Drolo Molecular Disruptor V3 - Killer Glitch/Multi-FX Pedal : Overview with some Key Patches, Settings and Notes

P0 = Rate | P1 = Sample Size | P2 = Randomness | fdbk = Feedback

• P0: Controls how often the signal will begin to loop
• P1: Defines the length of the samples being looped
• P2: Will gradually introduce randomness to the rate and sample size as you turn CW

Preferred Settings:

• smplrt : 9 o'clock
• fdbk : 11 o'clock
• wet : 12:30 o'clock
• dry : 11:30 o'clock
• PS : 3 o'clock
• P0 : 12 o'clock
• P1 : 3 o'clock
• P2 : 9:30 o'clock
• Trails : Off

NOTES:

This is that classic glitchy granular delay sort of thing and is really an 'adjust to taste' type effect depending on how glitchy you want things to get - the key dials here are P1 and P2 really. I've dialled in a moderate amount of glitch with medium and high settings for loop refresh rate. I would advise against using Trails here as they have a propensity to fully glitch out and go into infinite feedback - this can be problematic on feedback type effects - particularly those with pitch elements - which is not the case here, but the Trails are still best kept off. Dialling in the right amount of glitch here can be somewhat delicate, yet too little is never quite enough!

P0 = Rate | P1 = Pitch Warp | P2 = Filter | fdbk = Noise and Crackle

Preferred Settings:

• smplrt : 10 o'clock
• fdbk : 2 o'clock
• wet : 2 o'clock
• dry : Off / 0
• PS : Max
• P0 : 10 o'clock
• P1 : 10 o'clock
• P2 : 2 o'clock
• Trails : Off

NOTES:

I've dialled in a medium amount of Noise, Warp and Frequency reduction here - against two different rates for different levels of impact. This is something like a detune chorus in some ways with added hiss. The Strymon Mobius does a similar thing but slightly better in my opinion (Vinyl setting on Destroyer mode), and I would probably like a few more 'crackles' here, as the effect is relatively subtle on the noise-artefacts-front. I would suggesting pairing this with a lo-fi style reverb for further signal degradation effect.

P0 = Feedback | P1 = Rate | P2 = Octave Blend | fdbk = N/A

• PS: have a significant degree of difference between PS and P0 dial settings for extreme ramp-up in glitchiness
• P0: feeds the signal back into itself in random bursts
• P1: defines how often the sample size changes
• P2: adds an octave up to the feedback

Preferred Settings:

• smplrt : 10 o'clock
• fdbk : Off / 0
• wet : 2 o'clock
• dry : 11:30 o'clock
• PS : 9 o'clock
• P0 : 3 o'clock
• P1 : 11 o'clock
• P2 : 1 o'clock
• Trails : Off

NOTES :

This is likely one of my favourite effects on this pedal - you get a lovely twittery/chirpy shimmery type of delay here. I set the PS and P0 dials in such a way that you can alternate between moderate and subtle intensity. You could pair this with a shimmer reverb for even more full-on effect - but it sounds lush still without it.

P0 = Pitch Depth | P1 = Rate | P2 = Randomness | fdbk = Feedback

Preferred Settings:

• smplrt : Off / 16Hz
• fdbk : 3 o'clock
• wet : 2 o'clock
• dry : 11:30 o'clock
• PS : 12 o'clock
• P0 : Off / 0
• P1 : 10 o'clock
• P2 : 9 o'clock
• Trails : On

NOTES :

The way I've set it up is that the default P0 is very much like an elegant shimmery effect, while with the Pitch Depth raised on the PS setting / footswitch it expands to a wobbly chorus-like shimmer - which is fun to apply momentarily but can induce sea-sickness longer-term!

P0 = Glide | P1 = Rate | P2 = Pitch Depth | fdbk = Feedback

• P0 / Glide : CCW will be clean random steps, as you turn CW the transitions from one step to the other will gradually glide more, until no more steps are audible but a wobbly random LFO

Preferred Settings:

• smplrt : 9 o'clock
• fdbk : 3 o'clock
• wet : 2 o'clock
• dry : Off / 0
• PS : 8:30 o'clock
• P0 : Max
• P1 : 4 o'clock
• P2 : 7:30 o'clock
• Trails : On/Off

NOTES :

I set this as a sort of detune-style chorus with quite subtle waviness - and the default setting slightly more pronounced than on the PS override. You also get a sort of radiator ping slapback delay at the start depending on your string attack. The key setting here is the pitch depth or P2 dial - which I have as barely on - roughly 7:30 o'clock - or just off the baseline - you can hear when the sweetspot hits - it's so easy to make this effect jarring and unmusical, while I feel I've got the balance just right here and it did take a while to dial in. The same actually goes for my PS override - where the dial is circa 8:30 o'clock - again just tweak by ear for it to hit that very slightly swirly tone.

P0 = Rate | P1 = Filter Range | P2 = Filter Resonance | fdbk = Envelope Sensitivity

• P1 / Filter Range : CCW is a low pass. CW is a high pass. In the middle when you mix both together you get some more vocal sounds
• fdbk / Envelope Sensitivity : allows to envelope control the rate

Preferred Settings:

• smplrt : Off / 16Hz
• fdbk : Off / 0
• wet : 4 o'clock
• dry : 11 o'clock
• PS : 11 o'clock
• P0 : 2 o'clock
• P1 : 2 o'clock
• P2 : 2 o'clock
• Trails : Off

NOTES :

I've set this one up to sound slightly industrial/metallic - with a hint of gated fuzz here and quick glitchy cut-off / no sustain. My default setting is at the full Rate so you hear a rapid progression of pitch steps, wile the PS override slows it down considerably for a more glitchy effect. This one can be a rather tricky one to dial in and the interplay and intervals on many of the dials here can be fairly tight and sensitive. The settings as I have them here afford the best balance of effect - which sounds optimal to me on the lowest Sample Rate. The difference in rates may seem slight but is just the right degree to go from relatively subtle to moderate.

P0 = Loop | P1 = Stretch | P2 = Grain Size | fdbk = Feedback

• P0: from CCW to CW it defines how much of your audio is being recorded and how much is looped. At full CW it will stop recording and only loop. The loop degrades after some time
• P1: CCW no stretching -> noon max stretching - > CW stretched grains begin to be rearranged in reverse order
• P2: defines the size of grains that are used to stretch tha sample, from CCW with larger grains and gentle slopes to CW with shorter grains and choppy slopes

Preferred Settings:

• smplrt : Off / 0
• fdbk : 11 o'clock
• wet : 3 o'clock
• dry : 1:30 o'clock
• PS : Max
• P0 : Off / 0
• P1 : 1:30 o'clock
• P2 : 10 o'clock
• Trails : Off

NOTES :

The settings above give you that perfect chirrupy twittery stuttery delay - and the key dials here are P1 and P2 where the interplay of the two is critical. I've set the PS and P0 at the two extremes which works really well here in this context - while typically smaller intervals are preferable. The default mode is actually more pronounced, while the override PS extends the loop infinitely and you get a sort of slight drone undertone and less pronounced and diverse effects - so slightly more subtle in most ways. For the default you can have quite significant jumps in the volume between patches of stutters and chirrups, while on the override setting these levels are far more consistent - so be careful too how you set you Wet dial.

P0 = Amount of Pitch-Shift | P1 = Filter/Pitch Control | P2 = Filter Sweep | fdbk = Reverb

• This patch was made with expression pedal use in mind
• P1 (exp) : controls pitch and filter simultaneously
• P0 : defines how much P1 controls the pitch (0 to -1 Oct)
• P2 : controls how much P1 affects the filter

Preferred Settings:

• smplrt : 9 o'clock
• fdbk : 1:30 o'clock
• wet : Max
• dry : Off / 0
• PS : 12:30 o'clock
• P0 : 8 o'clock
• P1 : 1:30 o'clock
• P2 : 4 o'clock
• Trails : On

NOTES :

I took several attempts at this before getting my ideal parameters right - I add a long-ish stereo delay and stereo shimmer reverb downstream as well for even more atmosphere. There are several settings that work here, while the settings in the demo video above don't make to much sense - particularly the lack of wet - which I have at nearly full whack on mine. This is definitely one for us Bladerunner fans and bizarrely one of the effects that I come back to the most often - even though I can relatively easily recreate with other pedals I already have.

BANK 2

P0 = Drone 1 Freq | P1 = Drone 2 Freq | P2 = Drone 1+2 Mix | fdbk = FM Modulation

• fdbk: When you turn up the FM modulation (fdbk) the frequency of Drone 2 will be used to FM modulate Drone 1

Preferred Settings:

• smplrt : 10:30 o'clock
• fdbk : Max
• wet : 12 o'clock
• dry : Off / 0
• PS : 10:30 o'clock
• P0 : 12 o'clock
• P1 : 8:30 o'clock
• P2 : 12 o'clock
• Trails : Off

NOTES :

This one is an odd one really - not properly an effect at all, but a sound-generator or noise-maker. The interplay of 4 dials in particular is critical - P0, P1, smplrt and fdbk - and for me the interesting parts are the cross-over frequency bits. I spent forever trying to get a cool 70's sci-fi phaser gun sound - and ended up with the above settings. Not sure about the utility on this one - you can spend hours tweaking the knobs here to tiny degrees, it's really just a stand-alone type of sound - useful for studio work possibly - the lack of presets on the pedal makes it impossible to set different settings easily as so many of these require tweaking by ear to hit the perfect sweetspot. I kind of like the sound of this in small doses - it can get annoying on prolonged exposure though and has very limited use.

P0 = Sensitivity | P1 = Vibrato Rate | P2 = Delay Time | fdbk = Decay

P0 / Sensitivity : determines how much signal is added into the loop and fades a portion of the previous loop out. When set to minimum the signal is looped infinitely. You can use the PS function switch to control this

P1 / Vibrato Rate: applies vibrato to the looped samples

P2 / Delay Time : defines the length of the looped sample. On very short setttings, the loop will fade out faster

fdbk / Decay: fully CW the samples can loop infinitely (well almost). As you dial it back the loop will start to fade out

Preferred Settings:

• smplrt : 10 o'clock
• fdbk : 2 o'clock
• wet : 12 o'clock
• dry : 1 o'clock
• PS : 10 o'clock
• P0 : 2o'clock
• P1 : 2o'clock
• P2 : 8:30 o'clock
• Trails : On

NOTES :

The setting I have come up with I'm naming 'Spooky Trails' as it has an eerie ghostly quality to its warble. I've set the P0 for a moderate impact effect and the PS override somewhat more subtle. It's at a level where it's quite musical - and has that haunting lilt to it - would probably be a good mood-generator for a campfire ghost story or movie even. P0, P1 and P2 dials are all important here, and you need to get the mix between those 3 right which is not too difficult for this effect. There's lots of scope for the 'warble' here but you need to be wary of nauseous-inducing levels if pushed too much. No doubt a rather specialist effect that can be reduced to just a hint of chorus really - so there is quite a wide palette of useful tones here.

P0 = Loop | P1 = Pitch | P2 = Sample Size | fdbk = Feedback

• P0: below noon you are recording and playing, above noon it will loop the last sample and stop recording
• P1: pitch intervals : unison, +5 semitones, +7 semitones, +1 oct, +1 oct and 5 semitones, +1 oct and 7 semitones, +2 oct, +3 oct

Preferred Settings:

• smplrt : Off / 16Hz
• fdbk : Off / 0
• wet : 10 o'clock
• dry : 12 o'clock
• PS : Max
• P0 : 9 o'clock
• P1 : 3:30 o'clock
• P2 : 3 o'clock
• Trails : Off

NOTES :

I will name my above Setting 'The Twinkle Burst' as a sort of pitched up shimmery burst of delay. This is just a classic simple pitched reverse delay - where the key dials are P1 and P2. You need to adjust both by ear and feel really. I got the right harmonic content at around 3:30 on the P1, and around 3 o'c on the P2 - you need merely adjust to taste. ON the PS versus P0 setting - the first is a sort of infinite override - which just holds the P0 delay as such. There are lots of possible permutations here - and I just ended up on my preferred version as it sounded really cool to me - I was tinkering with a lower octave alternative for a while, but decided I liked this more high pitched alternative in the end.

P0 = Ring Mod Rate | P1 = Filter Range | P2 = Filter Resonance | fdbk = Envelope Sensitivity

• P1 / Filter Range : CCW is a low pass. CW is a high pass. In the middle when you mix both together you get some more vocal sounds
• fdbk / Envelope Sensitivity : controls the filter frequency but also the ring mod rate

Preferred Settings:

• smplrt : 10 o'clock
• fdbk : 10:30 o'clock
• wet : 2 o'clock
• dry : 12:30 o'clock
• PS : Off / 0
• P0 : 3 o'clock
• P1 : 12 o'clock
• P2 : 3 o'clock
• Trails : On/Off

NOTES :

For a seemingly simple effect this one took me a considerable while to dial in correctly - to get the right blend of musical harmonics. Most of the hard work is in the interplay of the smplrt and fdbk dials, but P1 and P0 are also significant - as is the balance between dry and wet. On my journeys through the sweeps of the dials I was getting everything from Donald Duck style quacks to otherworldly kazoos and didgeridoos and 'yeah yeah yeahs' and 'yoi yoi yois'. It's so easy to dial in a cool sound, but which likely does not track musically. Getting the best mix of sort of vocal formant noises with the right degree of ring modulation harmonics took me a really long time - and requires tiny movements of three or four dials at the same time. It's tricky to replicate the favourite settings - so you need to start in the ballpark and then tune it by ear! This sort of thing makes me think that these Granular Synthesis pedals desperately need numerical screens and presets to become widely accessible and acceptable.

P0 = Reverb Size / Hold | P1 = Aliaser | P2 = Filter | fdbk = Send Dry to Aliaser | smplrt = Change Pitch

• P0: up to noon it sets the reverb size and level at max it will hold the current layer of sound

Preferred Settings:

• smplrt : Off / 16Hz
• fdbk : 2 o'clock
• wet : 2 o'clock
• dry : 11 o'clock
• PS : 10 o'clock
• P0 : Off / 0
• P1 : 8:45 o'clock
• P2 : Max
• Trails : Off

NOTES :

This relatively simple effect - a combination of Aliasing / Ring Modulation and Envelope Filtering actually has quite a lot of different tones onboard including some really cool buzzy lo-fi ones. My preferred settings I like to define as a buzzy vibrato ring modulation - a combination of clang and static buzz with a touch of warble to it - particularly on the sustaining PS override setting. The main dial for me here is the P1 one, and you need to tune quite finely by ear to hit each sweetspot.

P0 = Glissando Duration | P1 = Filter | P2 = Vibrato | fdbk = Envelope Sensitivity

• fdbk / Envelope Sensitivity : defines how well the audio input triggers the envelope follower that controls the pitch glissando and filter sweep

Preferred Settings:

• smplrt : 1:30 o'clock
• fdbk : 8 o'clock
• wet : 12 o'clock
• dry : Off / 0
• PS : 8 o'clock
• P0 : 10 o'clock
• P1 : Off / 0
• P2 : Off / 0
• Trails : Off

NOTES :

This is a relatively simple Glissando Synth style effect that is still quite tricky to dial in - and it took several tries to get something fully replicable and consistent. There really is just one group of settings, and the P1 and P2 are actually surplus to requirements for that Kate Bush synth sound. David included Envelope Filter (P1) and Vibrato (P2) to make this effect more interesting, but neither does anything to improve the core tone. I found that the ideal sensitivity setting was around 8 o'c on the fdbk dial, and the P0 glissando setting is highly sensitive with the sweetspot around 10 o'c - you just need to tweak by ear really - once you get The Tone though you recognise it immediately. I actually really just like it on its own - but I guess it has limited practical use overall.

P0 = Envelope Sensitivity | P1 = Particle Rate | P2 = Delay | fdbk = Feedback

• P0 : When you increase envelope sensitivity, the harder you play the more the rate is going to slow down

Preferred Settings:

• smplrt : 12 o'clock
• fdbk : 10 o'clock
• wet : 2 o'clock
• dry : 11 o'clock
• PS : 12 o'clock
• P0 : Max
• P1 : 9 o'clock
• P2 : 2 o'clock
• Trails : On

NOTES :

This is quite an intriguing delay which I'm going to describe as a rubber ball bounce delay as the intervals between echoes get progressively shorter - so the tail of the echo kind of peters out as a trill. The way this delay works is that the harder you play the slower the delay, while it then increasingly speeds up to a trill - which is a little bit like a bouncing ball or spinning coin - where the final bounces / oscillations are shorter and therefore quicker. My default is to have the Envelope Sensitivity at max, and then you get a slightly subtler effect by dialling the PS override back to 12 o'c.

P0 = Loop | P1 = Tape Speed | P2 = Tape Length | fdbk = Feedback | smplrt = Change Pitch

• P0 : below noon you are recording and playing, above noon it will loop the last sample and stop recording
• P2 : reducing it to the smallest settings can create glitchy artifacts, flanger-like sounds and other weird stuff, is interactive with tape speed. Note: when pot1 is at noon, pot2 has little to no effect.

Preferred Settings:

• smplrt : Max
• fdbk : 2 o'clock
• wet : 2 o'clock
• dry : 11 o'clock
• PS : Max
• P0 : 11 o'clock
• P1 : 1 o'clock
• P2 : Off for Clank Glitch, 9 o'clock for flange
• Trails : On*

NOTES :

In the above visual I have my favourite 'Clang' industrial setting - where you get tinny clanging echoes with static electric noise and glitches - with P2 on full-anti-clockwise. Move P2 to 9 o'clock and you get my second favourite setting - a sort of modulated flange delay. As the P0 advisory hints above, P0 below noon records and plays back - I then stomp on the PS override when I want a continuous playback loop of the last sounds recorded - based on P2 tape length. There really are tonnes of different flavours here - with the interplay between the P1 and P2 dials being the most impactful. * Note also that with Trails on you get signal interference in your signal chain - so switch it off when the effect is not in use.