There are some pedals that come along and really make you think about sound; how it works, how you can manipulate it and how, sometimes, you just need to let go and throw out everything you thought you knew about effects. Today’s pedal embodies all of these things, and more, by being a true original in a time of klones and copies, but in a way that almost transforms the delay genre, flipping it upside down and inside out, taking you on a journey of both soundscapes and consciousness not often found in such a small piece of gear.
The Catalinbread crew wants you to approach this pedal differently than others you encounter by living in the present moment and disregarding everything you know about effects. The control section here allows you to do just that, basically by being controlled yet ever-changing and mystifying as your sonic journey moves forward. Reflect starts us off, and it controls the number of repeats the Bicycle Delay produces, from a single repeat up to some seriously wicked self-oscillation. Radiance controls the repeats’ filter, giving it either a dark and brooding or high and light overall tone. Lucidity is your basic Wet/Dry mix control, and Expanse sets the overall delay time.
The real fun in this pedal is the Mood knob: not like anything you’ve seen in a delay device of this size, or of any delay, really, it determines the direction and velocity of the pitch shift of the repeats. Uh? A simple explanation is that it dials in how much octave comes through in the ring mod and repeat sections of the delay. This unique control changes the octave from up to down, seemingly randomly, producing a chaotic tranquility that is surpassed by none. Once you have this set to your liking, the Radiance control really comes into play, allowing you to further dial in that sparkling modulated tone.
If all this wasn’t enough, there’s an internal Gain trimmer you can set for a pre-determined amount of boost. This kicks in when you engage the pedal, making your sound louder, juicier and having more impact with the audience. An excellent choice if you want to add a little bit of mojo onto your lead runs and special sections of certain songs. This pedal was partially inspired by Albert Hofmann and “Bicycle Day“, and if you don’t know that story yet, do yourself a favor and look it up.
Described as “a physical manifestation of the experience of consciousness, letting go of the desire to control everything, and maintaining a positive attitude to leave room for a positive experience”, the Bicycle Delay is not your average delay, or effect, for that matter. Seeming to vault itself onto a completely new sonic plateau, it really transcends the laws of sound and echo, and becomes its own psychedelic tool to reach another level of thought and mind. Thanks so much to our friends at Catalinbread for letting us experience this delay, and perhaps change how we will approach this type of effect permanently, moving forward, and in a great way. The demo below will give you a little insight to this beauty, but then you’re going to need to head over and pick one up for yourself, in order to explore and conquer all it has to offer.
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