#354

yesssssss. the key is treating it like a physical instrument – it’s incredibly playable. especially fun to use the ‘freeze’ button amid knob turns for weird pitch shifts and sampled-in-the-moment warbles.

5 Likes
#355

Yeah, it doesn’t get as big as SPACE, but the Ambient algorithm can get pretty big. I haven’t used it that way much, though because I tend to fill up the space with more sounds leaving less room for a huge verb.

But I’ll just say, wait til you hear what @stripes did with BAM at Commend over the summer. Our cassette from that show is dropping possibly as soon as next week. Basically, she ran her entire setup through it and opens the set with this short verb that she then modulated by hand (Size param and Freeze button, for sure) and it’s the best sound. Doesn’t sound like a reverb, really, at all. More like a doubling effect with chorusing. Such a warm sound she got.

Whatever the case, it’s really great, as is the rest of her set. Keep an eye out on Commend’s socials and newsletters and stuff, or our respective social feeds to find out when it drops. It’s a limited run and there’s no digital distro at this time, so it’s a catch it while you can sort of party.

7 Likes
#356

@fourhexagons - just a quick note to say I caught that show last summer during one of those NY torrential downpours, and it was beautiful.

I saw you record it, and have been hoping it would pop up on your youtube channel, so it’s great to see it getting an official release!

#357

It may be low-rent for this thread, but I recently picked up a Digitech Polara for less than $100 and it’s been wonderful. I like minimal controls, and it just sounds good no matter where you put it. The “Halo” (shimmer) effect is not as over the top as other versions, and the spring reverb is really nice. I usually camp out on Plate, but all of its modes are terrific with very little fuss. For less than some reverb plugins, it’s been a good buy IMO.

3 Likes
#358

Some of the low-end 'verbs are fantastic. Old Alesis units (Midiverb, etc), even some Boss stomps, Lexicon MX/MPX are all fantastic and still quite affordable (saw a Midiverb I for $35 Canadian recently).

3 Likes
#359

Oh, awesome—you were there!

Yeah, I’m grateful that Commend is releasing it. I, unfortunately, can’t release the video of my full set (which, because of the flourescent lighting I chose to leave on in the room, I spent countless hours editing with overlays of plants and light to make it look better) but excerpts of each of our sets will go on my YouTube and I’ve been given the green light to put the entirety of my own set on my Patreon, so at least a few people will be able to see it.

Thanks for the support ~

2 Likes
#360

Yes! I’m a big fan of the Alesis Midiverb 1 (set me back $25 CAD about 6 years ago).

It looks like a boring box of reverbs that you can’t edit, but it just sounds great with synths. It’s noisy and artificial and weird. Perfect! :slight_smile: The 63 presets are basically variations on “bright/dark” and “small/medium/large” with increasing decay times (up to 20 seconds). You get a small handful of weirdo algorithms too (gated, reverse).

6 Likes
#361

BAM is a magical playable instrument that goes well beyond set + forget reverb duties.

7 Likes
#362

100%. All of the OTO boxes have a magic quality that’s hard to quantify.

2 Likes
#363

I kind of assumed that OTO stuff was “more than meets the eye”.

Guess I’ll start saving up for a BAM :relaxed:

#364

I need to do more of this.

#365

BAM is definitely an instrument in my setup more than it is an effect. feels. good!

that being said the algorithms very much have a “sound”, and it doesn’t really sound anything like an eventide reverb or the big version of the blue sky which are in a similar price range and can maybe be a little more “spacey”. it’s hard to describe the sound. maybe more underwater than cosmic? definitely not always what i want for everything, but in a specific performance set up i love it and would never take it out. the feel is also nice vs a stomp box vibe. i would suggest buying one from somewhere where you could return it if you don’t jive, or a good used deal so you can always re-sell.

if i didn’t use it for recording and performing live i don’t know if i would keep it since it is an expensive thing for a digital reverb. valhalla reverb plugins are amazing sounding and are very affordable, but playing hardware is irreplaceable since i don’t use my computer for performance.

7 Likes
#366

+1 on the BAM love. I recorded last year in a studio that had the BIM & BAM combo and they were extraordinarily versatile. We used the BAM to make a massive wash of vocals on one song, and then turned around on another song and used it as a totally invisible vocal reverb that added depth and space with a really short tail. we even did a “solo” where we grabbed one note of a Juno coming out of the chorus, froze it, then rode the pitch with the size knob to make a melody.

I would characterize the sound as very warm, with the ability to be quite thick but also disappear into the background. We also tried the studio’s Ursa Major, AMS RMX16, and Lexicon PCM42, and the OTO units were definitely of the same ilk and capable of covering their tonal range but with much more versatility. BAM was like having a hardware ValhallaVintage as some have said.

I’m really in love with the sound of both OTO units and I dream about having a set of my own someday when finances allow!

2 Likes
#367

im loving the verbs in the Grand Terminal. I love that module flat out, it doesnt get the praise it deserves…i just got a H9 and a Big Sky so from zero to hero(ish) - ive never had rack mounted effects so its an absolute pleasure i cant believe i’ve neglected

3 Likes
#368

re: BAM’s ‘Freeze’ function - anyone have any links to video or at least audio demonstrating this? I haven’t been able to find much on it. I definitely get the idea, but just would like to hear/see an example in context since it seems super cool!

#369

They show it a little at the end of the official vid. Have you seen that?

1 Like
#370

another space to see it used is in @David_Rothbaum’s latest video, starting around the 2:00 mark.

4 Likes
#371

thanks for this- i hadnt seen/heard anything of that function

#372

@jonny & @karst - thanks! I had skimmed the original video but maybe didn’t watch through the whole thing, and I hadn’t seen @David_Rothbaum’s video yet

#373

Freeze is a normal, classic function of most modern-ish reverbs. The Space/H9 has it, I assume most other vendors offer it too. On my H9s (and the Space, since that part is identical for both) you can control it with an expression pedal or a footswitch, turn it on or off while playing. With the expression pedal you can also go between freeze and infinite - the difference is that freeze holds the current reverb buffer while NOT reverbing anything new played on top (so you can layer clean over the frozen wet signal) whereas infinite continually adds whatever you’re playing into the frozen buffer. Obviously, without care, this can lead to overloading the buffer and clipping, but with some careful balancing of the input, you can get these immense, shifting washes. Eventide’s algorithms (which I’m mostly familiar with, as you’ve no doubt noticed by now) do a nice job of helping you not overload the buffer by carefully and intelligently adjusting the feedback based on the amplitude of new signals coming in. I can’t say anything about how other vendors implement it.

But in summary, Freeze / Infinite is a very normal, common reverb tool/technique and it’s not unique to the Bam.

2 Likes