The fine folks at Walrus Audio continue their tradition of releasing a new pedal on Labor Day with a stereo, analog chorus/vibrato hosted in a compact case, called Julianna – an expanded version of their popular, lush-sounding Julia chorus.
Besides the stereoness of its ins and outs (which, by itself, is a big plus, in particular for ambient and synth players), the Julianna adds a Random wave to the Julia’s Sine and Triangle, and sports an extra footswitch and toggle switch that open up a few new functions, listed below:
- Tap Tempo with 3 subdivisions (quarter note, quarter note triplet, or eighth note)
- Secondary LFO speed (Ramp up or slow down to a second LFO rate by pressing the Tap footswitch)
- Modulation Drift (Automatically speeds up and slows down the LFO rate)
An extra input allows control of Depth, Rate, or both with an expression pedal.
We added the Julianna to our shopping guide about the Best Chorus Pedals.
YouTube was literally inundated with videos of the Walrus Audio Julianna, here are some our favorite ones:
Building off of the lush, tonal landscapes that the Julia Analog Chorus/Vibrato created, Julianna is an all analog, digital LFO, stereo chorus/vibrato with new expanded features. Julianna is able to produce mild smooth chorus, to seasick vibrato, to everywhere in between. Familiar controls like Lag, Dry-Chorus-Vibrato Blend, and selectable LFO wave shapes are all still here, but Julianna employs some new tricks: The Secondary LFO speed, modulation drift, tap/expression control and momentary features will have you commanding all new kinds of sounds not found in traditional chorus pedals.
The Julianna contains all of the sounds and controls that the Julia has but adds these deluxe features:
• Tap Tempo Control: Set the rate of the LFO with the Rate knob or the tap tempo switch.
• Stereo In/Out Jacks: Run mono in/mono out, mono in/stereo out, stereo in/stereo out.
• Momentary Secondary LFO Speed: Ramp up or slow down to a second LFO rate. See manual for details.
• Drift Function: Gently speed up and slow down the LFO rate. Kinda like having a little robot inside your pedal moving the Rate knob up and down. See manual for details. You’ll like this one.
• Random LFO Shape: In addition to sine and triangle, Julianna adds a random wave shape option to modulate the pitch of your signal.
• Tap Division: Select quarter note, quarter note triplet or eighth note multiplier to scale a tapped in tempo.
• Expression Control: Control Depth, Rate or both with an expression pedal.
• External Tap In.
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Unlike most other chorus pedals, the Julianna and Julia have a special feature called Lag control. The Lag knob lets you set the center delay time that the LFO modulates. From smooth and tight modulation at lower settings, to a warbling detune at maximum, the Lag knob adds a new dimension to the traditional chorus/vibrato landscape.
D-C-V KNOB
The DCV knob sets the ratio of dry to wet signal through the mono channel of the Julianna. Traditional mono chorus sounds can be heard with the knob set around noon. Pitch vibrato is found in the full clockwise position. The ground in between offers unique blends of chorus and vibrato not commonly found on other chorus pedals.
When both outputs are connected, set the DCV knob to full counterclockwise to send your dry signal to the mono output and vibrato signal to the stereo output for a traditional stereo chorus sound. Explore other variations by turning the DCV knob up slightly to add some vibrato signal to the dry output changing the stereo image.
