlike a lot of tape emulations, which couple them if the incorporate them at all). The "wow" effect may be just what you're looking for. Not sure if you're a UAD guy, but, if you are and you don't already have it, it's a great plug. I'd highly recommend it.

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    #3
    jih64
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    Re: Mystery Tour Effect 2014/12/31 23:55:20 (permalink)
    Have a look at Waves Reel ADT, it might do the trick you are looking for :)
    You can get the demo for 7 days, it's on sale now for $99, but you can get it for cheaper at Plugindiscounts, $85 if I recall correctly. but not for much longer.
     
    It's not something you would probably use every day, but when you want it to do what it does, it's a real beauty :) Love it, check it out
     
    www.waves.com/plugins/reel-adt#butch-vig-billy-bush-reel-adt
     
    Watch the video
    #4
    konradh
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    Re: Mystery Tour Effect 2015/01/01 01:51:33 (permalink)
    All good suggestions, thanks!
     
    I was about to buy ADT anyway for other reasons, so I may have a walt of options.
     
    Not sure why, but I always liked that vocal effect on MMT, although it is not something you'd want to overuse.  I thought about using that effect on on one song on a concept album I just finished, but the arrangement for that song was so dense, the effect might have gone unnoticed.  I'll find it place for it in a new song where the vocals are more exposed.

    Konrad
    Current album and more: http://www.themightykonrad.com/

    Sonar X1d Producer. V-Studio 700. PC: Intel i7 CPU 3.07GHz, 12 GB RAM. Win 7 64-bit. RealGuitar, RealStrat, RealLPC, Ivory II, Vienna Symphonic, Hollywood Strings, Electr6ity, Acoustic Legends, FabFour, Scarbee Rick/J-Bass/P-Bass, Kontakt 5. NI Session Guitar. Boldersounds, Noisefirm. EZ Drummer 2. EZ Mix. Melodyne Assist. Guitar Rig 4. Tyros 2, JV-1080, Kurzweil PC2R, TC Helicon VoiceWorks+. Rode NT2a, EV RE20. Presonus Eureka.  Rokit 6s. 
    #5
    Prenomen
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    Re: Mystery Tour Effect 2015/01/01 03:11:12 (permalink)
    I bought new pc i5 with windows 7 and I installed Sonar X2, my problem is that my cd drivers for M-Audio 1010LT is failing to install, how can I get drivers for my sound card 1010LT for windows 7? I even visted M-Audio website they dont have it. pls help
    #6
    jih64
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    Re: Mystery Tour Effect 2015/01/01 03:28:36 (permalink)
    Prenomen
    I bought new pc i5 with windows 7 and I installed Sonar X2, my problem is that my cd drivers for M-Audio 1010LT is failing to install, how can I get drivers for my sound card 1010LT for windows 7? I even visted M-Audio website they dont have it. pls help



    Hi, that's a strange way to get the 'Mystery Tour' effect 
     
    You really should have started in a new thread you mightn't have got noticed in this one, anyway, I have 4 Delta 1010's, not 1010lt's but anyway.
     
    It depends on whether you have 32 or 64 bit, and also whether you have SP1 installed or not. But you can use the driver for the Delta Audiophile 2496, it will use the same driver in most cases, Just make sure when you click to download the driver you choose, check on the next page that loads, and it will tell you which cards the driver supports under driver information, make sure the LT is listed there, then go down to the bottom and download the file.
    #7
    mettelus
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    Re: Mystery Tour Effect 2015/01/01 08:21:25 (permalink)
    I listened to this several times and not entirely convinced that this is not done in a more simple manner. There are a few things at play here - multiple voices, delay/chorus (static comb filtering), and reverb.
     
    The "up" specifically reminded me of something I did unintentionally on one of my very first 4-track recordings with a friend. We had set out to make chord progressions, lyrics, and record to tape an entire song in one sitting (c. 1989) using a Fostex 4-track. When we recorded the vocals, since the melody was more somber, I ended on a note an octave below where he did, but then ramped that note up an octave to match him... turned out this "effect" sounded damn cool, so I did it two more times, and that was how it stayed. The "up" from that phrase reminds me a lot of this, and made me think that with delay/reverb that 4-track tape would sound similar (if I could ever find it).
     
    I think the "up" is the result of the multiple voicings more than tape speed, which may be possible by duplicating a chorus track multiple times and using Melodyne (but never used Melodyne to pitch shift smoothly across several semi-tones... not sure how good it is with this). It seems that "effect" is a pitch shift in one voice (not all), similar to my experience long ago.
     
    I still have a Tascam 424 Porta Studio under this desk, so will do a quick search to see if I can find that tape today. All the labels from tapes that old have fallen off, but that "effect" sounds so much like an intentional pitch shift by the singer, rather than tape speed... reasons are that the "timing" matches, and it is not "all" of the voices. I think timing struck me more than anything, since this would be a clearer indicator, but never underestimate the human voice "all by itself."
     
    Edit: This is the source I was listening to - http://youtu.be/n4_TXuU9ars As I started playing other tapes in the background (the great "4-track hunt"), this comes across more and more as simply delay/reverb. The multiple voices is adding a dynamic to the track that requires multiple takes of the same phrase. As I have more background noise running, it is harder to detect any other effects on this phrasing.
    post edited by mettelus - 2015/01/01 10:02:10

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    #8
    bitflipper
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    Re: Mystery Tour Effect 2015/01/01 11:37:11 (permalink)
    To my ear, the effect is the obvious application of flanged tape machines. You can clearly hear a pitch shift, the result of somebody's thumb on the reel's flange. The album was recorded just prior to (or perhaps during the development of) Ken Townsend's ADT, which is  based on the same physical principle except that it doesn't rely on the imprecision of someone's thumb. That "roll up" effect most likely stemmed from his experiments with dual tape machines.


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    konradh
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    Re: Mystery Tour Effect 2015/01/01 15:00:11 (permalink)
    Thanks, Bitflipper. It did sound like "thumb on the flange" to me, but less of a doubling than a pitch fluctuation: so, you're probably right that Ken T was still experimenting.  It must have been exciting times: the best engineers in the world, an unlimited studio budget, and very creative writers and musicians.  (Not to mention Sir George Martin.)
     
    By the way, I bought and installed Reel ADT last night (which I think will most likely provide a different type of sound), but it is not operating at all.  I am about to open a separate thread.
     
    Thanks again.

    Konrad
    Current album and more: http://www.themightykonrad.com/

    Sonar X1d Producer. V-Studio 700. PC: Intel i7 CPU 3.07GHz, 12 GB RAM. Win 7 64-bit. RealGuitar, RealStrat, RealLPC, Ivory II, Vienna Symphonic, Hollywood Strings, Electr6ity, Acoustic Legends, FabFour, Scarbee Rick/J-Bass/P-Bass, Kontakt 5. NI Session Guitar. Boldersounds, Noisefirm. EZ Drummer 2. EZ Mix. Melodyne Assist. Guitar Rig 4. Tyros 2, JV-1080, Kurzweil PC2R, TC Helicon VoiceWorks+. Rode NT2a, EV RE20. Presonus Eureka.  Rokit 6s. 
    #10
    bitflipper
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    Re: Mystery Tour Effect 2015/01/02 10:38:37 (permalink)
    I've not had much luck with ADT plugins in the past. Too much "artificial" in the output, and they don't sound at all like real double-tracking.
     
    I've been meaning to try an experiment, which could theoretically come closer to the real thing: use two tape delay plugins in parallel. Any tape delay that has pitch modulation should be able to pull it off. I'm thinking the new Imperial Delay might do the trick, or the Tritik delay, or maybe Timeless2, all of which feature pitch modulation (although Timeless doesn't give much control over it). The idea is to just use the wow and flutter feature without much actual delay, simulating the old school method of running the signal through two tape machines and modulating the vari-speed.


    All else is in doubt, so this is the truth I cling to. 

    My Stuff
    #11
    konradh
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    Re: Mystery Tour Effect 2015/01/02 15:50:49 (permalink)
    Let us know how your experiment goes.  In my very short trial with the Abbey Road Reel ADT, it sounded fairly authentic but I need to work with it a bit more.  I almost never like default settings on anything.
     
    I can get decent results with my TC Helicon Voice Works+ but you can hear glitches sometimes.
     
    So far, I have been actually doubling voices by singing them twice and making a few Melodyne tweaks, if needed.  I will be interested to see how well Reel ADT works because it could save a lot of time and work (which was Lennon's/Townsend's motivation originally).

    Konrad
    Current album and more: http://www.themightykonrad.com/

    Sonar X1d Producer. V-Studio 700. PC: Intel i7 CPU 3.07GHz, 12 GB RAM. Win 7 64-bit. RealGuitar, RealStrat, RealLPC, Ivory II, Vienna Symphonic, Hollywood Strings, Electr6ity, Acoustic Legends, FabFour, Scarbee Rick/J-Bass/P-Bass, Kontakt 5. NI Session Guitar. Boldersounds, Noisefirm. EZ Drummer 2. EZ Mix. Melodyne Assist. Guitar Rig 4. Tyros 2, JV-1080, Kurzweil PC2R, TC Helicon VoiceWorks+. Rode NT2a, EV RE20. Presonus Eureka.  Rokit 6s. 
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