Collin's Lab: Guitar pedal hacking with Arduino

[Muscleduck]

The effect with square wave reminds me of Guerrilla Radio by RATM :)

[robot797]

squire sounds like 60-80 rock

sawthout sounds reversed

sins sounds little bit wavy

[pietzeekoe]

what the difference between reversed saw and ramp?

[secretst0ld]

DUBSTEP !!

[h0b0ch1c]

i dig this video and arduino, but the actual sound means nothing without good songs or a unique playing style. I have my pedals, guitars and amps but manage to turn any guitar, any pedal and any amp into my own "sound" any day by how I play it.

[2PlayGuitarNow]

you're so right about finding your own sound. buying tons of pedals won't do the job.

[raindogred]

you can definitely achieve the same result without hacking your big muff. just run a modified version of colins sketch to control an LED on a breadboard, hook up a 2 jacks on the other side of the board and an LDR then turn out the lights. U get the same sound to my ears - why you would want that sound is a question you have to ask yourself :0)

[0871356005]

can you/someone tell me why you used a second potentiometer. if you disconnected the potentiometer in the effects pedal couldnt you have used that as your potentiometer?

[JATO457]

would I be able to do this with a cheap distortion pedal?

[JATO457]

@JATO457 as in a first act pedal?

[matthewtchernev123]

almost 100 thousand views

[matthewtchernev123]

horray!!! 99 thousand views

[in2videoBDC]

it's a guitar distortion synth machine basically - cool

[TheSpeclord]

dont listen to them you play realy nicely

[Mas7erChief117]

does he have his own channel?

[orfenandanarchy]

@Mas7erChief117

Unfortunately not. A lot of people have been saying he should have his own channel though.

[AresExodus]

The 3 best makers all have alliterated names - Collin Cunningham, Kip Kedersha, and Derek Diedrecson!

[htfkid2000]

@AresExodus Youmay want to take kip from that list... he doesn't make anymore D:

[fingerflip135]

I want that so bad that Is so cool

[TheGuitarshooter]

i could use something like that...i want it

[Graalt]

How did you model the sinal?

[STREETRAT211]

Big Muff-LOL

[jjppmm29]

a secondary re-verb would be awesome with the sin wave

[FukUrselfHard]

I love your video quality

[monkeyxx]

that was really cool!. however, for the sake of argument--couldn't you have just accomplished the same thing much more simply by putting a tremolo in front of the big muff? one like the Tremulus Lune (there are several others) with multiple wave shapes. The double wide/stereo tremulus lune would give you even more control over the wave shaping

[BkkCheesepie]

@monkeyxx HAHAHAHA!! I was wondering the same thing.. They do pretty much sound the same.

[myguitardidyermom12]

@monkeyxx A good point, and you'd be right if you were just worrying about doing this simple task. I think the idea here is to just give you an idea of what could be done by interfacing a stompbox with a microcontroller like the arduino. Things like an ADSR envelope could easily be implemented by modifying this setup.

[Imprezaman555]

@monkeyxx no, that wouldn't be the same. tremolo is when you modulate pitch. Here the distortion (i'm guessing the amount of it) is being modulated.

[monkeyxx]

@Imprezaman555 D'OH!!!!!!!!!! EPIC FAIL!!!!!!!!! ;-) tremolo is when you modulate volume. it's the same as turning a volume knob up and down. if you did that in front of a distortion, you'd get modulated gain (distortion). you must be thinking of the "tremolo" on a guitar, or the "vibrato" on a fender amp (actually Tremolo in that case). actual vibrato is modulating pitch. I guess if you owned some pedals you'd know the difference

[Imprezaman555]

@monkeyxx oops, double fail, I looked it up and apparently both pitch and amplitude tremolo exist. Different but apparently both are considered tremolo.

[TheHamishbatten1995]

@monkeyxx Ahhh, but the money my friend, the money.

[TheJacobah]

@monkeyxx Everything he makes could most likely be done a simpler way, but that's not the point. People like him do stuff like this to

1. Learn new things and improve skills, and

2. For fun!

[tiprodoc]

@monkeyxx you do realize that these are DIY projects for people who like to tinker with electronics.. sure u can buy pre made guitar effects pedals but its more fun for these guys to built their own.

[rohanr2]

This has a lot of potential! I'd like to play around with this, but the source code link is 404ed. Is the code on github or something? (I just got my first arduino and this would be a wicked first project). And I dig your video Collin, I've learned quite a bit from them.

[TheNaekid]

@rohanr2 Yes get the link working please! This is TIGHT

[CamilleJacob]

tremolo i mean

[CamilleJacob]

sounds like you aded a vibrato

[ukeleleboy97]

Big muff pi!!

[BigAmond]

make it so light will make it saw and put a touch sensor on the bottom of the long part of the guitar so certain notes would be saw some would be sine

[santuka18]

Nerd rocker haha

Cool man...cheers!

[matt926uk1]

what a waste of brainpower!

[BigAmond]

@matt926uk1 boo

[alohastewie]

such a shame, the best pedal modmen are always the shitiest guitarists. nature has strange ways of working

[leachim6]

that's actually epic.....you made a big muff tremolo......epic

[elijahlucian]

very very cool.. what IC is that?

[johnithansummers]

Is it possible to get the oscillation fast enough to where the parabolas are not noticeable? Collin, make a guitar electronics DIY page. Now.

[TheCrazyBluesman]

What's the point ?

[heshamelessawy]

It just turns it into a Tremolo effect

[crazybybirth]

YOU....ARE....MY.....HERO

[BTvisuals]

did i just see a fender jazz bass knob at around 0:53?

damn good bass dude....

[Mikej1592]

really cool sound, could really make some cool tuneage with that.

[reidhasguitar]

You should build something inside of your guitar, so it's right there at your fingertips all the time.

[Robster881]

You modded a Sovtek big muff?! why didn't you just send it to me and you could have my EHX one! xD

[kyletheenigma]

He reminds me of Devin Townsend.

[MrRyanstutorials]

Smokin some potentiometer!

[Leatherlog1]

the thing is where you going to get the parts?

, most electronic surplus shop nowadays are closed

[sevenvictory]

I like square wave the best

[LaxMonsta11]

haha digital pot

[nsschmid]

Sounds good... but is that an old Green Russian BMP? Why didn't you do this with a new Muff Pie that isn't hard to find?  When are you coming out with more Maker kits?

[iSeiren]

Good idea, but wouldnt Wah basically do the same thing?

[XschlickX]

@iSeiren uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhm... no

[haysoos7]

Awesome idea, I think the mod came out awesome, I love the sound. My only suggestion would be, can you hook up a pedal like a volume pedal, but set it up to change the frequency of the waveform? I dont know if thats the right word, but can you slow down of speed up the effect?

[jimmyjampola]

Seriously Collin, how much Kyuss do you listen to and how many bowls did you smoke before thinking up this? Awesome work buddy! I'm sure the likes of any stoner metal bands would be stoked with a mod like this! \m/ \m/

[kuj4z]

you should play something psychedlic with that mod

[HVfreak]

What you need is a tap pedal to set the tempo of waveform changes.

[zyphernova750]

@tinsaovez, No problem man. It can get confusing at first, have fun!

[zyphernova750]

@Tinsaovez, One more thing, you can get an Arduino from The Maker Shed for about 40 bucks. Or you can get it with a starter kit for a few extra dollars, hope this helps.

[tinsaovez]

@zyphernova750 thanks a lot man, I'm new with this.

[zyphernova750]

@Tinsaovez, Actually you can check out your local Radioshack, though they may or may not display it online, they sell tons of great electronic components. Or you could just check out Digikey, Jameco, Sparkfun, or Electronics Goldmine; they're great online retailers for a variety of electronic components.

[BANGERS68]

now all you got to do is learn how to play that there guitar braaa

[tigyi]

He is high in the beginning when the leprechauns came to steal his guitar @ 0:15 - then by the end of the video he is totally sober. you can tell by his speech :)

[tinsaovez]

hey dude.. this is awesome, but i would like to know where you get all those things from.. do you order them online or where do you buy the arduino, the chip, and all that.

[6six6strings]

@tinsaovez Do you not know how to search the fuckin internet?

[tinsaovez]

@6six6strings yeah... i already fuckin did and it says its not available anymore or something like that "generic error" so i was asking where the fuck can i get that chip, maybe i could get it from a fuckin old mouse or some shit like that, dont you fuckin think?

[TheBlacksabbathfan9]

hahaha in the beginning he lokks like

angus young

[Rccctz]

i love what you do, but i don't understand at all

[marcuelcajon]

Now just add a low frequency oscillator, connect it to a frequency modulator and you can make some badass, Dubstep.

[FlamingCuntLips]

would be cool to get an update on how this turned out.... I've been thinking about modding some of my pedals for sometime but can't get any ideas on where to begin :( I'm looking for a more of a random note screecher type of effect...

any ideas ?

[DooomSurf]

The best sound is acoustic right?

[KedmenecMartin]

you can't play guitar

[ouyanrpi1]

do you use PID control to Arduino? it sound not very stable. you can increase the parameter of D to increase the feature of sound.

[ultimatenetnut]

Not my type of sound but I do appreciate the hack! I think with a few tweak to the waveform table it would definitely work for a wider audience. Keep up the great work.

[pswoods]

LOL glasses go back on when it's time for hacking/computing. Music cool != hacking cool.

[DazedCrowd]

you destroyed a good guitar pedal? why he was so young??

[hasnachos]

@DazedCrowd if it wasn't for people like him you wouldn't have any guitar pedal fag.

[pocketsk3824]

really cool. the applications of this are endless. thanks for giving us some great ideas. and keep it up!

[intervalkid]

The distortion sounds pretty much the same except for different types of tremelo.

[1xDRCx]

if you type in guitar related circuits into google, the first thing youl get is a sight with schematics for different guitar effects pedals, like jimi, hendrix's fuzz face, and big muff

[TheSAJ11]

I think this guy is high most of the time lol 

[thdominat0r]

@TheSAJ11 high on digi-pot haha

[JJtoob]

That's cool! BTW, are you Hugo Weaving?

[Joyeuse]

The concept of tweaking pedals with the Arduino is a cool one. Unfortunately, this particular tweak just comes out sounding like a tremolo.

[marcosdavidisa]

o nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­oooooooooooooooooo fuk you

[morpheusplaysguitar]

it sounds like you plug a tremolo infront of it

[tsubasa1988]

sound like something Matt Bellamy could enjoy

[drgonzo212]

Cool! You took something that already existed and made it worse! You're the man!

[oneibus]

Collin - I liked it - Thanks!

[jesusfreakster101]

They should sign you up for the next season of "The Colony"!!!! You'd give MaGyver a run for his money

[AmonAmarth02]

Not the best guitar playing I've heard...

[randomusernumber1]

it sounds awesome  on a single long note but playing on that thing is just nails on a chock board

[UnrealKillaz]

i have the same amp... its sux

[UzumakiYodaime]

FUCK YOU CAN PLAY MUSE one it

!!!

i think

[thricex05]

it is awesome what you can do with the arduino.

true, it is a vintage pedal, but these kids are flipping out because he disconnected a pot. also he's playing through a cheap practice amp that's not even mic-ed, so it shouldn't be a surprise that it doesn't sound awesome tonally.

i think the point of this video was to demonstrate what you can do with normal pedals that you have, not to show how awesome his end result is.

[KnowKnot]

I truly love your stuff. Gadgetry, presentation, everything. (I play, and have no use for the sound, but fully respect the hack and the potential.)

BTW... the introduction was so completely Agent Smith.... did you INTENTIONALLY put the glasses on when moving from musicration to geekification, or was that coincidental???

[TheMr514]

yea theres not much different between your "different"waves. sorry to say but keep exploring and trying new things and making videos ;)

[thricex05]

@TheMr514 actually, the different wave forms give it a different sound. the square wave makes the signal sound choppy and almost stuttering. sawtooth makes it sound like a synth type deal. although he made the pedal sound like a tremolo, each wave sounds different.

[danimal511]

very cool

[AASKICKBUTT]

Why would you do that do a vintage big muff? You could've bought a new one and used that.

[cosmogang]

wow, you turned a big muff into a tremolo pedal. Why?

[thewii552]

i like the sine wave

and the reverse sawtooth

[NightbladeEagle]

Collin is so damn cool! ^^

[RareAirSupply]

was he plasying ripple?

[fm694]

aaaaaaaaaajuuuuuuuuuaaaa

[SuperWario094]

sounds like a synth with tremolo

[MrPHGFX]

This is cool. You get a lot of arguments in the guitar world about dig vs analog effects - I think one area that is worth exploring further is using digital to control an analog sound as you are doing. That way we get more sound possiblities without losing what is strong in analog.

[SuperWario094]

@MrPHGFX analog is the way

[neutron7]

@MrPHGFX

Its not really digital anyways the guitar is only going through a digital pot, which digitally controls its level but the analog signal is not digitized.

[MrPHGFX]

@neutron7 Exactly - This is where I think there is potential - using digital technology to control analog circuits. Every analog effect is self contained (on/bypass is about all you do during a performance) imagine if the pots of all of your pedals were exposed to an dig controller - not only could you have presets but you could dynamically change settings in real time creating more possibilities

[DrFish]

@MrPHGFX TC Electrics already got onto that idea.

[jkickbright]

1979 ibanez studio series st-50 with stock pickups. Yes.

[MGdirector]

Awesome!!

[RockerDuk]

sounds like a wack tremolo!

[cattnipp]

Reminds me of early Moogs - many different signal controls but most of them sound bad unfortunately.

[monimoni0147]

hahahah this guy seems to me like the real genius in make-mag

i just descovered the arduino it's just amazing

it's really what i needed for a project we are working on me and my friend

[simplyethan]

Guitar for nerds. I love it.

[spacedolphin88]

sounds like you made yourself a tremolo

[coconuts739158426]

sounds like 8-bit Guitar

[cyrixproductions]

that could be named - nestar for nes guitar or sidtar for sid microchip guitar :D

[cairesr]

hahahahaha

[S4MM43L]

@coconuts739158426 Cause it has 8bit PWM :P

[forrestj08]

but wheres the fun in that?

[monimoni0147]

@forrestj08

all the fun is just in doing it

if ur a geek you'ill get it hehe :P

[417wwerdna]

dude im a big fan of loud nising guitars and stuff and its me mates birth day soon and i wont to make him a foot pedil with out the arduino can you help

[joe44850]

how fun! but yeah, i don't think I have ever heard a guitar sound so bad.

[Fockoel]

Share the code!! please!

[Elltrixer]

Cool idea but it sounds horrible

[doodalseenpier]

@Elltrixer lmfoa yes but i bed with tweaking this is a great base for experimentation and eventually finding good sounds

[earsBLEEDmetal1]

@Elltrixer its just his horrible playing skills

[MarkOfTheDevil666]

@Elltrixer its supposed to sound the way it does in this video

[theglurgle]

@Elltrixer You sir don't know music.

[Elltrixer]

@theglurgle If you say so, music is my life, and yet you disagree with all the people that also agree with me, out of your own ignorance. Go and sit in a corner of self pity, for you are wrong my dear little boy :)

[adamhopeless]

@theglurgle this is what happens when nerds touch instruments, it always has to be tampered with

[nogeninnit]

@Elltrixer look at the amp he's using, that might explain why it sounds shabby...

[randomisoty422]

@Elltrixer its a start.

[kgyll]

uhm, im just 15 yrs old, how can i make such that thing? where can i learn those in make channels?

[ironchimpo]

dig the chops man. and you play guitar.

[CharlestonChew03]

Interesting stuff, Im wondering how exactly you "programed" the different tone waveforms into it. =D

[MrEinstain]

i think with a pc program and the usb port of arduino

now the question is : what program?!?!

[monimoni0147]

@MrEinstain

go to arduino web site "arduino[dot]cc" and then go to software

guys this is not a spam >____> just for info

[randomisoty422]

i do too.

[davidjereb]

This guy is awesome. I'm already ordering the parts! :D

[maililistaalterego]

very cool video! why don't you add in a tap tempo too? shouldn't be too hard to do with the arduino and would definately make the effect more musical if the frequency was a nice multiple of the song tempo.

[ingej32]

pffffffffff....racists...

[tjreed100]

man you just made what i have which is called a MORLEY ECHO PEDAL i have the same thing that you have which also has speed depth and mix and you a pedal to control instead of using knob I'm sure morley would be happy with you.

[slofy1234]

this is awesome! godd job man

[gaussman08]

you're a not looser nerd i you're very cool n__n

[xxyumehito]

uhhh what? o_O

[CharlestonChew03]

What he said! =D

[seifukusha]

genius

[jakeupstudios]

dude waaay over my head lol

[rnfr]

i think the tone pot would've been a better choice to control.

[UnforgivingCritic]

this is just wow..! the video quality is at it's best..

[melak6]

thats really cool can i ask you where you learned how to mod all that stuff llike any kind of school courses or natural talent or?

[blahdelablah]

@melak6

I can't speak for the dude in the video, but you can achieve similarly cool stuff by being aware of possibilities and trying to apply logical thinking when trying to invent something. You don't need natural talent, just a willingness to tinker/hack/explore.

[capamagic]

Sine wave its the better xD!!! we should try whith more radians for displacement!! this could be a fourier´s aplication!! Nice!!! :D! We love engineering! :]

[VincentsVideoVisions]

very cool. I wish I knew more about arduino and what it could be used for.

[szlamx]

Got my washing machine dry... ;P

[scanm502]

seems a bit empty....use with a chorus pedal to give it depth.thats pretty darn cool tho....nice.

[ivandefr]

2:40 sounds like a video game XD

[anatomyofluke]

Should have let someone else demo it.. like me haha but I was really cool

[leviathan969]

Ive always used the BIG MUFF for bass distortion, never seen someone use it for guitar.

[coughinguptweed]

You certainly have never seen that many guitarists, then.

[lolley1100]

It was built for guitar...look through the instructions...it says it...

[leviathan969]

I got mine from a friend he told me it was for bass Ive never seen the instructions for it. Thanks for the information.

[AiBuster]

who knew physics could rock lol

[lespaulplayer09]

thats electronics you dumb shit go back to high school

[hikura]

uh yeah... i'm not even gonna say how silly that is..

[4aps777]

awesome

[mynamesnotsage]

i think ill stick to my boss ME-50.