This week, we’re changing things up! For this installment of Pedals with the Pros, we asked Joseph Andreoli of experimental rock duo GIRAFFES? GIRAFFES! to guest-write his own feature. He also included a set of presets for H9 available for download at the end of the piece. GIRAFFES? GIRAFFES! are currently on tour promoting their most recent album, Memory Lame.
Joseph Andreoli on “The Teenagers In The Woods Burning Things Lying Around”
I used an enormous amount of Eventide sounds on the new GIRAFFES? GIRAFFES! record Memory Lame. They’re my go-to when I’m looking for inspiration or when I have some sort of weird sound in my head that I need to figure out how to create.
GIRAFFES? GIRAFFES! are an experimental-rock guitar/drums duo, and live looping and effect pedals are a major part of our sound. I’ve used all the Eventide Factor pedals (PitchFactor, TimeFactor, ModFactor, Space) both live and on our records.
A few months ago, I picked up an H9 Max (which includes all the algorithms from the other Eventide stompboxes) and a Barn3 OX9 aux switch for extra control. I mainly wanted to consolidate my Eventide sounds to one device for more space and flexibility (especially on smaller pedalboard setups). And with the H9 Control App it was super easy to make, edit, and rearrange presets that matched ones from my other pedals and load up the H9.
Our song “The Teenagers In The Woods Burning Things Lying Around” really spotlights how you can take very, very simple guitar work and develop it into a full song utilizing Eventide equipment. Take a listen to the full track in the playlist [timestamp references will be in brackets] and then check out these DRY and WET samples of different sections.
The main algorithm I use in this song is from the PitchFactor family. It’s a pitch-shifting patch created using the HarModulator algorithm. You can hear how I use this patch in three different ways. Check out Sample A. This is the first loop that gets recorded [at 0:01 in the song].
On top of that goes the next layer [0:32]- heard in Sample B. The sound clips are in mono, but if you listen to the recorded version, it’s in stereo and the repeats ping-pong around the speakers!
Next, in Sample C I switch over to a classic ModFactor algorithm, Vibrato [1:36]. I wanted a nice, warbly melody line to sit on top of all those bouncing notes. This gets looped too.
After that, I toggle back to the first patch (see how handy the OX9 can be!) and I play and loop the bass line [2:08]. As you can hear, I’m running through another pitch shifter first to get an octave down along with the dry. This is fed into that first HarModulator patch. This can be heard in Sample D.
With that preset still engaged, I cut all the loops [2:45] and play the passage heard in Sample E. This guitar part comes back later in the song too [3:53 and 5:35].
When that section ends, all the loops come back in [3:07]. I switch over to a TimeFactor sound created in MultiTap (Sample F). As you can hear, it’s a super-simple pentatonic noodle, but when the effect is engaged it becomes a fun, stuttering glitch.
The rest of the song marches on – bringing loops back, erasing/overdubbing, playing and recording new parts until it finally explodes at the end.
The Eventide stuff is so cool because there are so many interesting sounds to make, even if they play only for a moment! For example, I wanted an oscillating sound to come out of nowhere [5:08], so I created a preset from the using the TimeFactor/Digital Delay algorithm (Sample G). With the ability to save 99 presets on the H9, I have a lot of these weird little effects that I sprinkle all throughout our songs.
Thanks for listening and hopefully this illustrated just a few of the billions of amazing sounds that you can get from Eventide!
You can buy GIRAFFES? GIRAFFES!’ new album Memory Lame here.
