The Fairfield Circuitry Roger That, a distortion inspired by FM radio communication, is another intriguing and imaginative pedal by a Canadian company with an uncanny ability to design original yet rather intuitive effect circuits, outside all trends.
Using an “FM modulation and demodulation scheme,” the Roger generates tones ranging from a regular overdrive to a noisy lo-fi fuzz, also described by the builder as a “volatile and unpredictable distortion” producing also “noise, pop, crackle and squeal.”
The Drive knob is a simple JFET preamp, which can deliver your straight overdriven tone when the Wet knob is turned down. This control blends in the FM-modulated signal, with the Tune and Shift knob setting mysterious parameters of the FM circuit.
The Tune control can produce truly unpredictable tones, from useable to wild/bizarre, but even the most radical tones can be tamed and used as texture bu lowering the Wet knob and turning up the Dry one, which keeps the Drive on it..
The toggle switches affect the range of the Tune parameter (R toggle: normal/extended) and apply a voice filter ~(300Hz-3kHz) to the wet signal (F toggle). There’s also a 1/8″ CV input controlling the Tune parameter.
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Fairfield Circuitry Roger That, Builder’s Notes
Fully embracing sputtery and bizarre artifacts, Fairfield Circuitry’s Roger That is a distortion pedal inspired by FM radio transmitters and receivers—and all of the noise that comes along with them.
The core of Roger That is a simple JFET preamp, but by then including an FM modulator and demodulator circuit, the pedal becomes an interactive sonic playground with a wide range of sounds to be uncovered in every corner.
The basic controls include Dry and Wet levels, Drive for the preamp circuit, and a Tune control for dialing in the FM character. Roger That is highly responsive to audio input, so different sources will yield very different results.
For more variety you can explore Shift to destablize the tracking of Tune, select between two different Tuning ranges via the R switch, or apply a bandpass filter with F. Tune also features a CV input to be externally controlled by modular synthesizers or other control voltage sources.
Get into the noisier side of life with Fairfield’s Roger That.
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Features
- Distortion pedal inspired by FM radio
- Dry and Wet signal level controls
- Drive for JFET preamp
- Tune control sweeps through frequencies of internal FM modulator/demodulator scheme
- Shift modifies the accuracy of tuning
- Extended Tune range available via R switch
- Voice filter applied with F—bandpass filter from 300Hz-3kHz
- CV input for Tune
