Description
From Walrus:
The Qi Etherealizer (pronounced “chee ethereal-izer”), a collaborative creation with Yvette Young, is a multi-effects pedal that combines Chorus, Delay, Granular effects, and, of course, Reverb, into a creative playground for atmospheric exploration.
Known for her innovative and explorative fingerstyle playing technique, love of guitar pedals, and leadership of the math rock band Covet, the Qi reflects her approach to creating lush, evolving soundscapes. Named after the vital life energy that flows through all living things, the Qi is designed to deliver rich textures, expansive atmospheres, and dynamic layers. By blending Yvette’s artistic vision with cutting-edge design, the Qi opens the door to immersive, otherworldly sounds.
“I hope that it will inspire people to be excited to have colors and textures to play with. I think this is going to be a wonderful tool for people to create ambient sounds and add interest to their playing! …I want people to think about their melodies and how they can start to sound a little less guitar-y and more…magical!” YY
The Qi allows you to mix and match the chorus, delay, and grain and run in series or parallel to create your own inspiring universe of possibility in a stereo field. With the ability to save presets and bypass the chorus, delay, and grain controls, you can quickly and instantly change settings by simultaneously pressing the Bypass and Freeze stomp switches. Go from a traditional chorus with a little bit of delay, or go all in and let the Qi take over with unexplainable washes of glitchy and lush ambiance. Whatever your style is, the Qi will give it a new life.
The Qi is the first creation to emerge from our groundbreaking proprietary digital processing platform, MDSP. Designed in-house by our talented engineering team, MDSP sets a new benchmark for high-fidelity audio and innovative design, delivering decades of inspiration to creators seeking practical yet forward-thinking gear.
At the core of MDSP is the powerful ARM-based Cortex M7 processor, renowned as the highest-performing processor in its class. With a proven history in high-level electronics, the Cortex M7 has been meticulously tailored for advanced audio algorithm processing in the MDSP platform. This unique system integrates a microcontroller and a DSP into a single compact unit, enabling a smaller, modular design that can seamlessly adapt to a wide range of pedal formats.
This modular and “mini” approach empowers Walrus Audio to push the boundaries of audio processing. The enhanced capabilities of Walrus’s MDSP allow for the development and execution of more sophisticated algorithms than ever before, delivering unparalleled creative possibilities for musicians and audio professionals alike.
The MDSP platform also boasts a superior audio codec, supporting faster sample rates, increased bit depth, greater headroom, and an exceptional signal-to-noise ratio. These enhancements ensure outstanding audio performance, setting a new standard in digital signal processing for the music industry.
The introduction of MDSP reflects Walrus Audio’s commitment to providing creators with cutting-edge tools that inspire innovation and creativity.
Global Controls
- Space Knob: Space adds a delightfully charming reverb to your affected signal. Use this knob to modify the mix and decay of the reverb. Go from smaller room sounds to a huge, diffused ambient reverb at maximum settings. It’s lush and complimentary, and adding it in with the other effects will put you squarely in dreamscape territory.
- Tone Knob: The Tone parameter controls the cutoff of a synth-style resonant low pass filter, allowing you to shape the tone of the effect output.
- Series and Parallel: In series, effects will feed into each other in the order of Chorus > Delay > Grain > Output.
- In parallel, all of the effect outputs on Chorus, Delay, and Grain are summed together and do not feed into each other. The top row of knobs will act as level controls, and the user can control the level of each effect.
- The Mix/Dry parameter controls the mix of wet and dry signal in series mode and dry level in parallel mode.
Grain Controls
- The featured Grain effect features two ‘flavors’ of operation:
- Grain Cloud: This mode triggers small samples (grains) randomly from your playing, which gives you unpredictable, yet charming glitchy texture for your sound. The X knob controls the length of time between grains, so you can go from dense clusters to sparse accents.
- Phrase Sample: This mode triggers grains rhythmically from your playing. Initial peaks in your playing are detected and grains are played back starting at these peaks, creating a rhythmic and intentional effect. The X knob controls the tempo at which the samples will be played back. Turning the X knob to the minimum position will sync the Phrase Sample time to the Delay time so that repeated grains are in time with the Delay repeats.
- The Grain effect also features 5 playback modes that dictate different ways the grain samples are projected.
- x1: Normal
- x2: Double-speed and +1 octave
- x.5: Half-speed and -1 octave
- REV: Reverse playback
- RNDM: Randomized combination of the previous four modes.
Delay Controls
The delay effect is a full, clean digital delay that offers repeats for up to two seconds. Use the time knob to control the time between delays as well as the feedback knob to control the amount of delays. The TAP/OSC switch on the bottom right of the pedal can also be used to control the delay effect via tap tempo, or when held down will ramp up the feedback and cause the delay to oscillate.
Subdivisions
Delay trails can be projected in three subdivision modes:
- Quarter Note
- Dotted Eighth Note
- Eighth Note
Chorus Controls
The Chorus effect offers two modes:
Tri Chorus: A multi-dimensional chorus favorite. Lush, complex, modulated sounds combining three voices for a full, vibrant sound.
Stereo Chorus: This mode is a classic chorus effect but with the modulation of the chorus being offset 180 degrees to the right channel to achieve the stereo width effect.
Other Features
- Three on-board presets (red, green, blue) plus a live mode (white).
- TRS MIDI ⅛” in and thru ports for MIDI control.
- USB-C port included for future firmware updates.
- Momentary Grain Freeze
- Momentary Grain + Max Reverb Freeze
