of psychedelia. But it also
has a few other tricks
which make it a bit more
psychedelic. The Bicycle
Delay will apply a curious
“hollowing out” effect to
the delayed signal, and it
will do so in a somewhat
aleatory way. At least, the
result sounded a bit random
even though the Mood
knob controls the general
direction of the hollowing
effect. For example, I
set the Mood to noon
and the repeated notes
retained their character,
but lost some fidelity as
they decayed. But when
I turned the Mood knob
to the right, the repeated
notes tended to become
more metallic as they lost
their lower frequencies.
Conversely, turning the
Mood knob down gave
the repeated notes an
increasingly metallic and
“hollow” character, but with
an emphasis on the lower
frequencies and a few high
ones. To be completely
honest, it’s very hard to
describe just how this filter
sounds, but it’s akin to a ring
modulator.
The Bicycle Delay is fun to
play with, and even in its
“basic” noon settings, I was
able to produce a funny,
‘50s sci-fi spaceship takeoff
sound if I also turned the
Expanse knob to around 2
o’clock. When I turned down
the Radiance knob to block
the higher frequencies, I
was able to generate a cool
rhythmic throbbing sound
which might work well to
accompany the rhythm
section of a band.
One feature I would have
liked in the pedal is a
choice between hard and
soft switching. Many delay
pedals offer a “trailing”
feature which allows the
delay to continue and fade
slowly after the effect is
switched off. The Bicycle
Delay, on the other hand,
features no trailing or slow
fade after it’s switched off.
Arguably, a sudden break
with the delay effect could
seem more psychedelic and
therefore more in the spirit
of Hoffman’s bike ride. Still,
the option for a slow fade
would be nice.
and sonic explorers of all
types. My advice, though:
don’t ride a bike while
playing around with sonic
hallucinogens.
WHAT WE LIKE
Psychedelic delay of up to
two seconds with the option
for ring-modulator-like
processing of the delayed
signal; a cool concept.
CONCERNS
It would be cool to have a
“soft” off option rather
than an abrupt cutoff of
the effect.
In sum, Catalinbread’s
new Bicycle Delay ought
to appeal to psychonauts
ToneReport.com
55