NAMMbulating 2016, continued. This is a chorus pedal of sorts, but has a lot more shimmer and woozy, druggy sorts of animation than most chorus pedals. Here's how Earthquaker Devices describe it:

"The Sea Machine is a chorus pedal with ultimate control over parameters rarely seen in a chorus. A hybrid of digital and analog circuitry with a slightly extended delay time allows it to really stand out and shimmer. The heart of the Sea Machine is a short digital delay line, which features controls for Animation, Dimension and Depth. The Animation allows control over the delay time, Dimension adjusts the amount of spatial regeneration and the Depth adjust the mix of the modulated wet signal against the dry analog signal. The LFO section of the Sea Machine is comprised of Rate, Intensity and Shape. The Rate adjusts the speed of the oscillator, the Intensity adjusts how much the LFO modulates the delayed signal and the Shape transforms the wave from a soft triangle to a hard square wave. We also included a small LED, which shows the speed and shape of the LFO, even in bypass. With this mix of standard and unique controls, everything from subtle warble, classic Leslie, seasick pitch bends to strangled alien sounds, stunted arpeggiations and many more far out sounds are on tap. The Sea Machine also was designed to work well following fuzz, distortion or overdrive without getting muddy, reducing volume or breaking up. When engaged, the transparent buffer leaves the all-analog dry signal unaltered and crystal clear. The Sea Machine is true bypass and made by human hands with the highest quality parts in shimmering Akron, Ohio."

"The Afterneath is an otherworldly reverberation machine that uses a swarm of short delays to create wild and cavernous reverbs and scattered, short rhythmic delays with bizarre characteristics. The reverb created is beyond massive and goes well beyond the territory of most reverb pedals. The controls allow you to stretch, smudge, swell and even self-oscillate into messy ambient washes of sound. The Length control adjusts the decay of the reverb; anything from shorter hall through endless plate style reverbs can be achieved. The Reflect knob controls the regeneration, basically feeding the output back through to create an even deeper otherworldly dreamscape. The Drag control lets you pull the reverb through time by slowing down or speeding up the reverb. The Diffuse knob adds control over spread of the reverb ranging from identifiable attack to a wash of smooth reverb. The Dampen control adjusts the tone of the reverb, both stinging bright tones and warmer swell. The end result is an ethereal, ambient wash that goes from hall to an infinite glitched-out orchestra pit warming up in a canyon at the bottom of another canyon inside a well. The Afterneath is true bypass with an all digital reverb engine, all analog dry signal path and hand made one at a time by real living human beans in dimly lit Akron, Ohio."

Steve Vai at Ernie Ball's booth, signing autographs. I took this photo largely to text to my girlfriend, but as it turned out, I think it was my only big celebrity sighting. I also didn't run into a lot of friends on the NAMM floor as I usually do, but we were really laser-focused on checking out stuff, and I did reconnect with some other friends.

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The previous evening, I hung out with friends from the Keyboard Corner, which is one of my favorite things to do at NAMM. Lots of great conversation. Thank you to Dan for firing up the RedKey Lounge, and thanks to everyone else. Every single person without exception is thoroughly cool and fun to hang out with.

This Boomstar Modular Tonestar was so gushy warm and complex sounding. It might be tempting for me to explore this more. Since I'm a keyboard player, I would love to throw this in the keyboard controller that accommodates Euroracks (two photos below).

http://www.studioelectronics.com/products/synths/boomstar-modular/

Basically a keyboard that accommodates these various Eurorack synths. Nice. I'm a keyboard player, and especially value the addition of a keyboard, especially when it is integrated like this. But even if one is not a keyboard player, they make such great triggers anyway.

Here's the description on the Analogue Haven website:
wmd and ssf are excited to announce the release of a brand new, one of a kind eurorack modular synthesizer system- the monolith.

the monolith is a 37-key keyboard with 104 hp eurorack rails loaded with the wmd/ssf collaboration line of modules. complete with power supply and 25 patch cables of assorted lengths, the monolith is a fully functional, completely customizable modular synth with a wide palette of tones that the user can patch from scratch.

the monolith system is a fully functional modular system combined with the familiarity of a performance keyboard. it can be intimidating to begin using a modular system, but with this system players will be able to design almost any sound they can imagine intuitively and easily once they are familiar with the rudiments of modular patching. the monolith is a pro level monosynth that is at home in the studio and on the stage but it also serves as a bridge for users to learn modular synthesis.

the system includes 15 modules: two spectrum oscillators, a pole zero filter, two adsrvcas, an amplitude discrete vca, an s.p.o. scaling polarizer and offset, the ultrafold wavefolder, the blender four channel crossfading mixer, a quad attenuator, the toolbox utility module, a mini slew function generator, as well as a custom keyscan module with aftertouch, velocity, and midi (in, out, and thru). also included is a buffered multiple, a lvls output module and open 16 hp worth of space filled with blank panels so you can add one or two of your own favorite modules!

Monolith on the Analogue Haven website