unusual effects

I love the Eventide H3000 series. lots of great and unique effects in there as long as it is has the mod factory algorithms.
Then of course, throwing sounds through a modular synth or something like the Nord G2 is another possibility..
And as you say, recording stuff is still one of the best ways to make unique sounds.

When i started out, i used tape loops for creating effects, i'd record a sound then splice the tape and rejoin it so it made tape loop and played it at various speeds using a Revox B77 tape machine.

Tape delays/reverbs/chorus units have their own unusual elements with a different sound to that of digital delays ie: tape satuaration. Other effects could be pitch shifters. like mr morley said feeding your sound source through a modular to mangle the sound ie: VCS3 for treatments. Vocoders can be used as an effect and not just for vocals.

Another one i used to do with the Korg electribe is take the right output and feed it back into the audio input and re-process the sound and increase the gain so you would have a feedback loop. Analogue synths are great for this if it has inputs, you basically feed the synth back into itself, which you either get some form of distortion or something completely strange sounding ?

For cheap distortion try overdriving your desk ie: say a bass drum and use a compresser/limiter. Gates are another way of processing sound chopping it up, just perfect for percussion.

Ron Geesin *Atom Heart Mother/As He Stands etc* was a great manipulator of sound using tape machines, namely the Revox's as per Eno, Fripp etc. Tangerine Dream used tapes and loops on Rubycon Part-1 where a backwards piano part was joined to forward piano part *end of the track* Froese's *Aqua* the title-track is another example of using tape effects.

Experimentation always brings strange results in one way or another!

I throw stuff through this occasionally. Nice valve amps and glorious tape!

Hm, a TC Fireworx could be something to have fun with, just like the Eventide 3000 or higher. These units clearly go further than the usual chorus/flanging/phasing/reverb/delay department.

Stephen