The DigiTech Whammy is a
pitch shift
Pitch shifting is a sound recording technique in which the original pitch of a sound is raised or lowered. Effects units that raise or lower pitch by a pre-designated musical interval ( transposition) are called pitch shifters.
Pitch and tim ...
er pedal manufactured by
DigiTech. It was the first widely used
effects pedal
An effects unit or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing.
Common effects include distortion/overdrive, often used with electric guitar in ele ...
that could do foot-controlled pitch shifting effects. The pedal emulates sounds that a guitarist normally makes using the
vibrato
Vibrato ( Italian, from past participle of " vibrare", to vibrate) is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. Vibrato is typically characterised in terms ...
("whammy") bar on the guitar, but with a greatly enhanced pitch range and without tuning issues associated with traditional vibrato bars.
Its users include
Ed O'Brien and
Jonny Greenwood of
Radiohead,
Matt Bellamy
Matthew James Bellamy (born 9 June 1978) is an English singer, musician, producer, and songwriter. He is primarily known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist, and primary songwriter for English rock band Muse. He is recognised for his eccen ...
of
Muse
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...
,
Tom Morello
Thomas Baptist Morello (born May 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is best known for his tenure with the rock band Rage Against the Machine and then with Audioslave. Between 2016 and 2019, More ...
of
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to simply Rage) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commer ...
and
Audioslave
Audioslave was an American rock supergroup formed in Glendale, California, in 2001. The four-piece band consisted of Soundgarden's lead singer and rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell with Rage Against the Machine members Tom Morello (lead guitar) ...
, and
David Gilmour of
Pink Floyd.
["Sounds of Silence" interview, Guitar World, September 1994](_blank)
, retrieved 28 July 2010
Use
Pitch shifters typically combine the workings of an
octaver
Octave effect boxes are a type of special effects unit which mix the input signal with a synthesised signal whose musical tone is an octave lower or higher than the original. The synthesised octave signal is derived from the original input signa ...
(which adds a synthesized sound one or two octaves higher or lower than the original) sound with pitch bends and harmony shifts.
The Whammy digitally produces such sounds in a variety of preset settings and adds expression control by the foot pedal. A noteworthy user of the Whammy is
Tom Morello
Thomas Baptist Morello (born May 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is best known for his tenure with the rock band Rage Against the Machine and then with Audioslave. Between 2016 and 2019, More ...
, who with
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to simply Rage) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commer ...
and
Audioslave
Audioslave was an American rock supergroup formed in Glendale, California, in 2001. The four-piece band consisted of Soundgarden's lead singer and rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell with Rage Against the Machine members Tom Morello (lead guitar) ...
used the Whammy to create otherwise impossible effects.
Besides Morello,
Dimebag Darrell
Darrell Lance Abbott (August 20, 1966 – December 8, 2004), best known by his stage name Dimebag Darrell, was an American musician. He was the guitarist of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan, both of which he co-founded alongside hi ...
,
Steve Vai
Steven Siro Vai (; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a transcriptionist f ...
,
Joe Satriani
Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)Prato, Greg"Joe Satriani – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". '' AllMusic''. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 28, 2014. is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and guitar teacher. Early in his ...
, and
Jack White
John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975), commonly known as Jack White, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the duo the White Stripes. White has enjoyed consistent critical and popular success and is widely c ...
of
The White Stripes
The White Stripes were an American rock duo from Detroit formed in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White (songwriter, vocals, guitar, piano, and mandolin) and Meg White (drums and vocals). After releasing several singles and three albums wit ...
are often mentioned as expert users.
David Gilmour has been using one since his
Pink Floyd song "
Marooned Marooned may refer to:
* Marooning
Marooning is the intentional act of abandoning someone in an uninhabited area, such as a desert island, or more generally (usually in passive voice) to be marooned is to be in a place from which one cannot escape ...
" (''
The Division Bell
''The Division Bell'' is the fourteenth studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 28 March 1994 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and on 4 April by Columbia Records in the United States.
The second Pink Flo ...
'', 1994).
Noel Gallagher
Noel Thomas David Gallagher (born 29 May 1967) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. He was the chief songwriter, lead guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis until their split in 2009. After leaving Oasis, he formed ...
of
Oasis used a Whammy IV in his pedalboard for the
Dig Out Your Soul
''Dig Out Your Soul'' is the seventh and final studio album by English rock band Oasis. It was released on 6 October 2008 by Big Brother Recordings. The album was recorded between August and December 2007 at Abbey Road Studios in London, and mi ...
tour in 2008-2009.
Kevin Shields
Kevin Patrick Shields (born 21 May 1963) is an American-born Irish musician, singer-songwriter, composer, and producer, best known as the vocalist and guitarist of the band My Bloody Valentine. They became influential on the evolution of alter ...
of
My Bloody Valentine used two Whammy IV pedals whIle on tour for the album ''
MBV''. The Whammy is popular among
heavy metal guitarists, with guitarists such as
Virus
A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea.
Since Dmitri Ivanovsk ...
of the bands
Dope and
Device, and Mikey Demus of the band
Skindred
Skindred are a Welsh reggae metal band formed in Newport in 1998. Their musical style mixes heavy metal, alternative rock and ragga. The band also integrate elements of punk rock, hardcore punk, reggae, dancehall, jungle, ska, hip hop, drum ...
using it to great lengths in both their riffs and solos alike. Other users include
Jimmy Page and
Page Hamilton
Page Hamilton (born May 18, 1960) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer, mostly noted for his work with alternative metal band Helmet. Most of his work has been in the hard rock and alternative metal styles, though he ...
. ''Guitar World'' described the Whammy as "one of the most iconic guitar pedals recognized by guitarists around the world".
History
The WH-1 Whammy pedal, the original whammy, was first engineered and manufactured in 1989 by IVL Technologies and discontinued in 1993.
It is controlled by a pedal for the pitch, and a single rotary knob that selects from 16 presets—five ''Whammy'' effects, nine ''Harmony'' effects, and two ''Detune'' effects.
DigiTech Whammy II
The DigiTech Whammy II featured a black chassis (in contrast with the series' now famous '
Ferrari red' colour).
It is controlled by an expression pedal and a button which selects the settings, which are nearly the same as the WH-1. It also has the ability to store one preset setting, which allows the user to choose any two modes and toggle between them using the setting select button.
DigiTech XP-100 Whammy-Wah
The XP-100 Whammy/Wah was more complex, incorporating both whammy and wah-wah possibilities.
It is controlled by a rocker, and a button which selects the 29 different presets; ''"Volume"'' effect, five ''"Wah-Wah''" effects, six ''"Auto Wah''" effects, eight ''"Whammy"'' effects, and nine ''"Harmony"'' effects.
DigiTech Bass Whammy
The Bass Whammy is a Whammy pedal built for
bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
. Originally released alongside the Whammy II, it was built in the same chassis but in a deep blue color. It also featured a different set of shift and harmony options, more appropriate for use with a bass instrument.
DigiTech re-released the Bass Whammy at the 2014 Winter NAMM show. Housed in the same chassis as the DigiTech Whammy V, but again in blue, it also features the new classic/chords switch and true-bypass switching. Like the original, it is equipped with a unique set of shift and harmony options more appropriate for bass.
DigiTech Whammy IV
The Whammy IV; the fourth edition, is closer to the ''WH-1'' in terms of design but with several additional features, such as
MIDI
MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and ...
control and a 'Dive bomb' feature.
DigiTech Whammy DT
The Whammy DT was released in 2011. It was the first Whammy model to use polyphonic pitch shifting as well as a host of new features including true-bypass.
The controls are similar to the controls on the previous model, but one additional knob and two additional footswitches, one of which is momentary, have been added for the new ''"Drop Tune"'' section of the pedal.
Whammy V
The Whammy V was released in 2012. It adds additional pitch intervals, true bypass (meaning the input sound is completely unaffected when the pedal is turned off) and the ability to switch between the newer and older pitch-shifting algorithms.
MIDI controllers
Later Whammy pedals can be controlled via
MIDI
MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and ...
program changes and control changes. In 2009, Molten Voltage released a dedicated MIDI controller for the Whammy called Molten MIDI. In 2015, Molten Voltage released G-Quencer, which works with all four modern Whammy pedals and provides eight unique ways to control the Whammy and expand its sonic potential.
References
External links
Digitech's page on the WhammyDigiTech Whammy DT Pedal Review by Premier Guitar with sound clips{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111230205213/http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2011/Nov/DigiTech_Whammy_DT_Pedal_Review.aspx , date=December 30, 2011
Effects units