[Tekker]

Breaking Down “Multi”-Effects Processors

Before we get into the effects plugins, let’s break down the overwhelming factor of multi-effects units in general.

Every multi-effects unit can be broken down into individual effects that can be understood separately from the others, such as reverb, delay, chorus, flanger, EQ, compression, etc. The best way to learn about these effects is to search for each one individually online. For example, learn what the various settings are for reverb and how they affect the sound, such as pre-delay, room size, diffusion, decay, etc. Then take some time to experiment using only the reverb effect with all of the other effects turned off. Once you fully understand the settings for the reverb then this one part of your effects processor will not be as confusing. Doing this for each effect in your processor will give you a greater understanding of each effect individually and then you can start working on combining effects to create various sounds. If you already have the basics down for each effect you will have a much better idea of how to combine them to get the sound you want.

A good way to start creating your own effects is to first start with no effects (chorus, reverb, compression, etc.) and focus on getting a straight clean or distorted sound (just like you would with a guitar amp) that you want to build the rest of your effects off of. This would involve selecting the amp model you want to use, setting the gain (amount of distortion), then making adjustments to the EQ. Using this section just as you would an amp focusing on minimal settings should make it easier to start with. Then start adding one effect at a time and tweaking each until you have the sound you want then move on and add another.

This is where effects plugins really shine. You can work very easily with individual plugins because each plugin has its own interface. Some effect plugins (such as compressors and EQ’s, etc) will even have graphical interfaces so you can see “visually” what you are doing to the sound instead of relying only on numbers. This is very helpful when you are first learning what all of the settings do. You can also quickly mute any effect you want and even re-arrange the order of effects to change the sounds. Experimenting with plugins is a very good way to advance your knowledge of how the effects work.