GameChanger plus pedal User manual

PLUS PEDAL
SUSTAIN UNIT FOR ALL MELODIC
INSTRUMENTS
USER’S MANUAL
The PLUS Pedal was created by a small, but dedicated team of engineers,
musicians and, above all, friends. We named this team GAMECHANGER AUDIO
in order to make one thing absolutely clear – we are not interested in
building “boutique” overdrives or gluten-free delay pedals.
Unusual, innovative and daring music technology – that’s what excites us.
We wish you a fantastic journey and we hope this pedal changes
the way you approach your instrument – it sure happened to us ;)
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PLUS PEDAL TEAM
THE BASICS:
The PLUS pedal is a new kind of audio processing engine that offers piano-style
sustain/sostenuto effects for electric guitars and all other melodic instruments.
For best results we ask you to place the PLUS Pedal FIRST in your signal chain.
Make sure that the PLUS Pedal is connected to a suitable power supply unit
that can ensure at least 200mA (9V DC Center Negative).
How it works:
The PLUS Pedal does not use oscillators or filters to synthesize sounds!
Instead – it produces sound using the real signal from your instrument. When the
PLUS is on – it constantly records all audio signal coming from your instrument,
and therefore – as soon as you press the foot-pedal it is able to immediately spring
into action and start analyzing the most recent audio event – such as a strummed
chord, or a separate note on a wind instrument.
In this simplified illustration we see that the PLUS Pedal has identified three
distinct elements for this particular strummed chord:
The PLUS Pedal will now proceed to create a “usable loop” out of the ringing part
of the chord.
Think of it as a “Smart Looper” that only catches the second half of each note or
chord you play and samples that short snippet of sound into a seamless,
continuous loop.
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chord ringing
Attack pedal engaged

REAL TIME AUDIO SAMPLING:
This method of sound synthesis is called Real Time Sampling and it was
developed specifically for PLUS Pedal by Gamechanger Audio.
“Real Time Audio Sampling” ensures that each sustained note or chord will retain
the exact character of your instrument and faithfully reflect the dynamics of your
playing style. It also makes PLUS Pedal compatible with any type of melodic
instruments, such as brass or woodwinds, all string instruments, and even vocals.
Use a standard microphone (see sect. “Microphones”) to produce polyphony in
real-time and create complex voice leading like never before.
Real Time Sampling is also responsive to various playing styles – create continu-
ous layers of sustain incorporating vibrato, bends, harmonics,
trills and other dynamic playing techniques. You can also use your whammy bar,
play with a slide or experiment with amp feedback or noises – the PLUS Pedal will
capture all of these tonal nuances and turn them into a continuous sound.
Using the Foot-pedal:
The quality and resolution of the WET signal produced by the PLUS Pedal will always
be determined by the amount of time between the attack of the chord/note and the
pedal being pressed down.
For a synthetic/distorted sound – follow the note attack quickly with the
foot-pedal.
For a smoother, more detailed tone – allow a longer interval between the note
attack and the foot pedal.
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Each note will be sustained for as long as the pedal is pressed down, and once you
let go of the pedal, the sustained note/chord will start decaying according to the
value of the “TAIL” setting (see section Knobs and Controls).
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1) GRADUAL control
The foot-pedal does not always have to be pressed all the way - there is a distinct
middle position, which requires only a light touch. This middle position is indicated
by the PLUS Pedal’s main LED – you will see that it has 3 levels of brightness: off
(standby), half, and full. In the middle-press mode, the sustained tones produced by
the PLUS Pedal will be slightly muffled and lower volume.
We encourage you to go back and forth between a half-press and a full press to
adjust the volume and tone of each sustained layer on the fly.
2) Short tap
A short Full tap of the foot-pedal will act as a kill switch and remove all layers of
sustain currently active.
A short half-press of the foot pedal will only remove the last recorded layer of
sustain.
Depending on the value of the TAIL knob and other settings, the PLUS Pedal allows
you to stack and sustain up to 5 sounds, but bear in mind that each new note or
chord you’d like to sustain will require a separate foot-pedal input.

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4 external rotary control knobs - adjust the dynamic properties of
the WET signal generated by PLUS Pedal. (see Section “Knobs And Controls”)
1 two-position slide switch, labeled “SINGLE and GROUP”: Lets you go
between two distinct modes of playing (see Section “Single mode and Group mode”)
1 two-position slide switch labeled “SPLIT and MIX”: Lets you isolate the WET
only signal in the PLUS Pedal’s main output.
One ¼ inch Main Input
One ¼ inch Main Output
One ¼ inch Dry Only Output/Footswitch input.
One 9V DC (center negative) power supply input (5.5 x 2.1 mm)
Indication LED (two brightness stages)
Two ¼ inch jack inputs for Effects Loop (labeled Send an Return)
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FEATURES
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KNOBS and CONTROLS:
BLEND:
Controls the volume of the WET Signal produced by the PLUS Pedal.
The medium “12 o’clock” position (indicated by a special indent in the
potentiometer’s path) represents an even volume between the input signal and the
WET signal, but, this can vary with different instruments, or playing styles.
RISE:
Sets the fade-in speed of all new sustain layers, generated by the PLUS Pedal.
A minimum setting will let you bring in new tones instantly, whereas the maximum
setting will result in extended gradual swells. In our experience – the sweet-spot
for a smooth transition between your instrument and the generated tone is
somewhere between 9 and 12 o’clock, whereas longer settings are excellent for
creating soundscapes and cinematic ambiance.
TAIL:
Lets you adjust the amount of spillover signal after you release your foot from the
pedal.
When the TAIL knob is set to zero there will be no spillover signal – the sustained
tone will cut out instantly as you release your foot from the pedal. A 9 o’clock
setting will produce just enough spillover signal to create smooth transitions
between different chords. This is useful when you are stepping outside of diatonic
harmonies.
Setting the TAIL knob above 12 o’clock will result in long, gradual fade-outs, thus
giving you enough time to start building multiple layers of chords – sampling a new
chord while the previous one is still ringing.
When TAIL is set to Maximum (infinity sign) – Each layer of sustain will keep ringing
infinitely even after the pedal has been released. As before – you can add up to 5
new layers on top of each other to create very rich polyphony.
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When all 5 slots are filled up – each new slot will be blended in on a rotational basis
– slot number 6 will replace the 1st slot; slot 7 replaces the 2nd slot, and so on.
(NOTE)
The maximum number of slots slots can be adjusted in “GROUP mode” -
let’s take a little detour:
SINGLE MODE and GROUP MODE
When in Single mode: holding down the foot-pedal will allow you to sustain one
(most recent) note/chord. All previous audio slots will continue fading out
according to the speed set by the TAIL knob.
However, In GROUP mode – pressing and holding the foot-pedal lets you hold the
whole group of audio layers currently active.
For example – you can use a medium TAIL Setting to create a quick three note
arpeggio and then just continue holding all three layers by keeping the foot-pedal
pressed down.
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GROUP SINGLE
SUSTAIN
SUSTAIN is a special knob that changes its functionality when you switch from
Single mode to Group mode.
In SINGLE mode – the SUSTAIN knob allows you to control the behavior of the
hold-function (while the foot-pedal is pressed down).
When set to minimum, it will emulate the natural decaying properties of a ringing
string – gradual reduction of high frequencies. In our experience, this is incredibly
useful when playing jazz, blues, and classical music.
Whereas when set to the SUSTAIN knob will keep the sustained note/chord
completely static for as long as the foot-pedal is pressed down, without applying
any frequency filters.
In GROUP mode – the SUSTAIN knob allows you to reduce the number of layers
allowed simultaneously – you can choose from 1 to 5 layers (see drawing below).
That means – Even if you are playing with a long TAIL – setting the SUSTAIN knob to
minimum will limit the maximum number of sustained sounds/layers to just 1 single
layer. This is indicated by the main LED, which will produce a single flash when the
SUSTAIN knob is turned all the way down.
If you’d like to use two circular layers, turn the SUSTAIN knob to around 10 o’clock
until you see two quick flashes, and so on..
*Any tone and dynamics settings achieved with the SUSTAIN knob in the SINGLE mode will be
applied to all layers in the GROUP mode.
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Here the PLUS Pedal will be
limited to only one sustain layer.
Even if TAIL is turned to max -
you will not be able to create
overlapping layers.
Now there are up to 5 layers of sustain
available - just as in SINGLE mode, but keep in
mind that in GROUP mode - holding down the
footpedal will keep all active layers sustained,
as opposed to just the most recent one..

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OUTPUTS and SPLIT/MIX switch
The PLUS Pedal features two ¼ inch output jacks labeled “OUT” and “CLEAN
OUT/FSW”. There is also a toggle switch on the Pedal’s side, labeled SPLIT & MIX.
“OUT” is the PLUS Pedal’s main output which can send two kinds of signal:
1) the combined DRY signal coming from your instrument with the WET
signal, this is the PLUS Pedal’s most commonly used mode and it can be activated
by setting the above-mentioned toggle switch to “MIX”
2) only the isolated WET signal generated by the PLUS Pedal. This way
your instrument’s DRY signal will be muted, but you will still be able to produce
sustained tones as before, by using the foot-pedal.
This mode of playing is called “WET only” – and it comes in very handy when creat-
ing soundscapes, cinematic ambiance and other unworldly sound effects. The WET
only mode can be activated by positioning the toggle switch to “SPLIT”.
SPLIT MIX
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The second output, labeled “CLEAN OUT/FSW” sends out the unaffected Dry signal
from your instrument at all times. Thanks to this dual output system the PLUS
Pedal offers a lot of diversity when it comes to setting up your signal chain and
creating stereo effects. The “CLEAN OUT/FSW” output also doubles as an input for
the WET Only Footswitch.
AMP 1
mixing desk
AMP 2
Use two amps for a stereo feel;
In a studio setting - it can be
useful to keep a separate DRY
signal going into a mixing board
or recording software at all
times.
DAW