Earthquaker Devices teams up with PatternBased on OnomatoPedal, a new interactive web playground

Leave it to none other than guitar effects manufacturers, Earthquaker Devices, to hit us with the unexpected. Unbeknownst to anybody, it has been participating in one of the strangest, yet most fascinating collaboration projects of the year. Earthquaker Devices just announced OnomatoPedal.com, combining Japanese onomatopoetic words, sound design, stunning visuals, and EQD pedals.

The website, which you can visit now at OnomatoPedal.com, describes itself as an ‘AudioVisual playground.’ From the start, visitors can select any of 21 EQD pedals, each of which containing its own associated playground. Those available to visit and play around with include popular pedals like Acapulco Gold, Rainbow Machine, Avalanche Run, Arpanoid, Data Corrupter, Disaster Transport, Hummingbird, and so many more.

The selected pedal will then display and describe an onomatopoetic word from the Japanese language underneath. After this, the visitor can choose to playback a pre-recorded track, or just use silence. Once visitors press any of 12 mapped keys on their keyboard, a sound will play back that encompasses that word. All 12 sounds are different, but all created by the same designer, and include the use of the featured pedal. Animated graphics then fly across the screen once each sound is triggered. Then, all pre-recorded track and samples are available to download instantly, for free. This adds a nice extra touch to an already fun experience, for those who wish to utilize it.

Although it’s not a new product we can physically touch, or purchase, OnomatoPedal does serve a big purpose. First of all, it creates a fun, free website to interact with, and learn about Japanese words and culture. Additionally, it provides a way to test, and download some samples incorporating a range of EQD pedals. In a time right now when everything is moving a little bit slower, perhaps this is exactly what we need. A way to sit back, relax, learn, and play to pass the time away.