Deep Space Pulsar by Rainger FX

UK based Rainger FX might possibly be one of the most uniformly stylish effects companies out there. We've rocked their straight-out-of-the-lab Dr. Freakenstein fuzz on Fuzz Wars before, and we got to play around with the sweet Dwarf fuzz pedal too. New for NAMM 2017, David Rainger may have come up with something totally unique to the pedal game, presenting the Deep Space Pulsar, a sidechaining pedal!

Photo credit: Rainger FX

For those unfamiliar, "sidechaining" is usually an effect that's done on a record during post-production. It's a type of trigger based effect (usually compression), it's activated by audio and essentially accentuates any given instrument. It's huge in the electronic music world. A very common use of sidechaining is EDM is where bass/synths have a compressor activated by the kick drum. The effect is getting the kick drum to "pop" a bit more in the mix and in succession it sounds like it's "pulsing". Sidechaining isn't exclusive to electronic music, but that might be one of the more commonly known applications. 

So you might ask, if this is a sidechaining pedal, what audio triggers the effect? Well, the mad scientist David Rainger literally bundled the Deep Space Pulsar pedals with a microphone! So the idea is, you plug the mic into the pedal, and you plug your instrument into it, and the idea is that the audio from your instrument is what triggers the sidechain. Most Rainger FX pedals also come with Igor, Rainger FX's very own expression pedal. The Deep Space Pulsar, while simple. is very intuitive pedal. The Deep Space Pulsar it also has tap tempo that can aid in keeping things locked, as well as a line-in input for drum machines etc.

Nick compares the effect to resemble a tremolo, but it's really a lot more than that, and I can see a lot of really interesting applications of this pedal, especially those electronic musicians looking to translate their set from their DAW to a live setting. Peep the video, and let Nick walk you through this crazy contraption:

It's always amazing to see really interesting, unique things done with effects pedals. It's why we love them in the first place! Great to see ambition and originality to this day in pedals. Pedals And Effects is your home for ambition and originality in all things pedals and effects! Also, shouts out to Donut Friend! We're proud to rep local, homegrown Los Angeles businesses! Donut Friend is a dope coffee and vegan donut shop run by Mark Trombino from Drive Like Jehu. Check em out!

-Juan