Live ‘Ukulele

Effects

Effects come in many varieties from little stomp boxes ($) to rack mounted effects ($$$$). Effects essentially change the sound the of incoming signal, by adding to it or changing it. There are many different kinds of effects. Only some are practical for ‘ukulele players.

Delay/Reverb is the first effect that comes to mind. Almost all of the pros use at least a little bit of delay or reverb when they perform or record. A delay pedal records notes and then plays them back after a specified amount of time. A reverb pedal uses the same idea, but instead of sounding like one individual note, the repeat is like a bunch of notes bouncing around an empty room. The typical controls for a delay or reverb pedal are:

Level/mix adjusts the volume of the delayed signal
Time controls the time between the first note you play and the delayed note(s)
Feedback/regeneration is the number of times the delayed note is played back (at specified delay time) as it fades away (watch out for this, because if you get carried away and turn this up too much you can start the “loop of death” - or a delay that starts to feedback and “take off”)

and sometimes:

Mode changes the different delay time segments (300ms-800ms, 600ms-2600ms) or overall reverb sound (hall, spring, plate)
Tone controls different frequencies and the overall sound

An EQ (equalization) pedal is an effect that allows you to raise or lower the level of individual frequencies. EQ is nice to have control over because the average ‘ukulele sounds trebley when you plug it in. An EQ pedal can help boost bass frequencies and fix that problem. You can also use equalization to create a sound that is unique and more interesting than un-EQed ‘ukulele.

Volume pedals control the level (volume) of the incoming signal. They are mounted on a rocker so that you can use your foot to adjust output. If you put the pedal in the “toe up” position no signal is heard, so you can use it as a mute when you are tuning. By starting with the toe up, picking a note, and then rolling the pedal to toe down, you can achieve violin-like volume swells (think Jeff Beck).

Some of the less practical effects include:

A noise gate cuts off any sound that doesn’t reach a certain noise level
Compression balances tone and increases the sustain of a note
Distortion is the result of to much input, which overloads a circuit and starts to distort the signal
Overdrive is the sound of an overdriven tube amp (same idea as distortion)
Tremolo turns the level of the incoming signal up and down
The flanger was originally invented when a studio engineer played two analog tapes back at the same time and held his finger on one to slow it down. It creates a swirling Eddie Van Halen type of sound
The phaser is the sister to flange except it is a frequency-based effect instead of delay-based (same EVH sound)
Chorus makes the signal sound as if there are two instruments playing
An octave pedal instantly adds a duplicate of your playing an octave above or below (or both) the original signal
The wah-wah is a rocker pedal that removes treble frequencies