Editing Effects unit (section)

===Studio effects and early stand-alone units===
The earliest sound effects were strictly used in studio productions. Microphones placed in [[echo chamber]]s with specially designed acoustic properties simulated the sound of live performances in different environments. In the mid to late 1940s, [[audio engineer|recording engineers]] and experimental musicians such as [[Les Paul]] began manipulating [[Reel-to-reel audio tape recording|reel-to-reel recording tape]] to create echo effects and unusual, futuristic sounds.<ref>{{cite web|last=Tianen|first=Dave|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/les-paul/chasing-sound/100/|date=13 August 2009|title=The Wizard Of Waukesha|website=[[PBS]] |access-date=13 September 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Roads|first=Curtis|title=The Computer Music Tutorial|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nZ-TetwzVcIC|year=1996|publisher=MIT Press|pages=437, 476|isbn=9780262680820}}</ref> In 1941, [[DeArmond]] released the Model 601 Tremolo Control,<ref>Presto Music Times, August 1941</ref> the first commercially available stand-alone effects unit. This device produced a tremolo by passing an instrument's electrical signal through a water-based electrolytic fluid.<ref>{{cite web|last=Chester|first=Paul|url=http://www.paulvernonchester.com/VintagePickups.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111009131601/http://www.paulvernonchester.com/VintagePickups.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 October 2011|title=Acoustic Guitar – Early Pickups|access-date=3 January 2011}}</ref><!--This source gives 1948 as the release date for Trem-Trol, the successor to the Model 601 and identifies it as "the first ''widely available'' external effects unit."--> Most stand-alone effects of the 1950s and early 1960s such as the Gibson GA-VI vibrato unit and the Fender reverb box, were expensive and impractical, requiring bulky [[transformer]]s and high [[voltage]]s. The original stand-alone units were not especially in-demand as many effects came built into amplifiers. The first popular stand-alone was the 1958 [[Watkins Copicat]], a relatively portable [[Delay (audio effect)|tape echo effect]] made famous by the British band, [[The Shadows]].<ref>Hunter, D (2004). [https://books.google.com/books?id=7DjYrk7Vap4C ''Guitar Effects Pedals: The Practical Handbook'']. Hal Leonard. p. 11–12.</ref><ref>[http://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/britamps/watkins/copicat.html "THE WATKINS/WEM COPICAT"] 13 September 2010</ref>