Sometimes a single pedal can be transformative, allowing your tone to bloom in a way that draws music out of you effortlessly and keeps you engaged for hours on end. The simple look and feel of Cloudburst belies the power underneath the hood, because it produces some of the most gorgeous ambient reverb tones and soundscapes that you’ve ever heard out of a guitar reverb pedal – there’s literally nothing else quite like it. Coupled with the powerful ambience processing is a brand-new Ensemble engine, capable of creating pads and soundscapes that follow your playing organically – so if you change pickups or play in a different place on the neck you get different results. It’s unlike anything you’ve ever heard or played before, all wrapped in a smaller form factor that still manages to house full stereo I/O, TRS MIDI and USB-C connectors on the back panel. Prepare to be inspired! Celestial String Section Cloudburst’s Ensemble switch reveals a whole new world of captivating sounds never previously heard from a reverb pedal. Use it subtly to add harmonically rich and otherworldly dimensions to your ambient reverb soundscapes, or use it liberally to hear a lush synthesized string section swell under your guitar playing. Ensemble reacts to your entire guitar signal in an organic and musical way, delivering a richly responsive and uniquely inspiring playing experience.Cloudburst gives you multiple reverb experiences, with beautifully-tuned and natural small spaces at one end of the Decay knob and vast, expansive atmospheres at the other. As you turn the Decay control numerous internal parameters are automatically adjusted, allowing this ambient reverb pedal to produce outstanding studio-quality spaces of any size at the turn of a single knob.All of the premium components, sound quality and road-worthiness you expect from a Strymon reverb pedal are here in Cloudburst’s new compact format. Featuring unbeatable ease of use and some of the finest reverb sounds we’ve ever created, Cloudburst could easily be the only reverb pedal you need on your pedalboard.Decay: The Decay knob on Cloudburst does some seriously heavy lifting. Not only does it control the duration of the reverb tail, but it also dramatically transforms the character of the reverb via a number of continuous under-the-hood adjustments, allowing you to discover countless new musical and inspiring sounds at different points all along the dial. Even tiny adjustments of this knob can yield noticeable changes to the character of the reverb, so the Decay control is central to the operation of Cloudburst.Ensemble: Cloudburst’s Ensemble effect works by continuously analyzing 48 different frequency bands as you play, generating upper harmonic partials of what it finds in each frequency band. Rather than generating a static synthetic signal based solely on pitch detection, Ensemble is a dynamic and organic effect that generates harmonics based on your playing, varying its sonic character depending on where you pick, which pickup you use, and the volume envelope of what you play. The result is a gorgeous string ensemble-like expansion of your reverberated signal that creates a unique and unforgettable playing and listening experience.Mix: Cloudburst’s Mix knob adjusts the reverb mix from full dry at minimum to full wet at maximum (a 50/50 mix occurs at approximately 3 o’clock on the knob). Use moderate mix settings and darker tone settings combined with short decay times to create a variety of realistic small spaces, or soar through huge ambient cloudscapes with liberal mix settings and high decay times. Additional power-up modes allow for kill-dry (for use in parallel effects loops) and an analog dry path option.Pre-Delay: A dedicated Pre-delay control lets you add space between your dry signal and the reverb — a handy tool for maintaining clarity when using higher Mix and Decay settings. Longer pre-delay times can be useful for creating swells or blooms after notes or chords, and shorter values can be used to create reverberant slap-back echoes when the reverb is set to a smaller space.Tone: Cloudburst’s Tone knob controls the amount of high frequencies within the reverb, with a damped high end at minimum and no damping at all at maximum. Keep the Tone control low to minimize Cloudburst’s effect on your overall guitar tone, and bring it up high to make the reverb the center of attention. Or, control it with an expression pedal to create dramatic filtering effects in combination with long Decay times and Ensemble, if you’re feeling adventurous.Modulation: The lush effects created by modulating the lengths of a reverb’s delay lines can add movement and interest to the overall reverb sound, and Cloudburst takes it to the next level (especially when used together with Ensemble). The Mod control operates as modulation depth from minimum to 12 o’clock, and as modulation speed from noon to maximum, where warbly “vintage sci-fi” pitch modulation can be found.
