breaking down the wall

by 44ofjuly

Good tone, bad tone! More often than not, when we are talking about music, the issue of good/bad tone creeps in. Even with good songs, bad production or bad sounding instruments ruins any good impression one might have for the bands. Though to be fair, there might be occasions where even though the production is bad, the song still impresses the listener because of its energy and creativity.

On a more micro level, one often talks or raves about how great a pedal is and how worthy it will be to die for its tone. Even though one comes across a OMG-this-thing-sucks kind of pedal, it might not be the end of the world yet. One might realise that the particular effect possesses the potential to create THE special tone when used in a different musical context.

Determining whether the effects pedal is good or bad, therefore, has nothing to do with the effects pedal itself! Most, if not everything, would lie in our individual beliefs of good/bad tone, plus, the particular context in which the effects pedal is being used. After all, the pedal already sounds a certain way, but the sonic possibilities of using it by itself, with other pedals, other instruments, can only be left to the imagination of the player.

For this month's Gear Gawk, we will be looking at something pretty unique and rare! Unique in the sense, that it is a pedal that has a life of its own, and requires much tweaking to tame it instead of letting it run freely like wild horses in the open countryside. As for rarity, well, till date, there are only 3 of its kind in existence...

Bringing on, the noizetherapy! Another fine release from our local builder, Goosoniqueworx.

With a name like Noizetherapy, don’t expect anything vintage or safe sounding. In fact, anyone who can’t stand loud harsh tones or the slightest sign of an out-of-control effect, stay away. It might cause pain and anguish! A little exaggerated perhaps, but one should be able to get a faint idea of what the noizetherapy is about.

From the words of the builder, the noizetherapy is a synth pedal with voltage controlled frequency ability. Without going much into the technical aspects of things (which, I have to admit, I have a rather limited knowledge of...) we will look at the noizetherapy as an effect pedal that is capable of processing our instrument tone plus having the ability to generate tone which can be manipulated by the onboard control knobs, instrument volume/tone knobs and ven be further processed by other modulation effects to get various sound.

The basic sound of the noizetherapy is like a fuzz. But what make it stand out from the usual fuzz pedals are the controls within the pedal that can provide a wide range of sounds for use. Not only with the onboard controls, tone shaping can also be achieved with the controls on the instrument itself. In short, the pedal will react differently with different instruments. For a start let’s take a look at the various knobs and jacks on the pedal and what it does.

1) 1-synth-2: Right in the centre of the pedal is a 2 way switch which gives 2 different voicings. At setting 1, this gives a fatter sounding tone. Whereas at setting 2, it’s brighter and at certain settings of the various controls on the pedal, having a gated tone that is reminiscenct of a torn speaker…

2) Volume 1&2 - Self explanatory

3) Threshold - Setting of pedal's basic tone. From a fat fuzz-like tone at minimum to wild oscillations that will interact with different instruments, pickup, and even the volume and tone knobs on the instruments.

4) Depth - This knob is only “activated” when the 2 way switch is at setting 2. Adjustment of it will vary the “presence” of the tone. From bright to dark sounding and anywhere in between. Different settings will yield different harmonic responses too.

5) Sensitivity - This knob controls the amount of tonal filtering change according to the playing dynamics. Kind of like an auto wah, except that it’s more wild and crazy…

6) Freq 2 - This knob is only “activated” when the 2 way switch is at setting 2, same as the depth knob. Turning the knob from minimum is similar to rocking a wah wah pedal. This parameter can be controlled via an expression pedal.

7) Freq 1 - Control the pitch of the effect's tone. From low droning blips to high frequency squeals. This parameter interacts with the sensitivity knob to further shape the overall tone.

On top of the abovementioned knobs, there is also an expression input jack at the side of the pedal which allows hands-free control for Freq 2. As I have always liked pedals which uses an expression pedal to control certain parameters, this is definitely a plus point about the noizetherapy.

From the controls, we will move on to the performance of the pedal. After trying it out extensively with different guitars and settings on the pedal, I would say that it’s a hybrid effect with the characteristic of an old school guitar synth, fuzz, oscillation fuzz, octave fuzz and lastly, a signal generator to drive other types of effect. In general, you can't get a clean sound from it. Purist stay away...

With the threshold knob, this will determine the basic tone while all the “colouring” for it lies in the onboard control. At the minimum setting of the threshold control, the immediate tone is like a fuzz. It can be pretty fuzzy for anyone not used to hearing different types of fuzz. At the same time, the effect's tone might be rather uncompromising if one's playing is sloppy. Proper coordination between the fretting fingers, picking fingers, effect setting and instrument volume/tone/pickup setting is necessary to tame the pedal, plus the ability to use it desirably of course.

If you adjust the threshold control from minimum onwards till around 11-12 o’clock position, the tone will go into oscillation with pitch change, even without playing the instrument. The droning sound will just go on by itself. Using the instrument volume/tone knob for further intensity adjustment, it will come to a point where the oscillation will be tamed and normal guitar playing can resume. At any point when it's time to call upon any high pitch squeal, just turn the volume/tone knob of the instrument to taste.

For anyone familiar with the Effector 13 Truly Beautiful Disaster and to a smaller extend, the Zvex Fuzzfactory or the Catalinbread Teaser Stallion, you'll know how it goes. Having made the comparison, other than having the flexible option of controlling the oscillation with the instrument volume/tone knob, the noizetherapy definitely has its own character and sounds wilder than the other three pedals mentioned.

Any setting of the threshold from 12 o’clock onwards, it will generate a constant pitch of its own which can be used for driving other effects.

From the threshold control, the next interesting feature will be the sensitivity and the freq 1 control. Adjustment of these 2 knobs will interact with the threshold setting for further tonal shaping. With the sensitivity control turn up, the immediate change will vary from a fat synth-like sound to “octave fuzz”-like to a dynamics sensitive tone. The pitch frequency of the overall sound can be adjusted by the freq 1 control. I like the variation of the tone in which this freq 1 control controls.

Manual turning this knob is like “sending a thunderstorm into a pitch bender, going back and forth”. You can achieve anything from a low frequency growl to high frequency squealing. Combined with the dynamic sensitivity feature and at loud volumes, it will be pretty electrifying in a shrieking way (at extreme settings)! Coincidently, it reminds me of the Roland Funny Cat pedal, except that the noizetherapy is more extreme then just being funny. And this is one reason that I like the noizetherapy!

Flick the 2 way switch over to synth 2 setting and it will add in another 2 more adjustable parameters (freq 2 and depth) on top of other controls and a different voicing. At this setting, the tone will sound brighter and louder compared to setting 1. With adjustment to freq 2, it will vary the frequency sweep of the effected tone in the way similar to a wah wah pedal. As the freq 2 control is turned up, there seems to be an increase of volume as well. An expression pedal jack is located at the right side of the pedal for hands-free adjustment of this parameter.

Manual turning of the freq 1 and 2 control (with the 2 way switch at synth 2 setting) while having the threshold control at oscillation setting can yield some interesting combinations which really broadens the sonic spectrum for this pedal. As mentioned earlier, adjustment of freq 1 control is like “sending a thunderstorm through a pitch bender”, the combination of freq 1 and 2 control tweaking will sound like “brewing a thunderstorm right in the amp and sending it into a pitch bender to and fro”!

With adjustment of depth control, changes in the tone will range from darker sounding to brighter sounding. At the same time, it seems to affect the overall harmonic response of the effected tone too.

Up to this stage, hopefully anyone reading this will have some basic ideas on how the noizetherapy sounds. As much as I can try to describe how the various controls affect the sound, there are plenty of nuances that are rather difficult to present in words and can only be heard when trying out the pedal up front, live and loud!

One of the main reasons why I like the noizetherapy is the huge amount of sounds that’s available from it. Basically all the controls on the pedal are so interactive. With slight adjustment of one knob, together with the instrument volume/tone knob/pickup configuration/setting and different playing technique, it will open up another aural dimension. In a way, this pedal is neither a usual sounding effect nor a typical “plug in, set it at certain positions and proceed to rock” type. There can be a steep learning curve, but once getting the hang of it, plenty of fun is possible. The noizetherapy might not be for everyone, but it does have something special for those seeking a different dimension in sound beyond the usual “safe tone”.

And before the next round of twisting and turning of knobs, I’ll leave you with various clips of the noizetherapy with a telecaster, a CIJ jaguar baritone, my bottom, master and a drum machine.

The following 2 clips are more like making noise with the pedal and occasional riffing to present certain example of sound from the pedal control adjustment and instrument volume/tone knob tweaking:

With a tele

- http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=4519187&q=hi

With a bottom master

- http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=4519162&q=hi

The following clip is more on the guitar synth sound kind of characteristic:

- http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=4519202&q=hi

This clip uses a drum machine with a disco beat going into the noizetherapy. The frequency/character changes according to the adjustment of various controls on the pedal:

- http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=4519216&q=hi