Guitar Effects Enabled by Analog
By Jessica Davis -- EDN, May 3, 2006
Looking to appeal to the gadget freak inside most guitar players, Source Audio, a startup forged by Analog Devices Inc. alumni, has introduced a new device to give guitarists more control over their effects.
Called Hot Hand, the effects controller takes an accelerometer from ADI and puts it on the guitarist’s hand. The motion sensor measures linear motion in an x and y trajectory, and the company found that by putting it on a guitarist’s hand provides an entirely new method of producing effects.
“We experimented with putting the accelerometer a few different places,” said Jesse Remignanti, VP of engineering at Source Audio, formerly with ADI. “We found that putting it on the hand provided a different method of effects.”
Previous effects were confined to the foot-actuated pedal, Remignanti said. The new device expands the range of effects that are possible.
“It’s a different experience,” said Remignanti. “You can’t move your foot as fast as your hand. But you have better control with your hand than you do with your foot. You can shape the sound of a chord after you strum it,” he said.
The Source Audio device incorporates ADI’s tiny ADXL320 iMEMS accelerometer, allowing the Hot Hand controller to attach easily to the picking hand of any guitarist, according to ADI.
By sensing the musician’s hand or finger motion, Hot Hand allows the guitarist to manipulate sound effects using an interface console that includes 11 “wah” type filter effects, ADI said.
The ADXL320 has a typical measurement range of ±5g and will accurately measure the wide range of motions generated by a guitar player’s hand. Mounted in a ring on a user’s strumming hand, the accelerometer’s x- and y-axis analog outputs provide measurements for both movement and tilt. Hand or body movements become the expression pedal. The interface console also features ADI’s SigmaDSP 56-bit audio processor, which includes 24-bit analog-to-digital converters and digital-to-analog converters that offer better than 100-decibel dynamic range, ADI said.
“Hot Hand is taking a new look at how to control effects,” said Howard Wisniowski, marketing program manager from ADI. “In an industry where most of the direction people are taking is to have everything done automatically, there aren’t too many things that gives control back to the user and gives them the ability to control things. It’s like getting to play another instrument.”
