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PaulVlhite Fromthe same Specialty series asthe HarmonyMan pitch*hifter, this
igiTech'sTimeBender has at its delaypedal hides amultitude ofextra features behind adeceptively hearta stereodigital delay with straightforward exterior. a maximumdelay time of five seconds,but the range of delayand echo variable-speedfixed-head tape echo (where andfor use with keyboards or in thestudio effectsthey've managed to squeezeinto this theheads were fixed but the tape speed was thereare stereo inputs and outputs on littlebox goes way beyond what you would adjustable),dynamic (ducking delays), reverse, quarter-inchjacks, though mono in andmono expectfrom a typicaldelay pedal. We're all envelopeand 'Time Warpi outoperation is also supported. familiarwith pedals that can model analogue Beyondthis, modulation and tone.:haping andtape delay, so it comesas absolutely no maybe applied to anydelay type, and there Simpleand intuitive surprisethat the TimeBender does all of that, arealso further surprises in storerelating Upto sixdelay taps are available, and in but there'sa lot morebesides. lt offers1 1 delay to theflexibility of settingrepeat patterns, additionto presetrepeat patterns and typesin total, including analogue, digital, theintelligent pitch options, and even loop a delaymultiplier used to fit therepeat movable-headtape (where the head spacing recording.Provision ismade for connecting rateto differentnote values, there's a novel waschanged to adjustthe repeat pattern), anexternal expression pedal and footswitch, 'learn'modethat allows the quitarist to
4 August2009www.performing-musician.com :.i l bashin a rhythmon mutedstrings and betweentap tempo and memory modes, thedelays will set themselves up to that yousimply press down both pedals. pattern.lf you'remore old-school, there's Abovethe pedal section is a surprisingly alsothe familiar tap tempo pedal and sparsecontrol area with a smallcentral time-adjustknob. Where you want to get LEDdisplay that can? among other things, moreexperimental, the TimeBender also showthe delay time as milliseconds or hasthe ability to addeither fixed-interval beatsper minute. A rotaryswitch at the pitch-shiftingor intelligentharmonies to upperleft corner selects from 10 delay the delayrepeats. You also get a 20-second types(plus looper mode), while two knobs looperwith overdubbing capability, and belowadjust tone and repeats. Theret also thereare four user memories so that, a DelayTimeadjustment knob for setting unlikemost pedal effects, you canstore thedelay times manually, plus a Multiplier up to fourof yourfavourite treatments. In buttonthat offers six different note values. looprecording mode, the available loop An LEDflashes at the current tempo rate. timecounts down in the display. During A chorus-likemodulation can be applied playback,the playbackposition is indicated to anychosen delay effect, and the control by a seriesof verticalbars that moveacross forthis is divided into three segments the display. labelledSlow, Medium and Fast.The lf allthis sounds somewhat daunting, positionof theknob within its segment don'tworry, as the pedal is much simpler determinesthe modulation depth. thanyou might imagine and, after a quick Whenthe Time Warp delay is selected, scanof themanual, its operation is very theModulation knob instead adds intuitive.Thecast metal box houses two synchronisedpitch vibrato to thedelay pedalsections. The first is for switching signalin threedifferent sync ranges. The the delayon or off,or alternativelyyou Patterncontrol provides 10 preset delay canhold it downto getan infinite delay tap rhythms,with a settingfor strumming repeat.ltt alsoused in loopermode to in yourown. The first strum is counted selectRecord, Play and Overdub. Note asthe direct sound, with the following thatthe looper applies any effects during onessetting the repeat intervals, and if playback,not duringrecording, so you youinput too many, the machine tries to canadjust the effectsas the loopprays rationalisethem for you.The word'Good' back.Another interesting point is that the appearsin the display for a momentif the TimeBenderautomatically adjusts the start strumdetection has worked OK, otherwise andend loop points to getthe smoothest youjust get question marksl loop,so unless you play something TheVoicing knob to the rightof the weirdto confuseit, slightly sloppy timing displayselects the scale intervals for willbe dealt with on your behalf. When havingthe delays controlled by the in-built a loopis playing back, you can tap the intelligentpitch-shifter. In otherwords, leftfootswitch to startoverdubbing, at theTimeBender can automatically change whichpoint the On LED will go amber thepitch ofthe repeats and keep them in andyour playing will be layered on top the keyyou're playing in accordingto the ofthecurrent loop.The manual includes scaletype you set. A Storebutton saves the anexcellent tutorial on usingthe looper, currentsettings into memory,and a wet/ sothere's no needto go intodeep detail dry Mixknob controls the outputeffect here.The right-hand pedal is used for tap balancefrom dry to 100percent wet. When tempo,memory selection or strum-pattern theMemory LED is lit, you can use the right entry,and in loopermode also handles footswitchto moveto the nextmemory Stop,Hold and Clear functions.To toggle location.When the LEDis off, you can use the rightfootswitch to tap in thetempo. Holdingdown both footswitches at the sametime turns the Memory indicator LED kilominu}{usicianon or off. Otherthan the factthat someof the text isextremely small to makeit fit on thepanel, the controls section is very well setout. Power comes from a dedicated 1BV AC adaptor capable of supplying upto 1.3Amps, so this is one pedal that you'reunlikely to beable to powerfrom a universalmulti-pedal power supply. Theretno batteryoption, as the current drawis too highto makethat practical. Whenthe delay is bypassed, the dry part oftheguitar signal bypasses the digital converters,sothere should be negligible
wwwperforming-muskian.com1August 2009 85 I DigiTechTimeBender pedol I Deloy
) changein tone,although any delay repeats thatare still sounding are allowed to fade *,lf t lt il fi**. outnaturally, Etfectsfocus Movingbeyond the usualsuspects, some of theeffects require a littlemore in the wayof description.Envelope delay may be usedto createmusical arpeggio or rhythmic thopping'effects,while the Dynamicdelays dropor duckthe level ofthe repeats until you jacks stopplaying, at whichtime they come back effects,turn the Patternknob to anysetting E! 0nthe rear of the TimeBender there are foran externalexpression pedal and footswitch, aswell as - good up in level a wayto havea lot of effect otherthan Strum, hold down the right quarterinchstereo inputs and outputs for use with withoutmaking the end result seem messy. footswitchand the current key will show in the keyboardsorin the studio. TheDynamic repeats delay type is based on displayfor a secondor so. While still holding theVariable Speed Tape delay setting, but this downthe rightfootswitch you can strum in musically,but overall it isa welcomeand truly timethe ducking action adjusts both the level a chordand the key will be automatically noveladdition to theeffects we all know and andthe amount offeedback, which is good for extracted.You can use the pitcheffects in all love.l'm sure everyone will come up with their cleaningup passages that need Iarge amounts the normaldelay types, even in Reverse,but for owntake on whatworks and I expectwe'll be of feedbackto generatea longtrain of repeats, theautomatic harmony engine to do itsthing hearingit on recordsbefore very long! Unlikemost reverse effects in whichthe properly,you really need to playsingle-note Thoughthe stereo effects are most dramatic reversedsections of audioare not related lines,as chords just confuse it andsome whenyou have stereo amps, most sound to themusicality ofthe performance, the randompitch effects may result. Pitch-shifts perfectlygood in mono,but havinga stereo TimeBenderoedal tries to startits sections at maybe scalic, triad-centred or fixedshift, inputmeans keyboard players can use the thestart of a note,which adds to the illusionof withthe latterworking best with 4ths, 5ths or pedalas well as those with mono instruments, a realperformance recorded and then played octaves.When the shiftvalue is set to'U; the whichincludes most guitars. Clearly, the backwards.lf you mix the normaland reverse delayedsignal remains in unisonwith the input applicationsfor the looper are limited with soundand also use the pitcheffects to turnthe asper normal delay machine.The Root-Based just20 seconds of looptime, but, again, it is niceto seesuch a usefulfunction available in **...eh€ whatis essentially a delay pedal. Similarly, the YiexeKesadera3g* Sems &h* envelopechopping effects don't stretch as far ebiSfrytm mdd s{t}eer ffixed-€sxt*sva3 asthose from the dedicated Boss Slicer, but theystill sound very effective, with lotsof user pg{ch-shiftfxegsr fxat*33fgexat}:ms-m*mies adjustmentover the chopping envelope, Comparingthe TimeBender to &o&Xee delay r€pe&t$.'' a regulardelay pedal is like comparing a top-of-the-rangeSwiss Army knife to repeatsinto a musicalscale, you can get some Patterndelay setting is useful for creating a single-bladedpocketknife. The more you look veryethereal things happening. arpeggios,as the first repeat is always in unison intoit, the moreuseful gadgets you find. And Patchingin anexternal expression pedal, you followedby the restofthe notesin the pattern. the moreadventurous the player,the greater areable to morphbetween two of yoursaved Thisway, ifyou turn upthe Repeatsknob, the the rewardswill be. I PM settings,while adding a footswitchlets you arpeggiowill repeat and you'll hear the root accessthe four user memories.The results of noteof thearpeggio during each repeat. morphingcan be interesting, but you just have to seewhat works, because not everything (oolor what? behavespredictably. Asa straight-aheadmodelling echo pedal, TimeBender Allthe delay types - otherthan Envelope, theTimeBender provides extremely plausible r 11 delay modes:Digital, Analogue,Variable Reverseand Looper - canbe'frozen' using recreationsof analogue and tape delay as well SpeedTape, Moving HeadTape, Dynamic a connectedfootswitch so that you can noodle asdigital delay, where the opportunity to add (ducking)Digital, Dynamic (ducking) awayover whatever is in the'freeze'buffer. modulationmakes it possibleto createsome Analogue,Dynamic (ducking) Tape, Time Operatingthe pedal again puts you back into seriouslyrich and fluid echo sounds very easily. Warp(wide delaytime modulation), (chopping normaldelay mode. Note that the Repeats TheReverse delay effect is as good as anything ReversgEnvelope delay), knobnormally adjusts the delay feedback, but l'veheard (and it isan effect I do uselive), while 2o-secondLooper. . Unique strum tempo lets you createdelay in Envelopedelay mode it insteadcontrols theability to tapin upto sixrepeats by playing thythms', theshape ofthe envelopes imposed on the dampedchords on the guitar is really intuitive. . 100intelligent harmonies on delays inputguitar sound. As the Repeats knob is Havingfour memories adds to theflexibility creating new delay tones. turnedup, the envelope first shortens, giving ofthis oedal when used live, as life is too short r Full-timetone 85 August2009 ,www.performing-musieian.com