And it’s also apricot.
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Anybody who get a MOOD can certainly turn it on and do things without watching the videos. I did not mean to imply otherwise.
The videos were posted for informational purposes
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As you have seen from circuitghost’s nice demos, it is not absolutely necessary to use the DIP switches. They are meant for alternative functions, particularly automation.
Others have also commented on the DIP switches negatively and positively. Deal-breaker for some, not so much for others.
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Yeah I feel you, I don’t think they are a deal breaker, it really does seem like a sweetheart and totally shattered my expectations. I read through the manual after posting that, there are some crucial functions there especially if using an expression pedal, which I definitely would, but yeah, too bad they aren’t on the front or on the top. I guess just have it in a place where they’re easy to access, on a little angled stand or something, and keep a little flathead or whatever nearby and it’s all good. Full size jack for MIDI remains a strange choice but I suppose just use one of those little adapters, and it will definitely be more durable, so maybe not that strange of a choice.
A jam tool.
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Dips only works for Expression pedal or CV. It’s not perfect, but it works, and you don’t need touch it everytime. I agree about 1/4 midi connection , but the same, is designed as a guitar pedal for a midi pedal. Even, it’s only mono! Yes, it’s not for all the folks.
Anyway, I love the results you can achieve around it.
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the dipswitches are for deeper settings rather than performance. on larger pedals with a screen it would be the stuff buried in a menu, set and forget. personally I think they found a good compromise between customisability and pedal size, and it also allows them to use the same enclosure design for their whole pedal range.
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From time to time, I review gear for magazines and web sites. I wasn’t planning on doing one for Chase Bliss Mood, but decided to write one up just for the fun of it. Here are my final thoughts on the Mood, in review shape sort of. Enjoy.
Iceland
After having spent a few weeks with the Chase Bliss Mood pedal, initially falling in love with it for the textures it created with such ease, textures usually desired by anyone looking for melancholia and the bittersweet in electronic music, I’ve now come to the conclusion that this one isn’t for me. Which might seem kind of odd, considering that I’ve always had a thing for anything that sounds like it comes from Iceland (though I’m well aware Chase Bliss is all American), and that might’ve been jointed with Aphex Twin at some point.
Let It Go
But the reason why I’m letting this go, in favour for more traditional outboard fx, is simple - it’s more novel than useful. As unpredictable as it is, a generator of happy accidents you just couldn’t have imagined, it also ends up with a lot of “Okay, now what?”
I’ve run just about everything through it now, from drum loops to one shots to arpeggiators to your ordinary funky synth loop. No guitars, mind you. Who uses guitars with pedals these days? Pfft. I’ve gathered up a respectable collection of stuff that each on their own, sound fantastic. Bristling with possibilities. It’s just that I can’t find these possibilities anywhere.
Out There
See, that’s the thing with boards that sounds quirky and lovely. You remain impressed, like you do after a Richard Devine track, but you’re also left with a feeling that you didn’t much learn anything from this and you’re not sure what to make of it, as impressive as it remains. Once you get down to the business of writing a track, you can’t be reaching for the weird stuff all the time. You can do it occasionally, or for the random ambience vibe, or to spice something up or be very specific. But to constantly add that powerful spice that controls the universe? You’ll quickly wear it out.
Worn
So I guess that’s what I’ve done with the Chase Bliss Mood. Worn it out, in so much that I’m realising that randomly sampled and looped mono clips that go granular, wrapped in dark reverb or mystic delay, is fantastic but not always wanted. At least, not for me. As I reached for my Blackbox to repeat what the Mood does (I guess I did learn something after all), activating the granular feature within the Box and slicing up the samples and triggering them at random from the sequencer, I didn’t perhaps always get as cool and out there results as with the Mood. But I got results I used more often.
But it’s apricot
With all this said, the Chase Bliss Mood comes in a lovely apricot color. It looks absolutely amazing on my shelf. So even if I didn’t find much use for it in the end, I love it all the same and I’m sure I’m just the one not getting it. I don’t use pedals with guitars, after all.
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I had a similar experience, though in a much more compressed time frame. I got one on sale to try out. At first, it was full of fun and whimsy, but I also got to the “now what” point. I ran different stuff through it with varying results. I often got frustrated with the controls. I guess I’ve been spoiled by elektron boxes where you turn a knob - something happens. With the mood, you turn a knob - something happens, but what? I think it’s just not for me. I sold it recently, and there are only two things I regret:
- It really does look nice
- the left side fx are also really nice.
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I’m getting close to the “now what” point, and i think that’ll be experimenting with the dip switches more and looking into using it with midi. having the ability to plock could really open it up.
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My experience was: pretty much anything in (guitar, synth, drum machines, kazoo, voice) --> MOOD out. It just turned everything into itself; the source material was largely irrelevant. It’s effective, but I found it very difficult to use for anything other than “textures” that always sounded inherently similar. All of this is written in past tense for a reason.
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I had a Mood for a while, but ultimately I sold it. Being mono was a deal breaker for me since I bought it to use on a synth (I knew it was mono when I bought it, but I wanted to try it).
I love CBA pedals, but I’m very interested to test out a Hologram Microcosm, as it looks to be sort of like a stereo Mood on steroids.
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I’m still enjoying mine though I find that I have to be in the right headspace for it, mostly because I’m not entirely sure what it’s going to do after turning a knob; it’s the anti-Type A Personality pedal. No huge gripes from me though I really wish there were a way to somehow adjust the Clock intervals to something other than fourths and fifths. It was glorious when I first got the pedal but now I rarely touch it because it’s so predictable to my ears.
I run my JU-06A through it and only activate it for ambient-ish transitions in my live set.
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I can see myself reaching a similar “now what” conclusion, I just haven’t used it (or any of my gear lately) enough since getting it. But since I just recorded this and the thread is bumped, I may as well post this clip from a textural session I had with it:
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Alright, which one of you did this? Some cool ideas for integrating MOOD with Digitakt and even another time-based pedal, thanks to MOOD’s MIDI suppport
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Okay, I definitely have to get my Pyramid involved to try some of this.
That is very cool and one area I didn’t explore. I’m getting why Chase Bliss pedals are considered so much more than just another great sounding board.
I found this video in a thread on another forum that was supposed to be about Model:Cycles - other fellow said Cycles is great but it won’t let him do “interesting MIDI stuff”, then posted that video as an example.
I might eventually try something using Zoia’s MIDI functions w/ MOOD but apparently it involves multiple MIDI-TRS adapters because Empress and Chase Bliss chose different MIDI-TRS standards or something… sounds like a pain in the neck so it might be a while…
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There’s a really good video out there of someone running orchestral stems through a Mood (as well as a CBA Generation Loss). That’s what pushed me over the edge to buy one.
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2 glasses of wine down, so please excuse the *ramblings of a madman and lack of coherence here…I feel that if you use these types of fx/pedals with a soloist instrument mindset you’d probably feel more settled. I’ve had the same issue with so many pedals & always sold up & went back to more standard fx boxes. But lately i’ve been thinking about my gear (OT, 2 x DT) as standalone instruments with a single purpose or idea in mind. Not to create tracks, but to form sound or entity/character. So instead of trying to figure out how to maintain interest from a particular effect within in a mixing context, i’m more interested in how those sounds/fx represent a singular thing or object or an environment. That allows me too loosen up & explore fx & modulations in a totally different frame of mind. Rather than getting fatigued from a particular effect i except or develop it as an intrinsic part of the thing i’m trying to shape. And in that sense i’m happy for the sound or thing to be ephemeral. I remember an interview with *FSOL back in 93/94 saying they only use a sound or loop as long as it’s needed/relevant. That why you hear so many random or fleeting moments in their tracks.
Capeesh?
Round 3…glug glug
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