GUITAR LABORATORY
We all know that fuzz pedals have ultra-high distortion amount.
And a good fuzz pedal also have a really good clean-up when you turn the guitar volume pot down.
So the fuzz pedal can have really great distortion range.
From clean to brutal fuzz.
So fuzz pedals probably are the best tools for creating swells and risers, right?
You can create really strong and dynamic swells and risers.
To create a swell or riser in a song, for example 2 bars before the chorus,
you can use guitar Volume pot or a Volume pedal to under-gain your guitar chain even to shut up the guitar at all.
Then you slowly turn the volume up and experience the great gain build-up.
The higher fuzz distortion the higher dynamic range you will get from the silence through crunch all the way up to devastating fuzz.
I usually also add the delay and reverb FX on top of these swells and risers to make them even more impactful and "spacey".
For risers, sometimes it's good to add delay and/or reverb FX, but sometimes not.
It depends on the situation and the actual song.
But for swells, I use delay and reverb FX almost everytime.
And if I want to make the riser even more impactful and aggressive, I often use a really aggressive wah pedal after the fuzz pedal to make the riser roar.
But it's a different adventure and definitely not for the faint-hearted or overly traditional guitar players.
I will talk about this more in the future.
Do you use and enjoy creating swells and risers when songwriting?
May the muse be with You!