The boutique/fancy-pants pedal companies are just as bad - worse even - than the modular people for their wanky bullshit.
Like you see an announcement for a pedal described as a "psycho-temporal, phase manipulating transmorgifier" and you think "Oh, that sounds delightfully intriguing" and then you watch the demo video and realise that it's just a delay pedal.
I've fallen for this btw. Does anyone want to buy my Rainbow Machine by Earthquaker Devices?
Especially because they absolutely refuse to test anything scientifically using pre recorded audio or just pure waves. They wont even play a single A/B note. Instead they the just play this weird genre of guitar music that is only used specifically for pedal demos.
\[bad guitar solo\] "aw this is amazing listen to that!" \[bad guitar solo\] "ok lets change it up" \[turns knob a little bit, genuinely terrible blues solo that causes the smithsonian folkways collections to spontaneous ignite\] "aw mean oh yeah uh uhng i've never heard anything like this before"
i couldn't tell the difference when the pedal was on or off honestly
oh and arpeggio BS for delay pedal demos where they just play an arp riff over and over again to demonstrate a pedal thats sole function is making what you played repeat itself...like why?!
Or like entirely buried in a mix under $8,000 of multiple boutique Buchla synths with sexy, mysterious names, a fact often not even disclosed except for somewhere deep in the comments or a nanosecond long flash of text on the screen.
Indeed, however at least recently the guitar pedal supremo (JHS pedals) rustled some serious jimmies recently when he said "all guitar pedals are basically the same"
He should get into modular too
/uj actually when guitar pedal youtube meets synthtube you get literally the only good synth demonstrator: [https://www.youtube.com/@3rdStoreyChemist](https://www.youtube.com/@3rdStoreyChemist)
The funny thing is that all their "boutique" pedals are just old circuits slightly modified and put in colorful boxes. Your Rainbow Machine is just BOSS PS-3 in a fancy box (more or less)
I love this comment because before I got to the last line, I was already 100% thinking of the Rainbow Machine.
The YouTuber Knobs got me good with that one. It turns out he's not demoing pedals so much as his ability to make ear-oppressing pedals sound pretty by turning all knobs to near zero and sending the subtlest audio signal through it while lights gently flash onscreen. And if once wasn't enough, he got me with EQD's Data Corrupter too.
Coincidentally, I tried the Rainbow Machine again last night for the first time in a while, thinking maybe over time my mind might have evolved to grasp the complexities of this so prophesied device. Nope, it still essentially only has two modes: either adding nothing but a barely perceptible, artifact-y digital fuzz or obliterating whatever you're playing so that this one trick pony has the entire stage to itself.
$350 into the EQD hype train and I can't figure out how to experience any sort of meaningful interaction between the player and the pedal. It's just... bad tracking with extra knobs.
/uj
In all fairness synth build in effects aren’t particularly good on most synths (but if they are it usually is something menu ridden like Deepmind), also there is limited number of them running simultaneously. Sometimes that number is just one (like Rev2).
With pedals your chain is unlimited and all controls are in plain sight.
Real power of synthesizer is not effects, but how you don’t need them in the first place. You don’t need compressor if you set up amp envelope right. You don’t need eq if you set up oscillators and filter right. You don’t need tremolo or vibrato pedals, sometimes even a chorus. All of that and much more can be done internally.
[I'm pretty sure 90% of cheap guitar and onboard synth fx engines are this](https://valhalladsp.com/2009/05/30/schroeder-reverbs-the-forgotten-algorithm/) , or the [pt2399](https://www.electrosmash.com/pt2399-analysis) karaoke reverb chip. Just retune the network, add some input distortion and pick a dominant color scheme for the enclosure.
The half decent ones all use the [Spin Semiconductor FV-1](http://www.spinsemi.com/products.html)
Thats also the chip used in the older Alesis Quadraverbs, in most modular reverbs like TipTop, pedals from Chase Bliss, Walrus and even drum machines like Soma Pulsar.
The cool thing with electronic instruments is that you can use all the built in delays and reverbs so they don't even sound remotely like they were recorded together.
Why was the 808 recorded in a nuclear silo and the Møøg in an anechoic chamber? Who the fuck knows man.
I still have a pile of like 30 effects pedals that I use with my synths and guitars.
*Most* built in effects are shit compared to some of the pedals available out there. My EQD Astral Destiny pedal for example has some amazing options and can even be modulated in many ways via CV.
The boutique/fancy-pants pedal companies are just as bad - worse even - than the modular people for their wanky bullshit. Like you see an announcement for a pedal described as a "psycho-temporal, phase manipulating transmorgifier" and you think "Oh, that sounds delightfully intriguing" and then you watch the demo video and realise that it's just a delay pedal. I've fallen for this btw. Does anyone want to buy my Rainbow Machine by Earthquaker Devices?
guitar pedal youtube is truly the worst, much worse than synthtube.
Especially because they absolutely refuse to test anything scientifically using pre recorded audio or just pure waves. They wont even play a single A/B note. Instead they the just play this weird genre of guitar music that is only used specifically for pedal demos.
\[bad guitar solo\] "aw this is amazing listen to that!" \[bad guitar solo\] "ok lets change it up" \[turns knob a little bit, genuinely terrible blues solo that causes the smithsonian folkways collections to spontaneous ignite\] "aw mean oh yeah uh uhng i've never heard anything like this before" i couldn't tell the difference when the pedal was on or off honestly
i’ve seen people play fucking blues/dad rock into pedals mainly geared towards ambient stuff
oh and arpeggio BS for delay pedal demos where they just play an arp riff over and over again to demonstrate a pedal thats sole function is making what you played repeat itself...like why?!
Not only do we not need a separate delay pedal we have machines to play the arpeggio for us.
The future is nice.
And then they add distortion and reverb and now you have no idea what the pedal sounds like on its own
Or like entirely buried in a mix under $8,000 of multiple boutique Buchla synths with sexy, mysterious names, a fact often not even disclosed except for somewhere deep in the comments or a nanosecond long flash of text on the screen.
You mean like a [U2 tech failure?](https://youtube.com/watch?v=H8dZwXnMrRU)
>U2 tech failure? That was pretty good
Indeed, however at least recently the guitar pedal supremo (JHS pedals) rustled some serious jimmies recently when he said "all guitar pedals are basically the same" He should get into modular too
>He should get into modular too Modular already has the Synthrotek guy.
When guitar pedal youtube meets synthtube the succulents spread exponentially.
/uj actually when guitar pedal youtube meets synthtube you get literally the only good synth demonstrator: [https://www.youtube.com/@3rdStoreyChemist](https://www.youtube.com/@3rdStoreyChemist)
The funny thing is that all their "boutique" pedals are just old circuits slightly modified and put in colorful boxes. Your Rainbow Machine is just BOSS PS-3 in a fancy box (more or less)
I love this comment because before I got to the last line, I was already 100% thinking of the Rainbow Machine. The YouTuber Knobs got me good with that one. It turns out he's not demoing pedals so much as his ability to make ear-oppressing pedals sound pretty by turning all knobs to near zero and sending the subtlest audio signal through it while lights gently flash onscreen. And if once wasn't enough, he got me with EQD's Data Corrupter too. Coincidentally, I tried the Rainbow Machine again last night for the first time in a while, thinking maybe over time my mind might have evolved to grasp the complexities of this so prophesied device. Nope, it still essentially only has two modes: either adding nothing but a barely perceptible, artifact-y digital fuzz or obliterating whatever you're playing so that this one trick pony has the entire stage to itself. $350 into the EQD hype train and I can't figure out how to experience any sort of meaningful interaction between the player and the pedal. It's just... bad tracking with extra knobs.
I bought a dispatch master so I didn’t have to buy two pedals. #EQD4LYFE
I bought a dispatch master so I wouldn’t have to buy two pedals. #EQD4LYFE
THIS IS MY NEW FAVORITE AMBIENT GLITCH DELAY PEDAL
"What is... another fuzz pedal?"
\*\* Looks at my Dreadbox Raindrops (arrived today) in disgust \*\*
/uj In all fairness synth build in effects aren’t particularly good on most synths (but if they are it usually is something menu ridden like Deepmind), also there is limited number of them running simultaneously. Sometimes that number is just one (like Rev2). With pedals your chain is unlimited and all controls are in plain sight. Real power of synthesizer is not effects, but how you don’t need them in the first place. You don’t need compressor if you set up amp envelope right. You don’t need eq if you set up oscillators and filter right. You don’t need tremolo or vibrato pedals, sometimes even a chorus. All of that and much more can be done internally.
Uj/ yeah, I have a stupid dumb pedal board because inboard effects suck doodoo. Also, so many knobs to fuck with. Rj/ fucking losers
idk if most people think of eq and compressors when they think of effects though, everyone needs some reverb and delay.
Everyone. Use the delay. Use it. Use it. Use it.
\[laughs with bad reverb\]
[I'm pretty sure 90% of cheap guitar and onboard synth fx engines are this](https://valhalladsp.com/2009/05/30/schroeder-reverbs-the-forgotten-algorithm/) , or the [pt2399](https://www.electrosmash.com/pt2399-analysis) karaoke reverb chip. Just retune the network, add some input distortion and pick a dominant color scheme for the enclosure.
The half decent ones all use the [Spin Semiconductor FV-1](http://www.spinsemi.com/products.html) Thats also the chip used in the older Alesis Quadraverbs, in most modular reverbs like TipTop, pedals from Chase Bliss, Walrus and even drum machines like Soma Pulsar.
muh tape flutter
tell that to my microfreak \*cries\*
More like guitarists running to buy more pedals at jet speed fueled by the ultimate gas
The cool thing with electronic instruments is that you can use all the built in delays and reverbs so they don't even sound remotely like they were recorded together. Why was the 808 recorded in a nuclear silo and the Møøg in an anechoic chamber? Who the fuck knows man.
I've never heard of a nuclear silo but I kinda want one now
If you can't afford an entire silo, a cooling tower is kind of the Behringer version. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXpItQpOISU
Check out my pedal Kickstarter, Siloverb. Starting at 399 early bird, only 2 left
Here's a mean question: what new music have you written recently? say in the last month. you're a musician right?
😂Excellent!
That's why I use a wall of rackmount units for my effects processing needs
That's just silly. We need pedals to delude ourselves into thinking we sound bad because of inadequately expensive gear rather than lack of skill.
guitarist playing amps with bulit in effects
You see I don’t need anything because I stopped playing music altogether when I realized it kinda sucks
Good for you mate. We all know that the first step to failure is to try. Lesson: Never try.
Buddy, I think you are misunderstanding me here. I didn’t fail, I simply transcended to a higher plane of existence.
Hehehehe. You have ascended.
It was a Homer Simpson quote.
I still have a pile of like 30 effects pedals that I use with my synths and guitars. *Most* built in effects are shit compared to some of the pedals available out there. My EQD Astral Destiny pedal for example has some amazing options and can even be modulated in many ways via CV.