Using the R3 with external fx

musikmachine · Post by **musikmachine** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 12:48 pm

Before i bought the R3 i saw a video on youtube of a guy playing the synth through an electro harmonix pedal which had a tube and planned to try it at some point. Anyway i picked up a pedal for it yesterday with a tube and have been running the R3 through it today and it's quite a transformation. Just running the oscillators with no fx sounds great and i can get some really nasty bass out of it. :evil

It's much quicker to find a useable sound without using the fx so it's given the synth a new lease of life and a lot more scope for sound design. The pedal is an akai shred-o-matic which is a tube/solid state hybrid distortion. You can switch between tube/ solid state or mix the two together so it's capable of a wide range of tones. Apparently they were blowing them out a while ago and you could pick one up for $50. Don't seem to be many about but worth grabbing if you can find one. I think it's worth putting it through a tube pre or some pedals if you're not totally happy with the sound. I know one crticism is that it sounds too clean. Well the pedal has taken care of that. It know sounds more like it's predecessor, the microkorg.

spencer vex · Post by **spencer vex** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 8:51 pm

im planning on running my R3 through my KP3 and then into an electro harmonix 2880.

once i get the R3 of course...

musikmachine · Post by **musikmachine** » Sun Feb 01, 2009 4:39 pm

That will no doubt open up a world of sonic possibilities. got me thinking about getting a mini kp now and running the right channel through that.

The pedal gives the R3 a nice edge that you can't really achieve with the built in fx, you can really dirty the sound up. It's a good pedal, really didn't know what to expect but gone is the nice polite sound of the R3.

I bought it to see if i could get a bit more grit out of the R3 as much as a test as anything else; i was contemplating getting an analog synth and part-xing the R3 but i like it overall, it's a good controller and the midi interface is really useful. The arp, mod sequencer and multi modelling make for a pretty versatile synth but it's maybe just a bit to clean and digital and the fx can only take it so far. Running it through the pedal has made a big difference.

So i'll keep the R3 and get a mopho if anything (i still have an itch for an analog synth), the two would maker a great combo.