Integrating Guitar Effects Pedals With a Digital DJ Setup

[yizzle]

ysm notes: Before getting into my digital world of DJ'ing & production I was (am) a guitar player of many, many years. Being heavily influenced by Pink Floyd, Deep Purple etc. I obviously built up a fair collection of guitar pedals.

I have been from time to time curious if there was a way to incorporate these stereo/analog things made for guitar into my DJ'ing and for other live performance things.

Few years later this article popped up by chance. Hope it helps anyone like minded

Where To Start:

Some Details To Keep In Mind:

All guitar pedals are designed with the foot in mind, not your hand, but there are some ways in which they can be used in table-top format as well. Such as:

• Stay away from the silver peg-style switch; these are nearly impossible to use.

• Pedals with spring-loaded platforms (like the Boss series) can be modified with lighter springs so they are easier to press

• Pedals like the Mooer series will accommodate modifications such as arcade buttons to the circuit board.

It’s easiest if you’re using a mixer with a send and return, which will allow you to route any external effects to any individual channel on the mixer.

Most mixers’ send and return will have a mono output, so try ordering your effects with mono devices first, then adding stereo effects after those. Many clubs run their sound systems in mono due to less-than-ideal listening conditions. Often stereo effects can be lost in the mix, so it might be wise to run everything in mono anyway if live shows are in the plan.

Of course, you can set up your effects chain however you like, but, in this instance it starts with a Boss Compressor/Sustainer to bring the drum sounds together, followed by a Bass Synthesizer, Flanger, a Red Panda Particle Granular Delay, a Digital Pitch Shifter/Delay, and so on, and ends with a stereo-signal Digital Reverb.

Naturally, mixing analog guitar effects with your digital DJ setup is all about creativity and improvisation, so experiment and have fun with it. Try re-ordering your devices to see what happens, and find the fit that works best for you. With hundreds of options out there it can be hard to decide which will work, especially since testing them out is not a viable option. Here is a short list of the pedals from the video above and a few extras:

• Boss Bass Synthesizer – Turns any rhythm into a TB-303 with great squelching flavor, however very atonal and difficult to keep in key.

• Boss Digital Reverb RV5 - Amazing stereo digital reverb in a small footprint. Gets washed out in stereo in a club, and may be best run in mono.

• Boss Digital Delay DD3 – This is the most popular delay for syncopated patterns that are out of time.

• Boss Digital Delay DD7 – Like the DD3, but with tap-tempo for synced delays. It also has a unique wet delay fadeout, which is nice.

• Boss Tera Echo - Very unique-sounding delay.

• Boss Pitch Shifter/Digital Delay - Basically the DD3 with some extra pitch-shifting effects. Packs a lot of value into a small footprint.

• Boss Equalizer - Surprisingly fun multi-band EQ, which makes it easy to punch in big EQ changes for musical effects.

• Boss Compression/Sustainer - Fantastic compressor, especially for drums. This is great for gluing together rhythmic material in the mix.

• Red Panda Particle – Freeze effects, delays, and pitch-shifting with a foot-pedal input for expression make this a very unique offering.

• Mooer Analog Delay – Instant crazy feedback and genuine analog delays create deep dub sounds.

• Mooer ShimVerb – Authentic analog reverb that sounds very warm.

• Mooer Pitch Shifter - Great for revoicing synth lines.

ysm notes 2: DJTT's seems to be really heavy on the Boss brand (my guess is thats no accident). DigiTech, Ibanez and even some older Morley pedals are just as solid, if not better in some circumstance. If you just want to experiment without breaking bank Behringer make some really cool pedals that are cheap as chips. ~$60 each.

Source: djtechtools.com