Talking Pedals And Electronics With Fran Blanche For Toronto AES 2021

Fran: It is really gratifying to see you getting the design chops cred you so richly deserve, not to mention “first mover” credit. My impression is that AES has always been more respectful of results vs credentials simply because good ears are harder to impress than an oscilloscope. Then there is the inherently bottom-up experimental nature of Doing New Things. The best theoretician in the world can’t explain something until it has been invented. She may be able to help you figure out where to look (ie, under the streetlight!), but not without the idea.

Mike O'Dell

Fran, thanks for sharing this interview with us! I found it fascinating that you pushed the op amps to the point you intentionally introduced a desired distortion. You were so near the operational limits of the parts that it actually changed character between chip maker and production run. I’ve never done anything like that. You even mention shielding and distortion on audio systems. Only someone who has direct experience with that equipment can factor in those characteristics. 3D printing has a come a long way from the flimsy, pattern-layer output. The newest one the company owns is good enough to build objects like control sticks and cursor control devices. They feel solid and they really amaze me. I know the nightmare you must have lived in having to order custom fab parts for your pedals. Someday, soon, these improved 3D printers will be providing an output strong enough for foot pedal abuse. I can see you making them again when these materials continue to mature and become less expensive. Avionics have to be designed to operate in all kinds of electrically noisy atmospheres. We have labs that do nothing but subject products to EMI/RFI and even lightning exposure to some extent. I won’t bore you with all the civilian and military specs avionics have to endure, but I can say they bombard those “black boxes” with all kinds of abuse. Some military products are actually still built to survive the EMP that would result from a nuclear detonation. DDC actually manufactures a super-expensive hybrid IC that actually senses the unique properties of an EMP event. I always wondered, “If you can actually detect an EMP event, what are you supposed to do with that information?” Well, the radios will still work, I guess. Shielding is so extensive that it’s actually a work of art. Machined aluminum, gold screens, conductive plastics, etc. Thank God your pedals do not have to detect a nuclear event! There’s a chip for that if you ever need to! 😊 Have you ever bought one of your own products on eBay just to retrieve something you were really proud of design-wise? I think I’d have to buy my own stuff if it were on eBay. Just to remember “the good old days”, or maybe not. Can you detect one of the pedals you designed in a piece of music? It’s awesome they they’re still out there!

Matt Wietlispach

Great conversation! Enjoyed hearing about the insights of pedal design 😃

Fascinating. Thanks for doing this.

veritanuda

Thanks for sharing Fran, great interview. Really appreciate the insight into pedal design.

Paul Pruss

These are the sort of things they should have asked you about in The Pedal Movie!

Dr Andy Hill