Music would be really boring if it weren’t for musicians’ love for experimentation with effect units. These devices help them alter sounds in the most unique and creative ways. After taking a look at what effect units basically are and what they can do to music, I will list some of the favorite choices of James Hetfield, Richie Sambora, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain and The Edge.

Stevie Wonder’s Superstition is definitely one of the funkiest songs on the planet – It was released way back in 1972 on the Talking Book album and climbed up the UK charts quickly. Stevie came up with the song by playing the original funky drum beat that starts the track and humming a melody over the top of it.
Superstition was originally intended for Jeff Beck as a thank you for the guitarist’s help on the awesome Talking Book album (buy CD here, download here), but when Motown heard it they …

The ondes Martenot (which is French for “Martenot waves”, also known as the ondium Martenot, Martenot and ondes musicales) is one of the first electronic musical instruments ever created. It was invented in 1928 by Maurice Martenot and it’s sound was very similar to a theremin – except with much more control over the timbre of the sound.
I’d stop short of calling it a real synthesizer, but it did have switches to control the sound. It even came with 4 very different speakers that could be switched on …

Artist Pierre Blanc makes beautiful fancy vases with emblems of hard rock bands.  To me, this just seems like such a strange fusion of concepts that I simply can’t decide if they are compelling or just downright ugly.  Nevertheless, each piece is unique – signed, dated and numbered.
I’m not too sure who would buy these (they go for anywhere from 200 to 400 euros) or if there is actually any market for these whatsoever, but they sure are interesting to look at.

Here’s a video that should satisfy the gadget geek in all of us.
Take:
- a Nintendo DS Lite with (with Electroplankton)
- a Nintendo DSi(with Korg DS-10)
- an iPod touch (with Mokugyo)
- an iPhone(with Bloom)
- and a Kaossilator
Connect them all up via a Belkin Rockstar. Here’s what you get: