What are Ambient Pedals?

If you want to create atmospheric, lush, and expansive sonic landscapes with your instrument, you should have ambient pedals in your rig.

Unlike effect pedals that focus on adding grit or altering the tone of the instrument, ambient pedals are effects that produce expansive and ethereal sounds. These typically include guitar pedals like delay, modulation, and reverb.

From subtle layers of atmosphere to filling a room with otherworldly tones, ambient pedals offer endless creative possibilities and a wider sonic palette that isn’t available with other guitar effects.

What effects fall under Ambient Pedals?

Ambient pedals encompass a wide range of guitar effects that can achieve the lush, immersive tonal soundscapes that musicians seek. Here are some of the guitar pedals included in the ambient effect category:

• Reverb: From small rooms to vast cathedrals, reverb pedals simulate the tone reflections of your instrument in different types of spaces.
• Delay: You can get repeating echoes of your signal with delay pedals. These repeats can be adjusted to get rhythmic or atmospheric effects.
• Chorus: A chorus pedal creates a multi-voiced effect on the guitar tone by slightly detuning and delaying the original signal.
• Flanger: Flangers produce jet-plane-like guitar tones by modulating the signal’s phase and then blending it with the original audio signal.
• Phaser: Phaser pedals shift the phase of the instrument signal to create whooshing and swirling soundscapes.
• Shimmer: Reverbs with trails that have a pitch-shifted layer, often an octave above the original note, are achieved with shimmer pedals.

Other than these pedals, there are also effects like vibratos and loopers that can fall under the ambient pedal category.

Who uses Ambient Pedals?

Artists from almost any genre utilize ambient pedals as they offer inventive atmospheres for music. Brian Eno, often branded as the godfather of ambient music, uses ambient effects to create out-of-this-world atmospheres when writing music and producing other artists.

Guitarists like Robert Smith and Kevin Shields employ ambient pedals to develop their signature, ethereal guitar tones. Even post-rock bands like Sigur Rós and Explosions in the Sky heavily use ambient effect pedals to enhance their vibrant songs.

Other than musicians, producers and sound engineers utilize ambient pedals to add depth and complexity to studio recordings, ensuring the audience experiences the intended emotions and creative vision for each track.

Why You Need Ambient Pedals

Expanding your sonic territory and exploring new creative soundscapes is possible if you have ambient effect pedals in your arsenal. These guitar pedals add texture, atmosphere, and depth to your performances. 

Whether you’re going for lush and thick tones or emphasizing vast and repetitive delay trails, ambient pedals can enhance performances and provide endless possibilities. They are ideal if you’re performing post-rock, shoegaze, and ambient music.

By including ambient pedals in your setup, you are guaranteed to unlock brand-new sonic territories you haven’t explored while staying inspired with the music you’ll be crafting.

Where to Buy Ambient Pedals

Here at DeathCloud, we offer the best selection of ambient pedals from today’s best boutique guitar effect brands. Our vast range of ambient effects include reverbs, delays, flangers, choruses, and more. Whether you’re looking for hall-like reverbs or sweeping and swooshing modulations, we guarantee you’ll find the perfect pedal here at an unbeatable price.

Buy your new ambient pedal today!