There’s no doubt about it: Nick Reinhart (Tera Melos, Big Walnuts Yonder) is one of the most innovative guitarists working today, able to pull a dazzling array of never-before-heard sounds and dizzying glitch-inspired textures from his instrument, tap dancing away at a pedalboard while playing finger-twisting punk/prog riffs in odd time signatures like a mutant hybrid of Adrian Belew, Tom Morello, and Aphex Twin’s Richard D. James.

In his EarthQuaker Day 2017 clinic, Nick shows us how to maximize the creative potential of effects pedals by seeking out the unconventional or “hidden” sounds lurking within these Devices. Using the Avalanche Run’s reverse mode as an example, we hear how trying extreme settings yields unusual, yet pleasing and surprisingly musical results.

He also demonstrates the importance of listening not just to other musicians onstage, but to how effects pedals alter the guitar sound, showing us how to coax new sounds from the Hummingbird by simply adjusting his right-hand picking technique to match the LFO tempo.

Finally, he puts these sounds in context with an improvised pedal jam that’ll make even your wildest Tangerine Dreams come true. It’s that good. Seriously. Like, wow.

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