Electric guitar players soon may be free to walk anywhere on stage during a performance and still activate "wah" pedal-type distortion effects by using technology created by Purdue University students.
Students from Purdue's School of Mechanical Engineering developed the Ghost Pedal, a wireless device that uses sensors attached to the guitar player's foot to create the distortion effect. The conventional wah pedal alters the tone of an electric guitar to create a distinctive effect that mimics the human voice.
The Ghost Pedal team includes Garrett Baker, Will Black, Matthew Boyle, Brett Hartnagel, Christine Labelle, Adam Pflugshaupt, Nick Sannella and Robbie Hoye.
Hoye said traditional wah pedals limit where guitarists can perform during a concert due to demands of the music.
"Because Ghost Pedal is wireless and does not have a physical pedal, guitar players can activate and use their wah distortion effect anywhere on stage at any time," he said. "They also have the ability to deactivate the effect whenever they choose."
Once Ghost Pedal is turned on, the user enters a 10-second mode during which the variable resistor calibrates the ability to flex the foot from the floor. After calibration mode, the guitarist enters freeplay mode.
"During freeplay, the user actively manipulates the wah level by changing their foot's angle from the floor," Hoye said.
In freeplay mode, the guitarist can hold the resistance level at a constant by tapping the sustain sensor with the other foot. This allows the guitarist to move on stage - jumping, running, spinning - without changing the wah effect. Tapping the sustain sensor a second time puts the guitarist back in freeplay mode, which allows the wah level to be manipulated again.
Hoye said using Ghost Pedal is intuitive.
"The calibration mode adapts itself to modify the resistance sensor to each user and their foot flexibility at the touch of a button. Ghost Pedal and traditional wah pedals use the same motion to activate the wah effect; the guitarist doesn't have to learn a new motion," he said.
The patent-pending Ghost Pedal is available for licensing through Eric Lynch, project manager in the Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization, at 765-588-3477, eslynch@prf.org
A video about Ghost Pedal can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_GzNPT_8vk
Contacts:
Purdue Research Foundation
Steve Martin, 765-588-3342
sgmartin@prf.org