KMA Audio Machines

Notes: From the outset, KMA Machine's goal was to create the most flexible analogue upper octave pedal ever yet produced. Based on a highly refined and improved version of the Shriek circuit from KMA's venerated MOAI MAEA pedal, the MANDRAKE brings an even more robust and present upper octave to the sonic table. By combining that upper-octave might with a versatile, yet highly intuitive user interface, the pedal provides a ton of killer tonal options in a very modern and pedalboard-friendly package.

"The humanesque abomination, begat of the evils that once fertilised his empire of dirt, now senses the bleak emptiness of the air that surrounds him. In recognition of his harvest and the perpetual change to his existence, his mesmerising scream is both devastating and euphoric, so all those that encircle him are subdued from the aural toxicity that emanates from the disfigured effigy."

Octave up pedals (as used by so many legendary performers including Hendrix, Tony Iommi, Josh Homme, Billy Corgan, Jack White and so many more), can really give added bite to your sound. But often, many of these fun tools can be untamed and lead to nasty clashing overtones.

With MANDRAKE however, KMA didn't want to just make a one trick pony octave up device. The powerful and ultra-fast tracking Shriek circuit was expanded on with its edgy and fuzzy character that's reminiscent of many of the best vintage octave-up devices. To do this, a 2nd order Low-Pass Filter was introduced, a TIMBRE and individual Mix controls to KMA's well-regarded circuit to make it way more versatile in a single pedal. Let's look at those cool new things in more detail.

The FILTER control helps to tame your upper harmonics, as well as to improve tracking, letting you achieve unhinged, cutting and shrieking mayhem when the control is fully turned all the way to the left. While turning the knob in the other direction gives a more mellow and blooming synth-like texture. The FILTER section is also very useful for tailoring the upper octave effect to different instruments and pickups, where getting the right tone is not a "one size fits all" equation.

In addition, to enable the octave voicing in MANDRAKE to be sculpted exactly to your own personal taste, the TIMBRE control defines the amount of fuzzy gain present in the upper octave. This allows you to perfectly blend in the pedal's tonality with the rest of your signal chain. Turning the control fully counterclockwise, gives a slightly crunchy and percussive tone that's ideal for melodic arpeggio enhancements. While cranking the TIMBRE knob fully clockwise will transform MANDRAKE into a crushingly saturated doom-hammer, instantly ready to wreak havoc with each power chord you throw at it!

Topping off the features, the DRY and OCT+ controls allow the dry signal and effected upper octave to be mixed independently, for precise tonal balancing. This is especially handy when using MANDRAKE together with other dirt pedals or when you just want to retain the natural body and attack of your instrument.

Subtle descant or decimating octaval Armageddon? With MANDRAKE the choice is totally yours!

Notes: When you add drive, dirt or other sound manipulation devices to your signal, the trade-off is always noise. So, many players turn to noise gates to help tame these unwanted nasties. Unlike many noise gates on the market, the PYLON ATB Noise Gate seeks to not only drive back the hordes of fizz and hum, but also arms and reinforces your tonal attack, shutting down the noise and yet helping you enjoy your rig's true potential.

This advanced, multi-functional and super-versatile pedal not only features an ultra-fast Gate with a smooth trigger, an integrated Boost section, an External Trigger Input for external bypass switching or Gate-triggering, a relay-based Channel Switcher for your amp but also sports a built-in Audio Transformer to help enhance and balance your rig. Hear and feel the quiet in the eye of the storm!

"Deep within the solitude of the temple, the Sau's of the Per-Ankh assembled in silence. Their conclusion was self-evident. Only those pure of tone could be received in the temple and find sonic peace. From the centre of their silent circle, the Orb swelled and raised above the Pylons. Erupting in a rain of light and spewing forth daggers of lightning, their new God subdued and separated the chaotic ocean of noise from the perfect breeze of stillness. Peace reigned once more, the hordes of cacophony overcome."

When talking about signal gain, we all know drive circuits at full tilt can be noisy malice monsters. To help get a grip on your noise floor, PYLON's NOISE GATE is based on a high-performance Blackmerr VCA and provides lightning-fast and precise performance. To find the right spot, simply choose between one of the two detection-range settings and dial in the THRESHOLD to taste. With either softly decaying notes using HIGH mode or a fast-closing response in LOW mode, you're sure to be able to dial in super tight tones when you need it, but without interfering with your sonic signature. Fast palm-mutes? No problem. Decaying notes? Dead simple to accomplish and just so you know when it is operating, the white status LED will also turn blue as soon as the gate starts to act.

Providing up to 30 dB of gain, the integrated BOOST circuit can really help to fine tune your tone, but it can also serve as an attenuator too. Its CUT control will tighten up your low end and is selectable between 65-730 Hz to ensure a mid-focussed and cutting lead sound when pushing your amp's preamp into saturation. Choosing between three different modes for the boost's on/off state, gives you plenty of options on how you want to use it. Either leave it ON to always help shape your tone, OFF if you don't need it, or use SYNC mode so it is activated with the GATE. Both CUT & BOOST knobs are backlit, in order to show you the on/off status of the BOOST section at a glance.

Using transformers in pro-audio gear is nothing new, but while they help to easily match the impedance of low-level and unbalanced signals such as from guitar or bass instruments, PYLON's audio-grade-transformer also gives additional warmth with associated nice low-frequency harmonics. Your guitars, synths or in fact anything you put through the pedal will never have sounded so solid. The pedal gives more 'heft' and enhances the core tone, in a much finer way and without any of the phase issues that can happen when using EQ alone!

However, when the output transformer is boosted even further in level, it can overload many amplifier or pre-amp inputs and make things appear muddy, especially with high levels of additional gain. So, to help tame superfluous low end (especially for rhythm chugging and soloing), KMA Machines added a fixed built-in roll off that affects everything below 65 Hz when the internal BOOST section is activated.

Powered by an optional standard 9V DC (max.) PSU (negative center, 2.1mm, >160mA current draw)