G12 PedalVision

When it comes to music an individual's sound is everything. Musicians are constantly searching for the "best" sound they can find, whether that be with regards to a specific tone quality or cool sounding effect to enhance what is being played. Sometimes people want something to enhance a show's visual aspect and want the visual part of their performance to match their audio portion. With this project idea we aim to kill two birds with one stone by allowing the user an assortment of sounds, both digital and analog, and a light display that will react to the electrical signal created by the instrument playing.

As it stands currently, many musicians crave the "warm" sound of analog circuitry but must purchase each analog effect unit separately, thus creating a large foot print that the musician has to worry about with regards to mobility. On top of having to purchase each effect separately the price of each box is high in comparison to the cost of the components that make up the effect unit. The only alternative to paying these high prices is to switch to digital effects. On top of the reduced price of the digital effects, they offer more customizability in that they can be programmed to recall settings instantly. Although the cost of a digital effects unit with multiple sounds is relatively cheap as compared with the analog unit, many musicians feel that the digital effects are not as "organic" sounding or have a "fake" sound to them; therefore, the digital effects are seen as inferior.

With this project we aim to combine the best of both worlds by including both the "warm" tones of analog effects and the versatility of digital effects into one unit. This combination will help reduce the overall footprint of the multi effects unit and save the save the user money since they will only need to buy one unit as opposed to a different unit for each effect they want.

In addition to the audio effects, this project aims to enhance the user's visual performance as well. The multi effects board will be able to interface with an LED display, allowing the user multiple modes of operation for the display. The user could use the LED display to determine of the current pitch being played matches the musical pitch standard A440 (440 Hz), the musical note A above middle C used as a general standard for musical pitch, in order to ensure pleasant listening experience. The LED display could also strobe or change color depending on what the output of the user's instrument indicates.

Ultimately, the group's objective is to create a product that will have the capability to satisfy the modern musician's desire for analog effects, programmability and versatility of digital effects, and the visual appeal of the attachable LED display in order to create the ultimate performance tool.

Initial Project Block Diagram