technology Chaotic Tech Startup Stirs Up Pedal Industry by: Landon McCoy, Chaos Audio
A
nyone who has practiced pottery, painting, or even put together a LEGO set will tell you, “You don’t always get it quite right on the first try.” The same
or any of the other sounds found in your favorite songs, you need effect pedals, or stomp-boxes. These are either analog or digital.
goes for trying to develop a new piece of technology. As with all
The mechanics of each are a bit different, but the end result is a
creative processes, your initial idea is just a starting place. Where
sonic transformation of your instrument’s tone.
you eventually end up is a completely different story.
Using traditional analog pedals, one is needed for each unique
Chaos Audio is a startup comprised entirely of engineering
sound or effect and are about $100 each. Not exactly ideal if limit-
students at FSU-Panama City. No one would expect a bunch of col-
ed on space or budget, especially if you want to experiment with
lege students to start a digital audio company. But that is exactly
many different sounds. Digital effects are just ones and zeros, and
what happened, and thus began a long journey of constant revi-
therefore, a ton of them can be packed affordably into one pedal.
sion to create a viable product to compete in the current market.
This compromise comes at the cost of having less than stellar
Stratus is a smart guitar pedal and effects platform blending new and old technologies to create something unlike anything seen before. Stratus is technologically different by how it marries software
effects or overly complicated user interfaces. Stratus aims to fill the gap in the market between these two extremes. Technically, it is a digital effects pedal, but actually so much more.
and hardware to create a seamless user interface. It accomplishes
Chaos Audio and Stratus both started as a fleeting thought in the
this by using a smartphone application connecting directly to the
mind of CEO Landon McCoy, who came up with the idea to start an
actual guitar pedal over Bluetooth, allowing users to customize
audio company at nineteen years old. Soon after, McCoy registered
parameters and create preset effect chains right in the palm of
Chaos Audio, LLC.
their hand.
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adds a bit of color to the sound, but to get distortion, echo, wah,
The initial idea was to forgo buying analog guitar pedals in favor of
For those unfamiliar with the wide world of guitar pedals and
just building them from scratch. It seemed more cost-effective in
accessories, here is the breakdown. Generally, electric guitars and
the long run and, as a broke college student, he could hardly afford
other electric instruments are plugged directly into an amplifier.
any otherwise. Out of pure creative passion and curiosity, the
The vibration from the guitar strings are picked up by magnets and
first prototypes were created. They were crude, ugly, and far from
turned into a signal projected by the amplifier. The amplifier itself
usable, but it was a start. Now the revisions could begin.
BAY BIZ / SUMMER 2021
