Alright, let’s talk about a mixing hack that’s criminally underused and ridiculously effective: using your guitar pedals as outboard gear. Yes, you read that right—those little stompboxes gathering dust in your studio could be the key to unlocking some serious sonic magic in your mixes. It’s affordable, it’s creative, and best of all, it’s probably something you already own.
Why Pedals?
Let’s start with the why. Guitar pedals are designed to add character, color, and sometimes chaos to a guitar’s tone, and those same qualities can breathe life into your mixes. Unlike the clinical precision of most plugins, pedals introduce a bit of unpredictability—whether it’s the warm saturation of an overdrive pedal, the quirky modulation of a chorus, or the lush envelopment of a delay. They’ve got their own unique flavor that can make your tracks stand out.
Plus, there’s a tactile, hands-on quality to using pedals that you just don’t get from staring at a screen. Twisting knobs, flipping switches, and hearing the immediate impact on your audio is a creative experience that can lead to some truly inspired results.
Setting Up: How to Integrate Pedals into Your Mix
First things first, you need to get your pedals talking to your DAW. The basic setup is pretty simple:
Step 1: Get the Signal Right
Before you start plugging things in, remember that guitar pedals are designed to work with instrument-level signals, not the line-level signals that come out of most professional audio interfaces. This means you’ll need a reamp box to step down the line-level output from your interface to an instrument-level signal that your pedal can handle. The Radial X-Amp or Little Labs Redeye are great options for this. Once you’ve done your sonic alchemy with the pedal, you’ll need to bring that signal back up to line level using a DI box before sending it back into your interface.
Step 2: Create an Aux or Insert
To integrate the pedal into your mix, set up an auxiliary send or use an insert on the track you want to process. Sending it to an aux allows you to blend the effected signal with the dry signal for parallel processing, which is great for adding subtle textures without completely transforming the original sound. If you want to fully commit to the effect, go ahead and use it as an insert.
Step 3: Dial in the Pedal Settings
Here’s where the fun starts. Start by setting your pedal’s knobs to their neutral positions, then gradually adjust until you hear something that excites you. If you’re using an overdrive pedal, try cranking the gain for some warm, analog-style distortion. A delay pedal? Experiment with different delay times and feedback levels to create everything from tight slapback echoes to swirling, ambient washes. The key is to listen critically and use the pedal as a creative tool, not just as an effect.
Pedal Examples: Getting Creative
Let’s dive into some specific examples of how you can use different types of pedals to spice up your mixes.
1. Overdrive/Distortion Pedals: Adding Grit and Saturation
Overdrive and distortion pedals are fantastic for adding warmth and character to sterile digital tracks. Send a vocal through a tube screamer or a fuzz pedal to give it a gritty, lo-fi edge that helps it cut through a dense mix. This can be particularly effective on backing vocals or doubles, where a bit of dirt can make them sit better under the lead vocal.
Try this: send your drum bus through a distortion pedal like the ProCo Rat. Blend it back in subtly with the original drums to add punch and presence. The distorted signal can also serve as a great parallel processing trick to fatten up your drums without making them sound overly compressed or artificial.
2. Delay Pedals: Creating Depth and Space
Delay pedals can do wonders beyond the typical guitar application. Use a Boss DD-7 or an Electro-Harmonix Memory Man on a vocal or synth track to create a sense of depth and space. Set the delay time to match the tempo of your track, or go for something a little off-kilter for a more psychedelic effect. Don’t forget to play with the feedback knob—you might find that a bit of self-oscillation adds just the right amount of unpredictability to a mix that feels too polished.
For something more experimental, send your snare or a percussive element through a delay pedal with a short delay time and high feedback. This can create a mechanical, almost robotic effect that adds a unique texture to your rhythm section.
3. Chorus/Modulation Pedals: Adding Width and Movement
Chorus pedals like the Boss CE-2 or the Electro-Harmonix Small Clone can add width and movement to static tracks. Try sending a mono synth or guitar track through a chorus pedal to spread it out across the stereo field, making it feel bigger and more immersive. Modulation pedals, on the other hand, can introduce a bit of wobble or phase to a sound, adding an organic, almost tape-like quality.
Pro tip: Use a chorus pedal on bass tracks sparingly, as it can introduce phase issues in the low end. But when used right, it can add a subtle movement that gives the bass more presence without overpowering the mix.
4. Reverb Pedals: Creating Unique Ambiences
Reverb pedals like the Strymon BigSky or the Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail are not just for adding space to your guitar sounds—they can also be used creatively in your mixes. Use a reverb pedal on a snare or vocal to create a unique, tailored reverb that’s different from the stock plugins everyone else is using. You can even set up a reverb pedal as an aux effect and send various tracks through it, giving them a cohesive, atmospheric sound.
Tips and Tricks: Maximizing Your Pedals in the Studio
- Gain Staging: Be mindful of the levels you’re sending to and from the pedal. Too hot of a signal can cause unwanted distortion, while too low of a signal might not engage the pedal’s effect fully. Experiment with different levels to find the sweet spot.
- Experiment with Pedal Order: Just like with a pedalboard for live performance, the order of pedals can drastically affect the final sound. Try running a reverb into a delay for an ambient wash, or a distortion after a chorus for a crunchy, modulated tone.
- Record the Results: Once you’ve dialed in the perfect sound, record the processed signal as a new track in your DAW. This gives you the flexibility to blend it with the original track or automate it creatively throughout the mix.
- Commit to the Sound: Don’t be afraid to print the effect and commit to it. One of the beauties of using pedals is that they push you to make bold decisions—embrace that and let it shape your mix in unexpected ways.
Wrapping Up: Why You Should Start Using Pedals in Your Mixes
In a world where pristine digital processing is the norm, there’s something undeniably appealing about the imperfections and idiosyncrasies that guitar pedals bring to the table. They add a human touch, a bit of unpredictability, and most importantly, they’re fun to use. Whether you’re looking to add some analog warmth, create otherworldly textures, or just inject a bit of creativity into your workflow, using pedals as outboard gear is a trick that every engineer should have in their back pocket. Yes, that compressor pedal might not be a $100,000 Fairchild, but to quote the late recording guru Mark Rubel “Nobody dances to a compressor”.
So next time you’re mixing, reach for those pedals. You might just find that the perfect sound was under your foot the whole time.
