These are just some of the various effects units that are available for purchase.
To continue with the subject of electric guitars and amplifiers, effects units can also be used with an electric guitar and amplifier to change the sound coming out of the amplifier and add a new color. These can be used with a variety of instruments, but the electric guitar, bass guitar, and piano are usually associated with this technology. Effects units are like the plug-ins used in recording studios that end up changing the output sound of the instrument. However, effects units are manifested in the form of a pedal or mounted on a rack and can be physically manipulated during live performances or practices.
These are some of the available equipment racks that can hold various effects units.
The effects pedal is used with the foot so you can use the effect with ease whenever you want by simply stepping on it. You may have to set up the effect before hand by adjusting the knobs and levers to get the effect you want to use, but effects pedals are fairly simple and easy-to-use pieces of technology that can add a wide spectrum of different flavors to your sound. I have used effects pedals with my electric guitar, and they are extremely fun and easy to play with. There are a wide variety of pedals, and each of them adds a different effect to your instrument. There are also effects units that you can buy and put in an equipment rack, in which you manipulate physically with your hands. These are the effects units that can be found in the giant equipment racks in recording studios. Some of the effects units you can get are included in the presets of amplifiers, but not all amplifiers have all the effects you can buy.
Sound effect experiments began in the 1940s in recording studios when engineers and musicians like Les Paul began tinkering with sound and microphones. The first effects unit actually manufactured to sell was the Trem-Trol in 1948, which added a tremolo effect, or a repetitious note effect, to the instrument that it was connected to. Soon, the amplifier scene took over in this same decade with Gibson, Fender, and a whole bunch of others adding in effects in amplifiers that used to only be available in the recording studios.
Then in the 1960s, the ability to have these studio effects like distortion, tremolo, and others was put into a small and convenient device that was made available due to the creation of stompboxes using transistors. Transistors can change electrical signals and amplify them. They are small and compact, and in the 1940s, it was ideal for the creation of the stompbox. The stompbox, or effects pedal, was able to fit these pre-designed effects that were available mostly in recording studios and amplifiers into small, easy to use devices. The 1962 Maestro Fuzz pedal was the first pedal created and was used in the Rolling Stones’ 1965 hit, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.”
All of a sudden, a whole stream of effects pedals began coming out. The first wah-wah pedal, named the Clyde McCoy, was created by Warwick Electronics in 1967, the first octave effect pedal called the Octavia was created by Roger Mayer in 1968, and various other pedals that included many effects like chorus, phasers, and flangers were available in the 1970s. Jimi Hendrix was an avid user of these pedals when they first came out, and recorded some guitar solos in some of his songs with these pedals.
There are generally seven categories of effects units, and each category has a wide variety of pedals made by many different manufacturers that give different flavors to the sound of an instrument. These categories are distortion, dynamics, filter, modulation, pitch or frequency, time based, and sustain or feedback. Sustain and feedback are produced naturally with the instrument or a hand held device. Feedback is when the frequency from an amplifier is picked up by microphones that are also amplified, which produces high and sometimes irritating pitches. The most common way to use this technique is to set an amplified microphone next to an amplifier and play the instrument through the amplifier at a high volume, or just play the instrument right in front of the amplifier. Sustain can be created using magnetic devices, such as an EBow, that causes the strings to vibrate between two ends of a magnet. Each end pulls on the string in the opposite direction, which ultimately causes the string to vibrate.
Distortion and fuzz pedals, which give crunchy or fuzzy effects to the sound and are classified under the distortion category. Compressors, noise gates, and volume-boost pedals are categorized under the dynamics category, and either amplify or increase the sound. Filtering effects pedals include wah-wahs, equalizers, and talk boxes, which manipulate certain areas or frequencies of the sound. The category of modulation effects units includes a lot of different individual effects, like chorus, flanger, and vibrato that all bring together different sounds to create abnormal or strange frequencies. Pitch shifters, along with harmonizers, fall under the pitch category, and manipulate the highs and lows of the frequency. Time based effects include reverb, delay, and looper effects which all play around with the timing of the sounds that the instruments play.
If you want to add some new flavor or color to your sound, you might want to invest some money into some of these toys. Most are pretty easy to use, but some of the more expensive ones can have a variety of effects, pedals, and dials for you to play around with. It may take you some time to learn how to use some of the effects units and understand what sounds work for you, but it is well worth it. I personally use a wah-wah quite often, and sometimes an EBow. I have also used a loop system a few times, but it took me a few tries to learn its functionality.
So, if you are looking to add some toys to your musical arsenal, effects units are a good choice. They are fun to play with, and fairly easy to use.
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