Based on the infamous PT2399 chip that has inspired so many lo-fi creative devices, the Swamp Witch Pedals Season of the Witch is a handmade, creative modulated delay pedal for the tweaking inclined and the CV enthusiast.
The delay section of the circuit offers your expected controls on the left section of the pedal: dry/wet Blend, Feedback and the Delay time, plus a useful clean Boost.
Where things get intense is in the modulation section, which is switchable via the right footswitch and offers 7 waveforms selectable through a rotary knob (on the bottom right) while the Depth, Rate and Offset controls set the character of the modulation (a chorus effect).
There are also three toggle switches: two of them allow to control two different parameters (delay Feedback and delay Time) via the LFO or the Control input, which accepts CV In and Expression pedal. This means that those parameters can be controlled by the LFO either one at a time or both at once (or not at all).
A third toggle switch swaps the phase of the feedback modulation that can change the tone of the repeats quite drastically depending on the settings.
The videos below give you a good idea of what this pedal can do. We added it to our articles about the best tape-style delay pedals and best experimental/psychedelic delays.
Swamp Witch Pedals Season of the Witch, Builder’s Notes
The Season of the Witch is, at its core, a modulating digital delay pedal. The modulation can be accomplished via an LFO circuit, which uses the StompLFO chip from Electric Druid, a TRS-capable expression pedal, or a 0-5V TS CV signal. The digital delay is driven by the PT2399, a common short-range delay chip.
But the Season of the Witch is also so much more than a modulated delay: it is a space-time manipulator, a seasick harmony machine, an ambient movie soundtrack generator, and a shoegaze tone factory all in one.
The pedal includes standard delay controls: dry/wet Blend, amount of Feedback in the signal, the Delay time, and a transparent Boost to add a little more body and drive to the signal.
It also includes controls for the Control Signal, which will be discussed in depth later: Rate, Waveform selection, and Offset and Depth controls for fine-tuned wave control (“Control Signal” is any of the three types of available control: internal LFO, external TRS expression pedal, or 0-5V CV generator).
There are three switches on the Season of the Witch as well: one for changing the delay time with the Control Signal, one for changing the amount of feedback with the Control Signal, and finally a phase switch for the feedback modulation — in-phase, long delay times are paired with lots of feedback, and out-of-phase, short delay times are paired with lots of feedback.
When your signal combines with the Control Signal, the results can be otherworldly. Subtle variation of the Control Siganl produces warm, wavering sounds, much like a chorus pedal. Less than subtle variation produces wild, pitch-shifting, potentially-arpeggiated noises: changing the variation from gentle to almost unrecognizable.
