IF YOU’RE A
GUITARIST
WHO ALSO
DABBLES IN DIY
RECORDING, AS
MANY OF US DO,
THE THOUGHT
HAS PROBABLY
ALREADY
CROSSED YOUR
MIND THAT YOUR
PEDALBOARD
EFFECTS MIGHT
BE USEFUL
FOR ALTERING
SOMETHING
BESIDES YOUR
GUITAR SIGNAL.
Maybe you’ve tried this experiment already,
running vocals, snare drum, saxophone,
or some other instrument through a
distortion box or a delay pedal. Perhaps
the experiment worked out okay, but many
times when guitar effects and pro audio
gear are plugged into each other, the
result is less than ideal, with great difficulty
in matching levels and with lots of extra
noise. These difficulties arise from the fact
that guitar pedals were designed for high
impedance, instrument level signals, and
the signal coming from the mixer, mic pre,
or other piece of pro audio gear was most
likely a low impedance, line level signal.
Despair not, however, because there are
ways to make stompboxes and pro audio
gear work together in glorious harmony.
A mere level or impedance mismatch should
not dissuade anyone from using their
guitar pedals for all sorts of extracurricular
audio destruction, as stompboxes can be
wonderful and inspiring tools for recording,
mixing, and performing live with virtually
any instrument. For most self-recordists
who work primarily with DAWs and plugin
effects, mixing with a stompbox in the signal
chain can lend a uniquely tactile element to
the digital mixing experience, an element
which is often missing when mixing in the
box. Guitar pedals can also offer a myriad
of sounds that one cannot always easily
find in plugin emulations, especially as
far as analog drive and distortion tones
are concerned. And of course, guitar
stompboxes can be just as interesting on
vocals, trumpet, or drums as they are on a
Les Paul.
ToneReport.com
33