Count to 5, Pitchgrinder, Organizer: How do they do it?!!?!

[ThurberMingus]

I absolutely love effects like the ones listed in the title. They are amazing and they blow my mind and I want nothing more in my life (seriously it's my dream) to create effects which have crazy maddening digital pitch shifting obscenity. My only question is: how?

I have no idea what steps to take or what kind of information I need to read in order to gain the knowledge to make such an experimental effect. How does one get into this kind of thing?

I decided recently (twenty-something coming of age epiphany type stuff) that I want to go back to school to become an electrical engineer. I understand that I might work for GE instead of Dwarfcraft, but I figure it will set me up to do stuff that I'm interested in and help me take my hobby to the next level.

But where do I start?

[leaves turn]

I'd start with an Arduino. Run through the examples and brainstorm ways to incorporate its functionality into mundane analog circuits. You won't be doing DSP but it'll get you familiar with embedded system programming and microcontrollers in general.

You could dig into the FV-1 chip (lots of resources on DIYSB and elsewhere) but I've never touched it so I can't say if it's a good idea for a beginner.

I use the free and open source visual programming language Pure Data for messing around with DSP; patching my signal path through a laptop and back to the board before going to the amp. Check https://guitarextended.wordpress.com/ for a bunch of simple effects patch examples.

In college, take as many C/C++, Embedded Systems and DSP courses as possible.

[Dr. Sherman Sticks M.D.]

max/msp is another good place to learn if you're into software stuff and not super into actually writing/learning code.

its all visual, and pretty easy to learn.

[Bellyheart]

Max msp is so crazy to me because it seems endless.

[Dr. Sherman Sticks M.D.]

yea def a potential rabbit hole, as most of these things are.

if max/msp was like arduino where you could flash your patches onto some hardware….omfg

[Dr. Sherman Sticks M.D.]

back to back flashy gif avatars!

[ThurberMingus]

leaves turn, is that your blog? This sounds and effects are pretty much exactly what I need in my life, just in a more "pedalboard friendly" form factor.

If it's not your blog, thanks for showing it to me. Seems like a good starting point for what I want to do.

As far as Max/MSP. I'm not really a big software guy, mainly due to my computers limitations. I would love to get into software, but unfortunately I need to get my hardware situated. I was planning on wiping my computers HD and starting fresh with a Linux OS. I'm pretty sure my computer was loaded up with useless crap when I got it, so it's all bogged down. Plus I'd like to learn more about how computers and programs work, so that seems like a good way to get into that.

Thanks for all the advice so far guys! I've got some ideas of where to start now!

[leaves turn]

Not my blog btw, just some dude I found while researching pure data.

[tuj]

check out the SPIN FV1. In Eurorack, TipTop is using this processor in the cartridge-based Z-DSP module.

http://www.spinsemi.com/knowledge_base/demo_board.html

[Dr. Sherman Sticks M.D.]

dang so i just learned that the spin chip was designed by Keith Barr? the same dude that founded MXR and Alesis, and is also from my hometown. crazyyy

[Gone Fission]

Spin FV-1 is the muscle behind some digital pedals from a lot of boutique and -ish companies. Dr. Scientist, EHX, EQD, and probably a bunch more have used that processor. If the Spin forum is still up, some nice info sharing and participation to help a guy get going.

[lordgalvar]

Another way of going about it could be to circuit bend a digital delay like Seppuku does which would be fun to get your feet wet. Also check out Midibox http://www.ucapps.de/..that could be a good place to start with PIC stuff and interfaces. There are kits for that stuff (I know they ain't guitar effects, but maybe you could make the FM project to modulate the guitar or something like a digital Freqbox (heck, I might try it)).

Pd-extended and arduino with analog circuits are great suggestions though.

[cedarskies]

Spin FV-1 is the muscle behind some digital pedals from a lot of boutique and -ish companies. Dr. Scientist, EHX, EQD, and probably a bunch more have used that processor. If the Spin forum is still up, some nice info sharing and participation to help a guy get going.

red panda particle is an fv-1

[cloudscapes]

fv-1 is nice. has a bit of a learning curve though if you want to break the mold of usual delays/reverbs and dive into something more like the particle or rainbow machine.

teensy 3.1 is another solution for getting into it, since it's basically arduino and there are audio specific drivers that do a lot of the hard driver work for you. there's even a GUI editor that spits out code
http://www.pjrc.com/teensy/td_libs_Audio.html

[lordgalvar]

Thanks for the link to teensy 3.1. Good looking out! It always good to have more resources. Might use it in conjunction with other stuff to test/sketch ideas.