tremolo circuits from the past have been labeled as “vibrato,” and while tremolo is a very pleasing effect, there are differences between it and vibrato. what is tremolo? tremolo, or amplitude modulation, is a cyclic, rhythmic change in volume. vibrato, or frequency modulation, is a cyclic, rhythmic change in pitch. although frequency analysis of the two waveforms produced by the two effects might appear similarly, the difference between the two is heard rather than seen.

yesterday effects celebrates magnatone vibrato with the new pitch bender, an electronic vibrato circuit. pitch bender is derived from the magnatone vibrato circuit, but transistors are used over tubes. two controls rule over the sound of pitch bender: intensity and rate.