Just what was (is) the purpose of a ring modulator

[dave9199]

So I've listened to the whole Jack Johnson box set and see that ring modulator is used quite frequently. I can hear it, but what was or is it's actual purpose?

[Sundog]

Check this out

Ring Modulation

[Rooster_Ties]

There's a bunch of "ring modulated" piano on Carla Bley's "Escalator Over The Hill" -- and I too had always wondered what the heck that really was.

Thanks!!!

[DrJ]

If my ears don't deceive me, U2's The Edge uses a whole bunch of ring modulator effects on the landmark ACHTUNG BABY album (that intro sound on "Mysterious Ways," the riff on "The Fly," intro to "Zoo Station," etc).

Edited October 17, 2003 by DrJ

[JSngry]

Don Ellis.

[dave9199]

Good comeback J.

So, in layman's (dumbass) terms (yeah, I mean me), if on a keyboard you play a C note, what will come out are the frequencies on either side of that note? The example uses two inputs so does it always need two or can it be just one?

[Jazzmoose]

A modulator always needs two frequencies to work, but one frequency can be generated by an internal crystal, or can be supplied by some other fashion so that only one musical input is needed. (Caveat: I know about modulators from working on radio transmitters and receivers, not from music devices, so this is a "general statement", okay?)

The easiest way for me to understand it is to look at a radio. When a signal is received at the antenna, two things must be done to the signal before it is useful: it must be amplified, and the data (music) has to be extracted from the carrier wave (received signal). The radio amplifies the signal, then mixes the carrier frequency with the incoming signal in a modulator, which subtracts the carrier frequency from the incoming signal, leaving only the data (music) which is then sent to the speaker. In actuality, this mixing and amplifying is done several times in stages, so it's not that simple. When the two signals are received by the modulator, the modulator produces two outputs: the original input MINUS the other signal, and the original input PLUS the other signal. (Think of the "other signal" in the case of the radio as the frequency you adjust the dial to...). In a receiver you don't care what the added result is, so that output isn't used. Only the subtracted input is used. I guess in this music device, you actually use both the added and subtracted input. Uh...if anyone is still with me, forget what I said about "the easiest way for me to understand..." at the top; I think I lost myself at least three times...

[michel devos]

From a strictly musical point of view, ring modulators are just another way of adding trash to the audio...You might get a rather similar results by using misaligned tubes, a worn stylus (for LP,s of course) or simply dropping your loudspeakers form a height of at least 2 metres...Enjoy

[dave9199]

Y'know Jazzmoose, I actually followed your explanation right to the end (not an easy thing for me to do). Just don't ask me to say it back!

[DrJ]

michel devos Posted: Oct 18 2003, 05:41 AM   

From a strictly musical point of view, ring modulators are just another way of adding trash to the audio...You might get a rather similar results by using misaligned tubes, a worn stylus (for LP,s of course) or simply dropping your loudspeakers form a height of at least 2 metres...Enjoy   

So I guess you're not a big Jesus and Mary Chain fan, eh?

[Chuck Nessa]

Hey, if you want to modulate your rings, go ahead.

[Guest akanalog]

if you have a drum machine and you filter a beat through a ring modulator you can get some really interestng results.

[DrJ]

Back when I had a home studio, I did just that, adding some disortion and a subtle underpinning of really long digital delay. Running a slow, stomping kind of rock drum pattern through that, it literally sounded like Godzilla slowly plodding down a city street...added a guitar part that consisted of picking the open high strings up above the nut headstock nut), which sounded strangely Japanese, like a koto played through a blazing Marshall. I called this magnum opus "Tokyo Falls." Good for a laugh or two.