Kernom unleashes the third in its superior Dynamic Mood Morphing Analog Series - the Elipse Modulation Playground

Jan 21, 202517:00 by

Stefan Karlsson

Chorus and VibratoFlangerKernomModulationPhaserRotary SpeakerTremoloUni-Vibe and Vibe+-

So this was always a likely next move for Kernom - which makes it even stranger that Source Audio hasn’t yet delivered its own modulation companion for its Nemesis and Ventris pedals!

When I first saw this pedal I was a little worried for my friends at Hamstead Soundworks - for their recent Redwing Stereo Analogue Modulator - as this Elipse would likely over-shadow that - while there are enough differences for both of these fantastic new pedals to have their own space - including Mono vs Stereo capabilities, and also a fairly significant contrast in footprint.

Controls - Shape : Sharper > Smoother Response, Morphing MOOD : Harmonic Tremolo / Amplitude Tremolo / Rotary Speaker / Vibrato / Chorus / Tri-Chorus / Flanger / Phaser / Uni-Vibe, Speed (LFO Rate), Depth (Intensity), Mix : Dry < Wet Mix, Swirl (Slow-Phase and Drive Saturation), Preset Footswitch, On/Off Footswitch.

Rear Ports - Audio In (Mono), Audio Out, EXP, MIDI In 1/8", MIDI Out 1/8", 9V DC [-] 150nA.

If you’re familiar with either of the already released RIDGE or MOHO - then this pedal shouldn’t really require much explanation. This is the same topology / format as the others - albeit with more specific Modulation controls.

MOOD Modulations

Harmonic Tremolo
Amplitude Tremolo
Rotary Speaker
Vibrato
Chorus
Tri-Chorus
Flanger
Phaser
Uni-Vibe

This marvellous Analog Multi-Modulator contains all my favourite Modulations in the one box - where you consistently morph from one flavour to the next - and there are a myriad of in-between flavours to be discovered and explored too.

There's really just the Shape and Swirl functions that need further explanation :

"The SWIRL control unlocks a secret weapon heard on countless legendary records: blending a slow phaser to any other modulation effect to create a rich, multidimensional sound."

And the SHAPE knob is a kind of Damping control really - where you can alternatively Sharpen or Smooth out your modulation waveforms.

I still have the same challenges as before - in that I wish there were more Presets onboard - but no - you need to get an additional MIDI Controller to get the full range out of this pedal - and to preserve those killer settings you uncover.

I still recommend the slimline Hotone Ampero Control for that purpose - where there are other great viable and available alternatives too - while in terms of format and value - the Ampero Control is surely one of the best!

The Elipse Modulation Playground is available for pre-orders now at €369 / $369 / £349. I'm guessing there are some last minute refinements to be made - or else I would have expected to have gotten my hands on one already.

Most of the Kernom team arrived early in California - for the NAMM show - indeed where this pedal was just launched. I'm hoping to get my hands on one very soon - where I can do another deep-dive exploration - to discover just how well those many modulation flavours compare to my own genre individual pedal favourites.

The one weakness with this device is that the Rotary Speaker is not in stereo - Rotary is a fully swirly immersive modulation which in my opinion can only be exprienced properly in stereo. As a mono effect it's really just another variation on Tremolo!

All things considered though - this is yet another out-of-the park hit for Kernom - and perfect for on-the-go journeymen musicians and home and studio-players alike.

The built and production quality is like no other - I love the shade of blue employed here - surely with that same high quality eggshell feel powder coating - these devices sound every bit as good as they look!

Hopefully I will have an in-depth review up relatively soon - although that largely depends on my friends at Kernom, and especially my good friend Jérémy Savonet.