I’m currently looking for a pedal with parallel compression for base drums, e.g. from a Tanzmaus or LXR-02.
Now there is a surprising number of affordable pedals with parallel compression (i.e. with a blend or dry level control) out there, the cheapest of those appears to be the Electro Harmonix Tone Corset at €95, but there are about 10 others below €250, and probably older models, too.
The only “serious” issue to contend with is, IMO, ensuring the attack time is slow enough to let the bass tone of the kick develop. Some compressors run too fast for that and you get an ugly distortion of the low end. Consider specialised bass compressors.
A less serious thought is “is a pedal neccessary”? I can imagine two uses for a pedal:
flattening the “beater” part, so it’s scruffier and noisier
boosting the body part so it’s thicker, or boomier, without introducing harmonics like overdrive would
Some drum machines let you balance beater+body levels, some let you affect the body’s hold time, or level. Some give you overdrive or distortion for crunch. So you night be able to get part-way there without a compressor with a careful rebalancing of these controls.
If you want crunch and body, and don’t want harmonics, a pedal may help.
A bit expensive (€290), but I like the hybrid design, and that it has a well-defined set of additional parameters, and is not as overwhelming as the Source Audio Atlas.
Thanks, that is an excellent point, I was not aware of that.
Yes, that’s what I’m after. I’m also experimenting with a couple of distortions for harmonics, but that is not giving me what I want.
