pretty short road to the Sky Fi . I started by taking pretty much everything I ’ ve learned about designing smooth and beautiful reverbs and throwing it all out the window . Instead of the lush , modern technology of today , I started with some primitive — ancient , almost — algorithms to generate the reverb effects , making them sound and act a lot more like the older ‘ 90s gear I grew up with .
’ ve always been a fan of older digital effects , both pedal and rackmount . I ’ ve owned or used just about everything on the market and I keep coming back to certain pieces just based on the way they sound and feel .
One of those classic effects is the MIDIVerb series by Alesis , designed by the late Keith Barr . While they didn ’ t compete on a technical level with the Lexicon gear of the day , they were less expensive and sounded great . Those early Alesis reverbs really shaped how I made and listened to music . The one I had spent a couple of years patched in to the effects return of my Yamaha four-track deck , and ended up on every song I wrote for half a decade .
I came up with the idea for the Sky Fi when I rediscovered my MIDIVerb I during a recent move . I dusted it off , plugged it in and was instantly reminded of how much I loved those sounds ! From there it was a
We did a prototype in a plain box and it sounded so cool that all the guys in the shop were asking if they could take one home . I added in the Hold functions right before NAMM and then based on feedback from our artists , added in the Delay Mix controls just after . The toughest part of the design was actually the artwork . We tried at least a dozen different ideas that were all frankly terrible . The final version was just some lines and circles , but when we decided to engrave it instead of printing it on the box it all came together in a very unique way .
The most interesting part of the Sky
Fi ’ s development has been hearing the sounds that other people create with it . I ’ ve heard reverse echoes , flanged delays , cascading octave feedback and all kinds of other things that have nothing to do with my original intent . It ’ s a pedal that really rewards a creative approach and it ’ s definitely the kind of thing I would have loved back in my four-track days .
- MATTHEW FARROW
pretty short road to the Sky Fi . I started by taking pretty much everything I ’ ve learned about designing smooth and beautiful reverbs and throwing it all out the window . Instead of the lush , modern technology of today , I started with some primitive — ancient , almost — algorithms to generate the reverb effects , making them sound and act a lot more like the older ‘ 90s gear I grew up with .
I
’ ve always been a fan of older digital effects , both pedal and rackmount . I ’ ve owned or used just about everything on the market and I keep coming back to certain pieces just based on the way they sound and feel .
One of those classic effects is the MIDIVerb series by Alesis , designed by the late Keith Barr . While they didn ’ t compete on a technical level with the Lexicon gear of the day , they were less expensive and sounded great . Those early Alesis reverbs really shaped how I made and listened to music . The one I had spent a couple of years patched in to the effects return of my Yamaha four-track deck , and ended up on every song I wrote for half a decade .
I came up with the idea for the Sky Fi when I rediscovered my MIDIVerb I during a recent move . I dusted it off , plugged it in and was instantly reminded of how much I loved those sounds ! From there it was a
We did a prototype in a plain box and it sounded so cool that all the guys in the shop were asking if they could take one home . I added in the Hold functions right before NAMM and then based on feedback from our artists , added in the Delay Mix controls just after . The toughest part of the design was actually the artwork . We tried at least a dozen different ideas that were all frankly terrible . The final version was just some lines and circles , but when we decided to engrave it instead of printing it on the box it all came together in a very unique way .
The most interesting part of the Sky
Fi ’ s development has been hearing the sounds that other people create with it . I ’ ve heard reverse echoes , flanged delays , cascading octave feedback and all kinds of other things that have nothing to do with my original intent . It ’ s a pedal that really rewards a creative approach and it ’ s definitely the kind of thing I would have loved back in my four-track days .