Effects you like vs. Effects you actually use

[friendship]

Some people are really good at writing music with their effects, or letting the effects and textures guide their writing. I'm not one of those people. I'm satisfied with my writing most when I write with the bare essentials, and save my effecting and texturizing for later. Effects are inspirational in a sound design sense, but I can only remember a single time that using an effect inspired me to write a song, but that was over 10 years ago, and it was a pretty boring song.

[duffmcshark]

I use delay all the time. It puts me in a trippy state of mind and has become my "anti-drug" in the sense that I can go back to a certain place while still being sober. Since you have the "make crazy noise" aspect of the delay down you should try the slapback and longer rhythmic delays. With slapback I like to set it to longer times for a Dead Kennedys kind of sound. For rhythmic try turning it up so that the repeats match a 1/16 or 1/8 note, then pick a note and mute it really quick or pick palm muted notes. Crank up the feedback a little and space out. Depending on your delay you can then add modulation and whatnot, mess with the order between pre and post dirt, and check to see if it sounds better clean or distorted. When using distortion it usually works best to go delay before dirt, no modulation, and slightly less distortion than you think you need. You could do all that and see that you still can't find a useful delay setting since it just doesn't work for you.

[repoman]

I'm good with a little reverb and a tremolo bar equipped guitar and thats that I guess.
I like playing with reverb, delay and a little light OD most of the time. I find playing with delay when I've just picked up a guitar helps unlock some creativity or feeling that really gets me into playing and making stuff up. I don't always have to have it on but using it right away is like a little spark.
One effect that I always love hearing the most is tremolo (the volume kind) but I have never been able to make use of it. I've gone through like 10 tremolo pedals too thinking maybe its the pedal that isn't doing it for me. I recently got rid of a gravitas and have a fulltone coming.

Weird ass effects are always enticing and 9 times out of 10 I wind up putting them on a shelf or selling them.

[PeteeBee]

I'm in the same boat as someone from way earlier. If I'm bringing the riff/song/head/leading what's happening it is overdrive and reverb only. Anything else just makes it harder for the fellow musicians to get inspired and jump in. If someone else brings the song then it seems almost the opposite. When it's their idea I'm able to get pretty weird and normally they're like "that's awesome! I didn't know what to do there and I loved it!"

Something to do with us being simple humans and needing a more simple hook that can be expanded upon. When you start with something too out there you're either expecting people to Bring the simpler riff them self, or go even further and weirder, which if you're like me is unrealistic because no one I jam with has a similar pile or weird pedals

[Seance]

I like the "noisemakers" as a segue n between songs when playing live. I hate silence between songs, so I fill it with ambiance. Bridges that are instrumental can be another spot to add the noise. Usually I don't write with effects, but add them afterwards.

This is a great idea. Or...depending on if you are in a band, and what type of band,
the noise segues can be more like noise interludes within a song. You can also try
to do this type of thing in songs where the subject matter seems to lend itself to that.

It can be like jazz or a great stand-up comedian. Present one motif. Seemingly go to
a random second bit that then naturally morphs into a third thing that then has a
surprising resemblance to the first motif so that when you finally switch back to
the first motif the audience is pleasantly surprised by encountering the familiar again
but in a new context. And while they're chewing on that bit of story-telling mind-trickery,
slip back into the "normal" flow of your song.

Of course if you're over-indulgent with that technique, and use it every other song,
then people will accuse you of being in a Jam Band. But the Grateful Dead aren't
the only ones who used this technique. So did Sonic Youth, Steel Pole Bathtub,
The Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, and countless other more modern examples.

For me pedals do change how I play, which does sometimes encourage me to write
things around that effect/new way of playing. Also... I sometimes make noises
for soundtracks to the visuals I create, which allows for all sorts of sound-mangling
pedals and indulge-a-delays.

[odontophobia]

I definitely don't use all the pedals on my pedalboard during "band times" but I think if you go watch any band that has a wide variety of pedals on the board they don't always use them all.

No big deal saying, "yeah, pretty much just use this fucking around."

Take the Rainbow Machine for example. Not totally usable in a band context. BUT. It's great for filling some sonic spaces between songs. Sometimes that Magic Switch being engaged and using the Bypass switch to just here this ascending/descending mess is all that you need to add some flair. But it's so unique it has to be used sparingly.

Mostly I just use reverb and phaser. I like the fuzzes on my board but they don't usually fit in the context of what my band is currently doing. That wasn't always the case but it definitely is now.

[popvulture]

A few things:

I have two ways that I typically use my pedals. One is just digging around and stringing some together, getting weird, having fun with the discovery. The second is my board that I play with my band, which is set up deliberately and sensibly so that a) I don't have any surprises at a time when I need to be focusing on a song, and b) so I don't wankishly noodle with new combinations while I'm playing with other people and waste everybody's time. There are obviously times when I change each situation—can't be too rigid—but it helps me keep things focused in the right places/times.

Also, when I write songs, I tend to not rely too heavily on effects as "garnishes" that I just throw on top of things, but rather vital parts of the sounds I'm making. They're not add ons—they're part of the instrument. If I treat it like this, the music I write always ends up sounding more deliberate and solid. It's also a great way to get out of your comfort zone a bit. I often find that I write some of my best new/exciting stuff when I'm on a different instrument... switching over to bass, piano, ukulele, f'n clarinet, whatever... the different configurations make me think in ways that are much less bogged down in habit than with my primary instrument. I do the same with effects... if I set up a weird ass delay that sounds like goat crunching on a tin can, it'll change the way I think and I'll come up with something interesting. Maybe I'll write something simpler or more rhythmic, for example. Whatever the case, it changes things up. The key is that it's not just something aimlessly slapped on top of my sound.

Then, of course, sometimes (a lot of the time, actually) I write my best stuff on the couch with an acoustic. Sometimes it's great to just be devoid of any distractions/possibly unnecessary things. Similarly, sometimes when you sit down at your computer to write, it's impossible when you've got pedals and porn and politics just a click away—naturally just picking up a pen and paper really beats the hell out of that.

[popvulture]

[Mudfuzz]

Effects are just tools like paint brushes, for some people you need every little different one, for others all you need is a rattle can. It all depends on what the user wants to achieve. Use what lets you do what you need and don't let the shiny things distract you from your path.

[elevenstrings]

Using effects in my solo music, if I find an inspiring sound I’ll tend to write the music around the effect. In those instances, it’s pretty important to be able to quickly re-create the exact sound in a live setting… hence my love for pedals that store lots of presets (Big Strymons, Eventide).

Some examples:
Crustacean - Eventide Quadravox with some fuzz/Tremolo/looping at the end
Tumbleweeds - Timeline Pattern Delay
Dhalsim - IE Xerograph Low Pass Filter, expression controlled Delay

When I’m part of an ensemble, I typically just go clean with an occasional use of effects - from light dirt, fuzz, and sometimes a little ring modulation mixed with a formant filter… excuse the nu-metal in that last link lol.

I tend to play solo these days, so I do bring and use most of the pedals on it, but it can depend on the set and the audience which pedals I click on/off.

[Chankgeez]

... and sometimes a little ring modulation mixed with a formant filter… excuse the nu-metal in that last link lol.

Nu-metal or not, elevenstrings, that sounds great. What pedals are you using there?

[fcknoise]

To be honest, I think I could write all the proper songs I make with just my el cap (my songwriting setting fast delays, not too many repeats, low-ish mix, 9 I clock on the modulation and a bit of reverb. Because you asked how to delay, Neon). And pair it with a fuzz or OD of choice. I tend to write stuff kinda in the same vein as the band Real Estate nowadays.

That's just for proper songs, which I do maybe 20% of the time. The rest is everything on, stereo chain, overuse of everything and cascading multiple fuzzes into eachother. <- that is what makes me happy and what makes me feel good, which essentially is why I picked up this hobby in the first place. Sometimes people say like "why do you spend all your money on this hobby you won't do professionally?". Well, because it gives me happy, good feels

[frigid midget]

I try to keep my board lean and mean, with mostly just no frills dirt pedals, and a couple delays and a reverb. When I wanna go nuts on glitchy ambienty noisy drones, I try get the most out of that simple setup, though not having more than an oscillating reverb and a a ehx freeze, I feel kinda limited creating textures and layers and what not

As soon as I get on top of my cash flow probs, I'm shopping for a Boss PS-2, and a EHX Superego to replace the Freeze

[elevenstrings]

... and sometimes a little ring modulation mixed with a formant filter… excuse the nu-metal in that last link lol.

Nu-metal or not, elevenstrings, that sounds great. What pedals are you using there?

thanks chankgeez - that was patch I created on the Boss VF-1 - I used an expression pedal to morph between different vowels.

[Chankgeez]

Thanks (& you're welcome), I had a feeling you were using something I'd never ever think of playing through.

I need to find me a formant filter pedal.