Strymon NightSky Comprehensive Pedal Demo
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- Опубликовано: 26 июл 2024
- Today I'm demonstrating the Strymon NightSky Reverb pedal. It’s a beast, and don’t let the simple-looking controls fool you… it does a LOT. I absolutely cannot wait to use this in some upcoming ambient song performances.
Making this video almost killed me. I initially thought, “Ahh, a nice quick 10 minute walkthrough video, nice and easy!” Nope. It turned into an epic 40 minute long deep-dive. Here are the chapter headings so you can skip to the parts that are relevant to you.
00:00 Intro
00:52 The NightSky Launch
02:28 Signal chain for the demo
*****TONE SECTION*******
03:18 TONE section overview
03:41 TONE section- FILTER button
04:23 TONE section- REGEN mode
04:56 TONE section- LOWPASS mode
05:11 TONE section- ALTERNATE FUNCTION (adjusting sharpness of resonant frequency)
*****DECAY SECTION*******
06:12 DECAY section overview
06:22 DECAY section- LENGTH knob
07:07 DECAY section- TEXTURE button
07:26 DECAY section- TEXTURE button- SPARSE reverb
07:48 DECAY section- TEXTURE button- DENSE reverb
08:20 DECAY section- TEXTURE button- DIFFUSE reverb
08:52 DECAY section- TEXTURE button- ALTERNATE FUNCTION (adjusting pre delay)
09:07 DECAY section- SIZE/PITCH knob
10:26 DECAY section- QUANTIZE button
*****VOICE SECTION*******
12:00 VOICE section
12:16 VOICE section- INTERVAL knob
13:01 VOICE section- SHIMMER knob
13:06 VOICE section- SHIMMER button
13:24 VOICE section- SHIMMER button- REGEN setting
13:53 VOICE section- SHIMMER button- INPUT setting
14:20 VOICE section- GLIMMER button
14:37 VOICE section- GLIMMER button settings
14:58 VOICE section- GLIMMER button- ALTERNATE FUNCTION (adjusting Glimmer amount)
15:24 VOICE section- Playing a loop into GLIMMER
16:31 VOICE section- DRIVE button
18:01 VOICE section- DRIVE button- ALTERNATE FUNCTION (adjusting Drive amount)
*****MOD SECTION*******
18:52 MOD section
19:01 MOD section- SPEED and DEPTH knobs
19:11 MOD section- TARGET button
19:42 MOD section- SHAPE button
20:05 MOD section- SHAPE button- ENVELOPE setting
20:57 MOD section play-through- Target:Verb
22:27 MOD section play-through- Target:Pitch
23:13 MOD section play-through- Target:Filter
*****MORE*******
24:27 MIX section
25:02 FOOTSWITCHES
26:38 MORPH
28:38 SEQUENCER
30:54 SEQUENCER- ALTERNATE FUNCTION (adjusting Glide)
*****CONCLUSION*******
31:12 How do I feel about the NightSky?
32:16 Pros
36:04 Cons
38:42 Conclusion- who should buy the NightSky?
I’m going to go ahead and apologize for the camera auto-zooming onto my hand while I’m turning knobs. Hopefully, this isn’t too annoying. I also covered the knobs with my hand while turning them! I'm so sorry! I realized this mistake after everything was filmed, and by then, it was too late. Grrr.
I hope you enjoy the video. Please like, share and subscribe!
----| GEAR USED IN THIS VIDEO |----
Analogman King of Tone
TC Electronic Ditto X2
Strymon Iridium
Strymon NightSky
Fender American Deluxe Telecaster
---| FOLLOW ME |----
RUclips: bit.ly/3hmh6os
Instagram: bit.ly/3ldyhuG
---| ABOUT ME |----
Hi everyone, I’m Aaron. I’m the lead guitarist and composer in All Fires For Love. I love writing music and geeking out about guitar pedals. I’m still quite new at releasing content on RUclips, but I’m really excited about the channel. Thanks so much for watching… I hope you enjoy the videos.
#aaronruschguitar #strymon #nightsky 
Видеоклипы
This reverb is a synth/sound designers delight. If money burning a a hole in my pocket I’d have one or two.
Agreed! This pedal makes me want to dive into the world of synths :)
Had this pedal since release and even tho I don’t nearly use it to its full capacity it’s still one of my favorite reverb pedals, something about the dry and wet mix knobs really makes it easy to find that perfect balance of mix
Great review and demonstration!! I'm a synthesizer sound designer, so the deep control is actually a simple synth to me. That is what this pedal is, a synth reverb, or a reverb with synthesizer control. The pedal can do all the settings a BigSky can do, plus more and fine-tuned to your song. The BigSky is for musicians that don't want to design their own, the BigSky will get you there faster like a preset would. You will find that the features that sound "weird" are features that you use in a very subtle ways, just a little goes a long way. But Strymon also offer these "weird" features in big ways too, something we all want just in case we have a transition in a song we want to go out of this world :) I bought this pedal for synthesizers. I am a guitarist too, and will eventually try it for guitar, but I am thinking of using a glass slide with this pedal for my kind of music.
Totally appreciate how detailed and concise your review is Aaron. Many many thanks mate! All the best to you and your loved ones.- TV
Thanks for the kind words Tony, and thanks so much for watching the video! All the best to you as well!
incredibly well made video, deserves more views. a very deep dive into this pedal! i adore it.
Thanks so much for watching!
This is the best Nightsky video. Thanks for being to the point as well as in depth. You got a Sub.
Thank you for watching!!!!
Best demo of this pedal on RUclips. Very helpful. Thank you and subscribed.
Thanks so much!
Strymon should pay you... This was much better than their own videos... Thanks... ☺️
Thank you so much!
Super awesome demo of the Stymon Nightsky! Just got one of these - your demo was a big help in dialing in the pedals capabilities - Thank you!
I'm very happy to hear that! I hope you are loving the pedal. Thanks for watching
Great demo and attention to detail with the markers.
Selling my big sky. Buying this. You can always sell this and go back to a big sky. That’s the great thing about nice pedals.
Thorough, insightful and objective review demonstrated w musical passages.
Thanks, I will be paying close attention to all your reviews...
Thanks so much for the feedback William! I really appreciate it :)
I had no idea that pedals had gotten to plugin levels of complexity. This one is a beast!!
Yeah, it fooled me! 40 minute demo video was quite a challenge. Next pedal demo I do, 3 knobs maximum!
This is a great rundown. Nice job.
Thanks so much Chris!
Great video!!! sold!
Thanks! You are going to love the pedal :)
Great run through! Thanks I found that helpful.
Glad it helped!
Really helpful demo! Thanks!
I'm glad it was helpful, thanks for checking it out!
Hey great job! I purchased the DigiTech FreqOut after your demo and subscribed after this.
Thank you so much! I'm glad you grabbed the FreqOut, that's such a cool pedal. And thank you very much for the sub!
Thank you so much for such a detailed review!!!!!
Thank you for watching!!!
Phenomenal vid! You gained a subscriber! Cheers!
Welcome aboard! And thank you for watching!
I had it for 3 yrs now and I can barely make use out of it in most scenarios bc bigsky most often fits more
BUT i could never sell it, its way too cool of a concept, I'll probably have this pedal until i am an old grumpy guy and way too scared that my grandchildren might become addicted to psychedelics and weed when they hear me jamming out on the nightsky hahaha
Thanks, these are helpful vids.
Thank you for watching, I really appreciate it!
Thankyou for this
"I don't know what granular is". Proceeds to describy exactly what granular is
You make a good point :)
I just bought the v2 blue sky pedal and i love that big sky thank you sir for the video ❤
Thank you for watching!!!
Wow!
This video is better pedal presentation then the strymon channel did!
Thank you! That's a great compliment :)
@@AaronRusch,
Nothing overcomplimented my friend. I heard all today available nightsky demos, but your demo has the most information. 👍👍
I should take some notes on how you did this demo! Great execution.
Thanks! I hope it was helpful.
I used to own the NIGHTSKY when it first came out but sold it after not bonding with it. After realizing it may be worth another shot, I purchased it again. Now I get it and absolutely love it with my two H90's. It's in the middle between both of them.
That's a very cool signal chain! I really need to get my hands on an H90 one of these days.
@@AaronRusch You should. It's absolutely amazing.
Thank you for your concise write up of all the features. I ended up creating a very handy cheat sheet (your bulleted structure helped a lot) for myself while learning the engine blocks and alt functions ((no printed manual is a bummer when the PDF is 50+ pages))
I'm glad the video was helpful! I probably need a cheat sheet too, I have to crack that 50 page pdf constantly :)
Came for the pedal review, stayed for the PJ Harvey t-shirt
Haha, thanks! I'm still looking for that ever-elusive White Chalk shirt... sigh, someday!
Aaron, I also do ambient guitar and just picked one of these up and my first impression is this is a monster waiting to get loose. I do agree, the secondary functions could be a bit more evident rather than hidden in the depths of some manual, but, like they say, "RTFM". Thanks for the great review and instructo demo.
Hey there, thanks for watching! Yeah, the more I play with it, the more I like it... the NIghtSky definitely has enormous ambient potential, and I find I'm turning reverb knobs mid-performance a lot more than I used to, which is cool. I'm also appreciating the Glimmer function more... I think I undersold that a bit in my demo.
And I totally agree with the RTFM sentiment. I do have some friends who literally NEVER read the manual (because they know I will) so that con was more for their sake :)
Glimmer is an aphex exciter.
“i don’t find it to be useful... but it’s what the pedal can do” perfect summary of this pedal, that I really wanted to like
Wow... thanks for taking this thing on. Great explanation of the functions... I still think I might be too dumb to use it.
I'm pretty sure I will always be too dumb to use it properly :)
Hey man, great vid. I’ve watched several to try and figure out my nightsky and this was the best I feel. Re: the sequencer and use I found 2 for production type effects. Use it to glide to chord changes in a project is pretty cool by I keep the notes to single notes instead of chords. And secondly, I sent it midi click from my DAW and can use a cool sequence in a song, I would be terrified to try live but from a production stand point pretty cool once it’s beat synced. Only useful so far with higher BPM songs as there doesn’t seem to be a way to double speed of sequencer and the slow sequencer sounds boring. Anyways, thanks man, great demo, as someone who struggles with manuals I really appreciated the walk through, definitely some features I glossed over. Most excited about Morph!
Hi Jeff, thanks for watching the video! I also really appreciate the suggestions for using the sequencer. I especially love that idea of using the midi clock from a DAW to sync it up... I'll have to try that soon! Especially if I then run it into one of the gigantic patches of the Valhalla Supermassive... that might get very cool very fast.
I"m happy the demo was helpful to you! Yeah, that morph... it might be my favorite feature. I love this pedal :)
If you are thinking of purchasing one of these little mind phuckers I'd suggest studying this tutorial and Bill Vencil's at Chords of Orion to get a glimpse of its potential. It can be as frustrating as it is fun. Prepare for a long learning curve. Enjoy!
Some of the wilder sounds out of this are probably better suited for the line level instruments.
Agreed!
waiting for someone with a mellotron to get one of these pedals... just saying that because I'm fascinated with the mellotron micro and have seen some amazing sounds people have done with other pedals and a mellotron. You demo is the best one, everyone else just leaves you confused about the pedal.
Thanks so much, I'm very happy the video was helpful! I'd love to hear someone play a mellotron through this as well... and the built-in sequencer seems like a great fit for a synth.
Very well done. This pedal is a very interesting one. I had a big sky and sold it due to the fact that it's strongest sounds, I could get better fidelity in my Lexicon 224 UAD plug in. Long reverb tails, dreamy sound scapes etc. I get great basic reverb sounds out of my flint, and for those octaves and fifths a EH Pitch Fork into the 80s settings on the Flint are perfect. Flint is solid for classic and very musical useable reverb. That said your strong words that the reverb quality is better than Big Sky and more analog, and that modulation and quantize feature with its psychedelic kind of quality intrigues me. I am going to hear a few more demos but this pedal has a alot of experimental sound scape possibilities.
Thanks for watching! I have a Flint as well, and In agree... those reverbs are really really good, and I think they fly under the radar a bit. But yes... the Drive, Glimmer and Mod sections really make the pedal very expressive... it's a huge palette.
Excellent demo for the Nightsky - I didn't really give it too much attention when it came out - yes, I do agree with you, at release, the reception was a bit lukewarm and the Strymon demos didn't really help - this was quite up there - very well explained.
Thanks Walter! Yeah, I still feel like this pedal is a bit of a dark horse, for whatever reason. I think it sounds fantastic. Thanks for watching!
Huge demo/tuto ! thanks a lot...
I agree with you, it sounds more "analog" then most of classic reverbs. The only thing it can't do is the spring thing.
Totally agree! I do miss the spring reverb sound.
@@AaronRusch Pair the NightSky with Volante. Problem solved. .:)
@@jcshirke I'm a HUGE fan of this solution :)
@@AaronRusch Did you get a Volante in the past few months?
The main issue with the sequencer applied to the reverb is that you expect to hear tails from a reverb and the sequencer removes them. (We use reverb on sequences to avoid that!)
What would make the reverb sequencer useful is if it were gloved in a second reverb. It would be great to have that in this pedal or a version of it, since we don't expect a reverb to need reverb. You could add reverb to the Nightsky's reverb sequences in the studio, but I wonder about live playing. You'd have to have another portmanteau pedal like the Meris LVX, the Audio Lore, the H9, the Collider, the Specular Tempus or any other multiple effects pedal mounted on your pedalboard, and you'd definitely need a pedal switcher with multiple routing options. But a reverb after the reverb sequencer could sound cool.
I couldn't agree more!
It's your fault! I bought night sky ;) .. . really great sounding tool ! thanks ;)
Congratulations! It's such a great pedal. Thanks for watching the video :)
Great video! :)
A little constructive criticism: try setting your camera's focus on manual instead of auto when taking the up-close shot of the pedal, so it won't unintentionally focus on your hand :)
Thanks for watching! I know, I had the wrong focus setting on the camera and didn't notice until it was too late... it's driving me nuts! Oh well, live and learn. I'll be sure to have that addressed the next time I do a demo.
bought it
👍👏
i was thinking about this pedal for my theremin.
I've never played a theremin personally, but I feel like you could get some amazing sounds running a theremin into this....
Thank you sooooo much for this tutorial, it's like an animated manual ! I share your doubts with the sequencer, so far I find it totally unusable, which is a shame as it was what draw me to the pedal. Other functions and sound are amazing though.
I'm so glad it helped, thanks for watching :)
I would split my signal before it so I could have the Nightsky 100% wet and sidechain it with my pedal board to the amp. Trapping it at the end of the actual guitar chain is hamstringing the possibilities. I see it as a musical instrument and not just a pedal. It's a Synth Lord. Come to the Nightside of the Force.
Thanks for the great demo-review!
I do like those big reverbs at the end of my chain, but I love your approach on how to use it, that's a great idea. And thanks for watching the video!
While also not a huge Shimmer fan, I found the Shimmer to be the most underwhelming effect on this pedal. I can seem to get the "standard" Shimmer sound that you think of when you think of Shimmer. Set to regen, +8va, no highs rolled off, etc. Close but no cigar. What's up with that?
Hi, thanks for watching the video! I almost feel like they made the Shimmer a little bit less "in your face" on this pedal, at least when compared to the shimmer on the BigSky.
I have watched numerous videos of both the Big Sky and Night Sky. I can't decide. I will be using it at church. I have a EHX C9 and Mel9 that I plan on using with which ever one I get. There is a need for some ambient sounds and to fill up space. Any recommendations which one would be better?
One feature I like on the Night Sky is the infinite and one feature I like on the Big Sky is the chorale with different vowel sounds.
Any recommendation for which one would be better for what I want to use it for will be helpful. I just can't decide. I wish I could test drive each and choose one.
I hear you on that. It’s a tough choice. I’m sure you will get a different opinion from other people, as this is all quite subjective. IMHO, the Big Sky and the Night Sky both have different core tones. The Big Sky does this ultra-clean, almost choral wash sound. It’s very clean and very beautiful. Definitely gives off a more “majestic” sound. The Night Sky is a little darker, and a little grittier, almost somber. It can sound kind of hollow (in a good way), more like a dark cave. With tweaking, you can definitely get overlap with the pedals. They both do the subtle and the gigantic reverb very well. I do prefer the form factor of the Night Sky. The Big Sky has Spring Reverb, and the Night Sky has Morph. I’ve used the Night Sky as my main reverb for a while now, and I still love it. However, I did not get rid of my also-loved Big Sky, and I still bring it in when I need it. You can’t go wrong with either, they are both excellent.
In typical RUclipsr fashion, I’m extremely hesitant to recommend one over the other because I’d feel terrible if I steered you down the wrong path. But honestly, from what you wrote, I feel like the Big Sky might be a better fit for you. I’m sure you have already scoured RUclips for pedal reviews, but I’d suggest Andy Othling for Big Sky and Rabea Massaad for Night Sky (in case you haven’t come across those). I also have an old Big Sky video on my channel….
I hope that helps, and thanks for watching my video!
@@AaronRusch Thanks, I've watched Rabea on other equipment reviews. Thanks for your time and response.
Hey, so how dis you change the size of the reverb without affecting the pitch. Lol. You first showed the size. Then all of a sudden you talked about the picth, turned the same knob and the pitch changed. ??? because all I’m getting is pitch change when I turn it. it’s strictly changes the pitch and I know for a fact you can change the size of the Reverb without changing the pitch
Hi Matty… yeah that knob is a little strange. Here’s the deal-it changes the “Room Size” of the reverb. However, if there is any audio currently reverberating/in the pedal’s buffer, then when you turn that knob, it will pitch shift that audio as you turn the knob while also changing the room size. And from what I can tell, there's not really a way to get around that.
I think the best use of that feature is to turn the Size/Pitch knob when you have some audio frozen with the Infinite function-you can get some pretty cool effects with that. I'm guessing that was a very intentional design choice.
I do hope you are loving the NightSky. Nothing has managed to knock it off my board yet, I still really dig it. And once again, I’m sorry about not responding sooner. Happy holidays!
Great video, helps more than all I have seen so far. I have one on order but am unsure about it..shimmer is overdone at this stage and sounds like circus music!
I'm with you on that... I'm not really a huge fan of shimmer, except when it's subtle.... and I had the same nervousness about the pedal and the circus music functionality :) I will say that I'm really glad I ordered it. Thanks for watching the video!
Has anyone released an editor / library tool yet?
I haven't seen one yet... I was half-expecting Strymon to either add this functionality to Nixie or make a new editor that handles the Nightsky/Volante. Hopefully that's in the future!
The Nightsky is pretty amazing. I've had it for a month. I find it can go way out. But the great thing is that you can dial the crazy stuff down and just have a texture that is really deep.
Obviously, if you like tight room sounds, this pedal does not do it. That's a whole nuther genre. I'll save that for a plug-in. Or a Draume someday.
I totally agree, I love the subtle nuances of this reverb, especially the dark, gritty and hollow vibe if it's set a certain way. Lately, I've been running an OBNE Expression Ramper into the Nightsky and ramping the Shimmer, which makes me love the pedal even more. Thanks for checking out the video!
@@AaronRusch That sounds really cool. I just took up guitar after playing drums for way long. I got the Nightsky before my guitar and had fun using it with my Nord 3p.
I would use the envelope depth knob at top to the right, and get a reverb that shutdown in the end, making it a weird curvy gate verb sound. I tried the knob to the left and it didn't do anything.
But I got my guitar, with a Romferd, a T-120 VHS delay and a Mooer 5150 microamp/cab.
I like the flexibility of the random pitch warbling of the T120. Now, I set the envelope alt depth to the left, when you play anything, the reverb would not do anything till the end of what you play . I also adjusted the high pass filter. When I would strike a chord or play a guitar, no reverb until I do a stacco short chord stop, then the reverb would ramp/shoot in quick (with drive on reverb). I found out by letting a guitar ring out, with the random modulation of the T120, the reverb would random attempt to come in on the end, slowly, then stop and start due the the T120 modulation. The effect is incredible.
Set up a sound that slowly fades out, but has an ongoing modulation. When it gets quiet, the only thing the Nightsky can do is attach itself to the modulation of the signal. It wants to come back with a nice smooth swell but the Modulation interrupts every attempt. And the attempts are random. Can you hear it? Sorry, hard to explain sounds.
With maximum drive on the verb. I guess with setting a very quiet pad modulating or sequencing on a synth, you can find a sweet spot with the Nightsky envelope and create a random chaos reverb blend. It's very sensitive.
So, do you think you can externally control the envelope?
@@RustyTonesJr Wow, I'm going to sit down with the NightSky this weekend and try to recreate this setting you are talking about, it sounds really cool... thank you for sharing! As far as controlling the envelope externally, I believe you can use an expression pedal or MIDI to control the Depth knob... might be a good spot for an OBNE Ramper... hmmm....
This pedal is incredible. Glad I’m not the only one who thinks this reverb is more beautiful sounding than the Big Sky. It’s pretty immediate too. I’ve had it for a 2 week and the Big reverb sounds fit in my musical settings better than the Big Sky. And I love the Big Sky so it’s not a knock on it by any means. But with recording, I feel I get a more quality reverb and comes across better, IMO. And I’ve used it on two different occasions in a live setting already. Sounds incredible with other instruments and drums.
And I love the sequencer section even though it can take some work to create your sound. I totally agree that this feature isn’t for everyone, but after I experimented enough I discovered some sequences that will be on a intro to a song, and another on a bridge break down part. Very cool stuff.
My GF plays that Rolo seaboard controller and I suggested that she tries the Night Sky to see if it can be apart of this music project she’s currently working on. I helped her out with how it works, and surprisingly she came up with a creepy sequence that’s going to be a set part on a new song her band is working on. I guess now she’s gonna have to get her own. :)
Thanks for watching the video, and thanks for the comments! I do feel that I need to just spend a day just experimenting with the sequencer and I'll hopefully come up with some ways to integrate it. It's helpful to hear your approach using the sequencer for an intro and a breakdown, that makes me re-think how I approach that feature.
He is my uncle he is good
My niece! Thank you very much Ariana! I'm so happy you watched my video :)
Thx for the Demo !
Hello, thank you for watching! I am with you on the Shimmer, it's one of those features I've had on so many pedals, and I always turn it on, try it for a bit... and then turn it right off. Nick Sadler from Daughters could probably make a shimmer reverb sound amazing, but I just can't seem to do it.
Lately, I've been trying to use Shimmer less as a constant effect, and more as a momentary thing... like playing a held note and then slowly dialing in the shimmer and then dialing it out... I think it can sound very cool that way... but that line between cool and cheesy is VERY thin for me when it comes to shimmer :)
Hey Aaron, have you considered, for contrast, reviewing/demoing a pedal that ISN'T very good? You can give folks an education on what to look out for when encountering a crap pedal.
Ha, you know it might be harder nowadays to find a shit pedal. I wish I had some of my old effects units from the old days... that would have been cool to compare how much everything has improved.
@@AaronRusch You could always buy a shitty used one somewhere. ;)
@@badger6674 Nooooooooo! I suffered for years with my terrible awful gear. I can't go back!
almost as if synthesizers don't exist for you. This pedal was clearly made with synths and sound design in mind and you don't even mention it.
The name of the channel is "Aaron Rusch Guitar" . He does a phenomenal job at demonstrating it, better than anyone else. It works very well with synths (I use mine with my Sub37), but there is no "clear" indication at all that it Strymon developed the Nightsky specifically for synthesizers. Share a compliment instead, or a kind suggestion about your curiosity of the pedal working with synths.... Much more appropriate than a sarcastic one specially considering the amount of work he put into creating this video. Cheers mate.