What is Diffractor Soundings
Diffractor Soundings is at the moment a one-man company with the aim of making effects pedals and music devices that will enable musicians to widen their possibilities and take their sound to new places. By building upon what has been done in the past and improving it with our own modifications, Diffractor Soundings is seeking to give musicians new, innovative tools for creative experimentation and sound-crafting.
A little bit of history
Diffractor Soundings was created around 2020 by myself, Raphaël Pelissier near Toulouse, a beautiful city in the South of France where the sun shines on the red brick buildings that overlook the Garonne river.
I first began taking an interest in the making of effects pedal back when I was a teenager and I tried to make two DIY pedal kits that never actually worked. Despite this first unsuccessful try at pedalmaking, I kept on developing my interest in anything music-related and especially music gear, from instruments to amps and therefore, especially to pedals. I obtained my first fruitful results at pedalmaking when I tried my hand at boosts and fuzz clones that I was making onto stripboards, after I had found their schematics on gear forums. To see these working, to see the results I managed to achieve with my own two hands is what made me truly set my mind on creating my own effects pedals, from start to finish.
I spent several years after that plunging myself into electronic books, DIY pedals websites, online forums, learning about anything I could find concerning pedalmaking and putting what I learned to the test. And, in 2022, after a lot of researching, working, testing, prototyping, coding and soldering, I finished my very first pedal: the Arboretum Tremolo.
It took me many years to manage to create the Arboretum as I had to practically learn everything about pedalmaking from scratch, both theoretically and technically speaking, despite having studied electronics and IT beforehand. I also decided to set up my own company during that period, which also took a lot of time. But in the end, I believe all these efforts were worth it in order for me to be able to obtain a result I could be satisfied with enough to make it the first official Diffractor Soundings pedal.
Identity
I set up my company, Diffractor Soundings, with the intent of crafting effects pedals that are as innovative and versatile as they are solid and reliable, all while adopting a refined aesthetic for my products.
I like to create hybrid circuits that mix both analogical and numerical elements. While numerical elements, thanks to the use of micro-controllers, allow for great flexibility and infinite possibilities, analogical elements, as for them, permit to preserve the integrity of the sound signal.
All Diffractor Soundings are made in the little workshop I set up in my home’s garage, in the South of France. I do my best to make sure each and every pedal has the same level of quality as all others, so I can be as proud as possible of my work. I’m looking forward to seeing my work in your hands for you to create and play music with them and I sincerely hope they will please you and accompany you in your musicianship.
Many new Diffractor Soundings products are currently under development. Please follow us on our social media to remain informed about future news and releases.
Thank you very much for your interest in my work.
Raphaël.