Matthews Effects delivers intriguing The Technician Dual-Channel Auditory Manipulator Multi-FX Unit

A distinct and different departure for Rick Matthews with an entirely different brand personality. Great to see those arcade switches in place though - which I first witnessed on the Chase Bliss Automatone Preamp. The interface / topology is elegantly and clearly delineated with all the labels visible, while the secondary function labels look a touch small - so presumably difficult to spot from a standing position.

Note that there was a previous version of The Technician in and around 2019 - which was simply a combination dual pedal of the 3-Mode Astronomer and Cosmonaut pedals - with the 2 circuits just side-by-side. While this new Technician is quite a different beast really - with a far more extended feature set, and a totally different aesthetic and format - and including a separation of Elements into distinct types of effects.

The Technician is an interesting mix of Reverb, Delay, Resonance Filter and Looper - with a number of ’Modulators’ per each key element.

It’s a large enclosure, but it covers a lot of ground, while it will be interesting to see who this appeals too. As in some ways Wampler’s recent Catacombs, the Source Audio Collider, and Line 6 DL4 are all indirect competitors, the last mentioned in particular with its excellent 3-footswitch looper. All those 3 mentioned have many more Delay and Reverb algorithms, some have a Looper, but not a Resonance Filter.

I worry that this may be too specific a mix of features for most - as it’s not immediately clear how you combine all those features together, and which players this pedal is aimed at.

It’s certainly technically very well laid out - but with a very specific feature set - which is limited in some areas yet expansive in others. I’m not sure exactly what demographic this would appeal to?

Controls - REVERB } Mix (Mode One), Decay (Mod Two), Clock (Pre-Delay), Reverb Mode : Hall / Plate / Chasm / Grim, DELAY } Feedback (Mod Two), Mix (Mode One), Time (Dry Mix), Tap Division : 1/2 / 1/4 / .1/8 / 1/8, Delay Mode : Digital / Reverse / Granular / Re-Sample; LOOPER } Mix (Mod One), Looper Mode : Off / Latching / Momentary / Quantize, FOOTSWITCHES } Bypass / Preset One Footswitch, Control Page / Save Preset (Hold) switch, Tap Tempo / Preset Two / - Rec/Dub/Stop/Erase Footswitch (Looper).

You often get this sort of pedal as a signature Artist Pedal - and then there is a very specific use-case in terms of what textures and tones from that artist’s repertoire you’re able to target with said device.

Do drop me some comments here if I’ve missed or overlooked some significant point of this device’s origin story. Its abilities with Modulators and Modifiers is certainly interesting in give you some cool variances on the main modes of deployment. While when I see this device I’m just not sure who it’s directed at?

If you were looking for a combine Reverb and Delay units - there’s quite a few of those already out there, as mentioned, which give you more Modes and Algorithms. There’s better Loopers out there - for instance the one on the DL4, and there’s more wide-ranging filter pedals out there. Who precisely is looking for this exact mix of effects - with just 4 Mode / Types for each?

I love the look of this, and the main demo, and shorter Instagram excerpts all sound pretty great, yet I’m still not getting a clear picture here. The price is about right for this quality and high-fidelity of a pedal - at $399 - while it’s a little large and specific for my own preferences. I always prefer to have separate Delay and Reverb workstations - with the maximum variety to them, in fact I’ve just put the Empress EchoSystem back on my board - to pair with the more recent Strymon BigSky MX. I don’t use filters too much - so that’s not really a priority for me, and I have a big Boss RC-600 looper on the board - so don’t really need a looper either.

I appreciate that The Technician allows you to combine those 4 key elements in really interesting ways - and you could probably develop the pedal as a smart performance device if you really wanted to, and were happy to work at it.

While by objective rationale - the pedal is expansive overall, but a little short too in some of its key areas.

So let me know if any of you are considering this, and how you mean to use it. It’s for sure an impressive piece of kit, but one which is possibly in search of its main audience.

Props to Rick though for his continued experimentation and innovation - this device is a big gamble for him, and it’s a distinct departure from everything Matthews Effects has put out before. I quite liked the look of Matthews Effects The Futurist MIDI controller - but by the time I was looking for a MIDI controller for my Kernom Moho, The Futurist was already mysteriously discontinued - which is a real shame. The Technician seems to be another tangential foray versus the other more typical recent Matthews Effects pedal - The Botanist Chorus / Phaser / Tremolo / Vibrato.

In any case The Technician Dual Channel Auditory Manipulator is available for order from the Matthews Effects Webstore for $399 and equivalent.