Walrus Audio Lore Reverse Soundscape Generator review

Complementing the reverb and delay pedals already in the Walrus Audio roster, the Lore focuses on building complex ambiences – “an ambient creation machine built around reverse delay and reverbs”, says Walrus. 

Basically, it’s a pedal that has two DSP chips running in series, each with its own analogue feedback path, allowing for various combos of delay and reverb, with plenty of interaction between the effects.

Your starting point is the five numbered programs: reverse delay into reverse reverb; reverse delay into octave-up reverb; reverse delay into octave-down reverb; reverse reverb into forward reverb; and pitch delay into pitch delay. An array of knobs take things from here. 

The Mod knob always adds modulation and Mix runs from fully dry to fully wet. But each of the others has a slightly different function depending on what program you have selected. While the manual explains it all, it takes a bit of experimentation to understand how everything interacts in order to dial in some sounds that will work for you.

All of the programs have something interesting to offer – mainly on the theme of creating an ambient backdrop to your sound. It’s a spacious sound, for sure, and you can dial in ethereal floating and shifting pads of ambience. We particularly liked Program 4 for its conjunction of sparkly reverbs, with the Regen knob easing in a bit of upper octave shimmer. 

For performance, tap tempo is available for all delays and time-stretching for Program 4’s reverb, but you can also press and hold the footswitch to momentarily shift the clock rate of the pedal down or up, throwing in a quick pitch shift – it’s a quirky effect but we’d rather have the flexibility of an expression pedal.

There are plenty of esoteric sounds to be explored among the five programs. But this is a machine that’s crying out for memory storage – it won’t be easy recalling the exact juxtaposition of the controls if you want to go back to a favourite sound you’ve discovered, especially if you’re using it on stage and want different settings for individual songs. 

Specs

• PRICE: $299 / £285
• ORIGIN: USA
• TYPE: Ambience pedal 
• FEATURES: Buffered Bypass, switchable Trails mode, tap tempo, Dive/Rise effect
• CONTROLS: Feedback, Regen,
  Mod, Mix, X, Time, Tone, Program selector, Bypass footswitch,
  Tap/Dive/Rise footswitch
• CONNECTIONS: Standard input, standard output
• POWER: 9V DC adaptor (not supplied) 300mA
• DIMENSIONS: 92 (w) x 121 (d) x 57mm (h) 
• CONTACT: Walrus Audio