Audio Effects and Outboard Equipment
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Audio effects can easily be added to live microphones, and in post-production, in the digital era.
In the analogue days, specialised equipment was needed to modify the audio: so-called Outboard equipment.
The equipment was originally designed for musical instruments and was used for early experiments in electronic music by organisations such as the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
Types of Equipment
Graphic Equaliser
Date Research:
1950s: First invented to improve the sound quality of movie playback in cinemas.
Type 7080 Equalizer, developed by Arthur Davis of CInema Engineering - considered to be the first equalizer with faders to boost or attentuate specific bands of frequencies.
1965 Theatre Design & Technology article about sound equipment at Indiana University makes no mention of outboard equipment except Graphic Equaliser.
Reverb
PHOTO GALLERY
- AKG BX15 (1983) - Portable Reverberation Unit featuring a spring reverb in an acoustically isolated box
- Yamaha Rev-1 (1983) Home & Studio Recording
- Yamaha Rev-7 Digital Reverberator (1985) Sound on Sound magazine / Vintage Digital
- Yamaha SPX-90
Echo / Delay
PHOTO GALLERY
- 1958: Watkins Electric Music (WEM) WEM Copicat tape echo (still available today)
- 1974: Roland RE201 Space Echo
- Klark Teknik built the first digital delay line, which was in use by 1986.
In theatre (and some electronic music applications), the effect was originally done using magnetic tape machines. The reel-to-reel tape recorders of the 1960s and 70s operated at various speeds, from 15/16ths of an inch per second, 1 & 7/8ths of an inch per second, 3.75 inches per second, 7.5 inches per second, 15 inches per second. As there was a short distance between the recording head, and the playback head on the tape machine, it was possible to record onto a piece of tape and then play back with a short delay. The speed of the tape could be altered to double the delay each time. For longer delay times, multiple tape machines could be used to record and playback onto the same piece of tape.
Sound on Sound did a modern article about using tape machines in August 2007
Pitch Change
PHOTO GALLERY
AutoTune
Outboard Equipment Today
While outboard equipment is still available, for many users the same results can be achieved using the built-in effects and processors in modern digital mixing desks.
First online: December 2024
Latest Update: 22 October 2025