Chase Bliss Audio is no stranger to experimental effects pedals (opens in new tab), with its suite of hugely configurable stompboxes boasting a multitude of knobs, switches and dip-switches to tease the most avant-garde tones from the electric guitar.
Take the Mood micro-looper and delay (opens in new tab). Developed in collaboration with Old Blood Noise Endeavors and Drolo FX, the Mood stompbox took the former's wet signal and the latter's dry looper signal and brought them together under one enclosure. Those looking for spaced-out time-based guitar effects would do better to find a more profoundly transformative pedal.
Then there was the Preamp mkII – developed with Benson Amps – that fully blew our minds at NAMM 2019 (opens in new tab) with its motorised faders.
Now, Chase Bliss Audio needs your help in developing the Blooper, and has launched a Kickstarter campaign (opens in new tab) to fund the product's launch.
Expected to ship in December this year, the Blooper looks to do to the looping station what their Tonal Recall pedal did for delay. The basic price for a pedal is $499. Not cheap, but then these are specialist items – bear in mind the Mood retails for £349 street, while the Tonal Recall and Thermae are similarly priced to the Blooper.
The Blooper was developed with DSP coder Mark Seel of 3 Degrees Audio and Parker Coons (formerly of DOD and Digitech) and expands upon the premise of a looping pedal.
Some features have come and gone but expect the finished Blooper to have:
- 40 seconds max loop time (48kHz, 16-bit) with ultra-low-noise hardware, XMOS DSP processor, 32 saveable presets and full undo/redo capability
- 6 loop modifiers (quantized & free time/speed changes, scrambler, trimmer, filter and dropper) available over 2 independent channels
- Normal, additive (effects get recorded), and one-shot sampling modes
- Full MIDI implementation via 1/4" TRS
- Repeats knob for fading loops or to use blooper like a tap-tempo delay
- CV clock sync and modulation control
- Stability control introducing optional tape and warble effects to loop.
- Chase Bliss ramping control (including randomisation and ability to sync to loop time)
- Expression control over any parameter either individually or simultaneously
- Dip-switches for customising behaviour: dry kill, straight to overdub, etc.
See Kickstarter for more details (opens in new tab) on the Blooper.
Check out Chase Bliss Audio's range of pedals here (opens in new tab).
