@wrl I feel pretty much the same. They are a very satisfying thing to reach for if you want to dramatically change a sound in a pinch. Comb filters do have a "sound", and that sound does get fatiguing and boring quickly IMO.
banks of tuned comb filters can be pretty sweet (Paul Lansky's 'word color' is a personal favorite of mine).
@paul i will check out "word color".
yeah i'm experimenting with putting stuff in the comb filter feedback path – saturators, filters, etc, anything to make the sound a little less... i dunno, bland? trying to find a way to make it a bit spicier.
@wrl mmm spicy combs!
have you tried using any sort of interpolated modulation of the delay time?
@paul what would be the modulation source?
@wrl well, I've only seen this used in the context of reverbs. they usually use low-frequency signals like sinusoidal LFOs or random line generators to add a bit of jitter. in that context, it simulates a higher-order reverb and smooths out the metallic ringing.
there might be some fun in having an audio-rate signal (sine wave) be the modulation source. then you could get some really messed up FM.
@paul yeaaaah got it. i tried it with noise modulation and it was bad, i'll try like an audio rate LFO or something, that seems like it could be cool
@wrl have you tried side-chaining the input signal to control stuff? that could be neat.
@paul this is usually a move of mine but i have not done it yet. i was thinking about putting an lpf in the feedback path and having the cutoff modulated by the fb signal itself. might be cool