Tweak knob becomes a
resonant filter and the
Code knob becomes
a low-pass filter. The
resonant filter is incredibly
useful, and I’m surprised
more traditional fuzzes
don’t use them.
The Ring setting is a
ring modulator married
to a sample-and-hold
low-frequency oscillator
(LFO). Broadly speaking,
this setting creates the
random analog keyboard
oscillations most would
associate with sci-fi horror
movies from the seventies,
generating random, atonal
bleeps and bloops that
are triggered by the guitar
signal. It’s still musical,
but it ain’t typical. Code
controls the rate of the
sample-and-hold function,
Tweak controls the depth
of the LFO. Turning Code
fully counterclockwise
disables the LFO, leaving
you with “just” a ring
modulator.
Set the pedal to Freq and
you’ve got something
similar to a ring modulator
but with a tunable pitch
shifter. In this mode, the
Code knob adjusts the
rate of the pitch shifter;
at slower settings, it
sounds a bit like chorus,
flanger or short reverb or
delay. Tweak controls how
much of the signal is sent
through the pitch shifter.
Adding subtle amounts
with slower rates creates
Leslie-like and other, more
traditional modulation
effects. However, as you
turn Tweak up, you can
hear the pitch shifting
in real time; think of
the sound effects that
accompany stretching in a
cartoon. It’s crazy, it’s cool,
and it’s highly tweakable.
the pedal as a MIDI input.
I’ve tried to explain this
crazy, fun pedal; if you’re
not intrigued, watch the
demos, read the manual—
you’ll likely find a use for
the Syntax Error.
WHAT WE LIKE
A wide variety of effects
that you’d be hard pressed
to find elsewhere.
CONCERNS
The Syntax Error has a bit
of a learning curve. The
effects are unusual, but
can be a lot of fun (and
possibly useful).
All of the above describes
(barely) the basic sounds
that the Syntax Error can
generate. Hold the Select
Button as you turn Sample
and that knob controls a
second parameter, and
that parameter changes
with each setting. There’s
an expression jack that can
be used with an expression
pedal, momentary switch,
or midi; using the first
two implementations, you
can toggle between two
settings, or you can assign
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