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EQ
This is probably the most sound altering tool in the Soulmate Acoustic and also the only
one that cannot be bypassed. Why? Because you need the EQ for tweaking the sound
of your instrument- it´s not an "effect" per se. Players almost always want to add a bit of
sparkle, some low-end boost or cut some mids to lessen honkyness (try speaking while
pressing on your nostrils – that´s honkyness) and for this you need an EQ. If you think your
sound is perfect as it is, just set all controls to noon - the EQ will have no effect at all, then.
Each "double pot" controls a certain range of frequencies and the affected frequency can
be set with the outer knobs for bass, mids and treble, respectively. To boost the frequency
range at which the outer knob is set, turn the inner knob past noon. To cut the frequency
range, turn it down from the noon position.
The low EQ (bottom knobs) and the high EQ (top knobs) are shelving filters, so all frequen-
cies below/above the chosen frequency is affected by the boosting/cutting. This helps to
bring out or subdue these ranges without the need to boost or cut excessively, because
you can control more than just a narrow band of frequencies. Obviously, if you turn up the
entire low-end part of the frequency spectrum and not just part of it, your ears will hear a
dramatic change. Consequently, you can use a more moderate boost.
(It should be noted, that an EQ is useful for reducing or highlighting certain characteristics in
the input signal, not for transforming your instrument´s pickup system into something it´s
not. Therefore, the better your instrument sounds by itself, the better the overall sound will be,
regardless of EQ settings).
DELAY
The delay effect has been tweaked so that it rolls off the highs just a bit, in order to let the
delays "sit" nicely in the mix, as they say. It´s meant to provide ambience and space in the
sound. For a more "effected" sound, you can turn up the level and tap the tempo on the
corresponding footswitch to the beat of the music you´re playing. On lower settings, it can
create some depth and space around the notes you play without interfering too much.
The delay level knob controls the delay loudness, feedback sets the amount of repeats
and time determines the delay time.
REVERB
The reverb effect in the Acoustic Soulmate has been carefully chosen for acoustic instru-
ments. In addition to the usual reverb level (loudness) and decay (length of the reverb),
we have included a shimmer effect, controlled by the corresponding level knob.
The shimmer effect works in tandem with the reverb to create a decay that sounds a bit
like a pad sound on a keyboard. By layering multiple octaves of your signal and blend-
ing these into the reverb, the resulting sound is...well, shimmer-y. If you really want to
get creative with this, plug an expression pedal into the back panel and you then have
complete hands-free control over the level of the shimmer.
Inserting an expression pedal will bypass the knob on the front.
The Hall reverb is good for...making it sound like you are playing in a big hall. It sounds
almost stupid, but that´s the closest we can get. This effect is probably the most used on
acoustic instruments, so it´s perfectly fine to leave it on all the time. Then you can always
add shimmer if you want to take things further.
FEEDBACK KILLER (FB. KILLER)
This little toggle switch is your best friend in case you experience feedback when
using an amplifier or a monitor. When you flick it to the "up" position, you just let the
instrument go into feedback (replicate the conditions that caused the feedback) and
the Soulmate Acoustic will automatically "calculate" where the offending frequencies
are and eliminate them, which kills the feedback. It´s like having a very small and
very efficient soundman at your disposal, who´s only job is to kill the feedback so it
doesn´t interfere with your performance.
Just remember that the FB. Killer can only do it´s job if you "feed" it with feedback.
So when you activate it, it expects you to generate that feedback, otherwise it won´t
know "what to remove". If it misses its mark, just turn it off, then on again, and repeat
the procedure.
It is a handy tool at soundchecks and in other pre-performance situations.
The FB. Killer can cause a very slight change of sound, due to the very nature of its
workings. Battling feedback involves attenuating very specific frequencies that are
part of the overall sound, so you can´t have one without the other.
(It should be noted that if you boost bass frequencies, play at very loud volumes or stand
close to the speaker, feedback is hard to avoid, even when having automatic feedback
detection. Using a soundhole plug (if possible), reducing bass frequencies and/or volume
or maybe switching the phase are some of the things you should try first).
BOOST
The boost switch and its corresponding level knob on the back of the unit will turn up
the output volume by the amount set by the knob. At zero, there is no boost. At maxi-
mum, the signal from the effects section (excluding the looper) is boosted appr. 10dB.
This allows you to "turn up for solos" without affecting whatever the looper is doing.
You can also record audio into the looper that is "one notch louder", to create loop layers
with varying levels.
LOOPER
Record, play back, layer sounds, etc. Yes, the looper is a small recording device inside
the Acoustic Soulmate that you can use for recording and playing back the recorded
material.
We thought it would be a nice feature for singer-songwriters, buskers and other one-
man bands, because you have the ability to play over a layered "rhythm" or chord pro-
gression, making it sound like two or more people playing.
The looper is post-effects, so any recordings made with effects activated will be kept
intact in the looper. Likewise, any phrase already recorded will not be affected by the
status of the effects in the unit.
It works a lot like most other recording platforms in pedal format:
Rec/Play:
To record, press RecPlay (right led lights up).
To end the recording and start playback, press RecPlay again (right led blinks).
To record a new phrase, press RecPlay (right led lights up).
This will go round and round in circles if that´s all you want to do. Record, play, record,
play, record...
The first phrase will determine the length of the "loop" (max. 5,8 min.).
Stop/Erase:
Press stop to mute the audio playback (when in "playback") or stop the recording (when
in "record").
If you stopped a recording, the looper will save what you recorded. If you stopped a
"playback", the looper will go back to the beginning of the loop. Pressing the Rec/play
switch will start "playback" in both cases.
To erase all loops/memory, press and hold the stop/erase while in "stop" (left led lights).
Both leds will blink 5 times, indicating that you have deleted all recordings.
Undo/redo:
If you have recorded more than one phrase, you can temporarily delete the last one
by pressing and holding the rec/play switch. This is nice if you recorded something but
made a mistake. Pressing and holding the rec/play switch again will bring the phrase
back.
Tip: If you press and hold the rec/play switch while recording, the looper will go straight
to "playback" without saving your last recording. If you recorded a mistake and want to
have another shot at it, undo´ing while recording will delete that last take you did and
go straight to "playback". You then press "rec/play" to re-do the take (hopefully with no
mistakes).
Saving:
If you want to keep your loop(s) intact even if you turn off the power, make sure you are
in "stop" mode (left led lights) before you power it off. The looper´s current memory is
then saved and can be played back the next time the unit is turned on. If you turn off
the unit during playback or recording, the memory is cleared and no recordings will be
saved.
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