Guitar pedals were one of the catalysts for me getting into music technology. Through listening to various bands who created these non-guitar-like sounds I became fascinated in the guitar more as a vehicle for making weird noises rather than just being a traditional instrument.
There was a time when studios were only comprised of hardware. Whether that be sequencers, drum machines, synths, reel-to-reel tape recorders, mixers, effect units, patch-bays, compressors, EQs and such – these were the mandatory tools in order to take your music from concept to something physical.