Using overdrive creatively: preamps, pedals, plugins, test equipment 

All the distortion, none of the stray gamma radiation! Nice! That CR-4A's sounding really tight as hell, Hainbach. One little aside note that I'd mentioned to Hainbach about it that didn't make it into the video: you're actually looking at very early ARP equipment there. Or rather, ARP's founder, Alan R. Pearlman ran a firm which made scientific-grade op-amp modules, Nexus Research, and popping a CR-4A open reveals a pair of those Nexus modules at the core of the device. And yes, just like the ARP 2600 circuits, they're potted in little resin blocks. Later on, Princeton Applied Research became a division of the huge and not all that visible company EG&G...yeah, the same people who're the primary contractor for Area 51! So if you'd thought Hainbach was working with possible extraterrestrial tech...well, he may well be!

You write, I listen: this video does not only feature obscure analog hardware from abandoned nuclear facilities, but also readily available plugins! Well, one - but it's a good one.

Please make the "oh, hello, I didn't see you there" kind of intro a regular thing

"Oh hi, you caught me..." had a good laugh at that intro. Very PBS intro.

a nice trick if you want to get more distortion from analog mixers preamps, is to cranck the gain all the way up, take the direct out to another channel strip, and repeat the process 3 or 4 times to get those gabber kicks !

Fun fact: all steel after the detonation of the first nuclear bomb has minute amounts of radioactivity. Except for Geiger counters because they are made with "low background steel" which is a fancy word for steel taken from sunken ships prior to 1943. The reason for that is because the gamma and beta Rays don't penetrate that far underwater.

This channel is a gold mine! So glad I came across it. Thanks Hainbach

I like the distortion I get by driving some compressors input (mainly software Fairchild replicas and such). There was a record, where I used compressor a booster pedal for guitar in front of an amp sim, and I got really nice results. If I remember correctly, the opening track on NIN's Downward the Spiral, was additionally passed through an analog compressor for that drive effect.

My favorite thing about any gear with input is that it will have it's own unique sound when over-driven. From expensive things down to toys, each has it's own unique character that comes out when driven to distortion. So a I have a lot of things in my collection (like tape recorders) where their other functions don't work or I don't use them, just because I like the distortion. It's an area where cheaper things tend to have more character. Like you said: With the high-end preamplifiers, they don't have usually have a very exciting distortion. They're made to resist distortion.

I love the organised chaotic look you have going on

Yes...This! I use a 70's era Electro Voice BK-1232 mixer for just this purpose. Dirties up everything so wonderfully, EQs are brutal, plus comes with a killer spring reverb. I also have an old Allen & Heath from the same era getting serviced for the same use.

haha those headphones are huge

... und deshalb sollte man Videos immer ganz bis zum Schluß schauen xD Abgesehen davon war es wie immer sehr aufschlußreich! Hab sogleich an meinem kleinen Mixer mit dem Gain gespielt und war durchaus begeistert!

This answers all of my questions that I keep badgering you about in the comments! Thank you!

What is also fun is chaining channels. Take a 909 into ch.1 then take a lead from the direct out and patch it into ch.2. Repeat as desired. Making use of parametric EQs really adds to the complexity of the overdrive (it's worth emphasizing that the same EQ changes on ch.2 will sound totally different on ch.3). Just my two cents 😆

Great video! Showcases a lot of fun distortion methods, a few of which I've already taken notes on. One of my favorite things is overdriving the audio input on my Mono Station to the point where it slams into the filter. It's quite a fun way to get some fun overdrive, especially while cranking the resonance on the filter.

My favourite distortion, if you can call it that, is the plague bearer by Flight of Harmony, it just sounds so good especially on analog drums. They're really hard to get and only for modular, but if you ever find one buy one!

I use: Marshall Guv'nor from 1988 for distorting synths. Distortion is quite heavy on this one and cuts low frequencies. Also did some vocals with it - lovely. Maxxon Overdrive. Comparably 'easy' distortion, just lifting up the signal on synths. Elektron Analog Drive. My favorite pedal for distortions on synths. 8 different distortion models bring a lot possibilities. From "just a bit warmth" to total destruction of a signal. Works great to push drums as well.

Big fan of overdriving a gain stage in a pedal not explicitly designed for overdrive! Chase Bliss Warped Vinyl mk2 works great for this. Now you've got me thinking... Thanks for the inspiration, as always!

Intentional ‘misuse’, within eurorack, vcv rack or the iPad Moog model 15, I’ve found it useful to clip out AC signals by firing DC envelope pulses into coupled mixers & vca’s... to take that further, mult the signal out back in, after AM’ing it with the original AC signal to create constructive interference similar to the asymmetric, rectifying distortion and compression from tube amps... love your channel, stay well & healthy

So many oceans of distortion waiting to be discovered! Cheers, Hainbach. Nice pick up on the mixer, I like that you keep that radioactive unit for the overdrive capabilities, and man, that prototype pedal in the old boss enclosure is lit! And nice tape machines! Great video, man! I'm going to go distort some stuff!

Been so surprised when you mentioned Devi Ever pedal! So underrated company. Internet lacking an information about it! I own their Disaster Fuzz and it works great for some extreme effects on synths and drums, but mostly in combinations with more clean layers of sound.

Hainbach has such a calm, soothing voice.

When you love bitcrushing so much that you're willing to risk radiation poisoning...That's some real commitment right there.

Got myself a free Spirit mixer from a friend, and the overdrive kicks ASS

Du, und nur du allein, sollst am schönsten von allen sein.

Overdrive is such a great tool to make things more present and pronounced. I really love using the plug-in 'Decapitator' by Soundtoys for that sort of stuff

Pan Sonic in a box! What a recommendation for a distortion module!

0:09 Oh hey Hainbach, I didn't see you there! :D

Both of my favorite distortions are Fuzz pedals, the Zvex Fat Fuzz Factory, and the EHX Russian Big Muff reissue. The Zvex is so weird, and can even self oscilate, and become like an instrument of it’s own, or also dial down to add a little crunch, or make it sticky and wet sounding, or like velcro, and also like a bit crusher at times, it’s sometimes hard to handle, but once you get to know it, it’s worth every bit of the price. As for the russian big muff, it’s just a really good sounding fuzz, and handles bass frequencies really well.

The look on your face at end of video when you are speaking and suddenly a woman's voice starts to speak back in German out of nowhere is PRICELESS ! 💥💡💋👀❕

Oh wow, looking at the start of this video nowadays, and you can see wall! Like a time capsule witnessing the start of a mountain.

Quick point - the word "cymru" is pronounced like "kum-ree" and it's the word for "Welsh" in the Welsh language

Boss bx- series mixers has really wide range of overdrive & distortion when you crank the gain up. They are also very compact in size.

I own the Big Muff Pi distortion/fuzz and the amazingly destructive WMD Geiger Counter pedal. On my Moog Matriarch, the mixer module is based on a vintage circuit and you can turn up the overdrive on it, which has a bit of a distortion effect. Once again, you reveal to us very interesting equipment, and you are the Supreme Teacher of Obscure Gear. I'm so glad I discovered you, Hainbach. It's thrilling to follow your adventures with test equipment and nuclear devices. Soon you may even use that flame-controlled synthesizer, the jello controlled synth, and a mind-to-MIDI device like Soundmachines Brainterface!

3:13 that escalated quickly... thanks for teaching me something new while I'm stuck in lockdown

Experimenting with distortion can be very inspiring. I urge anyone to try and achieve distortion with pedals and other equipment not originally designed for it. An old Lexicon reverb? Overload the input and see if you like the effect. Another distortion/saturation effect I like is to take digital emulations of tape delays, put the delay as low as it goes, 100% wet and then play around with the other parameters. Especially the feedback can generate some really interesting results.

Hey super kauf 👍.. Ich habe mein soundcraft spirit e12 auch um die Ecke auf der Straße gekauft.. 200 €. Und das war das beste Schnäppchen überhaupt wie neu war er damals.. Man kann so viel rausholen mit ein gescheiten gain.. Danke für deine coolen Videos ✌️🇦🇹Grüße aus wien1210

Two other suggestions that I love for overdriving : - The mixer from the Tascam Porta 07 - Any of the Korg Monotrons ;)

Thank you, HAINBACH. You are a sonic adventurer. I love your sounds.

For guitars, I use a nanolog and gamechanger plasma. I think a very underrated synth with distortion built in is the Novation Bass Station II. I'm not going to claim its high fidelity, but I have an inexpensive yamaha analog mixer and use the gain knobs often to distort layers.

Amazing video! Lately I've been messing around with overdrive in my Digitone and one of my fave things to do is just pushing the resonance of the built in filter and messing around with internal gain until it smashed the sound in a beautiful way (specially if after that there's a chain full of spacial fx!) you can actually check some of these results in my channel :D and bonus tip talking about plugins: Vertigo VSM3 from Plugin Alliance. Supposed to be a mixing/mastering unit but once you push the whole thing for sound design... surprises happen!

I've found that pushing the output gain of a pultec emulation (namely acustica audio's free "Coffee The PUn") gives a really nice, overblown overdrive. Following it with some tube distortion is 👌👌👌

Loved the video! Those headphones though! wow😆

I stress the point of an analog mixer to my consulting clients TO NO END! It’s such a great tool to have at your disposal, even if it’s just a small mixer. Having an analog preamp and simple eq to smash with an input signal makes such a difference for tonal character.

Great video as always! One of my favourite overdrive sounds comes from overdriving transformer balanced preamps, like Neve and API style pre's.

you are hainbach, it is really really good to have you back 😂

don't know if it has been mentioned yet but the "Fuck overdrive" by Smallsound/bigsound is one of the only distortion pedals i like (i'm primarily a synth guy). the way the FOD makes use of crackling textures inspired by basinski makes it a great choice for ambient/experimental music

I just miss my DX200 shortwave. That is a great radio!

Hallo Hainbach ! Great sounds , majestic effects , another marvellous video , love it ! Funny thing today i was oversaturating some digital sounds through a few tapes , probably while you were posting *this* . ( but while i browsed the comment area , i noticed it is scam-spammed by at least 3 x "Tim" with its generic lines , 200+K subs and no videos ; plz mute or report that channel , their practices violate youtube regulations PLUS they distract from the valuable real comments ) Bleib gsund !

Hey Hainbach! Thanks for the video, I was just thinking about adding overdrive and distortion pedals to my setup yesterday! This came at a great time.

Ramsa (panasonic) answer to the MCI (sony) you got a great board there! Classic reggae and dub desk!

When I was in high school, before I had a good distortion pedal for my guitar, I used to overdrive a little mixer I found at a thrift store for like $10 to play metal.

definitely here for the "oh hello there" intro

Fantastic episode! Question... I had never heard about Permut8, and you’ve done a lovely episode on Quanta a while back... I know it’s not really your main thing, but would you consider doing an episode on your 10 favorite plugins sometime? You know, some of the weirder stuff... like Quanta and Permut8... plugins that inspire you. Please?? :) I’m sure we’d all stand to learn a lot from an episode like that... especially those of us that are fascinated by your approach to music making, but who can’t afford to dive into the test equipment world of gear.

so stoked on the channel, great stuff :D

I had been thinking it already, but then you happened to mention it: please, get some way to check if any of this stuff is radioactive.

Hi Hainbach, good to have you back, I hope this hasn't been already answered : I would really appreciate your insights about earing protection. Seeing you messing with all kinds of gears, pedals and such, makes me think you sure must have thought about some kind of safety net that would prevent your ears to explode whatever sound experimentation you're doing. Hope I made myself clear ! Thanks for what you're doing Cheers Paul

6:39 I got a old sorted out mixer yesterday, now I know why :)

Thanks. I'm going to keep watching you .I may learn what my stuff is doing 😂👍

Would be interested in a video about figuring out which test equipment could be used for effect purposes, how to figure out if it’s in good condition, where to find it, etc.

thanks for live set yesterday. magnifique

The smallsound/bigsound mini perfectly does William basinski-style crackle 😎

i want this pedal. Came back much much later just thinking about this pedal.

Now this I like, more distortion!!

Love your channel and your music !

As for the pedal check out Smallsound/Bigsound Mini, Maestro Brassmaster (or rather a clone of one), Crowther Audio Prunes & Custard and a very rare (even as a clone) Wem Project V fuzz. All of them sound pretty nice with non-strings instruments such as synths and drum machines :)

One of my favorite ways of overdrive is using my Sony TC-230. I've found that it give a good, but very messy overdrive when used properly.

Awesome. That method works really well with samples like kettle drums. It should make it sound like a giant basketball splatting into a puddle.

Great video. And love the headphones. They must sound great! Good stuff

Thank you for this and the sample pack. I personally use Plumes from EarthQuaker Devices for straight pedal OD, also a DOD Gonkulator for Distortion/Ring Mod which I love. That Telefunken is beautiful by the way

At Punk Dub Hi-Fi studio, we use shabby cheap, thrift store pedals, mainly gain-busters, Distortion, Fuzz, Overdrive. Behringer Dan electro, Fab, etc. Some favourites are home-made. The Un-Shaven Fuzz by D.I.Y. Guitar Pedals.au is splatty, and foul. We found that it, like some other extreme ones, work best with a guitar and, your instrument of choice Kalimbe. There's a really dirty simple low pass filter schematic on-line, I can't find it at present, the12db low res, low pass filter by Tony Light,, it's dirty, no clean setting, you could add a wet/dry knob if you wanted. But really simple, low part count. another technique is the feed back loops and no input mixing, techniques,you touched on in a recent video (we have that vibrato pedal, we'll be giving that a go). If you or a friend is into building, a Matrix mixer, is too easy, if a little repetative (repetiron being the 4th law of the Avant-Garde). People often complain passive matrix mixers are too quiet, we find going through a mic channel on a mini mixer as a sub mixer works, whack up that gain, by inserting this sub mixer, you've added another overdrive flavour. And with any non- input mixer, turn those knobs gently, on the Matrix. If you have a graphic EQ, roll off at the top and bottom end, this will protect your drivers. Stay safe, and use this time to push the experimental envelope,

I'm a fan of the drive on the Aphex Aural Exciter 204 for my bass guitar and piano. The Crowther Audio Prunes and Custard for Synth. Last but not least, the Danelectro FabTone. The thing is a monster!

tasteful overdrive is such a powerful tool!

holy headphones Batman!

You don't see enough WR-S4424's these days.

great video again. danke dir. another workaround is use something like the "bastl dude" in the recording chain. sounds great and is a little smaller ,)

Haha ! Habe mir heute einen aus 15 parallel-geschalteten Bandfiltern mit festen Mittenfrequenzen und Bandbreiten bestendes Modul eingebaut. Ich nenne es das Haunbach Instrument. !! Denn ohne deine Creative Auseinandersetzung hatte ich es sonst nie gemacht ! Aber ich mag eben auch bandpassfilterung. Ich hätte es nur eben viel später bemerkt. LG

Great video. i loved your layering of distortion technique. I prefer to run my overdrive pedal in parallel through a return on my mixing desk, that way i have a bit more control, i dont like the way desks break up so quickly. I LOVE overdriving my Memory Man delay and turning up the feedback. Delicous crunch you can never replicate ITB. Permut8 is a great plugin, i also like Contemporary Color and Decapitator plugins. Softube's Focusing Equalizer has a really nice ability to overdrive its input as well leading to some deliciously fuzzy results.

2.54 started to sound like The Residents' Death & Life - nice.

Nine Inch Nails are mad because Hainbach is revealing their secret sauce for drums .

There can also be a sometimes very nice distortion from “channel strip” plugins, or I guess any plugin with preamp and post gain. Try e.g. the UAD Neve 88rs on a TR-606, sounds great.

At 11:09 you mention the 'Devi Ever Cymru Electric Play' the pronounciation of Cymru is cum-ree because it's actually a welsh word that means 'Wales' in our language. Brilliant video though. Cheers from a Welsh fan!

Love the reference to nature doc's from 70's in regards to your tape machines! Ever thought of doing an episode about Boards of Canada? Not sure exactly what it would be about... I would just love to hear your thoughts on them and how you think they might create some of their incredible sounds. Currently I'm very interested in their creepy vocal processing like in the song Nothing is Real ~1:55.

Exactly why I bought a Midas Venice 320 for €500 a few weeks ago

Lässt du im part 14.45 die snare durch den morphagene, damit du solch geile stereo effekte kriegst. Diese scharfen distorteten klänge. Ich hoffe du wiesst was ich meine😅

just watching you work inspires me to make some wierd shit, thanks for the data

Haha haha the start was amazing.

Best Intro ever

you are literally the bob ross of music

Those headphones are intense. What are they? Great video as always!

For how long you have the quandrantid swarm? Always wanted one but never dived into it! Great video :) I love using preamps, and even guitar amps on synths!

oh. my god. you didnt start it with just "hi, im hainbach". I was genuinely scared the rest of the time

Wow. Really want a analog mixer now

Any risk of damaging the mixer preamps when used as an overdrive this way, or is it simply going to distort and I’m free to go for it? Great video, cheers!

Pfooh the Princeton sounds SO nasty :D

Could you please make a tutorial on how to afford this crazy amount of really nice audio equipment?

I'm curious about that rack, which looks like it features not-exceptionally-expensive rails which might be nice for my low-budget eurorack endeavor.

I'm partial to basic tube overdrive straight from an amp. Often times if find distortion frustrating due to it being too much or not enough... It's a personal problem surely. I have a question. Can you use distortion pedals with the average guitar pedal?

Great video Hainbach. Have you looked into cytomic's scream pedal plugin? I feel like you might like it. Cheers!