“I actually started out as someone who was really afraid of pedals. I was like, ‘Oh, hell no, technology?’”: Why Yvette Young was afraid of pedals – then ended up with a signature one

Just in time for this year’s NAMM, Yvette Young, together with Walrus Audio, unveiled the feature-packed Qi Etherealizer – a modulation powerhouse, that, well, promises to make things sound ethereal through a menagerie of chorus, delay, reverb, and granular soundscape effects. However, opting for pedals didn’t come naturally for Young, who initially preferred a more acoustic approach.

“I actually started out as someone who was really afraid of pedals, because I started from piano, violin, and acoustic guitar,” she shares with Guitar World.

“So I was like, ‘Oh, hell no, technology?!’ And it’s just really cool for myself, personally, starting from a point where I was afraid of this stuff, and now I’m dreaming it up and working with a beautiful and amazing company like Walrus to create something that can inspire people to write.”

Speaking about her brand-new multi-effects pedal, Young reveals that it all boiled down to her art teacher background and visual art process.

Yvette Young’s Signature Pedal Journey: Walrus Audio demo & new Ibanez sneak peek at NAMM 2025 – YouTube

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“When I was approached by Walrus to create this, I was just thinking about something that would kind of [help you] sit down and start an idea,” she explains. “A lot of the way I talk about music is very visual. The hardest part of creating, I think, is starting, right?

“We have a lot of anxiety. We put a lot of emphasis on, ‘No, that first mark has to be perfect.’ And [in] painting, at least, I know once I cover it in a big wash of color that anxiety disappears because I took away that sterile white canvas.”

Young goes on to liken the Qi Etherealizer to an “ambient machine” and an “idea generator that helps musicians get past that oftentimes tricky starting point.

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“Hopefully, it [will] inspire you to make your guitar not sound very much like a guitar later, [as] some of the tones [that] play out of it [are] not very guitar-like at all.”

As for the pedal’s target audience? “I think this would be an ideal pedal for people who love scoring films. I’ve done vocals through it. I’ve done strings through it. It’s just so fun – it’s like a toy.”