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Bananana MATRYOSHKA

#321
Spectrum said:
Amazon has them.
https://www.amazon.com/Bananana-Effects-Matryoshka-MATRYOSHKA/dp/B07L3W557B?ref_=ast_bbp_dp
Click to expand...
Thank you! I just ordered mine through Amazon.it and I'll receive it in 2 days. Amazing!
Honestly, Amazon is the last place I'd check for a pedal like that.

A question to all you guys using this pedal: where did you put your Matryoshka in the signal chain?
My current signal chain is:
Tuner>Compressor>Octave>OD/distortion>Fuzz>Bit Crusher>Preamp>Delay/Reverb (in the FX loop of the preamp)
 
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#322
Hypercaffium said:
Thank you! I just ordered mine through Amazon.it and I'll receive it in 2 days. Amazing!
Honestly, Amazon is the last place I'd check for a pedal like that.

A question to all you guys using this pedal: where did you put your Matryoshka in the signal chain?
My current signal chain is:
Tuner>Compressor>Octave>OD/distortion>Fuzz>Bit Crusher>Preamp>Delay/Reverb (in the FX loop of the preamp)
Click to expand...

I put mine near the beginning of my chain, just after the tuner pedal. I have more than one synth pedal going currently, and they all compete for that first spot, so the Matryoshka is currently 2nd or 3rd in line behind an Ephemeron and a Boss SY-1.
 
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#323
Spectrum said:
I put mine near the beginning of my chain, just after the tuner pedal. I have more than one synth pedal going currently, and they all compete for that first spot, so the Matryoshka is currently 2nd or 3rd in line behind an Ephemeron and a Boss SY-1.
Click to expand...
That would be my choice too. It's a synth pedal after all, it's like playing a different instrument, so having it at the beginning of the signal chain would make absolutely sense.
BUT... I like a bit crusher at the very end of my signal chain, because sometimes I want to completely destroy everything. I gotta see how this thing works before I decide where to put it.

Since I don't have free outputs on my DC7, I wonder how this pedal works when daisy-chained with another pedal. I really hope it doesn't get noisy.
 
#324
Hypercaffium said:
That would be my choice too. It's a synth pedal after all, it's like playing a different instrument, so having it at the beginning of the signal chain would make absolutely sense.
BUT... I like a bit crusher at the very end of my signal chain, because sometimes I want to completely destroy everything. I gotta see how this thing works before I decide where to put it.

Since I don't have free outputs on my DC7, I wonder how this pedal works when daisy-chained with another pedal. I really hope it doesn't get noisy.
Click to expand...

Well, the main reason for putting synth pedals at the beginning of the chain is because they track best with a very clean signal straight out of the guitar or bass. If the signal gets mangled first by a dirt or flanger pedal or something, most synth pedals have a rough time trying to "hear" the fundamental note.
 
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#329
cosmicevan said:
It was my gateway synth pedal.
Click to expand...

My gateway "synth" pedal was (is) a Digitech Bass Synth Wah, which is a pretty cool pedal that I used a lot on stage with my then band, mainly for the filter sweep effect.

The Matryoshka was the first synth pedal I've had which had decent tracking, and around the same time came the EHX -9 series, and now the Boss SY-1, all of which track well. We live in a golden age of gear.
 
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#330
Spectrum said:
Well, the main reason for putting synth pedals at the beginning of the chain is because they track best with a very clean signal straight out of the guitar or bass. If the signal gets mangled first by a dirt or flanger pedal or something, most synth pedals have a rough time trying to "hear" the fundamental note.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'll probably go like this:
Tuner>Compressor>Matryoshka>Octave>OD/distortion>Fuzz>Bit Crusher>Preamp>Delay/Reverb (in the FX loop of the preamp)
It would be also interesting to put the Matryoshka inside the FX loop of my preamp, in order to create some sort of a separate layer of synth tones, while the dry signal is manupulated with dirt, compression etc.
But, I guess it would be more fun and useful to have the Matryoshka at the beginning of the chain and manipulate it with other pedals (if needed).

Does it work good when daisy-chained, in your experience?
 
#331
Hypercaffium said:
Does it work good when daisy-chained, in your experience?
Click to expand...

If memory serves, it's monophonic and anything you feed into it will be converted to synth so putting it late in your chain is a waste if you have anything on before it. You can stack effects after it pretty nicely.
 
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#333
Hypercaffium said:
Yeah, I'll probably go like this:
Tuner>Compressor>Matryoshka>Octave>OD/distortion>Fuzz>Bit Crusher>Preamp>Delay/Reverb (in the FX loop of the preamp)
It would be also interesting to put the Matryoshka inside the FX loop of my preamp, in order to create some sort of a separate layer of synth tones, while the dry signal is manupulated with dirt, compression etc.
But, I guess it would be more fun and useful to have the Matryoshka at the beginning of the chain and manipulate it with other pedals (if needed).

Does it work good when daisy-chained, in your experience?
Click to expand...

cosmicevan said:
If memory serves, it's monophonic and anything you feed into it will be converted to synth so putting it late in your chain is a waste if you have anything on before it. You can stack effects after it pretty nicely.
Click to expand...

What cosmicvan said. It should work fine the way you described it.
 
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#334
#335
Daisy-chain worked well, the pedals works correctly. It's a really interesting pedal, with tons of possibilities. I think I understood most of its functions, but I still need to explore it more.
What I've found, is that leaving the "oct" knob on 0 gives you a much more open sound, you can hear all the different sounds way better, and the sounds are more manageable. Having that "oct" knob up makes the overall sound muddy.
That said, the "OC-2" suggested sound on the manual it's pretty convincing, but it seems to track worse than the other modes, I don't know why.
I'll keep experimenting.
 
#336
Yesterday I spent about 2 hours tweaking my Matryoshka, with the sole intent of testing its functionality as a plain octave and bit crusher effect.
Contrary to what I've read somewhere in this thread, the Matryoshka CAN be used as a plain octave pedal, and I must say it does a pretty convincing OC-2-esque kind of tone. In terms of tracking and sound, it's not as good as the real thing or my COG T-16 (imho), but definitely usable. And it does A LOT of other stuff, so I can't complain.
I don't have the pedal here and I hope I remember all the settings. Please ask if you have doubts.

Octave
Like shown in the guide, simply use the arpeggiator mode, crank both "oct" and "out1" knobs to 100%, everything else on 0.
If you want more presence/sharpness in the attack and/or a more "quacky" sound, play with the "res" and "sens" knobs until you find a tone you like. Everything on 0 is a good starting point, imho.
Even if "clean" and "out2" are set to 0, you should get around unity gain with these settings, because the arpeggiator mode has the hottest "out1" output.
If you want more overall volume, just blend a little bit of "clean" and/or "out2" signal. If you blend some of the "out2" signal, make sure to tweak the "ctrl" knob to get a usable sound. It's an arpeggiator, so good luck with that. :P
Another good solution would be to not involve "clean" and "out2" at all and use a clean boost, an EQ, preamp or any dirt pedal after the Matryoshka to boost the overall volume. OD and distortion are my favourite, fuzz is good too (especially if gated!).
This is a starting point for a good, simple bass synth tone imho. Add a little bit of clean signal if you want and experiment with the settings.
I must test the pedal at rehearsals, but I'm confident it will work for this application.

The bitcrusher settings I've found are the following.
#1 (BugBrand-esque tone, normal octave)
Mode: b.c.
Sens: to taste (it depends also on your intstrument's output and your dynamics). I like it around 10 o'clock.
Oct: 0.
Res: around 1 o'clock.
Ctrl: around 10 o'clock.
Clean: To taste. I like around 11 up to 1 o'clock for more clarity.
Out1: 100%.
Out2: 100%.

#2 (OC-2+Bit Crusher classic combo, -1 octave)
Mode: b.c.
Sens: see above.
Oct: 100%.
Res: see above.
Ctrl: see above.
Clean: 0%.
Out1: see above.
Out2: see above.
If you want presence and clarity in the attack, keep "Res" around 8/9 o'clock in order to get a high-pitched crushed tone that cuts through the mix pretty well.

Hope this helps you guys.
Cheers.
 
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#337
Hypercaffium said:
Yesterday I spent about 2 hours tweaking my Matryoshka, with the sole intent of testing its functionality as a plain octave and bit crusher effect.
Contrary to what I've read somewhere in this thread, the Matryoshka CAN be used as a plain octave pedal, and I must say it does a pretty convincing OC-2-esque kind of tone. In terms of tracking and sound, it's not as good as the real thing or my COG T-16 (imho), but definitely usable. And it does A LOT of other stuff, so I can't complain.
I don't have the pedal here and I hope I remember all the settings. Please ask if you have doubts.

Octave
Like shown in the guide, simply use the arpeggiator mode, crank both "oct" and "out1" knobs to 100%, everything else on 0.
If you want more presence/sharpness in the attack and/or a more "quacky" sound, play with the "res" and "sens" knobs until you find a tone you like. Everything on 0 is a good starting point, imho.
Even if "clean" and "out2" are set to 0, you should get around unity gain with these settings, because the arpeggiator mode has the hottest "out1" output.
If you want more overall volume, just blend a little bit of "clean" and/or "out2" signal. If you blend some of the "out2" signal, make sure to tweak the "ctrl" knob to get a usable sound. It's an arpeggiator, so good luck with that. :p
Another good solution would be to not involve "clean" and "out2" at all and use a clean boost, an EQ, preamp or any dirt pedal after the Matryoshka to boost the overall volume. OD and distortion are my favourite, fuzz is good too (especially if gated!).
This is a starting point for a good, simple bass synth tone imho. Add a little bit of clean signal if you want and experiment with the settings.
I must test the pedal at rehearsals, but I'm confident it will work for this application.

The bitcrusher settings I've found are the following.
#1 (BugBrand-esque tone, normal octave)
Mode: b.c.
Sens: to taste (it depends also on your intstrument's output and your dynamics). I like it around 10 o'clock.
Oct: 0.
Res: around 1 o'clock.
Ctrl: around 10 o'clock.
Clean: To taste. I like around 11 up to 1 o'clock for more clarity.
Out1: 100%.
Out2: 100%.

#2 (OC-2+Bit Crusher classic combo, -1 octave)
Mode: b.c.
Sens: see above.
Oct: 100%.
Res: see above.
Ctrl: see above.
Clean: 0%.
Out1: see above.
Out2: see above.
If you want presence and clarity in the attack, keep "Res" around 8/9 o'clock in order to get a high-pitched crushed tone that cuts through the mix pretty well.

Hope this helps you guys.
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Just been trying out these settings, and I really like them, great post!
 
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#338
Thanks.
I noticed that it doesn't track very well my StingRay Special's G string. I dind't try with my other bass but it definitely struggle to track the G string. Some places on the fingerboard are worse then others. It's odd because the string volumes are very well balanced and my OC-2/COG T-16 track flawlessy the same string.
 
#339
If you have an Iron Ether Xerograph, or any kind of filter/wah/envelope etc. I strongly suggest to try it after the Matryoshka.
With the "detune" patch and the senesitivity turned up on the Matryoshka you can get awesome synthy sweeps or find a tone you like using the filter and use it.
 
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#340
Well, after spending so much time with my Matroshka and pretty much testing ANYTHING, I decided to send it back. I bought it on Amazon, I can easily get another one later if I want.
Don't get me wrong, it's an AWESOME synth pedal that works extremely good. I don't take back any good thing I've said about it, but I decided to follow a different path.
If you're not too much into synth stuff but you need a small pedal for a couple of songs, or even if you are a synth junkie and want to have a lot of sounds in a small package, this pedal is absolutely perfect. 2 is even better, in this case.
Personally, I've always preferred to get into synth territory combining different pedals instead of using just one. I've found that my favourite synth tones on the Matryoshka were just little variations of the same I was getting with my other pedals. Matryoshka does A LOT more stuff of course, from arpeggiators to lead synths to whatever you want. I wasn't using those sounds with my band, which does also electronic stuff.
I also must say that I hated turning all those knobs over and over, maybe presets would be an upgrade. I say this because each preset has at least 2-3 usable tones, you can do a lot of stuff.
The envelope function on the input of the pedal can't be turned off completely, even with the sensitivity dimed.
I prefer having a strong compressed/defined attack and I do sweeps/filter stuff with an LPF+expression pedal, so I don't need that specific function. I'dd add more range to the sensitivity knob or a switch to disable it.
If you like that function, the pedal is awesome. You can adjust the sensitivity and do beautiful synth sweeps just using your dynamics.
 

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