Whenever I get the chance, I like to cruise through toy stores to see what kind of oddball noise makers or noise manipulators I can find. During a recent hunt, I ran across what looked like a clear-blue plastic megaphone. It said Voice Changer on the box and had settings for "Spaceman," "Alien," and "Robot." At $12.99, I couldn't say no. When you pull the trigger and talk into the smaller end, your voice comes out amplified and messed-up (or processed, if you prefer) from the larger end. The "Spaceman" setting is a sort of fast random pitch-change effect and is pretty useless for anything you want to be intelligible. The "Alien" setting is a little more fun. It's a pitch-shift with a bit of distortion, up an octave plus a few real pretty intervals like minor-ninths and tri-tones. The "Robot" setting is especially cool and ominous. It's a little more intelligible, but down an octave and distorted. Apparently, there are other color schemes available, as the box has a picture of a solid grey unit, but I'm thankful that my local retailer chose to stock translucent blue. Perhaps one day I will buy another, take it apart, disengage the trigger, and modify the speaker output to line level so I can put it in front of a drum kit.
Effects | No. 31
Holy Grail Reverb Pedal
by Larry Crane
What do you do when the guitar player you're recording wants reverb on their guitar but doesn't have any on their amp? Do you "add it in the mix"? Screw that, add it to the amp. The Holy Grail is a...