Using a standard whammy bar is more difficult to control pitch than just using normal bends with your left hand. It allows you to bend way beyond what your fingers could do so it takes some time to use it properly and subtly (think 80's rock solo for the opposite of this). But it still is 'manually' controlled depending on the amount of force you use with your right hand, so you can develop muscle memory feel for it after a while--your hand knows how much force results in how much a change in pitch and thus whether you're in turn or not.

I have to think that a pedal that replicates this effect would be incredibly more challenging to control in terms of pitch. Think of comparing the dexterity of your foot versus your hand. I think the "whammy" boils down to this:

a) he has to be aware that many of the notes are not "in tune" or at least not part of a scale that works for the key they are in.

b) either he's doing this with intent as part of an aesthetic choice or

c) he hasn't yet developed the 'foot control' necessary to get a feel for the 'correct' notes

If it's 'b,' then I have to wonder at the context. He's certainly not using this atonality in a jazz context. I don't mean jazz per se but as in just the pathos of jamming that allows for 'incorrect' notes. Using a pentatonic scale with wrong notes doesn't sound like a choice, it just sounds wrong. The whale as a challenge deep within a jam suggesting dissonance or hinting at a key change is t