My Gamechanger Audio RECODER Spectral Morphing Workstation has landed - a really interesting digital phrase recorder, modulator, modifier and looper!

LOOP MODE - Use the RECORD footswitch to capture a looping phrase which is then played back continuously and used as a MODULATOR. Reshape the MODULATOR via the RED LAYER - adjust playback speed using the STRETCH encoder or RETIME footswitch function.

STEP ADVANCE MODE - Chops up the phrase into chunks - based on transient & note detection. You then move through the phrase as more of a SPECTRAL SEQUENCE. As you play, each new note advances the MODULATOR to the next STEP, and wraps back to the start of said phrase after the final STEP. STRETCH adjusts playback speed on individual STEPS.

LIVE INPUT MODE - For me the easiest way to use the device - just MODIFY the input via the 3 Layers - without the need for additional phrase modulation. Unless REC IN is also connected - where the RECODER will merge the two incoming signals through TIMBRE transfer - creating side-chain effects with AMPLITUDE modulations generating SLICES, RESONANCES, and various new harmonic interactions - wherever the frequency content overlaps. With no REC IN - the Main Input becomes both the SOURCE and the MODULATOR! Note the Microphone is disabled for the Live Mode.

[FFT = Fast Fourier Transform]

• LOW : 80ms FFT refresh rate, lo w resolution
• MID : 40ms FFT refresh rate, full resolution
• HIGH : 5ms FFT refresh rate, max resolution

Controls - Resolution : Low > Medium > High, Condenser Microphone Off (Live Input) / On (Down), Layer : White (Input Modification) / Yellow (Time Processing) / Red (Modulation Shaping), WHITE : Amplitude / Envelope / Timbre / Sensitivity, YELLOW : Slices / Repeats / Resonance / Distance, RED : Tone / Pitch / Damage / Stretch, Clear Val / Save Button, Preset Val / Load Button (Press both to access Presets), Play Mode : Loop / Step Advance / Live Input, REC Footswitch - Hold to REC, ENGAGE Footswitch, Hold to RETIME (resets LOOP length), Press both to Play Phrase. 

WHITE - Input Modification

• < Side-Chained Cut : AMPLITUDE : Side-Chained Boost >
• < Transient Shaping : ENVELOPE : Rising Envelope >
• < Inverted Timbre Transfer : TIMBRE / VOCODER : Timbre Transfer >
• < Reduced Sensitivity : SENSITIVITY : Increased Responsivity >

YELLOW - Generated Signal & Time Processing

• < Inverted Slices : SLICES / FRAGMENTS : Slices Volume >
• < Reverse Regeneration : REPEATS : Regeneration Amount >
• < Diffusion Density : DISTANCE : Spacing >
• < Inverted Resonances : Sine-Wave RESONANCE : Resonance Amount >

NOTE : REPEATS + DISTANCE deliver Delay, Reverse Delay, Reverb, and Feedback effects.

RED - Shaping the Modulator

• < Darker : TILT EQ : Brighter >
• < Sample Rate Reduction : DAMAGE : Digital Drive >
• < Down 4 Octaves -48 : PITCH : Up 4 Octaves +48 >
• < Stretch / Slow-down : STRETCH : Phrase Speed Up >

You access MEMORY / PRESETS by clicking on both buttons either side of the main screen (CLEAR VAL + PRESET VAL), you then have access to 234 PRESET slots A1-Z9 ranged across 26 Letters A-Z (Upper Right Encoder), and 9 Numeral 1-9 (Lower Right Encoder). There are no factory Presets - you use the Right-hand thumb-wheel encoders to set Letter and Number - and then either Right or Left Button - Right is Select / Load PRESET, Left is SAVE.

Saving and recalling PRESETS is relatively straightforward - but it would have been good for those to be footswitchable in some way!

Once you've SAVED a PRESET you probably want to clear the slate and start anew - in which case hit the left-hand CLEAR VAL button, and simultaneously press ENGAGE - that will reset all encoders. You can also reset individual Parameters by selecting the LAYER via 3-way switch, pressing the CLEAR VAL button, and then manipulating the appropriate Parameter thumb-wheel encoder per that Layer - will just remove that one Parameter!

I feel this is a device that takes seconds to get up and running, but possibly a lifetime to master! Some will adjust to it very readily - and it's a truly fantastic Spooky / Ghostly / Spectral Modulator / Modifier - with a really cool sci-fi edge!

The manual suggests you start on LOOP Mode, but I found it easier to start with LIVE INPUT MODE - where I did not need to concern myself with RECORDING an Input PHRASE - I could just get straight on with Modifying my live input via the 3 LAYERS. I did manage to experiment with all 3 PLAY MODES - and found each of those fairly self-explanatory - where the more audible the dynamics in your input - the better the MODULATION effect you will get!

Some of the earlier demos of this pedal showed the RECODER recording Chorus and Tremolo inputs - and saving those MODULATION PATTERNS to MEMORY - where you can then further modify those and make them sound more otherworldly. In theory you could save all your key MODULATORS / Modulation Pedals into the PRESETS here as different Spectral Patterns - and use the RECODER to deliver your whole Modulation selection. As what this devices does at its core is decode the frequency patterns of the input device - and then allow you to use those to MODULATE and merge with your LIVE INPUT SIGNAL.

I had a lot of fun playing with Timbre and Resonance in particular - those alone can give you a cool Modulation pattern - with an electronic edge. There's days and weeks of explorative fun here - and I've tried all 3 PLAY MODES every which way. But not really got to using the REC INSERT LOOP yet. I have placed the pedal in the middle of my board - so I can easily run different Effects Pedals thought it and conveniently insert modulations into its REC Insert Loop.

I will be doing a later phase where I play around with different modulation pedals into the REC INSERT LOOP - and see how much fun can be had with that. There's certainly plenty of range and scope here.

This is a really smartly thought out pedal - the first of Gamechanger's MATH SERIES - where it obviously had to be ordered within the pre-Christmas order window, and has been much delayed this year, But the wait has been well worth it! The device functions really solidly - and while I'm still mostly just scratching the surface - I've already got a number of useful PRESETS saved and loaded up!

Of course this device is no longer available, I think quite a few got sold though - I paid just £182.50 for the device, and then £18 for shipping from Riga to London, I then just recently had to pay a further £51 in Customs and Import Fees - for a total of £252 near enough (around $340) - which I feel is actually really good value for this beautifully made device. It's yet another Gamechanger Audio Custom Enclosure - with some gorgeous details throughout. There are a few multi-press complexities, and I feel that the screen real estate could have been used a little better - you could have had more visual prompts there for some of the hidden functions. For instance the 4 rotary encoders often have different parameters in opposite directions!

Overall I have to say I'm delighted with the RECODER. I did not know what I was getting myself into when ordering, but my decision has most definitely been fully validated. This pedal for me is though more of a bit-player as such - it produces some very intriguing sci-fi soundscapes, I'm not sure it will necessarily become a fully long-term mainstay on the board, but it's undeniably cool! And it's going to take me quite a few weeks to master this format fully. Off to a brilliant start though! Doesn't look like Ed Pettersen got along with his quite as well as me. The first time I tried it I didn't quite get it, but after a couple more attempts I was getting the hang of it!

You can read up more on the RECODER on the Gamechanger Website - it's a device that you will need to explore and mostly figure out for yourself! Possibly for the more experimental and adventurous among you. Not sure I would recommend this for the typical blues lawyer! The RECODER MANUAL is excellent too - but there's no substitute for hands-on experimentation!

Gamechanger has done it again - and created a whole new category of Modulation Multi-FX!