Last year I bought myself a Volante to pair with my Matriarch, and it’s been dreamy.
I just bought a NightSky, and now it’s been even dreamier!
Now I’m itching to expand this concept, and was wondering what people’s thoughts were on this setup:
Deco -> Zelzah -> Volante -> Dig -> NightSky
Deco for saturation and pizzaz
Zelzah for phaser/flange/chorusy stuff
Volante for tape and SOS
Dig to widen up the mono SOS looper on the Volante or just provide an alternative delay type.
NightSky for ambience
Sounds like a nice lineup! I’d consider keeping the ordering flexible - like sometimes I will have Nightsky -> Volante depending on what settings I’m using and the feeling I’m going for (gotta be careful here as it can get muddy). One advantage of the classic ‘Stryfecta’ (Mobius/Timeline/BigSky) is that you have a broader range of options available over the more specific pedals - like on Mobius you have chorus, flanger, and phaser but you also have the bitcrusher, filter, and quadrature, which are pretty cool. (Mobius can only run one effect at a time, though, which is a drawback.) You’ve chosen a range of stuff that is complementary in capabilities, though, and the ‘spicier’ pedals can be a lot more fun.
I think it’s actually time I invest in a patch bay for this very reason.
I spent a lot of time considering the Timeline and BigSky, but in the end I felt like it would lead to option paralysis for me. I really dig the idea of pedals that do mostly one thing, and have a character/personality that I can get to know and easily/quickly navigate them.
How does the volante mono loop function fit in an otherwise fully stereo chain?
I love my Zelzah! I think the order you’ve picked is pretty good.
Are you getting the v2 versions of the Deco and Dig? Little more pricey but might be worth it for the ton of MIDI presets (you just need something to send them program changes).
The SOS loop is summed to mono, but all incoming audio is first processed through the stereo delay (panned heads), so the SOS loops becomes this center panned bed of goo after multiple passes. It sounds good to keep playing over that. Having a ping pong Dig after the looper would widen it up, in theory. Could potentially get chaotic I suppose, but nice to have the option.
Definitely the v2 — I’m a MIDI nerd, and like to have the ability to sequence my gear
Yeah, good move with keeping it relatively simple. I also have to admit that at least in demos, I think the Zelzah sounds better than the equivalent functions on the Mobius. Of course now I’m GASing for one again now.
