How to add dynamics to a circuit? Is it possible? Do I use magic dust?

[Tony Forestiere]

YES! That's it!
Dynamics=Play softly and carry a BIG pick!  

*EDIT* If you really think about it, it's not far from the truth.

[Quackzed]

for diode to ground circuits, 'warp' controls work quite well to allow dynamic range to not be clipped off and still have some amount of distortion and compression.

at some threshold voltage diodes to ground clip the signal and prevent anything above that threshold from escaping, but if you put a resistor between the diodes and ground only a percentage of the signal above the threshold gets clipped and the rest gets through- so some part of the original dynamic range is still present above the diode threshold. dynamics get through.

[chumbox]

So based on all this when people are referring to dynamics they are quite possible referring to increased harmonic content.  Sounds like the more you clip the less 'dynamic' the signal actually is but the more harmonic it may become.

I opened some pedals and poured magic dust it.  They shorted.  Now I have reduced dynamic range.

[mistahead]

We're still playing definition games - and I like it.

Would you consider a 12 string acoustic "more dynamic" than a 6 string acoustic?

How about a strat with a hot single in the neck, humbucker at the bridge (and yeah a mid I 'spose) compared to a tele with a single hot rail down at the bridge?

Would you consider a Fuzz Face that can be dramatically manipulated with the volume on the pickup more dynamic than some of the distortion boxes than basically just get a bit quieter and lose a touch of trebble until you hit 1 on the volume before they respond significantly.

To my mind "Dynamics" defines the breadth of utility, frequency, a frog is more dynamic than a tortise which in turn is more dynamic than a rock...

[chumbox]

Interesting because if you apply too much compression to a rock you sometimes get a diamond.

[Thecomedian]

something useless into something useful, sounds the reverse of something useful in signal to something useless. 

[Digital Larry]

To some people "dynamic" can mean that the circuit accurately reproduces the amplitude variations, the so-called "dynamic range", of the signal. The circuit responses to pick attack by precicely covering the entire range from quiet passages to loud transients. Think, for example, playing an acoustic guitar. ...or perhaps drums. Very dynamic instruments at best. This characteristic is often achieved by designing for great headroom.

Then, to some other people the very same term means exactly the opposite: During transients the signal compresses (either by clipping or due to gain variation), actually limiting the dynamic range of amplitude variation. I think that in this case people use the term "dynamic" to describe how the tone colour interactively changes according to different picking styles and attacks. I guess you could also call it touch sensitivity or "feel". This characteristic can be enhanced with careful pre and post [compression/distortion] filtering (so that distortion doesn't immediately turn into buzzy mush) and by designing the compressing/distorting stages in a way where layers of different harmonics embed to the signal in relation to its overall envelope, not just amplitude. e.g. at clipping onset the signal clips asymmetrically, if driven harder always more and more symmetrically, if clipping sustains for long period some crossover distortion is also introduced to the mix and so on.

I support this response.  Literally speaking it's the range of loud to soft levels.  But when I hear people talking about their fuzz pedals or any other sort of distortion unit being dynamic, I believe what they are trying to say is that they get some TONE variation (not necessarily LEVEL) if they pick softer or hard or ride the guitar's volume control.  If your distortion is so over the top that it sounds the same no matter what you do, it's less fun to play.  When I had a MIDI guitar I always felt this was one of the problems.  Even though the signal got LOUDER if I picked harder, it couldn't capture the thousands of variations of the actual guitar string that you can make easily.

I was reading about Jerry Garcia's guitar rig and at one point in his career he was using a 600 watt Macintosh amp for his clean signal, which just about killed people.

[Mark Hammer]

Here, we get into the manner in which limiting devices can effectively disconnect tone and amplitude.  That is, where the sort of picking one would normally have to do in order to produce a particular tone also requires that the picked/plucked string be louder,  a circuit that imposes limits on amplitude (compressor/limiter) lets you keep those things separate.  And as much of a bad idea and hiss-generator as it can be, it is one of the principal reasons why some folks will deliberately stick a compressor after a distortion; they like the way the distortion responds to pick attack, but they don't necessarily want it to translate into volume changes.

[Paul Marossy]

When I hear the word "dynamic" in the same sentence as some dirt pedal, I think of two things: how it responds to your playing and how harmonically exciting it is. When the two come together, I consider that a winner.

But you can't get dynamics just by adding a cap here or changing a resistor there - it's the overall circuit design that determines that.

[duck_arse]

And I have to turn and remind them that it's not how big the pick itself is but how stiff it is.

mark, is your spellcheck working? as stiff records used to put on their badges, "if it ain't stiff, it ain't worth a fcuk". I may have splet that wrong.

pixie dust. like the pixies said, 'soft, loud, soft.' probably different to the stuff the troggs used .....

I've always thought of dynamics as the changes from the loudest to the softest levels, or versi visea.

[pinkjimiphoton]

seems to me dyanmics are a function of headroom... how much room do you have til the circuit hard clips? that's how much headroom you should have.
if you want a more "dyanmic sensitive" effect, bias the circuit so it can handle whatever you're feeding with  and it reacts well.
usually with transistors, it's a question of bias. you may find the "1/2 voltage" rule doesn't always apply.

in a fuzzface for instance, 4.5 volts will ALWAYS give you a fuzz. may not be a very good one. as you adjust the bias up and down, you'll find areas where it makes the transistors very interactive with the guitar.  this is where dynamics come from... but most of it comes from your attack on your instrument in the first place.

i like to try and make my boxes so i can play softly, and they get sweeter or maybe crystaline, and if i thwack that shit hard it SCREAMS. that rarely happens with the guitar on 10, so turning up or down into "sweet spots" with your guitar knob can make a huge difference.

if using opamps or transistors, always think of headroom, and compression. the more compression you add (ie limiting the voltage to 4.5v in a 9v supply) the less dynamics. it'll clean up more and stay more at the same volume (a different kind of dynamics) but at slightly higher voltages, you'll find more headroom with less compression, and often a lot more potential tones to be had via twiddling the knobs on your fiddle.

but your most important dynamic element? your pick attack, imho...

[mistahead]

Interesting because if you apply too much compression to a rock you sometimes get a diamond.

Too much - or EXACTLY enough?   

I still stand by a tortise being more dynamic than a diamond... 

I am leaning towards everyone elses converging consensus but again - to my mind I will always end up coming back to (all other things equal) the twelve string ac. vs. the six string ac. comparison in the terms of INSTRUMENT dynamics... but I was a little off on a tangent for a stompbox discussion.

[Thecomedian]

Dibs on the Diamond Tortoise Compressor name. 

[moosapotamus]

"Dynamics" is a huge ball of wax.

In the strictest sense of the word, I think "dynamics" simply refers to something's ability to move or change, to be variable as opposed to "static" or non-movable.

In music, any number of different things could be given more (or less) dynamics - volume, tone or filter frequency, pitch, timbre, attack/decay, position in the stereo field, etc... All of which can be manipulated by effects circuits.

What the circuit designer/builder chooses to make dynamic often defines the type of effect - tremolo, vibrato, compressor/expander, auto-wha, envelope filter, chorus/flanger, etc...

So, um... yeah, lots of different ways to add dynamics.

~ Charlie

[armdnrdy]

"Dynamics" is a huge ball of wax.

In the strictest sense of the word, I think "dynamics" simply refers to something's ability to move or change, to be variable as opposed to "static" or non-movable.

In music, any number of different things could be given more (or less) dynamics - volume, tone or filter frequency, pitch, timbre, attack/decay, position in the stereo field, etc... All of which can be manipulated by effects circuits.

What the circuit designer/builder chooses to make dynamic often defines the type of effect - tremolo, vibrato, compressor/expander, auto-wha, envelope filter, chorus/flanger, etc...


So, um... yeah, lots of different ways to add dynamics.

~ Charlie

I agree! and let me add that "dynamics" is very subjective. What may be dynamic to one person may be subtle to the next!

[Gurner]

In music, any number of different things could be given more (or less) dynamics - volume, tone or filter frequency, pitch, timbre, attack/decay, position in the stereo field, etc... All of which can be manipulated by effects circuits.

Hmmm.

The actual word dynamic might mean 'not static' in the broader sense of the interpretation, but when applied to music, most would deem it to mean the difference between the smallest vs. largest sound (or in our case - signal).

If we are going to apply woolly non standardardized/agreed descriptions (& interpretations), then we may as well shut up shop right now (else how can we even glean or agree what folks are asking!)

If the OP wants more dynamics ...and the term dynamics can't be agreed, then wouldn't it be better to ask (using your permutations).....

"How to add volume to a circuit?",  "How to add tone to a circuit?", "How to add pitch to a circuit?", how to add timbre to a circuit?", "how to add attack to a circuit?" & so on?

[Paul Marossy]

Seems to me that is what the whole pedal modding business is built around - modifying a circuit to one's idea of what makes a particular circuit "more dynamic". Change a cap and/or a resistor here and there and now you have more bass, more treble, more drive, etc.

This subject to me is akin to "tone". There seems to be as many interpretations of that word as there are guitar players that use that word...

[moosapotamus]

Trying to come to terms with what words mean to different people is just a given in this form of communication - written words in an online forum. We do it here all the time. "Tone" is definitely a good one.

"What kind of tone are you looking for - crisp, smooth, round, pointy, harsh, mellow, fat, warm, clear...?

I think it might have been Elvis Costello (maybe?) who said, "Talking about music is like dancing about architecture".

Anyway, back on topic... I think the comments from Mark and Jimi, et al, about touch & feel as well as clipping & compression were pretty well on-point.

Sorry if I came of as being a little pedantic.

~ Charlie

[Paul Marossy]

Trying to come to terms with what words mean to different people is just a given in this form of communication - written words in an online forum. We do it here all the time. "Tone" is definitely a good one.

"What kind of tone are you looking for - crisp, smooth, round, pointy, harsh, mellow, fat, warm, clear...?

Ha ha, perfect example! How about "brittle", "open" or "nasally"? I hear those a lot too.

Anyway, back on topic... I think the comments from Mark and Jimi, et al, about touch & feel as well as clipping & compression were pretty well on-point.

I think of a "dynamic" sounding drive as one that responds very well to all of your playing dynamics - sort of like plugging straight into a 15 watt tube amp and making it overdrive by slamming the strings and then having it be less overdriven simply by changing how you're playing the guitar. I really dislike things that are like pedal to the metal, one speed only type things. That to me has no dynamics - there's no room for any.

[Mark Hammer]

I think it might have been Elvis Costello (maybe?) who said, "Talking about music is like dancing about architecture".

T'was Zappa, IIRC.

A buddy who is a wine writer published this book: http://www.amazon.ca/books/dp/0968504655

We really need to have a comparable book for guitar-related sounds, whether they be pickups, pedals, or amps.  I can read a bunch of posts and gear reviews and still have no idea what people are talking about, or be able to hear in mind what they mean.