Idea for a new pedal...
Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 4:27 pm
I was thinking about compressors/limiters. I'm not terribly interested in Compressors, they get rid of dynamics(which is okay if you're using over the top fuzz, but that comes with the Territory, and my SM reacts to my picking in interesting ways anyway) and are mostly only good for Chickin' Pickin sounds. But at the same time, they can produce a lot of sustain for your cleans.
Obviously, it would be best if you could have a more envelope based Compressor... that way you'd have the same A and D but different S, so you'd still have proper dynamics. That's not so easy to do automatically in a cheap box.
What you can do however, is control via a footpedal. It could be very pleasing pushing the pedal forward to lengthen sustain. Now, I suppose that a manual compressor in some ways is just a Volume pedal. But, if you had the compression happen to Crazy degrees you could get some very interesting effects. If everything was the same volume for example, it would bring out all the other inflections of picking differently(much like distotion already does, but without distortion), but you could still return to their normal sound at any time. You could fade between the two - have the pinch harmonics for example increase and decrease in volume. You could create some very interesting musical dynamics here, if you alternated between quiet and loud notes while moving the expression pedal.
It would really add another tonal option to your guitar. You could have it so your dynamics are completely upside down on one end, and enhanced on the other, and you could easily slide between the two. You could also have an option to add a little bit of dirt to help increase sustain.
Anyone else think this could be a fun idea?
Obviously, it would be best if you could have a more envelope based Compressor... that way you'd have the same A and D but different S, so you'd still have proper dynamics. That's not so easy to do automatically in a cheap box.
What you can do however, is control via a footpedal. It could be very pleasing pushing the pedal forward to lengthen sustain. Now, I suppose that a manual compressor in some ways is just a Volume pedal. But, if you had the compression happen to Crazy degrees you could get some very interesting effects. If everything was the same volume for example, it would bring out all the other inflections of picking differently(much like distotion already does, but without distortion), but you could still return to their normal sound at any time. You could fade between the two - have the pinch harmonics for example increase and decrease in volume. You could create some very interesting musical dynamics here, if you alternated between quiet and loud notes while moving the expression pedal.
It would really add another tonal option to your guitar. You could have it so your dynamics are completely upside down on one end, and enhanced on the other, and you could easily slide between the two. You could also have an option to add a little bit of dirt to help increase sustain.
Anyone else think this could be a fun idea?
