Color Theory

yesterday effect's latest original creation, color theory is an all-analog parallel processor available in eight different colors. it allows for two send/return loops to be mixed in parallel with an added phase inversion switch. with color theory, pedal combinations become primary, secondary, and tertiary shades of sound.

what does parallel mean?

to understand what parallel means we need context, we need to first understand what a series connection is. series can be thought of as parallel’s inversion, or opposite. a series connection can be described as a set of connections where one’s end feeds into another’s beginning.

in our world, the pedal world, we construct our pedalboards and signal pathways in series. guitar into tuner, tuner into overdrive, overdrive into fuzz, fuzz into delay, and on, and on. this is fine and this is good, but what if i told you there’s another, all too often gatekept, way? 

yes, my friend, there is another way and i won’t gatekeep it from you. it’s called running in parallel. remember when i said series can be thought of as parallel’s inverse? to be more transparent, a parallel connection can be described as a set of connections occurring simultaneously and independently of one another while sharing the same origin and destination. to make transparency even more transparent, connecting your pedals in parallel allows you to play through a fuzz and a delay simultaneously, without those connections ever touching each other! 

color theory takes the concept of parallel processing and invites you to explore a new spectrum of tonal possibilities.

color theory can:

-mix two pedals in parallel

-add a blend control to any pedal

-mix two pedal chains in parallel

-reamp audio signals from your daw

-act as a signal splitter

-mix between two amps

-”stereolize” your signal

-mix two instrument inputs summed to one output

-in a live setting, replicate two layered tracks heard on a studio recording

-emulate tape spill over, we like to say track spill over instead of track bleed, bleed has negative connotation