Source Audio

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Source Audio is a guitar effects pedal company based near Boston, Massachusetts. They produce modular effects pedals for electric guitar and bass, such as the Nemesis Delay, Ventris Dual Reverb, and Collider Delay+Reverb, as well as the C4 Synth, a modular rack synthesizer in pedal format, the Aftershock Bass Distortion, and the EQ2, a 10-band parametric equalizer with a plug-in style desktop interface. They are also the creators of the Hot Hand Wireless Effects Controller, a device worn around the finger that uses an accelerometer to send expression signal to an effect like an envelope filter. Source Audio mainly uses DSP (Digital Signal Processing) to create their effects, and are known to program their own processor chips. [1]

Contents

History

Source Audio was founded in 2005 by Roger Smith (president) and Jesse Remignanti (vice president of engineering), while they worked together at the semiconductor firm, Analog Devices. [2] Chief Scientist Bob Chidlaw, owner of two digital signal processing patents at Kurzweil Music Systems, and Chief Operating Officer C. Hunter Boll, former managing director at Thomas H. Lee Partners, joined shortly thereafter.

Source Audio's initial innovation was the Hot Hand Motion Controlled Wah Filter. The Hot Hand Motion Controller Ring converts hand movement into a digital signal using an accelerometer, a technology pioneered by Analog Devices. The ring combined with the Motion Controlled Wah Filter pedal produces effects similar to the Dunlop Cry Baby Wah, a pedal made famous by players like Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix. The unit offers 11 different wah filters, including classic wah, low pass, band pass, multi peak—and volume swell, which produce a wide range of wah effects. [3]

SA followed the Motion Controlled Wah Filter with the Motion Controlled Phaser/Flanger pedal. Like the Wah, the Phaser/Flanger is compatible with the Hot Hand Wireless Adapter and offers multiple tone options. The Source Audio Phaser/Flanger offers both LFO and Envelope Follower filters.

In 2008 Source Audio released the Soundblox Series, four Hot Hand compatible pedals. The Sounblox Tri-Mod Wah, Phaser, and Flanger offer effects similar to the original pedals, but package them in a smaller, easier to use format. [4]

The Soundblox Series also includes the Soundblox Multiwave Distortion, a pedal that incorporates both multi band and single band processing and produces several unique distortion tones. In total the pedal offers 21 different distortion types ranging from standard distortion to synth-like octave and foldback distortions.

At the 2010 NAMM Show SA introduced the Soundblox Pro Series. [5] The Soundblox Pro Series offers the same effect types as the corresponding Soundblox pedals, but also include 6 user presets, a 7-band graphic EQ, a MIDI input and the capability to “morph” from one user preset to another with an expression pedal. [6] 2010 also marked Source Audio’s entry into the bass effects pedal market with the Soundblox and Soundblox Pro Multiwave Bass Distortion pedals. The Bass Multiwave incorporates the same signal processing method as the Soundblox Pro Multiwave Distortion for the guitar but adapts it to fit the lower frequency range of the bass guitar.

The Source Audio Collider combines 12 standout delay and reverb effects from Source Audio's award winning Nemesis Delay and Ventris Dual Reverb pedals, putting them together in one compact housing with massive power and simple controls. The Collider’s intuitive control surface makes it easy to mix-and-match any two-engine combination of delay and reverb.

Related Research Articles

Audio signal processing is a subfield of signal processing that is concerned with the electronic manipulation of audio signals. Audio signals are electronic representations of sound waves—longitudinal waves which travel through air, consisting of compressions and rarefactions. The energy contained in audio signals or sound power level is typically measured in decibels. As audio signals may be represented in either digital or analog format, processing may occur in either domain. Analog processors operate directly on the electrical signal, while digital processors operate mathematically on its digital representation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Effects unit</span> Electronic device that alters audio

An effects unit, effects processor, or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing.

Flanging is an audio effect produced by mixing two identical signals together, one signal delayed by a small and (usually) gradually changing period, usually smaller than 20 milliseconds. This produces a swept comb filter effect: peaks and notches are produced in the resulting frequency spectrum, related to each other in a linear harmonic series. Varying the time delay causes these to sweep up and down the frequency spectrum. A flanger is an effects unit that creates this effect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boss Corporation</span> Japanese musical effects manufacturer

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scholz Research & Development, Inc.</span> Music technology company

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Morley Pedals is the name of a guitar effects pedal company, famous for manufacturing wah-wah pedals and other treadle type effects for guitar. Morley pedals use electro-optical circuitry rather than a potentiometer to control the effect. The foot treadle controls a shutter inside the pedal that in turn controls the amount of light reaching a photoresistor. The advantage to this system is that there are no potentiometers in the signal path to wear out and become "scratchy sounding" over time. Electro-optical circuitry is used throughout the classic Morley pedal line, which includes or has included volume pedals, delay pedals, chorus and phaser pedals, and many others.

A phaser is an electronic sound processor used to filter a signal by creating a series of peaks and troughs in the frequency spectrum. The position of the peaks and troughs of the waveform being affected is typically modulated by an internal low-frequency oscillator so that they vary over time, creating a sweeping effect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electro-Harmonix</span> Guitar pedals company

Electro-Harmonix is a New York City-based company that makes electronic audio processors and sells rebranded vacuum tubes. The company was founded by Mike Matthews in 1968. It is best known for a series of guitar effects pedals introduced in the 1970s and 1990s. EHX also made a line of guitars in the 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moogerfooger</span> Analogue effects pedals

Moogerfooger is the trademark for a series of analog effects pedals manufactured by Moog Music. There are currently eight different pedals produced; however, one of these models is designed for processing control voltages rather than audio signal. A sixth model, the Analog Delay, was released in a limited edition of 1000 units and has become a collector's item. Moog Music announced on August 28, 2018, that the Moogerfooger, CP-251, Minifooger, Voyager synthesizers, and some other product lines were being built using the remaining parts on hand and discontinued thereafter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ibanez Tube Screamer</span> Guitar overdrive pedal

The Ibanez Tube Screamer is an overdrive pedal made by Ibanez. First developed by Maxon as a competitor to the Boss OD-1, it was sold outside of Japan under the Ibanez brand and became popular among guitarists for its characteristic mid-boosted tone and amp-like distortion. The Tube Screamer has gone through multiple iterations since its debut in 1979, notably the original TS808 model and its successor, the TS9. Many guitarists have used it to create their signature sound, and it is considered one of the most successful, widely copied, and modified overdrive pedals in the history of the electric guitar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delay (audio effect)</span> Echo-like effect

Delay is an audio signal processing technique that records an input signal to a storage medium and then plays it back after a period of time. When the delayed playback is mixed with the live audio, it creates an echo-like effect, whereby the original audio is heard followed by the delayed audio. The delayed signal may be played back multiple times, or fed back into the recording, to create the sound of a repeating, decaying echo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MXR</span> Music effects company

MXR is a New York–based manufacturer of effects pedals from Rochester. The company was co-founded in 1972 by Keith Barr and Terry Sherwood and incorporated as MXR Innovations, Inc. in 1974. The MXR trademark is now owned by Jim Dunlop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Distortion (music)</span> Type of electronic audio manipulation

Distortion and overdrive are forms of audio signal processing used to alter the sound of amplified electric musical instruments, usually by increasing their gain, producing a "fuzzy", "growling", or "gritty" tone. Distortion is most commonly used with the electric guitar, but may also be used with other electric instruments such as electric bass, electric piano, synthesizer and Hammond organ. Guitarists playing electric blues originally obtained an overdriven sound by turning up their vacuum tube-powered guitar amplifiers to high volumes, which caused the signal to distort. While overdriven tube amps are still used to obtain overdrive, especially in genres like blues and rockabilly, a number of other ways to produce distortion have been developed since the 1960s, such as distortion effect pedals. The growling tone of a distorted electric guitar is a key part of many genres, including blues and many rock music genres, notably hard rock, punk rock, hardcore punk, acid rock, grunge and heavy metal music, while the use of distorted bass has been essential in a genre of hip hop music and alternative hip hop known as "SoundCloud rap".

Re-amping is a process often used in multitrack recording in which a recorded signal is routed back out of the editing environment and run through external processing using effects units and then into a guitar amplifier and a guitar speaker cabinet or a reverb chamber. Originally, the technique was used mostly for electric guitars: it facilitates a separation of guitar playing from guitar amplifier processing—a previously recorded audio program is played back and re-recorded at a later time for the purpose of adding effects, ambiance such as reverb or echo, and the tone shaping imbued by certain amps and cabinets. The technique has since evolved over the 2000s to include many other applications. Re-amping can also be applied to other instruments and program, such as recorded drums, synthesizers, and virtual instruments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TC Electronic</span> Danish audio equipment manufacturer

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multivox</span>

Multivox was an American-based synthesizer company since the mid-1970s until the 1980s. Originally it was founded in the mid-1940s as the guitar and amplifier manufacturing subsidiary of Peter Sorkin Music Company, a New York-based retailer/wholesaler. Then eventually it established separate corporate identity, and after the close of Sorkin Music in the mid-1970s, it continued in existence for fourteen years, according to the Blue Book of Guitar Values. In addition to synthesizers, the company marketed several effects pedals. These included the Big Jam series guitar effects line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Record (software)</span>

Record is a music software program developed by Swedish software developers Propellerhead Software. Designed for recording, arrangement and mixing, it emulates a recording studio, with a mixing desk, a rack of virtual instruments and effects and an audio and MIDI sequencer. Record can be used either as a complete virtual recording studio in itself, or together with Propellerhead Software's Reason.

Strymon is an American manufacturer of audio equipment, originally called Damage Control Engineering. They are best known for their line of high end guitar effects pedals which use a mixture of analog circuitry and digital signal processing. The company is based in Westlake Village, California, and manufactures products in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eventide, Inc</span> American audio equipment manufacturer

Eventide Inc. is an American pro audio, broadcast and communications company whose audio division manufactures digital effects processors, digital signal processor (DSP) software, and guitar effects pedals. Eventide was one of the first companies to manufacture digital audio processors, and its products are mainstays in sound recording and reproduction, post production, and broadcast studios.

References

  1. "Source Audio Home Page". Source Audio. Source Audio Effects. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  2. "Analog Devices, Inc. | world leader in high performance signal processing - Corporate Profile". Archived from the original on 2011-08-18. Retrieved 2010-07-29.
  3. "Electronic Musician Magazine". 28 October 2023.
  4. "Source Audio Soundblox Effects: Motion Controlled Effects to be Introduced at NAMM | Gearwire". Archived from the original on 2010-05-23. Retrieved 2010-07-29.
  5. "Source Audio Soundblox Pro Multiwave Distortion - PremierGuitar.com". www.premierguitar.com. Archived from the original on 2009-03-21.
  6. "Source Audio: Soundblox® Pro Products". www.sourceaudio.net. Archived from the original on 2010-01-06.