Noisegate and ethics

[frankfalbo]

Re: Noisegate and ethics

Oh yeah absolutely when I have extra noise in my signal chain from flourescent lights, or transformers, single coils, etc. I just adjust my playing technique to compensate for that. It's all in the fingers, man. You have to pick a certain way, and then with the fleshy part of your palm yOf course it's not cheating! How can I adjust my playing technique to get rid of 60 cycle hum? What, do I have to spin around 60 times per second or something? Maybe I should play from the middle of an open field, with that $500 cable back to the amp. Gates are technological devices meant to improve the performance of other technological devices. They can be cranked to manipulate the attack and decay of a note, or dialed down to leave all the "nuance" and remove the noise. Either way, have fun!
:banana: :dance:

 

[SpiderVenom]

Re: Noisegate and ethics

The threshold is set to the point where the slight vibration of open or almost open strings is suppressed. It would be used to compensate for poor muting technique in one or both hands. It is horrible because it supresses a lot of stuff that you do want to hear and severely limits your use of dynamics. I played along side a guy who tried to use a gate for this and it was just horrid. It's horrible, but it can be done.

Ah, I get it. It is an annoying aspect of high gain playing - I might be attacking the 1st and 2nd strings fairly heavily, and it'll get my low E vibrating a bit, etc. But you'd have to be insane to use a noise gate to fix that - like you said, it'd almost wreck your playing.

 

[iekobrid]

Re: Noisegate and ethics

do I have to spin around 60 times per second or something?

I have to sometimes, but only because I tend to wander in absentminded circles while I practice.


Friend: "Hold on. Turn clockwise seven times."

{guitar cable gets even more snarled on itself}

'Friend': "Huh, I guess it should have been counterclockwise."

:smack:

 

[Jay 77]

Re: Noisegate and ethics

The noise gate comes in handy if you play high gain stuff with lots of stops. No matter how much you mute everything, you'll still be creating noise if you have your amp gain on 10 and an overdrive pushing it even harder. It sure beats having to stomp on the overdrive to shut it off & then do it again when the song resumes. Just set the threshold to a proper level so you don't lose the feeling of the notes, just the unwanted junk that has nothing to do with your playing.

 

[CGord]

Re: Noisegate and ethics

If using an effect is cheating, then using any effect is cheating. Like somebody said earlier, using an electric guitar would be cheating, using amplification would be cheating, etc, etc, etc. It's a baseless premise.

 

[TheArchitect]

Re: Noisegate and ethics

From my perspective, if I'm trying to reduce or eliminate noise that I could theoretically eliminate myself through better technique, I can see how some would regard it as being kinda cheating.

But noise gates are on or off. If you are actually playing then there is enough signal to open the gate. Once its open everything somes through. I don't see how it could clean up anything unless you stop playing.

 

[TheArchitect]

Re: Noisegate and ethics

From my perspective, if I'm trying to reduce or eliminate noise that I could theoretically eliminate myself through better technique, I can see how some would regard it as being kinda cheating.

But noise gates are on or off. If you are actually playing then there is enough signal to open the gate. Once its open everything somes through. I don't see how it could clean up anything unless you stop playing.

 

[HamerPlyr]

Re: Noisegate and ethics

But noise gates are on or off. If you are actually playing then there is enough signal to open the gate. Once its open everything somes through. I don't see how it could clean up anything unless you stop playing.

Depends on what you mean by "playing". If you stop playing the notes that you intended to play and an open or partially open string accidentally vibrates slightly, the threshold can be set high enough for the amount of signal generated by the slightly vibrating string(s) to be supressed. While you're actively playing, those strings are mostly drowned out by the notes that are being intentionally played.

Again- I don't endorse or utilize the practice, but I've seen others do it (or try, at least).

I think that we're getting farther and farther away from the intent of the original question.

 

[LesStrat]

Re: Noisegate and ethics

I see the noise gate as useful for eliminating unnecessary hum/buzz in the signal chain. I am NOT suggesting that it be used to stop sound from the strings vibrating.

 

[Tux789]

Re: Noisegate and ethics

of course it is dependant on the amp, its my understanding that peavey amps have rather noisy circuits so many players use a noise gate to combat the excessive noise

 

[nuntius]

Re: Noisegate and ethics

If you want to eliminate string noise when you're not playing, just turn your volume pot down, it takes less than half a second to do so.

Personally, I find noise gates essential for high gained stuff. There's no way I'd use my strat or my P90 Godin with high gain and not use a noise gate, especially when recording

 

[guitarist6614]

Re: Noisegate and ethics

In no way is it cheating. A lot of people use them and they are probably not capable of covering up anything really. Besides these days people just cover up there bad playing with unbelievably distorted power chords that anyone off the street can play. cheers:banana: :dance:

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Noisegate and ethics

Maybe just stomp the noisegate pedal when you stop playing, and stomp it again when you start up again.

 

[Jay 77]

Re: Noisegate and ethics

Finally picked up a noisegate tonight & it's a godsend for stops under high gain + overdrive. Doesn't change my sound otherwise. I love it, and people in the audience will too - no more crazy buzzing under high gain!

 

[Dr.Mavashi]

Re: Noisegate and ethics

Ok guys thanks a lot, you gave a lot of valid perspectives. How about this,
did Randy Rhoads, Yingwie, Lynch, Satch, Vai, Zakk or Chris Oliva use noisgates?

 

[Mephis]

Re: Noisegate and ethics

How can a noise gate mask sloppy playing? Mine exggerates it. But the benefits of not having to constantly grab for the volume knob make it worth it.

Mine friggin kick ass, and for what I paid it should be! it follows your playing perfectly and only cuts notes off if you're playing very fast. (Notherwords, it gives you unlimited sustain when you want it, and closes the gate faster when you're playing fast.)

 

[Dr.Mavashi]

Re: Noisegate and ethics

Ok guys thanks a lot, you gave a lot of valid perspectives. How about this,
did Randy Rhoads, Yingwie, Lynch, Satch, Vai, Zakk or Chris Oliva use noisgates?
anyone, anyone ???

 

[HamerPlyr]

Re: Noisegate and ethics

If you're asking if they used or use a noise gate to tame a noisy rig, I'm betting that the answer would be "yes" for all of them.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Noisegate and ethics

i use a noise gate after a reverb thats 100% wet for some freaky gated reverb sounds- very fun!
I could never get it to sound natural enough for normal playing, though, but my 'normal' guitar playing sound isn't very noisy to use one anyway.