Bananana MATRYOSHKA

[Bob_Ross]

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.

^^^This. If they ever come out with a "Matryoshka II" that has 3 or 6 memory slots for presets, I'd be all over that!

 

[BurningSkies]

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.

I kept mine but it's not on my board. I found that if you're intending to use it 'live' then you really will have a single tone you're using, because good luck adjusting it on stage for different sounds.

Also, I never got any love out of the 'sensitivity control'. It never did anything for me by way of adjustment and even the mere whisper of string noise would trigger it, no matter where it was set, an issue I've never had with any other pedal (synth or envelope filter) that had a sensitivity control.

For it to be useable, it would need to be closer to a full-sized pedal AND have the ability to save presets.

 

[cosmicevan]

Im more excited about the arpegiator hes been working on.

 

[Spectrum]

Im more excited about the arpegiator hes been working on.

Who's "he"? The guy who runs Bananana? If so that sounds cool. I like almost all their stuff.

ETA: just found it: TARARIRA– Bananana Effects

 

[cosmicevan]

Who's "he"? The guy who runs Bananana? If so that sounds cool. I like almost all their stuff.

ETA: just found it: TARARIRA– Bananana Effects

Yeah, moat of these boutique builders are more of a single man shop than a big business. Bananana might have a 2nd person helping.

 

[Spectrum]

Bumping my old thread; this track came up in discussion in another thread. It doesn't look like I ever posted this, but the Matryoshka features prominently in the swirly effects noises here.

 

[SethD]

I'm on my third Matryoshka. Twice before I've sold one after lackluster experiences at gigs or in rehearsals, only to purchase again after hearing a recording.

Has anyone else noticed that this pedal is a monster for recording but gets lost in a live mix? If so, any solutions?

Also curious if there are chorus/vibrato pedals that sounds similar to the "Vibrato" mode on the the Matryoshka.

 

[Spectrum]

So far I've mainly used mine for home recording of spacey ambient stuff. A few times I've used it live with my band for some sound effects.

 

[Jazz Ad]

I'm just sayin'

I am amazed at the amount of conversation this pedal gets. The demo shows a very slow tracking and lack of usable tones. This seems to also be the opinion of people who bought it. That it can even be compared to a future impact is beyond me.

 

[SethD]

I'm just sayin'

I purchased my first Matryoshka (from the first batch) based on the sounds in the demo. It tracks great with my rig.

 

[Jazz Ad]

I purchased my first Matryoshka (from the first batch) based on the sounds in the demo. It tracks great with my rig.

But you can't get heard and sold it twice already in despair.

 

[Bob_Ross]

Has anyone else noticed that this pedal is a monster for recording but gets lost in a live mix?

Er, no. But I have noticed that when I'm recording, I usually spend the time required to get every parameter tweaked exactly as I want it to be before the red light goes on, so there are rarely any surprises during the take...whereas when I'm playing live I'll often look down at the Matryoshka, think to myself "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that setting will do what I want", then step on the footswitch only to realize "Yikes! Geez, I sure wish I'd dialed the Resonance back a couple of degrees counterclockwise!"

So perhaps what you're describing is just another symptom of the same root problem? Which I might summarize as Tiny Knobs Make It Difficult To Program For Consistency.

 

[Spectrum]

Er, no. But I have noticed that when I'm recording, I usually spend the time required to get every parameter tweaked exactly as I want it to be before the red light goes on, so there are rarely any surprises during the take...whereas when I'm playing live I'll often look down at the Matryoshka, think to myself "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that setting will do what I want", then step on the footswitch only to realize "Yikes! Geez, I sure wish I'd dialed the Resonance back a couple of degrees counterclockwise!"

But the resonance is the awesome sauce!

 

[BurningSkies]

I have one and have never been able to get the sensitivity control to do anything. Every bit of fret or string noise will set it off. Alas, that doesn't mean I can use it live.