Hot on the heels of the Darkglass ADAM comes another wonderful modern confection of disparate parts - from those creative Japanese fellows at Banana Effects. I’ve still to get in a few of their minis - but his may be even more enticing still.
Actually a fantastic 8-Step Sequencer / Arpeggiator with all kinds of clever tricks up its sleeve - including numerous onboard presets and handy DSP subroutines.
I will give you a general features overview first - as below - which is rather extensive - before rounding things up in a Final Thoughts section. Generally I’m very impressed by this innovative device, while I’m not yet 100% sure that it’s entirely for me, and that I will get a lot of use out of it. Should definitely be a favourite for the likes of Mikey Famiglietti and those long-term users of MOODs, Bloopers, and Microcosms - a definite twinkly delight!
Here follows the overview :
Mini OLED Display/Screen : This is where all the magic is controlled
4 Push/Twist Main Knobs : Volume, Mode/Scale/SFX, BPM/DIV/STEP, and Sequence
12 Touch Controls : Pitch/Bank Save, Clock (Rate), Random, Envelope, 8 x individual Step selectors
3 Footswitches : Middle one is On/Bypass, Left activates Sequence FX, and right is Tap-Tempo and Patch/Bank. Once in Patch Mode you can recall different Batches of 3 Presets via each of those same 3 footswitches.
VOLUME - KNOB 1
MODE | SCALE | SFX - KNOB 2
8 x Modes :
27 x Different Scales - with 3 User-editable Scales
9 x Sequence FX
BPM | DIV | STEP - KNOB 3
SEQUENCE / EDITING - KNOB 4 + PATCH / BANK | SAVE Touch Button
The Sequence Knob lets you select the appropriate steps, click and set the pitch/interval and effects. You can also use the 8 Step Touch pads to go direct to each step - or scroll using the Sequence Knob.
You then save your new sequence to 3 banks x 3 Patches via the 3 footswitches - which also navigate to those 9 Presets. The right-hand TAP | Patch/Bank footswitch also lets you scroll the patches by first pressing and holding, and then stepping through the options.
You can also use the Patch / Bank | Save touch-button to navigate and save those presets.
CLOCK TOUCH BUTTON
Switch Sources by tapping on Clock Button :
RANDOM FUNCTION TOUCH BUTTON
Each time you press the button, it toggles between sequential and random. Meaning you can make some or all of the steps random as you wish.
ENVELOPE TOUCH BUTTON
Each time you press the button it toggles between 4 Envelope Modes :
DIAGNOSTIC MODE
The Pedal has a Mode / Sub-routine which allows you to internally check that the controls and inputs/outputs are all working correctly.
PRICE AND AVAILABILITY
The Tararira is available right now on Amazon.com ($299)[Correction! Sold Out!) and Amazon.co.uk (£249), sold out already on the Banana Effects Store! Note that power draw is 9V, 150mA.
No doubt a crazy cool pedal - for the 'Mikey Famiglietti' crowd as such - so those who love the sort of glitchy stuff sort of like what the Hologram Microcosm does amongst others.
I think this is incredibly cool - both in scope and execution, but I'm not 100% sure this is exactly for me - definitely a wishlist item, of undeterrmined priority so far. I really just want to get my hands on it to get to grips with that interface and functionality - in a similar way to how I was attracted to the recent Darkglass ADAM.
I'm not sure how much I would use this, and where exactly it would go in the chain. Could be a temporary rotation swap-out on the Automatone Preamp II slot if need be. It's fantastic to witness the steady evolution of this sector - this is definitely capable of some incredible effects. So far nice to have - kind of 50:50 for me right now - we'll see how it all pans out through the year. Most of the first batch are sold out already - so likely will need to wait for subsequent batches in any case - really decent proposition though and very good value for everything it delivers!
What do you folks think?