New (Crazy) Pedals: TWA Dynamorph

We saw this pedal by NJ based TWA (an acronym for “Totally Wicked Audio”) at our NAMM 2017 mixed booth and it looked intriguing indeed, if anything for the name of its controls – there’s a Kafka/Ovid switch, and a “Gestation” mini-knob!

The effect’s presentation is also interesting:

“Distortion? Fuzz? Filter? Synth? Dynamorph™ is all of these, and much more.”

The pedal is said to feature “a distortion circuit where the amount and type of saturation is intricately and inextricably linked to the input signal level” and we kind of dig how the company isn’t afraid to say that the results are somewhat “bizarre”:

“[…creates] highly complex waveforms that twist and morph your instrument’s harmonic structure in bizarre yet decidedly musical ways.”

Under the box, an envelope-detection circuit interacts with the player’s style justifies the “Dyna” part of the name, and also the “Morph” side of it actually, since this function is engaged by the switch on the right that goes by that name. This function, for example, allows the amount of drive to be controlled through the playing’s dynamics. The “Instar” knob controls the threshold at which the morph will start operating, while the “Gestation” knob lets you manipulate how quickly the drive will swell from zero to full.

This is not a pedal that can be summarized in a few words, so geeks into tech talk should check out the manufacturer’s page here. This being said, we couldn’t help but look what that Kafka/Ovid switch does:

“MODE (OVID/KAFKA): This switch selects between two different overall EQ curves for the effect. Ovid is fuller-sounding, while Kafka has more emphasis in the high frequency range.”

We guess it’s a little like saying “classic” vs “edgy” sounding – great choice of writers!

Check out the demo below.