Pedals vs Songwriting

[Gearmond]

one of my posts over in the ugh doom thread kinda glossed about this.

basically:
-tones/pedal junk/etc. is like paint strokes
-if you just make a painting for the sake of the application of the paint, thats like doodling around alone, or like noise or w/e
-nowadays you need to use the application of the paint in service of the end result.
-expression in this sense is a means, but not necessarily an end

its also interesting to work sorta opposite, but still try and be like "this sounds cool, but it needs the right context" rather than "this sounds cool *records*". like some musical ideas i come up with while playing through X number of pedals, and it sounds great BECAUSE it was conceived with the pedals, and now i have to sorta work backwards and build the architecture around it. i dont think you get good results going "this pedal combo is wicked *noodles stuff*" OR "this sounds good clean, now its time to run the gamut of pedal combinations" imo, if you wrote it clean, it'll usually sound best clean. or at least thats how my brain works.

[Dramatis Persona]

Well. I use the acoustic guitar only for ballads or for simple songs verse\chorus\verse\chorus\bridge\etc... when I am at home.
If I should write an epic\ambient\dreamy\ethereal\psychedelic song, the only way is pedals and pedals and pedalds and again pedals, I totally hate play my guitar without reverb and a bit of overdrive, I think my Mantra and my Cathedral should be ever on.
But I add modulation after i wrote a song, usually i use strange sounds and stange settings only for weird solos during improvvisation.

[DarkAxel]

I feel like pedals add the texture that is needed to create something at least a bit original and different

because let's be honest - the songs sound fine without them, but it can lead towards uniformity way faster than making crazy sounds, don't you think?

but i see why you'd use more pedals for composing, because i always get inspired by sound itself... the only problem is that sometimes the texture makes all the difference between being boring and uniform and creating something i've never heard before

[theavondon]

I used to be of the mindset that different pedals impacted how I played my instrument. I switch this on, it sounds different, and it kinda inspires me to attack the instrument more, or back off, generally like playing the effect as much as I'm playing the instrument. This changed how I wrote songs, I had to have this pedal for this song to work right, etc. And, that was the time when I had like, over a dozen pedals on my board. And, it sure was fun.

Now, I tend to just look at pedals as either "LOUDER" or "WEIRD". I've moved down to having two or three distortions that I really, really like for two or three different levels of distortion (and combinations between pedals therein) and then having usually just a delay to give things a bit of space and depth, or at my most decadent, having two or so pedals to just make a really crazy sound. Primarily though, it's just LOUD and WEIRD. And this has opened up my mind to focusing a lot on how I'm playing the instrument, instead of interacting with the effects as much. Lighten up the touch, get slightly further away from the amp, and the overall sound gets quieter and more crisp, then lay into it and get louder, blah blah blah. I can get by with whatever seems to be around if I've left my Rat and Bluebeard at home, and I have something else in the car, or even just turn up the amp all the way and back off to get clean tones. And, thus, my parts are much more focused on how I'm playing them, and what I'm playing. I find that now I have much cleaner technique, and I'm writing songs that are more unusual and honestly, more difficult for me (thus, lots of band practice now). And that sure is fun.

I've been inspired by a lot of friends that are at the previously mentioned point of not having effects. And, as a result, they've focused on playing in order to make the sounds they want. Tremolo picking weird chords instead of using a big washed out reverb to gaze, or playing incredibly aggressive music with a completely clean tone.

I dunno. Just, do whatever, man. That's my advice. There is no wrong, and that's the beautiful thing.

[rfurtkamp]

Pedals or no pedals, at the end of the day I still sound like me.

I can get by with a Strat into any cleanish amp if I have to. I still sound like me.

It's not a case of 'vs' in any realistic way - it is possible to write music, play songs, whatever without falling into 'all pedals are TGPevil except transparent overdrive' or 'I must have seventeen on at all times' camps exclusively.

Given a choice, I'd rather have seventeen *available* because, well, I can choose to not turn them on - but if I don't have 'em, I lose that option.

[jrmy]

Pedals or no pedals, at the end of the day I still sound like me.

I can get by with a Strat into any cleanish amp if I have to. I still sound like me.

It's not a case of 'vs' in any realistic way - it is possible to write music, play songs, whatever without falling into 'all pedals are TGPevil except transparent overdrive' or 'I must have seventeen on at all times' camps exclusively.

Given a choice, I'd rather have seventeen *available* because, well, I can choose to not turn them on - but if I don't have 'em, I lose that option.

This, right here.

[kbit]

I used to be of the mindset that different pedals impacted how I played my instrument. I switch this on, it sounds different, and it kinda inspires me to attack the instrument more, or back off, generally like playing the effect as much as I'm playing the instrument. This changed how I wrote songs, I had to have this pedal for this song to work right, etc. And, that was the time when I had like, over a dozen pedals on my board. And, it sure was fun.

Now, I tend to just look at pedals as either "LOUDER" or "WEIRD". I've moved down to having two or three distortions that I really, really like for two or three different levels of distortion (and combinations between pedals therein) and then having usually just a delay to give things a bit of space and depth, or at my most decadent, having two or so pedals to just make a really crazy sound. Primarily though, it's just LOUD and WEIRD. And this has opened up my mind to focusing a lot on how I'm playing the instrument, instead of interacting with the effects as much. Lighten up the touch, get slightly further away from the amp, and the overall sound gets quieter and more crisp, then lay into it and get louder, blah blah blah. I can get by with whatever seems to be around if I've left my Rat and Bluebeard at home, and I have something else in the car, or even just turn up the amp all the way and back off to get clean tones. And, thus, my parts are much more focused on how I'm playing them, and what I'm playing. I find that now I have much cleaner technique, and I'm writing songs that are more unusual and honestly, more difficult for me (thus, lots of band practice now). And that sure is fun.

I've been inspired by a lot of friends that are at the previously mentioned point of not having effects. And, as a result, they've focused on playing in order to make the sounds they want. Tremolo picking weird chords instead of using a big washed out reverb to gaze, or playing incredibly aggressive music with a completely clean tone.

I dunno. Just, do whatever, man. That's my advice. There is no wrong, and that's the beautiful thing.

Yeah, man. This was a good read.
Any links to that incredibly aggressive music with clean tones?

[zeravla]

I think the most interesting thing about threads like this isn't the discussion, it's the glimpse into other people's process. Sometimes you forget there are so many other ways to approach a song. You get that tunnel vision and sometimes you need to get away from or switch up the pedals to hear something new.

[npfrs]

I think the most interesting thing about threads like this isn't the discussion, it's the glimpse into other people's process. Sometimes you forget there are so many other ways to approach a song. You get that tunnel vision and sometimes you need to get away from or switch up the pedals to hear something new.

Yeah, it's really interesting and inspiring!

[theavondon]

I used to be of the mindset that different pedals impacted how I played my instrument. I switch this on, it sounds different, and it kinda inspires me to attack the instrument more, or back off, generally like playing the effect as much as I'm playing the instrument. This changed how I wrote songs, I had to have this pedal for this song to work right, etc. And, that was the time when I had like, over a dozen pedals on my board. And, it sure was fun.

Now, I tend to just look at pedals as either "LOUDER" or "WEIRD". I've moved down to having two or three distortions that I really, really like for two or three different levels of distortion (and combinations between pedals therein) and then having usually just a delay to give things a bit of space and depth, or at my most decadent, having two or so pedals to just make a really crazy sound. Primarily though, it's just LOUD and WEIRD. And this has opened up my mind to focusing a lot on how I'm playing the instrument, instead of interacting with the effects as much. Lighten up the touch, get slightly further away from the amp, and the overall sound gets quieter and more crisp, then lay into it and get louder, blah blah blah. I can get by with whatever seems to be around if I've left my Rat and Bluebeard at home, and I have something else in the car, or even just turn up the amp all the way and back off to get clean tones. And, thus, my parts are much more focused on how I'm playing them, and what I'm playing. I find that now I have much cleaner technique, and I'm writing songs that are more unusual and honestly, more difficult for me (thus, lots of band practice now). And that sure is fun.

I've been inspired by a lot of friends that are at the previously mentioned point of not having effects. And, as a result, they've focused on playing in order to make the sounds they want. Tremolo picking weird chords instead of using a big washed out reverb to gaze, or playing incredibly aggressive music with a completely clean tone.

I dunno. Just, do whatever, man. That's my advice. There is no wrong, and that's the beautiful thing.

Yeah, man. This was a good read.
Any links to that incredibly aggressive music with clean tones?

http://fatherfiguretx.bandcamp.com/

All the guitar on this is a Danelectro U2 into an Acoustic 140 at about half volume. There's one track that has a fuzz pedal in their entire discography.

[sergiomunoz74]

Well I've changed camp quite a bit. I've always been in jammy bands even now I'm in some sort of math rock jazzy jam band. The thing is most of our song creations are made from the basis that I would make a riff and play in a group and see how it evolves through the jam. Record and then go back to it later.

So in that essence I would always play clean and then add or subtract things depending on the mood of the jam. So basically I slowly removed the pedals that I used at home for silliness over time since many never got tapped on he actual jam floor. Now I have only 4 pedals one being a tuner. I do have a möbius which I just create simplistic but interesting textures on and with some quick thinking I choose a good time to turn on a preset I made at home which I guess is ideal on the möbius.

Simplicity is good, complexity is good, making good music is good, having fun is best.

[ChetMagongalo]

Simplicity is good, complexity is good, making good music is good, having fun is best.

YEAH BROTHER

[theavondon]

Simplicity is good, complexity is good, making good music is good, having fun is best.

YEAH BROTHER