Copilot Fx Arrow Airwaves

The Copilot Fx Arrow Airwaves is a white noise generator pedal, which the maker describes as a sound manipulator for creating layers and layers of different sounds¹. Where a conventional noise reduction pedal, such as the Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor or the MXR Smart Gate, removes unwanted noise from a signal, the Arrow Airwaves does the opposite: it puts noise in, on purpose, under your control.

Copilot Fx suggests it for players who want to "add the spark of crackling, create layers of waves crashing down, the sound of the wind, tv broadcast interference or let some furious blasting sounds take over your signal"¹.

The controls

The pedal's knobs and switch, as described by Copilot Fx¹:

Trigger modes

The current version of the pedal offers three trigger modes¹:

1. Always running white noise
2. White noise is active when you aren't playing
3. White noise is active when you play

The trigger toggle is what sets the behavior behind those modes: the white noise generator can come on while you play and stop when the signal ceases, or run only in the gaps, stopping the moment the signal starts¹. That second mode is the one closest to how players normally think about gating, with the noise filling the silence between notes instead of the pedal silencing them.

Expression and CV control

The Arrow Airwaves has an expression jack that gives external control of the pulse width, accepting either a TRS expression pedal or a 0-5v CV source¹. Copilot Fx lists the jack as compatible with its Broadcast, Broadband and Bandwidth pedals¹, so an expression pedal already in use with one of those can be shared.

The Arrow Airwaves Supreme

Copilot Fx also makes an expanded version, the Arrow Airwaves Supreme, described by the maker as "the expanded version of the arrow airwaves"². The Supreme carries over the trigger knob and trigger toggle from the original and adds a second white noise voice, giving it 2 independent white noise voices in total².

Its additional controls, as described by Copilot Fx²:

The Supreme's expression jack works the same way as the original's, but controls the mix knob and filter cutoff via a TRS expression pedal or 0-5v CV source, and is also compatible with the Bandwidth, Broadband and Broadcast pedals². It is a larger pedal: Copilot Fx gives its dimensions as 5.5" x 4 1/2" x 2 1/2", against 4 1/2" x 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" for the original¹². Like the original, it is powered only by a DC 9v center negative jack with no battery option².

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