I'm sort of getting frustrated at hearing "No New Effects"

[univalve]

it's the old one.

This.

[whoismarykelly]

Its much more difficult to innovate than make "your version" of a generic circuit and the market is much more receptive to a tube screamer that looks cool or panders to a specific player than it is to a unique new effect. There are a lot of new and unique pedals that come out every year but the companies are small, production is low, and appeal is limited to experimental players. I'd also wager that anyone complaining about 'no new effects' isn't a very creative or imaginative player when it comes to pedals.

I don't complain about it but I see what you're saying.


However, I personally thing the last few years has brought out a lot of interesting, yet pretty useless pedals. I've tried a lot of them and unless you're just making noise rock or atmospheric textural stuff, most of the shit just isn't that usable with an instrument. So, to me, they almost ought to stop calling it a "guitar pedal" at some point.


However, there are work around for almost anything to make it usable like an FX loop or blender for instance. I use some crazy shit in my fx loop at lower volumes and that sounds sick as hell. Direct in though, it's not ideal for me. I'm a pretty creative guy I think too? Maybe I'm wrong... lol

Most companies doing innovative things aren't particularly intent on calling their products "guitar pedals" as much as "effects pedals" and lots of those products are designed with lots of sources in mind. Go watch clips Red Panda posts on their IG story. There was one today with a drummer who miced acoustic drums and processed them live. Innovation starts with a product and continues with a user. I think a massive number of synth players and sound designers would take umbrage with the statement "most of the shit just isn't that usable with an instrument." "Usable" is a pretty meaningless term without context and there is a lot more context in the world of music than a guitar riff through a pedal into an amp.

[gnomethrone]

Yeah but how many Model A's have been launched into space?
Space, y'all
Fuckin space

[univalve]

lol
Thanks.

[cbm]

Guys basically saying, "No one has invented a new effect. Everyone is basically modifying older circuits with new functionality."

Usually in defense of JHS or Mooer or whatever.

Ugh. I get so sick of that.

It's true though. No one has in a long ass time. Almost all circuits are based on other circuits or previous ideas even if the builders says it's not.

There have been so many interesting odd loopers and glitch pedals released over the last few years, that people who say there's nothing new, just aren't paying attention.

[Jwar]

I think we are getting our wires crossed here. I don't mean there's nothing "new". I mean that there's nothing original. There are original takes on previous designs or alterations to sounds that previously existed.

You can't get past this simple fact though. A fuzz is a fuzz, a reverb is a reverb, delay is a delay...etc. That's what I'm saying.

I'm happy all these people are making innovative stuff. Personally though, I think a lot of it has been a tad bit of overkill over the last several years.

I've owned so many fucking glitch pedals it's insane. Guess what? They all had similar attributes. I pay extremely close attention. I spend a lot of money on gear too. So, while I'm no expert, I'm no dummy either.

[Jwar]

Its much more difficult to innovate than make "your version" of a generic circuit and the market is much more receptive to a tube screamer that looks cool or panders to a specific player than it is to a unique new effect. There are a lot of new and unique pedals that come out every year but the companies are small, production is low, and appeal is limited to experimental players. I'd also wager that anyone complaining about 'no new effects' isn't a very creative or imaginative player when it comes to pedals.

I don't complain about it but I see what you're saying.


However, I personally thing the last few years has brought out a lot of interesting, yet pretty useless pedals. I've tried a lot of them and unless you're just making noise rock or atmospheric textural stuff, most of the shit just isn't that usable with an instrument. So, to me, they almost ought to stop calling it a "guitar pedal" at some point.


However, there are work around for almost anything to make it usable like an FX loop or blender for instance. I use some crazy shit in my fx loop at lower volumes and that sounds sick as hell. Direct in though, it's not ideal for me. I'm a pretty creative guy I think too? Maybe I'm wrong... lol

Most companies doing innovative things aren't particularly intent on calling their products "guitar pedals" as much as "effects pedals" and lots of those products are designed with lots of sources in mind. Go watch clips Red Panda posts on their IG story. There was one today with a drummer who miced acoustic drums and processed them live. Innovation starts with a product and continues with a user. I think a massive number of synth players and sound designers would take umbrage with the statement "most of the shit just isn't that usable with an instrument." "Usable" is a pretty meaningless term without context and there is a lot more context in the world of music than a guitar riff through a pedal into an amp.

I agree with you. I should have clarified what I meant. Most of it isn't useful for me as a bass player or as a guitar player.

[harpies]

I get what jwar is saying...like there is no new category of effect. Pedals fit into concepts that have been around forever, reverb, distortion, flange, etc. There are far too many dull pedalmakers making minor tweaks to pedals or none at all other than a rehousing, but the better pedal makers, the innovative ones, really are just taking those basic concepts and expanding what those pedals are capable of and/or making desired sounds more easily accessible via their interface. Glitch might be the closest to its own new category but ultimately they are just samplers with new means of interacting with it.

[Jwar]

I get what jwar is saying...like there is no new category of effect. Pedals fit into concepts that have been around forever, reverb, distortion, flange, etc. There are far too many dull pedalmakers making minor tweaks to pedals or none at all other than a rehousing, but the better pedal makers, the innovative ones, really are just taking those basic concepts and expanding what those pedals are capable of and/or making desired sounds more easily accessible via their interface. Glitch might be the closest to its own new category but ultimately they are just samplers with new means of interacting with it.

This guy gets me!

[Tom Von Kramm]

I'm going to toot my own horn:

Freqout (you even worked on it JWAR!)
TRIO/+/SDRUM
Rubbernecking
Multi-Voice Flanger (Nautila)
12-string effect (Mosaic)

[neonblack]

Toot it loud Vom Kon Tramm. You do/have done a lot of badass stuff. If I buy a mosiac and send it to you, will you put it in a less gaudy box? Unless you also came up with the graphics, then sorry.

[Tom Von Kramm]

Toot it loud Vom Kon Tramm. You do/have done a lot of badass stuff. If I buy a mosiac and send it to you, will you put it in a less gaudy box? Unless you also came up with the graphics, then sorry.

Those chassis are steel, you could have JWAR do a Cermark laser thing to it.

[Heraclitus Akimbo]

“whatever ASSHOLE here’s my pedal that makes humpback whale noises and also it has a built in sequencer so stick it in your craw!”

Please add me to the waiting list for this.

[K2000]

Well there’s gain, modulation,delay, pitch, and filter. Everything will be a derivative of those

Maybe the point is that there could be effects that don't fall into these categories. What if there is life beyond Thunderdome?

(You forgot looping, and anyway some of these categories like modulation are pretty broad and haven't been thoroughly exhausted of new ideas).

A couple days ago, I asked if there was an effect available for "spatialization" which would move or place specific frequencies in the stereo field, the way that mastering software can. Why can't a pedal do that? It would be cool if you could morph between different presets.

[kaeth]

There is nothing new under the sun. There are no original ideas at all. We're all just repeating variations of the same conversations people have been having throughout human history. Our DNA is just an another iteration of the same in four billion year old bacteria. All our thoughts are just abstractions of the same cosmic patterns that have existed forever. Nothing special here. Why bother?