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So I am thinking of starting a two piece band including guitar and drums. I am just not sure how to pull it off. I was thinking of using a loop pedal to lay down some "bass like" riffs. Anyone have any advice on making it sound as full as possible? I can't think of any two piece bands at the moment, any that I should look up?

b-vapor wrote:So I am thinking of starting a two piece band including guitar and drums. I am just not sure how to pull it off. I was thinking of using a loop pedal to lay down some "bass like" riffs. Anyone have any advice on making it sound as full as possible? I can't think of any two piece bands at the moment, any that I should look up?

um, electro harmonix pog or hog, boomerang pedal. that should get you the fuller sound and the loops.

find your own way. don't emulate.

b-vapor wrote:So I am thinking of starting a two piece band including guitar and drums. I am just not sure how to pull it off. I was thinking of using a loop pedal to lay down some "bass like" riffs. Anyone have any advice on making it sound as full as possible? I can't think of any two piece bands at the moment, any that I should look up?

Check out Chevreuil (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_Alq1PE0lk) on Sickroom. They're a guitar and drum band that use a loop pedal or two and four(!) amps + plus synths sometimes. Pretty interesting "mathy" stuff.

Dude, check out Varistor. Two-piece from NYC. Holy shit.

Black Keys are another one.

There are/ have been legions of two piece groups doing all manner of different stuff, lightning bolt, guapo, pink and brown, hella, the spinanes, swearing at motorists, and the white stripes spring to mind immediately (at two ends of the spectrum. My friends the blood red shoes

www.myspace.com/bloodredshoes

are a two piece.. the guitarist in that just relies on turning up and using the deep switch on her marshall head. I can't say i notice the lack of bass. I play in a guitar and drum two piece and I'm still looking for a good way of getting the low end, at the moment I'm using an ampeg B15T and a vox cambridge.. but getting a bit too much hum, I've also just tried using the speaker of the B15 as an extension cab for the vox which actually works really well. Looping is all very well but requires a really tight drummer (and for the loop maker to be super tight too), most people I've seen using loopers well tend to use them in a more ambient wash type way.. I've tried using an akai headrush to lay down loops in a full band before and it was very difficult to use for melodic type parts, possibly down to my incompetence more than anything else though.

Dean Armband of lincoln Ne is another of these two person bands.

http://myspace.com/deanarmband

Guitar/synth and drums


Looper pedals.. Headrush and Line6 - which broke 2 months out of the box, and a laptop computer looper software.

I think using electronics to compensate for another person is silly.
If you really want it to sound like there is a bass, get a bass player. If you just want it to sound fuller I would suggest making sure your guitar sounds full on its own by using the right pickups or splitting the signal to two different heads. I would stay away from an octave pedal because all it is doing is doubling your signal and that just sounds cheesy. Believe me, my brother and I have tried it. We are also a two piece. Playing with a computer just makes you subservient to the whims of the computer. And you are forced to monitor tempo. And there is no spontaneity.

Here are two piece bands I like:
Vaz (not two piece anymore)
The Spinanes
Des Ark
Tiny Hawks


Jon

two words.


Lightning Bolt.

I'm not being snotty when I say this:
Get a bass player.
Seriously. It matters.

There are good bands that don't have one, but my opinion is that those bands would be even better with one.

Second choice - get a guitar player that can handle low freq. duties with octave dividers, detuning, etc.

Failing that, get a looper and a POG, but make sure the looper can synch to click, and think about getting your drummer to wear cans so s/he can keep tempo with your loop.

Seriously dude - get a bass player.

-A

I have played as a wo peice for years. I love the space and impact this format allows.

As far as rigs go I have used a stereo setup for my two piece, Six Acre Lake. Stereo is the way to go. It instantly fattens the sound especially if the amps are on opposite ends of the stage. I run a Gibson Super Goldtone and a Fender Twin Reveb. I use two loopers. A headrush for tighter samples and an EHX 2880 for looser atmospheres. The twin gets a touch of delay but most importantly, the EHX POG set to a -1 octave. I blend that in with the original signal hitting the twin and blammo. Instant fat.

I agree that you should find your own way however and dont worry so much about whether or not you are filling out the sound. Worry about the songs. There is no place to hide a half assed part in a two piece