SECTION I: FLANGE
I stumbled on this little hidden feature
on accident with the Avalanche Run,
thanks to the expression pedal. Most
delays will perform faux flanging
when turned to a very high speed,
and the Avalanche’s handling of it is
nothing short of haunting. The sound
is essentially a comb filtering effect,
and sounds very close to one of my
favorite pedals of all time, the ElectroHarmonix Deluxe Electric Mistress,
on the Filter Matrix setting. With
the addition of the reverb on the
Avalanche Run, this setting can be
very useful for dark space ballads or
reflective moments. To achieve this
sound, plug an expression pedal into
the unit, and set the EXP to control
the delay time. Turn the expression
pedal to the max setting, and mix in
reverb to taste.
SECTION II:
CLOCK DELAY
ticking coming from my amp. Pickups
are transducers (a device which
converts sound or vibration into an
electrical signal), so naturally, the
sound of my watch is picked up and
amplified, due to the proximity of my
right hand to the pickups whenever I
play. I have experimented before with
this sound by syncing a delay up to
the second hand, and mangling the
sound with phasers, distortions, and
filters, creating many a nightmarish
cacophony of ticking noises, all from
my humble little analog watch (come
on, you wouldn’t expect me to wear
a digital one now would you?). To get
this tone, make sure you have—in
addition to the Avalanche Run—an
analog watch and a booster/distortion
of some kind. The sound of the ticking
is fairly faint, so it will need a bit of
boosting to be at a healthy volume.
Take off your watch and put it up
against the selected pickup, and listen
for the ticking. Once you hear it, set
the tap tempo on your Avalanche Run
on the downbeat from your watch,
so the delays fill up the empty space
between the seconds. Set your EXP
again to control delay time, and go
for it.
Getting strange clock noises out
of my guitar is something I’m no
stranger to. I am of the breed of
heretics that wear their watch on
their right hand, so whenever I am
wearing my watch I always hear
14
TONE TALK //
Sculpting Soundscapes with the EarthQuaker Devices Avalanche Run