Home Forums EHX News Electro-Harmonix Effectology, Vol.11 Crystal-Shimmer Effects

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  • #84111
    Effectology
    Member

    Electro-Harmonix Effectology, Vol.11 Crystal-Shimmer Effects

    #104937
    bill ruppert
    Participant

    In the later part of the 1980s, rack mount effect companies took advantage of the advancement in microprocessors and were able to produce glitch-free pitch shifting.

    For the guitar player this was groundbreaking as it allowed the instrument to at last produce a pristine signal one octave and two octaves above.

    Adding modulation and other effects such as reverse delay to the octaves created new guitar sounds never thought possible.

    These sounds became known as Crystal and Shimmer effects. You can hear some great examples on the 1987 U2 album “The Joshua Tree.”

    Now with even greater advancements in microprocessors and programming technology, these glitch-free pitch shifting effects are available in small, compact, foot controlled pedals like the POG and HOG.

    To create the first two clips seen in the video I wired the effect pedals in parallel.

    Normally we hook our effect pedals together in a series chain. This means one pedal is plugged into the next pedal all the way to the amplifier.

    1-3.jpg

    You can also place the effects in a parallel chain. This opens up new and beautiful sounds not possible when using a standard series connection.

    When hooking up pedals in parallel, the effect chain is split into different paths and then mixed together at the end of both chains.

    2-3.jpg

    Splitting and mixing the chains in parallel would normally require a mixing unit or mixing board.

    I found it could be done simply and inexpensively using just two Radio Shack Y-adaptors.

    3-3.jpg

    Parallel effects can create very complex sounds by allowing you to alter only certain effects within the chain.

    In the examples below I was able to apply delay, chorus and tremolo to just the pitch-shifted signal without affecting the straight dry guitar. This would not be possible in a normal series connection.

    Below is the chain and settings used in the video clip.

    Crystal-Shimmer

    I let the notes ring out long so you can hear how the sound blooms as it fades away.

    You will also notice how clean and noise free these effects really are.

    4-3.jpg

    EPSoulPreachernew.jpg

    6-3.jpg

    7-3.jpg

    8-15.jpg

    Crystal-Slice

    The Pulsar pedal is add to the Crystal-Shimmer chain.

    9-3.jpg

    10-3.jpg

    Symphonic

    The third example “Symphonic” places the effects back in a series connection.

    A volume pedal is used to swell the chords in and remove the attack of the guitar, producing a string section type sound.

    It’s a beautiful sound from just one guitar!

    The clip is an improvisation on the song “Adagio for Strings” by Samuel Barber. This music has been used in many great movies you may have seen.

    11-2.jpg

    12-2.jpg

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    8-15.jpg



    I would like to wish everyone a wonderful holiday season.

    I would also like to thank everyone for watching and listening to the Effectology shows this past year.

    It has been a fun series to produce.

    Have a Happy and Healthy New Year!

    Bill Ruppert

    #104944
    julian
    Moderator

    My board is set up permanently in parallel- fuzz on one side, everything else on the other. :D

    Nice clips Bill.

    BTW, I’ve been meaning to link you to this thread: https://www.ehx.com/forums/viewthread/2302/

    #104945
    DarkAxel
    Participant

    i’m actually speachless now :) awesome video as always

    by the way… new guitar? :)

    #104952
    Brianzero
    Participant

    Bill, it is always a great pleasure to hear your work. You are an amazing advert for EHX and what can be done. Thank you for being so inspired !!

    #104954
    julian
    Moderator

    I like the new guitar better than the old one, more my style

    #104963
    aliensporebomb
    Participant

    Once again Bill inspires us all. I love the crystal effects and the string bits. Gave me some great ideas.

    Hi, I’m Todd and I’m a longtime EH user but my latest fave is the Stereo Memory Man with Hazarai.

    (creating another thread to deal with what I was posting about previously).

    I ponder if it would be possible to create a pedalboard with multiple signal paths with these effects and
    if you could go from parallel to series at will? Not necessarily computerized but actually using a series
    of prewired effects with “routing switches” to route from series tp parallel and back.

    #104964
    bill ruppert
    Participant

    Thanks everyone.

    The guitars are old pals I pulled out for the holiday season!
    They are 25 year old Ibanez AH-10,s
    I have several and it a fine guitar with very tall frets, something I love and must have.
    I have done a LOT of sessions in the past with these old friends!
    Bill Ruppert

    Quote:
    i’m actually speachless now :) awesome video as always

    by the way… new guitar? :)

    #104968
    bill ruppert
    Participant

    Thanks Julian!!!

    Looks like a flute sound is in order at some point from the thread.
    Bill

    Quote:
    My board is set up permanently in parallel- fuzz on one side, everything else on the other. :D

    Nice clips Bill.

    BTW, I’ve been meaning to link you to this thread: https://www.ehx.com/forums/viewthread/2302/

    #105066
    NHoobler
    Member

    Question/Comment on the use of Y-Adapters:

    It was my understanding that Y adapters were fine for splitting signal — you’d basically get half the signal to each down-chain pedal provided they were both buffered inputs. However, for merging signals, Y-adapters are not sufficient, because you’re shorting two zero-impedance output buffers together into a high-impedance input? You could still merge them together without a mixer using a passive circuit (such as a 5k Ohm resistor on each input wired to a common output).

    Now, you’ve obviously gotten great results, so now I’m wondering if this is in fact not the case, or if it only matters in certain situations (noisy signal, high volumes, etc). Hopefully someone at EHX who knows more about electronics than I do can comment on this :)

    #105109
    firesgt911
    Member

    Genius!!!

    #105110
    puretube
    Member

    TIP:

    an interesting alternative approach for splitting the signal
    into two branches (at the “send”-side) would be
    using the 2 outputs of a “stereo”-pedal (e.g.: “PULSAR”)
    instead of the “Y-adapter”… ;)

    #105111
    julian
    Moderator

    that’s how I do it

    and for recombining them I have 4 inputs on my amp

    #105118
    aliensporebomb
    Participant

    Julian: Then something like a Roland JC-120 would work great since that has four inputs on it,
    two for each channel of the amp. Then running that in stereo would be something nobody would
    expect out of a regular guitar amp. Great idea!

    #105138
    bill ruppert
    Participant

    Good idea,

    You have to be careful with some “Stereo” outputs on pedals as sometimes as in the Pulsar their stereo effect is created by throwing one side or output out of phase.
    It sounds wide in stereo BUT is your signal is played back or heard in mono the signals will recombine and the effect will cancel out and vanish!

    I remember years ago doing a commercial that I used a stereo delay on to bounce the sound around.
    It was crucial to the sound and track.
    Well I heard the jingle on the AM radio one day and that big delay effect was GONE.
    All that was left was this plunky little guitar that was ridiculous sounding !!!
    It turns out the delay created its stereo with phase reversal and AM radio is mono.
    Poof.. vanishing effects!
    I now call it ‘Fake Stereo”.
    I always check now before I record a pedal in stereo to see if it is true stereo.
    I did find a work around and that is, after you recording a fake stereo effect add 5 to 15 milliseconds of delay to one side and the effect will not vanish if heard in mono.
    Bill

    Quote:
    TIP:

    an interesting alternative approach for splitting the signal
    into two branches (at the “send”-side) would be
    using the 2 outputs of a “stereo”-pedal (e.g.: “PULSAR”)
    instead of the “Y-adapter”… ;)

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