Can you do Royal Blood sound with analog octaves?

C

Caesarovic

Sep 9, 2023
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#1
Hi guys

I'm an enthusiast for analog gear.

I'm just wondering if it's possible to do the Royal Blood trick – pitch your split bass tone one octave up, and run it through a guitar amp to sound like a guitar – by using an analog octave pedal? Or are they unreliable when it comes to pitch accuracy?

Naturally, fuzz as a side effect would be okay here, since one is aiming for the distorted/fuzzy guitar sound.

Thanks in advance.

If anyone has any videos of a setup like this, that would be even greater! :)
 
#2
To be honest, I don't pay too much attention to which pedals are analog and which are digital. I do it with a MicroPOG, if that helps. It has two outputs, effect and dry, so I can run the dry signal to a bass amp and an octave-up to a guitar amp. If you actually want to play Royal Blood, you need either a line selector or mute switches to jump between the sounds. I don't have that right now (I used to), as I really only use the split line to fill in a "rhythm" part when the guitarist solos.
 
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#5
I join the consensus on analog octave up as not being a viable option. There are a wide range of octave up pedals some with added options like the TRex Quint Machine or the reliable old Akai UniBass with I use that also add a fifth which both pair nicely with overdrives, distortions and other effects.
 
#7
You could probably achieve something that would fill a similar sonic role by splitting the signal and using an analog octave up fuzz or similar, but I agree that straight up emulating that sound is only possible with digital.
 
#10
hrodbert696 said:
To be honest, I don't pay too much attention to which pedals are analog and which are digital. I do it with a MicroPOG, if that helps. It has two outputs, effect and dry, so I can run the dry signal to a bass amp and an octave-up to a guitar amp. If you actually want to play Royal Blood, you need either a line selector or mute switches to jump between the sounds. I don't have that right now (I used to), as I really only use the split line to fill in a "rhythm" part when the guitarist solos.
Click to expand...
To jump between sounds easily, use the electro Harmonix Switchblade Pro
electro harmonix switchblade pro - Google Search
 
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#13
hrodbert696 said:
To be honest, I don't pay too much attention to which pedals are analog and which are digital. I do it with a MicroPOG, if that helps. It has two outputs, effect and dry, so I can run the dry signal to a bass amp and an octave-up to a guitar amp. If you actually want to play Royal Blood, you need either a line selector or mute switches to jump between the sounds. I don't have that right now (I used to), as I really only use the split line to fill in a "rhythm" part when the guitarist solos.
Click to expand...
octavers are one of the few places where analog vs digital matters, just because they have such markedly different capabilities (and tend to have different sounds as well)
 
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#14
I just got to see them live last night and there's no way an analog octave can hack it. Maybe if you were splitting your signal to a heavily distorted guitar amp. It's just not going to be as accurate or clean, and most analog octave fuzzes just don't sound good with bass. Even on guitar, most of them sound best when you use the neck pickup and play above the 12th fret.

To be fair, you can hear how digital the splitting is live and it doesn't matter. The sound is enormous.

His trick has always been digital octave up (POG) into a distorted guitar amp.
 
#16
SunByrne said:
They put on quite a show, don't they? Unfortunately they aren't coming here on this tour and I can't skip out to Austin or Dallas with family in town for Thanksgiving.
Click to expand...
Yeah, what really struck me is how good Mike's vocals are live. Most rock shows, the singers sound pretty off pitch, but he was really nailing it all night. All while playing and stomping pedals.

Of course, now I'm shopping for guitar amps and pitch shifters....
 
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#17
J Posega said:
Yeah, what really struck me is how good Mike's vocals are live. Most rock shows, the singers sound pretty off pitch, but he was really nailing it all night. All while playing and stomping pedals.
Click to expand...

Yep, they are the real deal live.

Of course, now I'm shopping for guitar amps and pitch shifters....
Click to expand...

LOL, it’s a deep rabbit hole—I know this because I went down it. My son and I needed a project during the pandemic and that was it. Spent a small fortune on pedals and a tube guitar amp. Very fun, though, and got results we were happy with.
 
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