Video: How Sarah Lipstate Creates Her Cinematic Pedalboard

When we put together The Pedal Movie, our feature-length documentary about the history and modern-day culture of the effects industry, we knew just the right way to kick off the film.

Sarah Lipstate, aka Noveller, makes cinematic soundscapes with just her electric guitar and an expertly assembled pedalboard, transporting the sound of six strings far beyond their normal course, creating music that would be impossible to perform without effects. What better way to show how far pedals have come?

So in the opening sequence of The Pedal Movie, Lipstate performs her composition "Gathering the Elements," which you can also hear in our video above. With a bowed guitar and a rich effects chain, the song moves from organ-like chords to a melody resembling a soprano's soaring in a cathedral.


Pedals From the Video

This new video is an extended interview with Lipstate, where she talks about how she first started playing, the freedom pedals gave her when she began her sonic explorations, and how she uses them in her work today. She also walks us through her cinematic pedalboard, one effect at a time, showing off her picks from Meris, Eventide, Empress, Chase Bliss Audio, and other builders.

"The guitar is such a small part of it for me, so really having a pedalboard filled with effects like that, that's the palette I'm going to be painting the sound with," she says.

Watch the full video above. Find her music on the Noveller Bandcamp page. And if you haven't seen The Pedal Movie yet, check it out below.

The Pedal Movie
And you thought you were obsessed with pedals.
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