Alright, kiddies, you’re in for a real treat today. The Dream Sequence from Hologram Electronics is one of the hottest pedals out at the moment, and if you haven’t heard it or heard of it, we’ll try to give you a great review and demo so you can know it’s true power. Part envelope filter, part tremolo, part pitch shifter, part sampler and part sequencer with a dash of synth thrown in for good measure, this device will take you on an incredible sonic journey…one from which you may not wish to return.
Pedals like these are hard to find a starting point with sometimes, but we’ll give it a go. The Dream Sequence is built around a pattern-based rhythmic sequencer that pitch shifts your instrument up or down one octave, creating tremolo-type sounds, arpeggiation, spacey, atmospheric textures and wild & crazy modulation, all inside one glorious box.
The Shape knob controls the waveform used by the sequencer, but also adjusts the volume of the pitch-shifted signal when in one of the 3 pitch shifting auxiliary modes (more on that in a minute). Dry Mix blends your wet and dry signals, while the Drive and Tone controls let you vary the amount of distortion and high-frequency rolloff at the output, respectively.
The Dream Sequence is an excellent tool for saving and recalling the odd sounds you find as well, via the Preset Bank toggle. The User Bank contains simple, customizable step sequencer patterns, while the Factory Bank contains more complex, evolving presets. Feeling crazy? Well, any sound you create or modify can be saved instantly to the “Saved” Preset Bank and recalled later, including the positions of the knobs AND the tempo, too. This is a highly effective way to be able to recall up to 11 specific patterns or tones for specific songs or parts with ease, and lets you make sure they will be consistent time and time again.
The Subdivision switch lets you select the musical subdivision of the pattern sequencer, but also lets you select from 5 auxiliary modes: Random, No Shift, Octave Up, Octave Down and Both. The Preset switch works with the aforementioned Preset Banks to access 35 internal presets (not too shabby, eh?), and the special 12th preset in the Saved Banks launches the Pattern Recorder, which lets you create your own sequences using the 3 footswitches, for even more fun and games.
Tap, Bypass and Hold fooswitches let you turn on/off and customize the sounds you create, with the Hold function playing 3 different roles: Toggle (sample a note or chord and sustain it), Latch (sample, then clear and re-sample) and Momentary (hold a note or chord until you release the switch). You can also hold down the Bypass switch, which allows the Shape, Drive and Tone controls’ movements to be recorded and played back. You can also use it’s MIDI functions with your DAW or with other MIDI-capable pedals, and there’s an expression pedal jack as well, which you can assign to Drive, Tone, Pattern Subdivision or Tempo.
WHEW!
Great for guitar, bass, keyboard and basically whatever else you can think of, the Dream Sequence is a pedal like no other, having so many sonic options and sounds available, plus a ton that are hiding, just waiting to be discovered and exploited. Hopefully the demo below does this pedal some justice, but it really is all up to the user how it sounds and performs, so if you don’t mind the wait, go pick one up! Thanks so much to Ryan and everyone at Hologram Electronics for sending this guy over for us to check out – if this is their first pedal, the future looks extremely bright for them…and loads of fun for us!
Specs:
Octave Up and Down Pitch Shifting
Pattern Sequencer
Rhythmic Gate, with dynamic ADSR “morphing”
Tap Tempo
Digitally-Controlled, Analog Drive and Tone
Analog Dry Path
Infinite “Hold” Sampler
24 Built-in Presets
Save Custom Presets, with 11 Save Slots
Pattern Recorder, for creating custom patterns via tapping footswitches
Record and Save Knob “Automation”
MIDI In/Out
Expression Pedal Input, mappable to many controls
True Bypass Switching (electromechanical relay)
Auxiliary Modes for use as a +1/-1 oct. Pitch Shifter, Tremolo, or Hold Sampler
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