Guitar effect, sounds like a music box

[The Rocket From The Tombs]

Is there an effect out there that would make your guitar sound like or close, to a music box. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv4ORmjXmQs  If not, how realistic do you think it is for someone with the required knowledge in this field, to create one? thanks.

[petey twofinger]

guitar synth , one of the expensive ones ...

[The Rocket From The Tombs]

As in midi?

[senko]

Doable, but difficult unless you're using MIDI.   Notice that most of the notes music boxes are known for are octaves above a standard guitar's range.  You're at least going to have to use an octave up effect and even then the timbre of a guitar will sound different from a music box.

However, it's a good direction to expand the capabilities of what a guitar pedal can offer.  Maybe you could start with a high pass filter and then try to shape the tone.  Try out some octave up circuits if you're building this yourself, so you get a good feel for what they're going to sound like.  Using a recorded sample of a guitar, you could shape the tone digitally with audio manipulation programs to get an idea of how to alter the tone.  Then you find circuits that do that and chain them together. 

It's all about whether you want an approximation or a guitar-activated sampler.

[Mustachio]

Pretty sure the space station section of the Digitech XP All I got from Govmnt will do that type of sound.

I haven't played with those music box sounds much but the first 10+ preset of the spacestation remind me of what your looking for. Might be worth looking into it.

[garcho]

check out the "fade out VCA" sound sample of the MFOS Sub-Commander.

[digi2t]

Bouzouki. Way up on the higher registers. With lots of reverb. 

[wavley]

Looper shifted an octave up, that's how I do it.  I use either a Boomerang+, Digitech RDS-900, or EHX 16 delay.  In the past I've done it with the Line 6 Delay modeler

[pinkjimiphoton]

octave fuzz with a hi pass filter nuking everything below about 4k?

interesting choice for the clip... swan lake. nice. that was the theme song in bela lugosi's dracula.

[The Rocket From The Tombs]

Thanks for all the replies!  It's something I've thought about doing for a while but, had no idea where to start other than an octave up circuit. MIDI wasn't something I wanted to use, either.   

Using a recorded sample of a guitar, you could shape the tone digitally with audio manipulation programs to get an idea of how to alter the tone.

That's a good idea, know any good ones?

Thanks Jimi, it has a nice haunting sound to it. The beginning of this was where I got the inspiration for this project, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnvE_UGOf94

[garcho]

That's a good idea, know any good ones?

platform:
Reaper

audacity

plugins (many for free):
KVR

no money needed (I bought the license for Reaper to support the company for making such an amazing DAW)

[pinkjimiphoton]

if you go the VST route, hit this thread on KVR, 700 some pages and going strong... THOUSANDS of free effects and synths, etc...

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=177407&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

[GFR]

Steve Vai said he tried to emulate a music box sound in this tune:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpuqCCmGliM

I think it's a couple of  pitch shifters with delays (with an expensive Eventide H3000).

[The Rocket From The Tombs]

Thanks, that sounds pretty close!

[darron]

If you're going through all the trouble of using midi or synth then you had may as well just use a keyboard for that part.