Effects unit

An effects unit or effects pedal is an electronic or digital device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source. Common effects include distortion/overdrive, often used with electric guitar in electric blues and rock music; dynamic effects such as volume pedals and compressors, which affect loudness; filters such as wah-wah pedals and graphic equalizers, which modify frequency ranges; modulation effects, such as chorus, flangers and phasers; pitch effects such as pitch shifters; and time effects, such as reverb and delay, which create echoing sounds and emulate the sound of different spaces. Most modern effects use solid-state electronics or computer chips. Some effects, particularly older ones such as Leslie speakers and spring reverbs, use mechanical components or vacuum tubes. Effects are often used as stompboxes, which are typically placed on the floor and controlled with footswitches. They are also built into amplifiers, tabletop units designed for DJs and record producers, and rackmounts, and are widely used as software VSTs. Modern digital effects utilizecomputer chips to emulate an array of sounds. All of the aforementioned effects have been recreated with digital, and the realm of potential has been expanded dramatically with the increase in technologies. Specially areas like reverb and delay have greatly benefited from this advancement. Certain reverb effects now have the processing power to emulate a variety of spaces. Musicians, audio engineers and record producers use effects units during live performances or in the studio, typically with electric guitar, bass guitar, electronic keyboard or electric piano. While guitar effects are most frequently used with electric or electronic instruments, effects can also be used with acoustic instruments, drums and vocals. An effects unit is also called an 'effect box', 'effects device', 'effects processor' or simply 'effects'. In audio engineer parlance, a signal without effects is 'dry' and an effect-processed signal is 'wet'. The abbreviation 'F/X' or 'FX' is sometimes used. A pedal-style unit may be called a 'stomp box', 'stompbox', 'effects pedal' or 'pedal'. A musician bringing many pedals to a live show or recording session often mounts the pedals on a guitar pedalboard, to reduce set-up and tear-down time and, for pedalboards with lids, protect the pedals during transportation. When a musician has multiple effects in a rack mounted road case, this case may be called an 'effects rack' or 'rig'. When rackmounted effects are mounted in a roadcase, this also speeds up a musician's set-up and tear-down time, because all of the effects can be connected together inside the rack case and all of the units can be plugged into a powerbar. Effects units are available in a variety of formats or form factors. Stompboxes are primarily used units in live performance and (in some cases) studio recordings. Rackmount devices saw a heavy usage during the later 20th century, due to their advanced processing power and desirable tones. However, by the 21st century, with the advant of digital Plug-Ins and more powerful Stompboxes for live usage, the need and practicality of rackmounted effects units went down, and as such, prices of rack effects have diminished due to lower usage. An effects unit can consist of analog or digital circuitry or a combination of the two. During a live performance, the effect is plugged into the electrical 'signal' path of the instrument. In the studio, the instrument or other sound-source's auxiliary output is patched into the effect. Form factors are part of a studio or musician's outboard gear. Stompboxes are small plastic or metal chassis which usually lie on the floor or in a pedalboard to be operated by the user's feet. Pedals are often rectangle-shaped, but there are a range of other shapes (e.g., the circle-shaped Fuzz Face). Typical simple stompboxes have a single footswitch, one to three potentiometers ('pots' or 'knobs') for controlling the effect, and a single LED that indicates if the effect is on. A typical distortion or overdrive pedal's three potentiometers, for example, control the level or intensity of the distortion effect, the tone of the effected signal and the volume (level) of the effected signal. Depending on the type of pedal, the potentiometers may control different parameters of the effect. For a chorus effect, for example, the knobs may control the depth and speed of the effect. Complex stompboxes may have multiple footswitches, many knobs, additional switches or buttons that are operated with the fingers, and an alphanumeric LED display that indicates the status of the effect with short acronyms (e.g., DIST for 'distortion').Some pedals have two knobs stacked on top of each other, enabling the unit to provide two knobs per single knob space. An 'effects chain' or 'signal chain' is formed by connecting two or more stompboxes. Effect chains are typically created between the guitar and the amp or between the preamplifier ('preamp') and the power amp. When a pedal is off or inactive, the electric audio signal coming into the pedal diverts onto a bypass, an unaltered 'dry' signal that continues on to other effects down the chain. In this way, a musician can combine effects within a chain in a variety of ways without having to reconnect boxes during a performance.A 'controller' or 'effects management system' lets the musician create multiple effect chains, so they can select one or several chains by tapping a single switch. The switches are usually organized in a row or a simple grid.