Once upon a time, sound effects in music were only possible in the studio, but in 1948 the first ever effects pedal was created – the humble but game changing Trem-Trol by DeArmand nonetheless. Soon after DeArmand’s tremolo pedal, Gibson created one for vibrato and Fender sorted the reverb, but these were luxury items and the average Hank Marvin wannabe couldn’t really afford them. However, fear not, these tasty little additions to the sound palette became part of the guitar/amp standard set up before too long and everyone could now jump around in a field of joy and spend money on other things such as Sock Hops, Poodle Skirts and pay for classes on how to “do the twist”.

Times have changed and people are now spending their hard earned cash on items far less cool. Who needs a push bike with an actual motor? And a tub of Skinny Tan? Yes, there is a product named Skinny Tan which apparently makes you look less turgid. Anyway, there’s still hope as the ones with their heads screwed on are investing in the plethora of effects pedals that currently exist. So whether you want to play guitar and have a whale moan effect, or a keyboard player who wants your keys to produce the sound of a hungry meerkat chewing a carrot, then wait no more.. Well perhaps you’ll need to wait a little bit longer for the only two examples I provided.