I have been looking around for a different delay pedal lately and took a chance on the Pigtronix Echolution. It is expensive, but I really like delay and a good delay pedal should last a lifetime. The main things I am looking for in a delay right now are tap tempo, a good, analog like self-oscillation sound, and the ability to have the delays “trail” after switching it off. I know lots of people are true-bypass freaks and that it's not compatible with overhanging repeats, but I don’t like it when the repeats just cut out – it doesn’t sound natural to me.
I mentioned in another thread that I was under-whelmed by the Pigtronix, but after a bit of time playing with it I’m liking it more. The pedal excels in noise-type sound manipulation, which is something I like but am unfortunately not looking for at the moment.
The delay is split into 2 modes – a tap tempo (tt side of the pedal) delay and a “modulation delay” (mod side of the pedal) that has added chorus and tremolo. The mod delay side has the time set by either a knob or an expression pedal and the tt side time is set only with the tap tempo button – no knob. The mod side has a switch for long, medium, or short delay times and the range of the expression pedal / knob changes accordingly.
I don’t find the repeats to be particularly warm, although there is a global high-cut knob that mellows things out a little, but I found it to be rather subtle.
It’ll go into self-oscillation nicely if the feedback knob is a bit shy of the way up and the sound is very analog like on the mod side, and fairly digital on the tt side. Without a knob to control time on the tt side, the oscillation just goes at whatever pitch your current tap tempo dictates. You can change the tap tempo in mid space-flight and it’ll change pitch, but not in a smooth way – in an odd, glitchy way.
One will also sometimes notice artifacts of old echos still bouncing around in one side of the pedal or the other when switching back and forth between sides. From a noise-making standpoint, this was kind of fun, but from a practical standpoint, it’s kind of annoying. Especially remember not to have the mod side on a runaway repeat then switch back to the tt side – when you go back to the mod side it’ll still be chugging away at the oscillation and will only switch to whatever new setting you have on the feedback knob at the moment you switch. I would find lots of odd artifacts hanging around in both sides as I’d switch back and forth or as I’d change tap tempo settings – see the video for what I’m talking about.
Speaking of the tap tempo – I find it hard to get used to that it calculates the rate with 3 clicks rather than 2. I’d also find it sometimes interpreting a single click as a very fast double click.
The best part of the pedal is the way you can mess around with sound in the loop mode. At first I was disappointed that you can’t do “normal” looping with its loop mode. The instructions warn you about this. Even if you’re in tt mode, it doesn’t really work to just tap once at the beginning of your phrase and once at the end. What it does do, is when you have and interesting bunch of noise going, hitting the loop function stops the decay and just keeps things going forever. Then you can really mess with the sounds and it’s quite fun. The mulit-tap dip switches will put on different counter rhythms and you can really stretch out the time and pitch and warp it beyond recognition using the mod side of the pedal. If you get more of a solid wall of sound happening, the mod switches somehow end up changing around what sounds like the upper harmonics of the tone – very cool. This is also where the chorus and tremolo are cool things to have.
Overall, if you just want a delay to use in the traditional way you probably don’t need to spend the money for this pedal. If you need very specific mulit-tap abilities this pedal could be good for you – I don’t know what others offer in that area. If you like to make noise and want a pedal that’s like a musical instrument, this one is pretty cool.
Warning: Videos are just noise making and are a little long. I figured that there are already some videos of people doing normal things with the Echolution, so I'll give you a taste of it's more far-out aspects.
I mentioned in another thread that I was under-whelmed by the Pigtronix, but after a bit of time playing with it I’m liking it more. The pedal excels in noise-type sound manipulation, which is something I like but am unfortunately not looking for at the moment.
The delay is split into 2 modes – a tap tempo (tt side of the pedal) delay and a “modulation delay” (mod side of the pedal) that has added chorus and tremolo. The mod delay side has the time set by either a knob or an expression pedal and the tt side time is set only with the tap tempo button – no knob. The mod side has a switch for long, medium, or short delay times and the range of the expression pedal / knob changes accordingly.
I don’t find the repeats to be particularly warm, although there is a global high-cut knob that mellows things out a little, but I found it to be rather subtle.
It’ll go into self-oscillation nicely if the feedback knob is a bit shy of the way up and the sound is very analog like on the mod side, and fairly digital on the tt side. Without a knob to control time on the tt side, the oscillation just goes at whatever pitch your current tap tempo dictates. You can change the tap tempo in mid space-flight and it’ll change pitch, but not in a smooth way – in an odd, glitchy way.
One will also sometimes notice artifacts of old echos still bouncing around in one side of the pedal or the other when switching back and forth between sides. From a noise-making standpoint, this was kind of fun, but from a practical standpoint, it’s kind of annoying. Especially remember not to have the mod side on a runaway repeat then switch back to the tt side – when you go back to the mod side it’ll still be chugging away at the oscillation and will only switch to whatever new setting you have on the feedback knob at the moment you switch. I would find lots of odd artifacts hanging around in both sides as I’d switch back and forth or as I’d change tap tempo settings – see the video for what I’m talking about.
Speaking of the tap tempo – I find it hard to get used to that it calculates the rate with 3 clicks rather than 2. I’d also find it sometimes interpreting a single click as a very fast double click.
The best part of the pedal is the way you can mess around with sound in the loop mode. At first I was disappointed that you can’t do “normal” looping with its loop mode. The instructions warn you about this. Even if you’re in tt mode, it doesn’t really work to just tap once at the beginning of your phrase and once at the end. What it does do, is when you have and interesting bunch of noise going, hitting the loop function stops the decay and just keeps things going forever. Then you can really mess with the sounds and it’s quite fun. The mulit-tap dip switches will put on different counter rhythms and you can really stretch out the time and pitch and warp it beyond recognition using the mod side of the pedal. If you get more of a solid wall of sound happening, the mod switches somehow end up changing around what sounds like the upper harmonics of the tone – very cool. This is also where the chorus and tremolo are cool things to have.
Overall, if you just want a delay to use in the traditional way you probably don’t need to spend the money for this pedal. If you need very specific mulit-tap abilities this pedal could be good for you – I don’t know what others offer in that area. If you like to make noise and want a pedal that’s like a musical instrument, this one is pretty cool.
Warning: Videos are just noise making and are a little long. I figured that there are already some videos of people doing normal things with the Echolution, so I'll give you a taste of it's more far-out aspects.
