So, after a week and a half of using the Mood and the Microcosm, I can safely say that I prefer the Mood. Both are amazing at what they do, but the Mood is just more suited for my needs. In a way, the Mood sounds more low key, which is maybe strange to say because it can get pretty wild. It’s just that when the reverb/delay is turned down to a minimum or if the Slip mode is on, the Mood’s granular/looped/pitched qualities have a close, homey, almost tropical feel. You could say that the Mood sounds warmer and more lofi than the Microcosm, which is a quality I love but it isn’t for everyone.
Conversely, the Microcosm excels at shimmery expansive sounds. It really is the better of the two if you’re looking to make epic ambient music. This is probably due to it being more reliant on reverb. Of course, you’re able to control the intensity of the reverb, but I found that when reverb was turned all the way down it was difficult to hone in glitch and granular sounds to my liking. I imagine the Microcosm’s midi sync capabilities could help with that, but I have yet to explore them, and I probably won’t- having the Microcosm around has been fun, but it’s taking me away from my Mood, so I might be giving it back to my friend soon.
@michaalhell I don’t think I’ve said anything that hasn’t been said before. I certainly haven’t done a very thorough investigation of the two pedals, but given my limited experience, I would recommend the Mood, especially since you’re interested in something that’s more hands on (it really excels when it’s being tweaked by hands.) I’d also recommend it since you’re interested in affecting sounds that are sent from your Octatrack’s cues. Between the two pedals, the Mood has a much quicker response so it could be well suited for affecting a signal that’s being punched in. Just my two cents.
I’m interested in your thoughts, thanks for sharing. I’m going to sell my Zoia and I was keen on Microcosm to replace it… But there are SO many demos out there that sound like terrible jangly washy shit. I know it’s mostly stylistic and to taste etc… but it’s annoying. All I kept thinking when watching them was “why is the effect becoming ‘the thing’? Where’s the music?” and I eventually saw someone else ask a similar question. But I know I could make things to my taste with Microcosm and I’d use the midi sync and stereo for sure…
But… the Mood. Having written off the Mood (and all chase bliss stuff due expense and my stereo obsessions) when it first came out, I’d never properly listened to examples of it… until this week, whereby I discovered that it seems to somehow sound more musical and charming than the others it gets compared to. There’s definitely something intimate and endearing about it’s sound, so I’m giving it some thought! I might pick one up - if I like it, it stays, if not, I’ll switch it for a microcosm in summer.
Like some others here i had my sights set on Microcosm… but after extensive “research” I’ve found the Mood much more favorable then microcosm for what I want to do… microcosm seems more “samey”
Have to agree. I had the Mood, didn’t really get anything worthwhile done with it and sold it. Still I find myself thinking what I could do with the Mood now…
I think, for me, the fact is that “songwriting” shouldn’t end with playing a couple of synth lines through the Mood. That’s where the songWRITING should BEGIN. Some people definitely accomplish that, many seem to think the Mood will write their ambient tracks for them. Hell, I sort of found myself thinking like that! Of course this is a matter of taste and many other pedals/gear is treated the same in Youtube demos/jams.
What I like about Mood, is that whatever I run through it, something comes out that I never would’ve thought of myself, no idea how to reproduce on any other gear, and the tone is just lovely. So it’s like you got something you already like, you pour it into the Mood and out comes just a kind of interpretation of that you never could’ve guessed, but it’s still your material - just re-imagined by a mind that’s so different.
I was looking for a pedal few months ago and although i had an eye on the mood i was actually maybe more interested by the Thermae from what i could heard on demos.
The price tag put me off though.
What made me dismiss Chase Bliss pedals at the time was the lack of midi - for a delay pedal it is crucial for me - and the dipswitchs that i thought i won’t be able to use live.
I went for the Microcosm as it checked a lot of requirements i had and i’m pretty satisfied, even if a firmware update would be welcome. I get the comments about the washy style but it’s all about the person who make demos as they might have gone for the MC for this ability of ambient stuff. I had amazing results though with drums and dry sounds and the looping is well implemented IMO.
The MIDI capabilities make it very flexible and i like that for the price of it i have access to delay & granular & others.
The presets saving/loading was also a huge advantage to go for the MC.
It’s like the Blade Runner lead on synth demos, or whoever’s running their 50€K entire wall eurorack with an eight step sequencer demo of Pink Floyd’s On The Run. Tho the Stranger Things theme is gunning for that place now.
I love the manipulation of the saxophone sounds. Thanks for sharing!
Pladask Matrise + multiple loopers is a setup I’m working on building up. I have a Blooper, and am highly considering a Mood or something similar (if that even exists).
I’m curious, what’s the box to the right of the Blooper?
Thanks! It’s a very lazy saxophone player in this example
That’s a Bored Brain Terminal. It’s a half-normal patch bay. It lets me steal each pedal before going back to the Matrise so that I can multitrack. (In this use case)
Experimentations with my somehow underused until now Zoia combined with MOOD made me hold off my Hologram Microcosm preorder.
Long story very short, make sure you play extensively with what you have before going on a GAS induced spending spree.
It is the most basic and yet most neglected rule of the book.
Dont leave one single experiment behind.
