Best algorithm for Tom Misch/John Mayer auto wah/filter sounds?

I’d also like to hear what people have got for this kind of sound. I’ve been looking for that Jerry Garcia, fat envelope sound for a while now and haven’t been able to coax it out of my H9’s perfectly yet. It’s close-ish with the Q-Wah. I’ve been thinking of cutting my losses and making room for a Mu-Tron on my board at some point.

Love those Tiny Desk concerts.  Pick technique went a long way here in getting those sweeps & variations.  I can tell you that SENSITIVITY is the real key to unlocking the H9 Envelope power.  That, along with its interactive target parameter [like filter frequency, etc.), and your individual playing technique.

I see what you’re looking for, with that full-sounding sweep across the entire filter range.  Cleaner & much different from an vintage Mutron III .  There are many, many options to choose from, among the various H9 algorithms.  Let me see what I have here, or what I can come up with.

Not yet.  Craziness abounds with the Super Bowl in town.

I haven’t forgotten.  It’s just going to take a bit to get to it.

It was faster to come up with a base preset.  Q-Wah was the 1st algorithm to come to mind, with the BassWAH TYPE providing an extended range.  It held up pretty well against your YouTube link.  That is, from a quick run on a Steinberger bridge pickup, a touch of clean boost in front, but no compression.  Clean Vox amps.

SENSITIVITY is where you start:  match your playing style & picking strength.  Give it a good range of picking dynamics to chew on.  OUT LEVEL, if you need to gain-stage here.  Check the Input & Output Level Meters.

• Set your base SENSITIVITY level.  Small tweaks on everything else
• Too harsh on the high end?  Bring down Q-INTENSITY or DEPTH; bring up the BOTTOM.
• Not enough effect?  Bring up the DEPTH, Q-INTENSITY.
• Don’t max any interactive control out; up or down.  25 to 75 range; small increments.

Plenty of other options (algorithms) to choose from, but let’s start here.

It’d be easy to overlook the Harmadillo algorithm as envelope triggered filter.  Not really ‘synthy’, but featuring a distinct, squeaky-clean sweep.  It can have elements of both the Up & DOWN directions in a Mutron, in the same filter sweep.  Really responsive to playing technique.

The only parameters required here are the X-OVER, X-OVERLAP, and ENV X-OVER controls.  RATE, SHAPE, ENV DEPTH, and ENV RATE lie ‘hidden’ in the background.  (The DEPTH control at 0 defeats the tremolo section).

I assigned that to an expression pedal, to bring in some vibrato-like modulation.  The GRAPH VIEW image below shows the expression pedal at full toe (DEPTH to 75).

I wish I could ‘up vote’ those posts. Great, detailed information as per usual Brock. This really gives me something to work through when I finally get a ‘free’ weekend! 

Here’s the algorithm you started with: ModFilter.  Yes, I think it can be close to what you’re after, but slightly varied in the sound results.  To me, the LOWPASS filter sounds like a 2-pole, with some soft saturation.

The envelope follower is probably built exactly the same as other, similar algorithms, but it “feels” different (with identical settings & the same guitar setup).  Holds the filter open a little longer.

I started with that BASS AUTO WAH preset, and tweaked it from there.  A little more ‘synthy’ to my ears trhan your example, but not in a bad way.  Again, the same kind of ‘tweaking rules’ apply here (as above).

The 2nd ‘bottom row’ controls are optional, but I added a touch of ADSR to this one.  It opened up the filter sweep with another layer that wasn’t too obvious.

So, SCULPT.  Yes, that’s right.  Digital distortion.  We just won’t use the distortion components.

I adjusted every parameter here for the desired effect, so I’ll detail that below.  The peaking filters here are throaty & vocal-like.  Not quite a Q-WAH formant envelope, but getting there.

• MIX I left in some dry signal for the pick attack.
• BAND MIX  Equal distribution.
• XOVER  Midrange.  Seemed about right.
• LOW-DRIVE  None.
• HIGH-DRIVE  None.
• COMPRESSOR  Tied to an expression pedal.  Rounds out & lengthens the envelope, dynamically.
• GATE OFF  Don’t want to choke the envelope off.
• LOW BOOST  Smooths out the low end [POST DIST]
• FILTER-PRE  Reinforced both filters in tandem; set to sweep fairly high [~2600 Hz.]
• FILTER-POST  Reinforced both filters in tandem; set to sweep fairly high [~2600 Hz.]
• ENV-FILTER  Works for me @ SENS 35.  Tweak to taste.
• OUT LEVEL  I had to double the amplitude to get near unity gain.

No doubt we’re drifting away from the original Tiny Desk sound now, but there’s something delicately special going on here.  Playable.  Nice range & balance of dynamics and sweeps.  Of course distortion is going to accentuate the filters even more, but I’m sticking with the clean variations.

The variable compression is ‘transparent’ in this config, but it smoothy affects the filter envelope.  The EQ CURVES view below shows the expression pedal at full toe: