How do I get an emphasized "click" effect at the beginning of my guitar signal?

Question

I use a magnetic pickup to run my guitar signal through an Electro-Harmonix Super Ego granular synthesizer. It works great but there are times when I want to add a Hammond Organ B9-like "click"--not a dry guitar note--to the very beginning edge of a guitar note to be able to show where the beat is a bit better. The Electro Harmonix C9 pedal has this feature but I'd rather save myself a couple of hundred bucks.

For folks who don't know how a super-ego pedal works, you can mix the dry and effected signal in the output. What I'm looking for is a way to emphasize without a tone the initial attack of the guitar. Sort of like a Tic Tac Bass, only done electronically.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

You are using a synthesiser to generate your sound, so if the synthesiser doesn't have the feature you like then there isn't a lot you can do.

The C9 you mention does provide it so your best bet is to get one of them. You may be able to get a part exchange on your current synth, or possibly sell it and make a profit.

Answer 2

There is a type of compressor called a "Transient processor" that can drop or accentuate any sudden changes in velocity, most commonly drum hits. If you can find a guitar pedal one then you can add this to your live guitar sound and adjust it to only let through the "transients" which will be a click. Then mix it in with your synthesized sound.

Answer 3

It's not straightforward to process a guitar sound into a click with traditional effects - so the click sound would probably have to be triggered separately.

One way to do this live would be to split your signal before you go into the superego and route one branch of your signal into a guitar-to-MIDI converter (something like a Sonuus G2M, which is available quite cheaply, or an i2M) and trigger a sound via MIDI on a computer or sound module. There's likely to be some latency, and of course there may be some investment there - but on the plus side, you're not limited to a click sound.

If you're only playing slow passages, you could probably quite cheaply rig up a footswitch that would make an electronic click that you could tap as you played a note! You might also be able to find a drum machine with a pedal input that could be set up to do this.

Answer 4

I'll leave the question unanswered for awhile to see if there are any other suggestions. I like the idea of a Transient Processor but I don't have one of those and they may be more expensive than a C9.

In the meantime, I'll:

• split the guitar signal before the SuperEgo
• run one line into the SuperEgo
• run the other line into a Boss GE-3 amp pedal with the high frequency pegged up and the other frequencies suppressed
• combine the two lines after the SuperEgo.

It's not perfect because the "click" will have pitch, but it's the best I can do for now.