Literally following in the footsteps of its first foray into the Eurorack small-format modular
market with its Magneto Four Head dTape Echo & Looper module, shipping soon after a successful showcase at The 2018
NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA, powerful processing effects developer Strymon is proud to announce its Volante Magnetic
Echo Machine followup — focusing its innovative design on radically enhancing the sonic expressiveness of pedalboards
as a stereo multi-head delay that also offers a looper and vintage spring reverb, with powerful sound-sculpting controls
for limitless sonic possibilities.
As implied by the Magnetic Echo Machine legend boldly blazoned across an attractive, rugged, road-ready, yet functional front facia that should feel familiar
to owners of Strymon’s similar-sized effect pedals such as the award-winning BigSky (multidimensional reverb) or TimeLine (multidimensional delay) — or, for that
matter, its inspirational Magneto Four Head dTape Echo & Looper module with which it shares some controls and design DNA, Volante features magnetic drum,
tape, and (reel-to-reel) studio echo as a stereo multi-head delay that also offers a looper and vintage reverb. Reality dictated that Strymon relentlessly
studied
and faithfully recreated every last magnetic delay system attribute to
capture the nuance and complexity of classic tape and drum echo machines
— from
sought-after natural saturation and soft clipping of magnetic media when
driven hard to hands-on, real-time controls for MECHANICS, WEAR, SPACING, and
LOW CUT, Volante instantly adds tons of vibe to any user’s sound.
Situated at the center of Volante’s control surface are four delay playback heads with individual playback and feedback controls
— each head’s playback
level can be set for full volume, half volume, or off, and each head can
be switched in or out of the feedback circuit. Creatively, users can
even switch heads
into the feedback circuit that are not activated for playback, putting
the creation of complex rhythmic patterns, as well as reverb-like
atmospheric textures, at
anyone’s fingertips.
Fortunately for fearless users, Volante not only delivers the warm, luscious delay signals that magnetic tape machines are known for, it is also capable of a high
degree of saturation — simply turn up the REC LEVEL knob to increase the gain of Volante’s analog class-A JFET input preamp circuit, sending a hot signal with
analog warmth to the record head for facilitating any amount of saturation.
Some classic tape echo machines included small integrated spring reverb tanks tuned to limited bandwidth. Strymon skilfully captured this vintage vibe for
Volante by
creating a spring reverb with a gorgeous, gentle character that stands
up to scrutiny on its own while also enhancing delayed signals.
Some
vintage multi-head tape echo machines’ heads were not evenly spaced,
which created interesting sonic interactions when multiple heads were
set to repeat.
Volante far from disappoints on that score; spacing is continuously variable for the entire travel of the SPACING knob, morphing between the available even, triplet,
golden, and silver settings
— the latter two ratios respectively realising dense, non-overlapping
echoes and non-overlapping echoes biased toward the quarter note.
Needless to say, Volante also
allows users to set the pan of each head individually for spacious,
multi-head stereo delays. By default, all heads are panned
center, with Volante still creating a pleasing psychoacoustic stereo image.
Imaging notwithstanding, Volante really sings when pushed to extremes! All the richly evolving, super-spacey sonic textures imaginable are available by turning
up its REPEATS knob. Intuitive and responsive hands-on control for sculpting the feedback is also at hand.
Handily, Volante’s SPEED switch selects the speed of the recording media, allowing users to run any of its three magnetic echo machines at half, normal, or
double speed;
fidelity is higher at higher speeds, while lower speeds result in
warmer repeats and more pronounced effects from mechanical and media
irregularities introduced when turning up the MECHANICS knob.
By
being designed from the ground up to radically enhance the sonic
expressiveness of pedalboards, performance is clearly central to Volante’s raison d’être.
Delayed psychedelic feedback sounds can be unleashed on command when working in Echo mode by pressing and holding the ON footswitch to activate
Infinite Repeats; regardless of the current REPEATS setting, Volante will crank up echo regenerations for quick-building delay feedback — foot off of the switch
results in Volante returning to the previous setting.
Speaking of performance, Volante can create dynamic loops that degrade and evolve. Change direction at the touch of a (reverse) footswitch. Press pause
for
a mechanical tape stop effect. Change the speed of the loop and
simultaneously change the pitch in octave increments. Find an inspiring
sound in Echo
mode, and all echoes remain intact when engaging SOS (Sound On Sound). Once the loop has reached a perfect state of mutation, engage Infinite Repeats
to stop further degradation, creating an infinite loop while disengaging the loop record head. While in Sound On Sound mode, pressing the ON footswitch
results in the entire loop playing in reverse; users can continue recording new audio to layer with the reversed audio.
Armed with full MIDI control of every parameter, plus 300 preset locations, Volante is designed to be the center of sonic expressiveness for MIDI pedalboards.
Put it this way: Volante transmits and receives MIDI over 5-pin DIN, USB, and even its EXP (expression)
jack. Connecting an expression pedal opens up a whole
new level of instantaneous, constant control; set as many knobs as
desired for the heel and toe positions of the connected expression pedal
and all settings
simultaneously morph through the expression pedal’s full range.
Remaining, briefly, outside of Volante itself, connecting Strymon’s simultaneously-announced
MultiSwitch Plus accessory to Volante’s EXP jack adds additional footswitchable control; select between three presets, remote control of the SPEED switch,
remote transport control, or further foot control while in Sound On Sound mode.
Continuing connectivity advancement, a dedicated INST (instrument)/LINE input level switch ensures that Volante can comfortably work with a variety of input
sources — switch to INS when using a guitar level input, LINE when using Volante in the effects loop of a guitar amp or driving it with a hot output from a synth or
mixer insert. Indeed, the LINE input is also perfect for using Volante as a send effect or insert effect in the studio.
Seriously flexible, then, the pedalboard sonic expressiveness-enhancing Volante really
rewards experimentation, yielding rich, hypnotic, and often
unpredictable results — albeit always highly musical. Making room for
one (or more) in a pedalboard or studio setup surely sounds like a
perfect plan!
Strymon is already accepting pre-orders for Volante via the Strymon Store (https://store.strymon.net/
For more in-depth information, including informative video demonstrations, please visit the dedicated Volante webpage here: https://www.strymon.net/
About Strymon (www.strymon.net)
Damage
Control was founded in 2004 with the release of its line of tube-driven
effects pedals, which earned critical acclaim and became firm
favourites among
guitarists across the globe. Product development under the Strymon name
began in 2009, and the rest, as they say, is history... building
products with no
compromises; pushing the limits of what is possible with music gear;
using exceptionally great components and ridiculously powerful
processors; making gear that
sounds better than anything; making its customers happy; inspiring them
to create amazing music.
© 2019 Strymon Engineering
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