Ten Minute
Master No120
Wah-wah
Loved by generations of guitarists, the
wah-wah pedal has a voice all of its
own. Mark Cousins is speechless...
G
etting an
instrument to ‘sing’
– that is, playing it
in such a way as to
mimic at least
some of the qualities of the human
voice – is an ability that all
instrumentalists aspire to achieve.
And technology has also been
developed specifically to apply
vocal-like transformations to
sounds – vocoders, talk boxes and
A typical wah-wah pedal’s frequency response in both its up and down positions. The
movement of the resonant peak approximates the first vocal formant.
50 January 2008 MusicTech MAGAZINE
formant filters are good examples.
Arguably, though, it’s the wah-wah
pedal that’s enjoyed the most
popularity. So, how does the wah-
wah pedal produce its unique
tonal effect, which so closely
resembles the sound of speech?
Speak up
Before we examine the technology
behind the wah-wah pedal, we
need to take a step back and
Vox recently re-issued its original wah-wah pedal as endorsed by Clyde McCoy, who
pioneered wah-wah trumpeting techniques in a career spanning seven decades.
explore the fundamental qualities
of the human voice and the
specific aspects of it that the wah-
wah pedal is trying to mimic.
One of the most intriguing
characteristics of the human voice
is how we differentiate between a
multitude of vocal sounds,
particularly with respect to the
fundamental building blocks of
speech – vowels. As we know, the
pitch and amplitude of the voice
can vary tremendously, but beyond
these variables are a series of
formants – unique to each vowel
sound – that stay fixed irrespective
of how a word is sung or spoken.
Looked at under the
microscope of a spectrum
analyser, formants are fixed peaks
in the audio spectrum created by
the changing resonant properties
of the mouth cavity. So,
irrespective of the root pitch of the
note, an ‘ah’ sound, for example,
will exhibit formant peaks (or
resonances) at around 710Hz,
1,100Hz and 2,640Hz – the
defining first three formants of the
human voice. By contrast, an ‘oo’
sound will have peaks at 310Hz,
870Hz and 2,250Hz.
To illustrate how important
these peaks are, consider the
sound of a vocal pitch-shifted up a
few semitones from its original
key. As well as moving the
fundamental frequency of the
note, a pitch-shifter will also move
the ‘fixed’ formant peaks, resulting
in a sound that appears unnatural
(or chipmunk-like) to our ears. This
is because our ears are
conditioned to hearing formants in
specific parts of the audio
spectrum, even between
completely different singers.
When it comes to looking at the
movement between vowels – an
‘aa’ to an ‘ee’, for example – we
can see that the mouth simply
glides between these different
formant frequencies, although, of
course, the fundamental frequency
or pitch of the note remains the
same. Ultimately, it all goes to
show what an expressive and
sonically flexible device the human
voice is.
From mutes to pedals
Some of the first musical examples
of wah-wah date back to early jazz
trumpet and trombone players
experimenting with different mutes
and playing styles to produce a
more vocal-like sound.
Although straight mutes had
been used for some time to create
timbral variations, the active
manipulation of sink plungers and
Harmon mutes enabled these
pioneers to dynamically modify
the timbre of the trumpet as they
were playing. As the player
opened up the mute, it produced
a distinctive wah-like movement,
changing the resonant cavity of
the trumpet or trombone’s bell in
much the same way as we adapt
the size and shape of our vocal
cavity when speaking.
www.musictechmag.co.uk

The original wah-wah pedal –
developed by Vox in the 1960s –
was a deliberate attempt to
translate the same dynamic mute
effects used by brass players into
the electronic domain. Indeed, the
first Vox wah-wah guitar pedal
was endorsed by a famous
trumpet player of the time, Clyde
McCoy, who had pioneered many
of the distinctive wah-wah
trumpeting techniques.
Although the precise
technology varies from model to
model, a wah-wah pedal generally
employs an adaptation of a band-
pass or low-pass filter with a
degree of resonance applied
around its cutoff point. The effect
is a pronounced peak in the
frequency spectrum, which can be
swept through from around 600Hz
to 2kHz using a potentiometer
connected to the pedal
mechanism. Although not entirely
scientifically accurate, the effect of
this sweep is similar to the
movement of the first vocal
Some of the first musical examples of wah-
wah date back to early jazz trumpet players.
formant moving from an ‘aw’ to
‘ah’, and applied over the duration
of a note, it sounds much the
same as a sung ‘wah’.
Applied wah
Given its roots as a variation on
filtering, the effect of wah-wah has
a particularly strong link to
distortion. Placed after a distortion
pedal, for example, or at the end
of a long chain of effects pedals, a
wah-wah pedal has plenty of
harmonics to play with and
therefore produces a more
Resonant properties of the mouth produce distinctive boosts in the frequency spectrum known as
formants. The peaks occur at the same points in the frequency spectrum irrespective of pitch.
www.musictechmag.co.uk
extreme and noticeable filtering
effect. Indeed, so important was
the link between distortion and
wah-wah that a number of fuzz-
wah pedals were produced, which
combined both distortion and
wah-wah circuitry connected in
series. Used before distortion, the
effect of wah-wah tends to be
subtler, although it still plays an
important role as a dynamic tone-
shaping device.
It most cases, a wah-wah
pedal is used to provide shape
and expression to lead lines,
although it can also be used
rhythmically (as best exemplified
by the rhythmic guitar in Issac
Hayes’ Shaft theme tune), and as
a static form of mid/treble boost.
Moving away from pedal-based
controls, there are also a number
of other interesting ways of
applying wah-wah to achieve
various effects. Among these is
tremolo wah, which automatically
controls the wah-wah movement
with an LFO, creating a fast,
repetitive wah-wah effect. Unlike
traditional pedal-based wah-wah
units, a tremolo wah tends to be
used to bring subtle warmth to an
instrument line.
Auto pilot
Another variation on the wah-wah
effect is auto wah, which again
obviates the need to rock a pedal
back and forth to create timbral
movement. In the case of auto
wah, an envelope follower is used
to track the level of the input
signal, which is used to modulate
the cutoff position of the wah-wah
effect. The greater the signal level
presented to the auto wah’s input,
the higher the respective position
of the wah-wah’s cutoff frequency.
Although simple effects like the
Dunlop Crybaby and the original
Vox pedals are now known for
their ‘signature’ sound, their vocal-
like qualities aren’t particularly
realistic. Ultimately, these pedals
fall short because of the number of
formants they use. While human
speech uses several formants, a
wah-wah pedal simply resorts to
an approximation of the first
formant. Technically, a wah-wah
effect needs two or three
independent filters to create
realistic speech-like movement.
More realistic wah-wah pedals
– sometimes known as talk-wah –
combine two linked wah-wah
circuits to emulate two formants.
Today, complex digital formant
filters such as those included in
Native Instruments’ Kontakt 3
model several formant bands, all
of which can be dynamically
morphed between.
Ten Minute Master
Wah-wah
An auto wah uses an envelope follower to
track the amplitude of the input signal. The
control voltage created by the envelope
follower modulates the wah-wah circuitry.
Peddling on
What the wah-wah pedal so
effectively illustrates is just how
important expression is in the
process of creating and
performing music. A sound that is
static offers little or no musical
interest, but diverse and interesting
timbral movements are
immediately engaging. It’s easy to
see, therefore, why so many
guitarists choose wah-wah as an
integral part of their effects board,
and why a touch of wah-wah
helped some of the best-known
solos go that extra mile. MTM
Tech Terms
■ Resonant cavity
An ‘interior’ surface will reflect sound
in a unique way, creating specific
resonances in the frequency spectrum.
■ Band-pass filter
A band-pass filter passes frequencies
at a given cutoff point, attenuating
frequencies either side of this point.
■ Talk box
A talk box passes an amplified signal
up an airtight pipe into the vocal
cavity. The performer then ‘mouths’
a vocal line, using the resonant
properties of the mouth cavity to
shape the raw sound.
FURTHER INFO
■ To hear some examples of wah-
wah in action, visit:
www.betterguitar.com/
equipment/effects/wah_
techniques/wah_techniques.html
■ For more information on
formants, visit:
www.musictechmag.co.uk/mtm/
features/10mm107-formants
■ For more information on various
wah-wah pedals manufactured
throughout the years, visit:
http://members.chello.nl/
~t.heertjes/Wah%20wah.html
MusicTech MAGAZINE January 2008 51