I bought two different flex-a-tones off ebay: a small, brass one, and a larger one off Amazon. I don't want that wacky, wobbly sound, though. I just want a 'doing' sound, like so.
On one of them, I removed the bottom beater and on the other one, I removed the top beater. I've tried putting a rubber band around the flex part, so my thumb doesn't mute the metal. I've tried striking it with a separate mallet, because when I hit it hard with the attached beater, it ricochets back and hits the metal multiple times.
So how do I get the sound I want out of this instrument? Do I need to get the deluxe LP version and remove the beaters? What's the trick?
How do I get my flex-a-tone to make the 'doing' sound??
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 360 posts since 23 Mar, 2008
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- KVRist
- 198 posts since 21 Sep, 2020
You could try some physical modelling synthesizer.
Here is an example using Ableton Collision:
https://voca.ro/1dkkcXn5ymTr
Here is an example using Ableton Collision:
https://voca.ro/1dkkcXn5ymTr
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- KVRian
- 1458 posts since 28 Jan, 2004
What if you removed both beaters and used one to strike the metal plate just once? Also instead of bending the plate with your thumb, try just recording a long sustained strike then load into a sampler and use the pitch bend. You might even be able to get away with making a single-cycle loop in the sampler to increase the sustain.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 360 posts since 23 Mar, 2008
Thanks for the replies. I have been looking at different videos and I've come to the conclusion that you need to have an LP Flex-a-tone if you want this sound. Accept no substitutions. I really didn't want to spend 54 bucks for the LP deluxe flex-a-tone, but instead I spent 26 bucks on a cheap one that just doesn't produce enough tone to make the sound I want.
