Tag: Pedals

Best of 2024: More Pedals, More Guitar News, More Gigs  · 

Source:
Julian Schmauch

2024 is almost over! Did this year seem like three to you, too? So much has happened, so many releases – can we please take it a little slower in 2025? For me, there was an almost endless stream of guitar news. I also bought one or two new pedals (and plugins!) and finally, finally, I played more gigs.

Predictions from 2024: more AI, more mini-pedals

Before we get to the most important guitar news of this year, let’s briefly review my predictions for 2024, which I made for my best-of for our sister site Gearnews.de. Regarding generative music AI, Suno and Udio showed us how far you can get with a single prompt. But the legal response from the record industry followed promptly. I still think that generative AI is here to stay in all things music production, though.

But in DAWs, AI integration has been relatively slow, and in the background; here DAW makers seem to be very vigilant when it comes to how much of the community views AI. My second prediction was a shrunken pedal amp modeler, I mean… hello? Tonex One, anyone? Kemper, Axe-Fx, and Neural DSP also showed smaller versions of their flagships.

A new effect category in the world of plugins was the voice changer, sort of an Auto-Tune 2.0. Tools like VoiceAI can turn the most expressionless singing, into world professionally sounding vocals a pop star. But here, too, there are lively debates about the ethically correct handling of training material.

Guitar news: Pedals, All I See is Pedals

I’ll be honest: as someone who’s mostly drawn to truly new developments, the world of guitars, whether acoustic or electric, is something I find rather exciting from the sidelines. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Maybe the guitar (as well as the piano or the drums) has been completely invented? And there’s not much room for improvement and change?

It’s a different story in pedal land. If you still think you have to tour with heavy amps and bass cabinets, you only have yourself to blame. Sure, I might be exaggerating a bit, but the range of amps modellers and stompboxes now available should satisfy most tastes and requirements. Just one example: German post-rock giants The Ocean told our colleagues at MusicRadar during their rig rundown that both guitarists use one Quad Cortex TOGETHER.

As predicted, I have not only written a lot of guitar news, but I have also fallen into the pedal hole for good. New arrivals this year include a Zoom MS-50G+, Hologram Microcosm, IK Multimedia ToneX One, Chase Bliss Habit, Gamechanger Audio Auto Delay, Boss SL-2, and most recently a Morningstar ML10X. This 10-in-10-out loop switcher makes my life so much easier when it comes to rearranging the effects chain! Finally, I can change the order of my pedals without the hassle of constant re-cableing! Who knows, maybe next year I’ll finally have time to buy a new guitar…

Gigs, Gigs Gigs

Where 2023 was a comeback year for gigs during the pandemic, in 2024, there was no stopping. Especially in spring and autumn, there were weeks when I went to three or four concerts. The curse of the capital being visited by all the bands. But it also led to a dramatic increase in expenses.

Because what even smaller bands charge for tickets, even by local standards, where debut tours start at 40 euros, that just hurts. My conclusion for next year, as far as big bands are concerned, is that you have to plan a maximum budget spread over the year to avoid getting completely out of control financially. I mean, 180 Euros for Pearl Jam?! Hello?

But I also played a few shows with my band again, five in all, spread over the year. That may not sound like a lot, but after not playing a single show in 2023, it was desperately needed. And if you talk to other small bands, the outlook is not rosy. Cancelled tours due to low ticket sales are a sad reality for many independent acts in the post-Corona era. If you want to counteract this, buy tickets for your favorite small bands as early as possible!

Highs and Lows: My New Studio

In September, I received the very happy news that after a long search, I could finally rent a studio room at an affordable price. No more writing guitar news at the kitchen table, no more producing beats on headphones… Finally!

Iin October I moved in, set up everything, spent hours and days on the cabling, the room acoustics and most of all on loud, uninhibited music production. Among other things, I produced the instrumental for the song ‘Apologize’ for Berlin dark pop artist RØUKH.

And then came the bad news: in November, the Berlin Senate announced drastic budget cuts to the 2025 budget. And the workspace programme, through which I was able to rent the space, will probably be discontinued.

My Predictions of Guitar News in 2025

Let’s look into the crystal ball: guitar news, pedal news and music production – what might 2025 bring? I wouldn’t be surprised to see what has already started with vocal effects – voice changers – make its way into guitars. Imagine you could get Hendrix’ complete sound (all effects included) or a Hetfield Black Album sound into an AI pedal. Plug it into your guitar, give the AI a quick analysis of the input signal and off you go.

I’m a fan of the Tonex One, but in terms of the software and the convoluted system in general, there’s room for improvement, to say it nicely. IK Multimedia, you’ve got homework! We’ll see what they decide to work on, or if the success of Tonex One has changed their priorities. Also, sooner or later, it is not unlikely that Fender will probably follow with a small version of their Tone Master Pro.

I also wouldn’t be surprised if the merging of plugins and pedal, as we’ve seen with Chase Bliss Lossy or what Neural DSP did with their CorOS 3.o update for Quad Cortex, becomes more widespread. Imagine one of the Soundtoys effects or even one from Arturia as a standalone pedal? It will be interesting to see if something comes out as soon as the upcoming NAMM 2025…

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