Is This The COOLEST Effects Pedal EVER??!!

Christian discusses the pitfalls of trying to be “cool” and whether a stomp box can make your music any cooler? Arguing that “Deep Water” by Fairfield Circuitry could be crowned Queen or King in this respect. What would be your coolest effects box?
CONTENTS:
00:00 WHAT IS COOL?
03:17 GETTING A LINE SIGNAL IN
04:47: FORM FACTOR
05:29 WHAT IS THIS UNIT?
06:49 WHAT DOES A PIANO SOUND LIKE THROUGH IT?
07:11 VOLUME, MIX, LOW PASS GATE
08:10 RATE, DEPTH, DAMP
09:23 DRUMS
11:34 GUITAR
12:42 SYNTHS
14:01 FLAUTANDO STRINGS
14:47 STEREO?
17:32 ANNOUNCEMENT
19:35 WINTER VOICES
24:16 DIFFERENT SOUNDS IN STEREO
More info about the Shallow Water here (beware it’s in…. a language?): fairfieldcircuitry.com/collec...
The Radial Reamp box: www.radialeng.com/product/ext...
The sample libraries CH used here:
Drums, Synths, and Guitar: labs.spitfireaudio.com/
The Cinematic Soft Piano and the Flautando Strings: www.spitfireaudio.com/originals/
Join CH here Friday 27th November at 17.00 GMT for exclusive behind-the-scenes warm up footage at the Spitfire HQ
Then switch over to the Spitfire channel at 18.00 GMT for the annual Tombola, AMA and general knees up: / spitfireaudiollp
PIANOBOOK AND WINTER VOICES NEEDS YOU…. CLOSING DATE 30th NOVEMBER!!!!! Find out more here: www.pianobook.co.uk/winter-vo...
...and here are the latest Betas: we.tl/t-AuFa9Idtk6

[@0ddcasemusic]

I can confirm that 1. Canada is cool and 2. Serbo-Croatian is easier to understand than Canadian French ;)

[@everestwitman]

T'as-tu deux piasses mon chum?

[@0ddcasemusic]

@@everestwitman Lol c'est ça également. Ce qui me rend fou est tous les anglicismes.

[@everestwitman]

@@0ddcasemusic En vérité, il se trouves le même nombre d'anglicisms chez le français de France, mais ils croient faussement que c'est du français, et il savent pas prononcer les mots comme il faut 😜 -> "stop", "baskets", "parking", "footing", "iced latte"....

[@0ddcasemusic]

@@everestwitman Ah ok, je vois ce que tu veux dire.

[@everestwitman]

@@0ddcasemusic J'essaie de changer le monde... une personne à la fois sur l'internet 😂

[@loopop]

Love this pedal, and very, uhm, cool processing in stereo!

[@fifty7beats]

loopop love your videos ;)

[@loopop]

@@fifty7beats thanks!

[@jonaseggen2230]

@@fifty7beats Yes that stereo solution was new to me. Lovely piano to. Seriously almost brought tears to my eyes. But I'm an old man so what one would expect I guess. One thing though. The lpg is more a low pass gate than a low pass filter, or that's where it shines the most, because honestly, as a regular filter it's not in any way amazing. Also kudos to your old school british documentary style, and lovely and fitting the mentioning of your wife. Subbed now because of this.

[@thsithks]

One thing: Low Pass Gate, not just filter! A LPF that reacts to dynamics.

[@galacticecho7027]

Yeah, I discovered a patch on my Microfreak that could do stuff like that with the low pass filter. I tweaked it slightly to make it more my flavor of sound but I used it in a song for a cool warbly tape effect. I manually rode the cutoff and resonance knobs to get the sound for about 4 bars I think and then looped it.

[@evanlynch6897]

Low Pass Gates are my favourite things in the world of synthesis, shame to see this feature undersold here but I get how it’s an easy mistake for someone to make

[@galacticecho7027]

@@evanlynch6897 Yeah, I didn't necessarily realize that was possible until I stumbled on that patched and tweaked it. But, it was a fun realization!

[@chuuweec.8080]

@@galacticecho7027 🤔

[@AnnesYarak]

@@vinc6 Most LPG use vactrol. But there are also other LPG... „It is an electrical circuit that combines elements of amplifiers and low-pass filters“ (stromkult.com)

[@sassulusmagnus]

Fairfield Circuitry is a very interesting company. Almost all the pedals they make are weird, weird, weird. But weirdly useful in the right hands.

[@andrewgreen5986]

Yes, I very much appreciated their ‘Unpleasant Surprise’ pedal.

[@yaanno]

as a hungarian who owns quite a few canadian effect pedals i can confirm that they must smoke the best serbo-croatian leaf in existence. empress, fairfield and industrialectric make the coolest pedals.

[@GabrielRO8]

This has to be *the* best pedal demo in the history of music.

[@DavidDiMuzio]

"But this lemon squeezer looks very cool but can't squeeze lemons for shit" 😂😂 ...seriously laughed out loud.

[@jowlorenz9555]

Lemon squeezer would make a great pedal name --- shock yer ballz !

[@sonalsystem]

I did as well…he should do stand up :) I died with the “the only building I’ve ever seen with sweat stains.. “

[@adammiller6347]

I don’t follow why you need the re-amp box. This is a line compatible pedal, from the manual: MORE CONTROL INSIDE BOOST AND PAD There are 2 jumpers at the input stage to match your input signal’s level and impedance. By default, BOOST is on, PAD is off; a typical set- ting for high impedance, low output signals like a guitar’s single coil pickups. If the user finds there is too much distortion at the input stage, moving the BOOST jumper to its off position will reduce overall gain by 6 dB. If the signal source is line- level, the PAD can be set to its on position, giving another 6 dB of gain reduction while also reducing the input impedance by a factor of 10.

[@kurtisadair]

Started floating away from my desk around 16 minutes and swam back through the air to comment

[@markhammer643]

A rather Canadian episode. Radial devices are made in Vancouver, while Fairfield pedals are made just across the river from me in Gatineau, Quebec. I've had the pleasure of chatting with Guillaume Fairfield many times, and attended a dinner with him, and the folks from Chase Bliss and Empress (which is made on *this* side of the same river, in Ottawa). Lovely bunch of guys, all of them. Guillaume always tries to have his pedals do something that few, if any, other pedals do. Very smart guy. And as much as the legending and look seem like they were intended to look "cool", really it was a way of not having to be concerned about legending wearing off or paint chipping on the finish. A friend of Guillaume's does the lettering with an old-fashioned bang-it-in stencil set.

[@chrisc7265]

my takeaway from this is I'm totally going to split sampled instruments into left and right channels and do different processing on them now

[@noisecode5867]

You've discovered my favorite pedal!! Have fun.

[@JoshuaBatch]

Fairfield do make some wonderful sounding pedals, this is no exception.

[@AynenMakino]

To quote from the Secret Life of Walter Mitty: "Beautiful things don't ask for attention". I feel that this is much more true for the sound from this effects box than it is for it's looks.

[@BlueAltitudes]

That's a beautiful quote. I think I should really set aside some time to watch this movie. Also, yeah The Shallow Water pedal is undeniably cool 😎

[@RickyTinez]

"...is that it?" i've never laughed so loud haha. Thanks for making this Christian!

[@fifty7beats]

Ricky Tinez love your videos too bro ;)

[@JSCote]

Geez, I was excited when you were holding that pedal in your hands in your last video, imagine seeing this! The friends at Fairfield are neighbors (Hull represent!); good people, good builders... I love their delay pedal (Maude), I used it on many things over the years. And my wife is Croatian, so this video really spoke to me! :) Thanks, Christian!

[@gatorgoforth3097]

I love mine, but found it imparts a healthy amount of noise/hum into my signal. The low pass gate (not filter) is so magical because it responds to the dynamic of the input material. Breathes so much life into anything, the more dynamic the better.

[@zhangke1350]

Enjoyed your discussion about "cool". Very inspiring!!

[@sonalsystem]

I came for the review and iuAt 1:32 you killed me. 🤣🤣🤣 “the only building I’ve ever seen with sweat stains…” I wish every review I watched could be this honest and blunt.

[@Pumpkin_Fart]

Wow, so succinct and right to the point. No need to fast forward most of the video just to find out which Fairfield Circuitry pedal you're even talking about. And thanks for defining "cool" for the ages.

[@katlegotladi2116]

“MUMMY!” 9:39 Perfect reaction 😭

[@David-nu5cj]

Really loved what it did to those samples. Great watch and listen!

[@eeajikofficial]

Awesome video. It's very detailed and shows a loving interest in this pedals (& sound design). It's the coolest pedal review I've seen on KZbin.

[@Petekelly55]

I am a guitar player and due to a shoulder injury I am unable to play. So I recently turned my attention to sample libraries and analogue synths. Having (too many?) guitar pedals I have been experimenting in sound creation. Th Chase Bliss Automatone is the ultimate in cool. It is VERY expensive but worth every penny . Loads of KZbin videos showing the pedal and its capabilities Well worth a look IMHO.

[@PeteBoyd]

Stumbled upon this thru a web search; laughing out loud; loving it; three minutes in and we're out on the hill and I've forgotten what I came here for, forgotten what the video is about (he hasn't gotten to that specific point yet) and I'm loving it so much more than so much else.

[@Luigimeraz]

Unique video, love this pedal for synths also and I'm glad to hear your take on it!

[@ydlp7705]

Little note: Intruments signals such as guitar's have a high impedance (it's wrote on your reamp box "Hi-Z") whereas line signal is much hotter signal (also modular is much higher than line) and have a low impedance. Using a reamp or a DI box solve that issue by using a OP amp or a transformer (for higher hand DI box) to adapt impedance.

[@whatintheworld6501]

Another brilliant video. Cheers mate!

[@williamphilipson-composer9576]

Those flautando strings through that pedal are wonderful. I'm definitely going to explore using tape wobbles, and pitchy chorus/tremolos on intimate scenes on soft strings. Sounds great!

[@galacticecho7027]

Yeah, the strings were pretty amazing sounding.

[@mgscheue]

Love my Shallow Water! Thanks for this. So nicely described.

[@kevinbatchelor9566]

Loving that they included a low pass gate in this design. The Make Noise Optomix has a lovely vactrol controlled lpg and it sounds beautiful.

[@SteveBlancoMusicianWarrior]

That is a great sounding pedal. Definitely on my list. Thanks for this video🥂

[@leflutebear6448]

Firewood Piano through a Deep Water pedal literally pulls emotion out of you in bucket loads....quite a special thing indeed

[@ThomasKobrick]

Very cool pedal indeed. And such amazing craftsmanship putting these videos together. You are a generous contributor to the music community.

[@barrnycharlton8951]

interesting, unique and thought provoking video as per usual

[@Mac.Eunique]

What’s cool is where you walk your dogs! 😳 Beautiful!

[@Electricowlworks]

What a gratifying piece of kit! It reminds me a bit of the ZVex Instant LoFi Junky pedal. Thanks for the video, Christian! Cheers from South Wales, NY, USA. - chaz

[@geraldhenrickson7472]

Piece of kit? Ouch.

[@defnotmee5085]

Man, I really like your ideas. Cool pedal featured here. thx

[@dijonstreak]

boy...you went ALL out on this one. WOW !!

[@jazzroom]

Beautiful string harmonic progression and voicings - I can hear Mahler influence. Thank you 🙏

[@b4wd0DD]

tiny correction : the microcontroller, the only digital component of the pedal, is the thing generating the random modulation voltage, so the signal path is 100% analog

[@pizzaROX]

I wish there was a pedal that does only that

[@AndrossUT]

Naw there's definitely a pt2399 doing the vibrato

[@leftovernoise]

@@AndrossUT nope. It's a v3207d bucket brigade chip. There are no pt2399 in this pedal

[@ripwildy2022]

@@AndrossUT why you randomly talking BS about stuff you have no clue on?

[@AndrossUT]

@@ripwildy2022 just to anger you personally.

[@Quicksilver_Cookie]

Being into playing music and gear in general taught me things about people. If there's anything somebody considers to be an undesirable defect - some will find a way to enjoy this broken thing, and turn it into a thing of beauty. I love this about music, and people. This is a gorgeous pedal. If used intelligently and with good care it can just sprinkle a little bit of magic on your recorded stuff.

[@ArturTadevosyan]

Awesome! I can see my name in the samples list of Logic! Btw that pedal is REALLY COOl!

[@echosonicmusic]

One of those special sauce pedals that are addictive to slap on everything ... nothing wrong with a blue LED, they are things of purity and great beauty. Great video Christian, I tried to do a winter voice recording but couldn't hold a note satisfactorily for 8 seconds and got very frustrated with myself ... I will watch on with interest!

[@markushubermusic]

Tape Saturation. So satisfying.

[@darylccc]

Awesome! Im still amazed more people don't talk about the SnazzyFX Wow & Flutter though .It's quite similar to this, its more a tape delay, but you can get similar stuff to the Fairfield. I use the eurorack module version of it and it's probably my favourite "analog" delay i owned, which includes an RE-301. Having CV control over the randomness leads to some very organic or crazy stuff.

[@parkerstroh6586]

Top notch intro my dude, instant sub

[@marciocunha2639]

Mate, instantly subscribed. That intro is quite something.

[@howardanderson3061]

It really is a stunning pedal, I can't believe it's a digital effect? Wow I agree the warble does have a very sad and Brocken sound, which I thunk we all can relate to that. Thanks for sharing! Excellent presentation

[@sebastiens7621]

It’s analog. Only the random modulation is made by micro processor. (Digital) like chase bliss audio

[@janiviitamaki3775]

I like the sound of this pedal very much.

[@AlexPolensky]

Great demo of how weird and varied this pedal can be! I'm excited to save up for one and try to apply it to my cues, as well as the EQD Avalanche Run.

[@rogermuller8483]

You get all the upvotes I can give! Amazing content as always. And Yeah I ordered one as soon as I heard that stereo piano. The question now is: should I get 2? :)

[@keiththeodosiou]

Always a great idea to experiment with pedals and keyboards. The winter voices is really picking up now and it sounds beautiful. Can't wait for the finished version! Well done everyone :)

[@Rustie.]

The Empress Zoia is very inspiring!

[@The_Penny_Seventeens]

This is the coolest video I have ever watched 🎼🎼🎼

[@skrapadelix]

I love this pedal. It takes my Roland Juno 6 and magically transforms it into a Roland Jupiter 4.

[@experimetalfan8851]

That intro was very *cool*

[@wavetenet]

Cool desk! Cool mug!

[@sp3ct3rsd3mos]

Really lovely

[@TweezerBleezer123]

SUBSCRIBED. your rant ! Brilliant

[@martinheath5947]

I love it. Definitely plangent and very cool

[@Frozen_Smoke1972]

Another great pedal that gets into the same sort of area, in regards to giving music a peculiar vibe (but not really the same type of sonic results, at all) is the Black Fountain by Old Blood Noise Endeavours. Fairfield Circuitry are a fantastic company though. They do great stuff. Anyway, great video. Keep up the excellent wok.

[@type197]

Cool vid... 😎 It's interesting to see your ideas here. I have the Glowfly/Wraa labs Retroflect lofi tape simulator, and coupled it with the Meris 'Blade Runneresque' Mercury7. But I only used it for one part just to add something 'cool'. The idea of adding multiple tracks run through the tape sim and then using the Mercury7 to tie it all together will be the next experiment. Thoroughly enjoyed this vid...

[@alanmaxwell6649]

I live in Montreal and have a Fairfield Circuitry Shallow Water pedal. I've used it on a Solina String machine and it was fabulous. There is one pedal from Retroactive Pedals called Dotchaser (its a delay) but it can add gentle distortion to your sources, not its main intention and it sounds so very good.

[@leonbc97]

I wasn't expecting the stereo to sound so wide, thought it would be a lot more phasey in the centre. Very cool pedal

[@endermusica]

Almost spit my tea with the lemon thing.

[@roybrooks]

I got a Shallow Water a few days ago. I reckon it might be the coolest effects unit ever.

[@chucksmyth2598]

Got mine a few weeks ago and loving it. They do need a stereo version. I’ve been trying to copy the sound of the intro credits to Scarface for years. This helps.

[@joshbabbitt9243]

@Christian Henson, absolutely love this pedal, but can I ask what cables you had plugged into the SW were pretty please?

[@Joshua_Ott]

I like the 70's lofi film look to your video!

[@BlackFrostt]

Oh mighty merciful overlord, please give us a flautando patch for LABS on Christmas this year. It's just so beautiful. Is their a way to get that sound using the discover library. I tried to EQ the longs and added a lush reverb but it sounds too synth-ish. I need something emotive and magical. I have another request. Can you make a video on how to make woodwinds section sound real. For eg: when should one use a solo oboe as opposed to many oboes. I try to arrange by ear but sometimes I can't tell if I'm doing the right thing and end up wasting time because it sounded great in my head but I'm not able to fit it in context.

[@Seeattle]

I wasn’t too impressed until you ran the violin strings through it. Then I immediately resolved to want, badly.

[@maxmatson1578]

That's the beauty of Behringer synthesizer users. They don't give a damn if it's cool or not. It works, and works good

[@ethanphelps5308]

this man should have millions of subs

[@iantanner7579]

It certainly adds a pleasing, sonically nostalgic emotion to any sound run through it, - I wonder if younger ears experience the same emotional attachment to the sounds created with a machine like this, compared to those of us who grew up using tape? Love to ALL, feel no hate

[@Frozen_Smoke1972]

That's actually a really good question, seeing as these types of effects might seem to rely on a certain sense of nostalgia.

[@yareshs]

As a "younger" person that didn't really grow up on tape, I can confirm the emotion still transfers

[@iantanner7579]

@@yareshs - Thank you for the answer Yaresh, much appreciated.

[@drnarwhal2888]

I was born in the 2000s and I absolutely love these sounds

[@jeanfivaz8382]

This is the coolest effects pedal ever. But putting really pretty music into it helps. Thanks.

[@RobinRimbaudScanner]

Picked one up a while back and love this pedal, especially when used subtly. You slightly confused me there in the description though, thinking that this was a new pedal from Fairfield Circuitry though, calling it 'Deep Water' when in fact it's still 'Shallow Water' as far as I know! Oh, you trickster you!

[@nrg242]

same here. was about to rush over to Reverb to try and find one before i figured it was a mistake.

[@RobinRimbaudScanner]

@@nrg242 yes, a little surprising that Christian hasn't updated it as yet as I'm sure there are lots of confused viewers out there thinking wondering where to find such an exclusive pedal, that doesn't even exist! :-)

[@christopherecatalano]

Oh please, though🤣 Anything they make that is weird is going to be great!

[@RobinRimbaudScanner]

@@christopherecatalano true, but most certainly a challenge if you are searching for 'Deep Water'! 😂

[@christopherecatalano]

@@RobinRimbaudScanner, I wonder how a Deep Water pedal would actually play out. I could hear this being combined with a really strange Fairfield like reverb, maybe in stereo although stereo doesn’t seem to be their way.

[@TheStudioDrummer]

Subscribed👊🏽

[@louderthangod]

I’ve got and have had a bunch of these “lo-fi” pedals and this is my favorite.

[@mikkelfrederiksen5567]

What lofi pedal would you suggest, to achieve the atmosohere of this Fairfield, but cheaper? 😊

[@louderthangod]

@@mikkelfrederiksen5567 I can't think of any cheaper off the top of my head. The Cooper and ZVex are my other favorites and they're all on the expensive side too. I think if you have modulated reverb and delay maybe with a bit of a dirt pedal you already might have here you can cut the lows out can get you in this zone.

[@mcmSEA]

Loved it, thank you! Mind, it did tend to make your chords sound like the VHS version of "Letter to Brezhnev" soundtrack, and I think I can do all of that with Strymon El Cap or Deco. But perhaps I'm being too judgy. Enoyed it regardless.

[@rasm0225]

Yeah. I own neither but I immediately thought of the Deco.

[@terrydoylemusic]

Fun!

[@brndgtl]

Great video. Can't help thinking how much you'd get out of an Empress Zoia though

[@chandeleerjet5637]

There's a free plugin for Reaktor called Deep Water which is one of my most used plugins. Just realized it's the same exact controls as this and an emulation. I love the plugin so I bet the hardware is amazing

[@CraftWon]

I have this pedal and love it but was always disappointed that it’s not in stereo. So... I was considering getting a second one for the full stereo spectrum. Kool trick you did though. I’ll try that out.

[@heartofodds]

Random oscillation is the thing we didn't quite know we needed. It does something to the brain, keeps it engaged, the way we know predictable oscillations sort of disappear, or become gratuitous. They always should have been a bit random perhaps, like human-made vibrato. If you'll forgive...our 'inner child' stays engaged. Whether because it's organic, honest, vulnerable, true. It is to take on imperfection willingly. Eyes open(be a human on earth). Forego the cheap pride of superficial/counterfeit adornments and 'airs'... Now we're talking...just be humble.

[@christopherecatalano]

It sits right next to my Meet Maude. She is equally cool. Deliciously dark. Shallow Water is deep enough that you never stop being surprised by what it is doing, but used right it is ever so subtle; beautifully musical and so nice to just let it breathe in the background. Under water. The Fairfield pedals impart a tonal thing that is hard to describe, just sideways from your real tone, but an alternate tone nonetheless. Sometimes the shift the Shallow Water creates reminds me of those rubber knee reflex mallets the doctor uses to randomly turn your leg into jello😂

[@crag_]

I have that lemon squeezer, its actually for making orange juice and it works really well. My dad paid way too much money for it 20 years ago though

[@chrisjohnstone6164]

caught this by accicent because of the pedal -- fab use in the studio - ta luv

[@thanosvovouras9225]

Reaaaaaally intresting pedal!! Is that music sample a tune? If yes which one please?

[@nomadvideomachine]

well that's refreshing!! And I haven't even arrived at the pedal part of the vid 😎

[@nomadvideomachine]

6:16 - Me, later that day to my fiance "But darling, don't you realise that it’s possibilities are much greater than simply a Wow and Flutter machine"

[@nomadvideomachine]

thank you so much for this beautifully crafted Pedal Production. Both the pedal and your [well, a review wouldn't do justice to the amount of work you've put in this and the wonderful musical results] are one of a kind! A big thanks to the Fair Circus as well

[@tendingtropic7778]

wow thank you for this! just don't quite understand what you did to make it stereo? record a loop left mono and right mono and then blend them?

[@TheCrowHillCo]

You got it!

[@MarcusWarnerMusic]

if I saw car #1 being used for an Asda shopping trip I'd consider that infinitely cooler than car #2 sat in someone's showroom somewhere. Same with the pedals - all about how you use them, regardless of form factor

[@sandwich-breath]

As soon as I picked up the shallow water I put it over an orchestral string piece I’m working on and my heart broke into little pieces and washed away

[@nodfactor8808]

@2:08 Shots fired lol!

[@kibon8387]

my definition of cool is when the weather is when the ambient temperature reach bellow 18C.

[@chriswareham]

Sounds similar to Hainbach's East German wire recorder. Probably a bit too niche for me to justify the expense, but it's very tempting as I love wobbly modulation effects.

[@earlsfield]

Serbo-Croatian still exists, although Serbia and Croatia are separate countries. With that sorted, Shallow Water is amazing. However ,there is a monster comming around the corner for about 400 quid - Generational Loss MK2, with much more to offer. Preordered it, it is loaded with tape models, all sorts of goodies you might want to find on a Boards of Canada in a pedal device :)

[@aqeiwwrgunaug4ne3]

10 seconds in and im filling in my amazon details

[@moritzanthes4447]

Hey man! Me as a trombone player using pedals for ambient and experimental music would absolutely love to hear some horns through these pedals too! In case you have a possibility to display this too. 😀

[@ameliemarron]

Do I need preamp? for my shallow water pedal to work properly? I just got mine and i plugged in Into my synth/guitar directly and honestly it doesn’t do much, it doesn’t have the effect it does in this (or any other demo) video, it almost does nothing to the sound. Or did i receive a broken version?