HardWire News

"God of the Small Strings" Indian Guitarist Baiju Dharmajan Relies On DigiTech for His Signature Sounds

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0500

KOCHI, India – Baiju Dharmajan is one of India’s most celebrated guitarists. Known as “God of the Small Strings” to his fans, Dharmajan has been voted India’s best guitarist [at the Jack Daniels Rock Awards for two years in a row in 2008 and 2009] and was a long-time member of legendary Indian rock band Motherjane before launching his solo career and releasing his first solo album The Crossover in 2012 on the Cochym record label. Strongly influenced by Carnatic music, Indian artists K.J. Yesudas, Ilaiyaraaja, Raveendram and G. Devarajan and guitar heroes like Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, Dharmajan is known for his extended, Carnatic-inspired guitar solos – and his long-time use of HARMAN’s DigiTech pedals.

“For the last 30 years I’ve been playing, DigiTech pedals have always been my first choice, to the point where it’s hard for me to think about using any other brand,” said Dharmajan. His current pedalboard includes the DigiTech Main Squeeze compressor, Hardwire Tube Overdrive, Harmony Man intelligent pitch shifter, Whammy™ pitch shift pedal and a JamMan™ Looper.

For Dharmajan, DigiTech effects aren’t add-ons – they’re fundamental to his sound, whether on the iconic Motherjane album Maktub, voted 2009 Album of the Year by Rolling Stone India or his versions of the Indian national anthem “Jana Gana Mana” and the popular song “Mile Sur Mera Tamara” promoting national integration and unity in diversity. “One of the questions I get asked most often is how I am able to produce a certain sound or tone. I always tell young guitarists that it has a whole lot to do with the combinations of pedals that you use,” added Dharmajan.

“My DigiTech pedals have played a pivotal role in the tones you hear in my solo album The Crossover and in many Motherjane songs. I should also point out that from a practical standpoint the pedals have helped me greatly at live concerts because they are able to drive a whole gamut of amps very effectively,” Dharmajan noted.

As an artist who has helped define the sound of Indian rock guitar, Dharmajan continues to innovate, blending Indian and Western musical influences in his band Baiju Dharmajan Syndicate, in the group Kashmir co-founded with Santee Thomas, in experimental jazz-fusion band Karnatriix and in collaborations with artists like Susmit Sen of Indian Ocean and electronica act Midival Punditz.

“DigiTech pedals have always been trustworthy, effective and affordable,” said Dharmajan. “They continue to power up my musical dreams.”

“Guitarist’s Guitarist” Johnny Hiland Discovers HARMAN’s DigiTech Hardwire Pedals

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 09:00:00 -0500

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Guitarist Johnny Hiland stands out for his prodigious technique, blazing speed and seemingly boundless musical creativity. Recently Hiland, who is equally adept at playing pop, blues and rock, discovered HARMAN’s DigiTech Hardwire pedals and is consistently playing with many of the pedals from the line. Hiland has played with artists as diverse as Toby Keith, Ricky Skaggs, Janie Fricke, Hank Williams III, Sammy Hagar, George Clinton and P-Funk and more. In 2011, Hiland signed with Shrapnel Records and has a new album now available titiled All Fired Up.

Hiland has been touring extensively over the past several months and explains there is a lot to like about the Hardwire pedals. “I am constantly striving to improve my sound and find gear that lets me express what I want to say musically. I have recently discovered DigiTech Hardwire pedals, and I have to say I am in love with their tone and craftsmanship,” stated Hiland.

Hiland is using the Hardwire DL-8 Delay Looper pedal, SC-2 Valve Distortion, RV-7 Stereo Reverb and HT-6 PolyChromatic Tuner. “I use the DL-8 on two of my pedalboards so I can have a great range of delays no matter where I might be performing, live and in the studio. The RV-7 Stereo Reverb is now a ‘must have’ for me. It contains some of the best Lexicon reverbs, and it is smoking hot! It’s really remarkable how they’ve managed to incorporate many of the great Lexicon studio reverbs I’ve used over the years into a pedal I can carry anywhere.”

“I know there are a lot of cool effects pedals out there and that every guitar player is hunting for that right tone to suit their rig. It takes the right combination to make it all work just right. I, however, have fallen in love with Hardwire. I’ve found that they pack a killer tone in every pedal they make. Overdrive is one of the most important effects a guitarist needs, and the Hardwire SC-2 gives me a great range of mild breakup to crunchy rhythm and lead sounds that can sing or sting," added Hiland.

In selecting the right gear, Hiland explains that he looks for pedals and products that offer three things. “First, the gear has to sound great. If it doesn’t do that, we don’t get to step two. Next, it has to be tough, roadworthy and built to last. When you have a tour schedule like mine where you have to set up and take down night after night, your gear can take a pounding. Thirdly, the price has to be right,” stated Hiland.

“I’ve had a lot of experience with DigiTech, Hardwire’s parent company, over the last 10 years,” notes Hiland. “I have used everything from the original RP-1 multi-effects unit and have owned a ton of DigiTech products over the years. The Hardwire pedals are the best ever for me.”

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets – supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG, Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Lexicon and Mark Levinson. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 20 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 13,400 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported sales of $4.4 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012.

DigiTech Attends SXSW Interactive, Film, & Music Festival in Austin, TX

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 09:00:00 -0500

AUSTIN, Texas – DigiTech arrived in Austin in support of the South by Southwest® Conference and Festival (SXSW®). The SXSW conference is known as a stomping ground for creative artists and musicians. For this reason, DigiTech is hosting a presence at the show for the third consecutive year.

DigiTech has a track-record for introducing ground-breaking products for the music industry. We have reinforced our innovative product line with the introduction of the iStomp™ Downloadable Pedal, “The Pedal That Changes Everything.” DigiTech representatives will be on hand to demonstrate the new iStomp as well the iPB-10 Programmable Pedalboard and the HT-6 Polyphonic Tuner to the SXSW attendees.

The DigiTech booth is located in the Gear Expo (Exhibit Hall 5).

HardWire HT6 FastTuneTuner App Turns an iPod®, iPhone® or iPad® Into a Polyphonic Tuner

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:00:00 -0600

ANAHEIM, California – HARMAN’s HardWire™ today announced the introduction of its HT6 FastTune Tuner app for iPod, iPhone and iPad. The HT6 FastTune app enables those devices to function as a polyphonic tuner, letting guitar and bass players tune all their strings at once.

The HT6 FastTune Tuner app is based on the popular HardWire HT-6 Polyphonic Tuner floor pedal, which makes tuning instruments faster and easier by allowing the musician to simply strum all the strings at once, and view the display to see which strings are in or out of tune. The app works using the iPod, iPhone or iPad mic input, and it can also operate by plugging an instrument into the device’s headphone input or 30-pin connection. The FastTune app can be used with a guitar or four, five or six string bass.

The HT6 FastTune Tuner app provides an immediate visual indication of which strings are in tune, sharp or flat, and its display can be set to either polyphonic mode, or chromatic tuning mode if desired. The app offers automatic capo detection – it senses if a guitarist has a capo on the neck and adjusts the display to tune to the correct chord. Adding to its appeal, the app offers a Drop-D tuning mode for users of this popular alternate setting.

“The HardWire HT6 FastTune Tuner app is the most advanced guitar and bass tuning app available for any mobile device,” noted Rob Urry, vice president and GM, Harman Signal Processing. “It makes the same industry-leading chord recognition technology found in our HT-6 Polyphonic Tuner pedal available to any iOS device, for super-fast, accurate, on-the-go tuning.”

The HardWire HT6 FastTune app for iOS will be available in February 2012 from the iTunes Store^® at a suggested retail price of $4.99.

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets — supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG, Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Lexicon and Mark Levinson. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 12,500 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported net sales of $4.0 billion for twelve months ending September 30, 2011.

HardWire Expands Its Product Line With New Gold-Plated Pedal Couplers and Five-Pedal Adapter Cable

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:00:00 -0600

ANAHEIM, California – HARMAN’s HardWire today announced that it is expanding its footprint by introducing a new line of accessories built to complement the HardWire pedal line and provide the same high-quality construction for durability and performance. The accessories can be used to power HardWire and other compatible effects pedals for use on guitarist pedalboards and gear racks. This new accessory line is launching with two new products: the HardWire Gold-Plated Pedal Couplers and HV-5 Power Adapter Cable.

The HardWire Gold-Plated Pedal Couplers are 1/4-inch-to-1/4-inch adapters that connect from the output of one effects pedal to the input of another. The premium-quality adapters are gold-plated to ensure maximum signal transfer and performance, and their shorter length enables more pedals to fit in a smaller space, reducing the size of a pedalboard.

The HardWire HV-5 Five-Pedal Power Adapter Cable can power up to five effects pedals. One end of the HV-5 plugs into a 9 volt DC output of an effects pedal, such as the HardWire HT-6 Polyphonic Tuner, and the five additional connectors plug in to the 9-volt power adapter inputs of other HardWire effects pedals, or other brands of pedals with a compatible 9V center-negative power adapter input.

“Our HardWire Gold-Plated Pedal Couplers and HV-5 Five-Pedal Power Adapter Cable help ensure that there are no weak links in your pedalboard,” said Rob Urry, HARMAN Professional Vice President and GM, of Signal Processing and Amplifier Business Units. “Lesser-quality couplers or cables can degrade your signal and tone, which is why using high-quality connectors like our Gold-Plated Pedal Couplers is important. In addition, our HV-5 Power Adapter Cable can save guitarists from spending their money on batteries or additional power supplies.”

The HardWire Gold Plated Pedal Couplers are sold in pairs at an MSRP of $19.95 per pair and are currently available. The HardWire HV-5 Power Adapter Cable carries a suggested retail price of $24.95 and will be available in February 2012.