Popular boutique brand Meris unveiled a brand-new pedal today. Dubbed the Hedra, it's a multifaceted pitch-shifter inspired by previous, larger generations of similar effects units, says DSP engineer Angelo Mazzocco.
"I grew up idolizing how the '90s guitar giants used their unobtainable big box pitch shifters. The Hedra branches out from there with all new mind bending sounds and capabilities," he writes on Meris' site. You can hear Mazzocco put the unit through its paces in the brand's announcement video below.
The pedal is a three-voice rhythmic pitch-shifter, with individual controls for pitch and time offset for each voice. It's packed with features, including four delay configurations with feedback routing, chromatic or key-driven harmony with selectable scale types, and selectable pitch correction for revoicing your melodies in real-time. Pedals and Effects called this last function "Auto-Tune for guitar."
Hedra has a digitally controlled analog mix control, a stereo in/out, external tap tempo, MIDI in/out over TRS, and MIDI beat clock synchronization. While guitarists will find plenty of reasons to reach for the pedal, synth players especially might find it useful, as the Hedra can easily turn a monophonic signal into polyphonic sound, with quick and precise note-tracking. And, the pedal's switchable headroom lets it take instrument-level or line-level signals (as from synths).
The pedal is retailing for $299 USD. Check back soon for availability on Reverb.