Eventide Pitchfactor

There's only one thing that Eventide could do to pry this processor away from me, and that's to package it more conveniently, and to include in that package algorithms from their other Factor pedals...which is exactly what they did when they released the H9.

Though I didn't have use for all of the Pitchfactor's algorithms, the ones that did work for me really worked for me. Harpeggiator, Quadravox, HarModulator, and (sometimes) Crystals are all bonkers in their own right, but--when combined with other effects--they transcend guitar-based music, pushing the sounds I hear coming out of my amp past what I thought was possible with mere wire, wood and electromagnets.

That is not my hand!

Harpeggiator is a sequencer-type effect that comes on really heavy. It's one of those sounds that has so many possibilities that you couldn't possibly have enough controls to tame it; somehow, Eventide arrived at a great solution. Though there are two parallel arpeggiator lines, each has independent controls for a number of preset pitch, rhythm, speed, and effect programs. The pitch changes range from plus- or minus-one octave to skittery electronic melodies; while the rhythmic chops can be set to pulse along in quarter notes, eighth notes, sixteenth notes, or uncomfortable variations and combinations of all of them. The middle performance switch is configured as a "re-trigger" along the lines of the now-legendary Line 6's DL4 "one shot" switch in that it restarts the sequence from the first note whenever depressed. Both pitch and rhythm sequences also have a "random" setting--great fun for those of us interested in electronic aleatory music. There are also effects you can apply independently to each arpeggiator line: fuzz, glitch, and filter. With multiple iterations of each, and one setting that combines all three, there are literally tens of thousands of beats in this algorithm alone. Consider the global controls for mix, envelope/attack and independent tap subdivisions for the speed of the line, and you've got some serious firepower. This algorithm alone was worth the $300 this pedal can be had for (used, of course).

Quadravox is a complicated beast, but one that has no equal. It allows you to program the intervals of up to four pitch-shifted delayed notes. You can choose the rhythmic pattern in which they play out, so your delays can approximate the Binson Echorec sound (although uncompromisingly digital-sounding, and--if you like--pitch shifted as much as two octaves in either direction). The potential for tap tempo groove-oriented delays that sound like cohesive melodies is untapped, underutilized, and frankly limitless. You can even hold the performance switch to tell the pedal to "learn" the note that you're currently playing, and the algorithm will tune itself to that major key. Further menu diving is rewarded with options to choose the modal signature of your playing, the key, the tap subdivision or speed in milliseconds (depending on the mode in which you're operating), and the spacing of delays. A fun trick is to set up a strange series of intervals, then cluster all of the delays together. Play a note, and you hear your amp struggle to spit out a complex chord related to your playing only by whatever four inhuman interval leaps you cooked up. Nothing else like it.

I really don't understand HarModulator at all. I just know that it rewards knob turning with increasingly bizarre and sometimes unmusical sounds. The depths of modulation in this algorithm exceed the ability of a typical guitar amplifier to reproduce, ranging from +3 octaves to -3 octaves. With the right touch, you can achieve twin barberpole effects; vertigo-inducing delay lines a la Earthquaker Devices' Rainbow Machine; or a chorus/flange fat enough to choke Andy Summers.

There's a lot more to cover with this pedal, but I'll only mention the four programs I used most frequently (and the ones I continue to use on the hardware update: the H9). Crystals is the last of these. My tastes tend toward the esoteric, and I usually only buy pedals if they change the way I approach sound or instrumentation. Crystals forces me to play slowly, as its enveloping pitch-shifted reverb trails turn to mush pretty quickly during fast runs. This is a great effect for pads, and a great sound source for further manipulation from something like Red Panda Labs' Particle, the WMD Geiger Counter, A Korg Kaoss Pad, or any number of other noisemakers. Feeding a sonically rich and physically-impossible-to-achieve reverb trail like the ones Crystals produces into another devices means that you have control over the sound of space, and that you can further manipulate space in the digital domain. I love the questions my ears ask me when they encounter something that references a natural sound that is itself really unnatural sounding, then I pull them back unequivocally into the digital aesthetic. This sounds more like Squarepusher than like a cavern; more like a computer attempting to understand space than it sounds like space itself. Which is not what everyone's after, but...if it is, it's tough to beat.