4 Unusual Uses for the Strymon El Capistan

[@MadeAirbreak]

That ambient pad was absolutely stunning, especially when you pitched up the loop the first time.

[@noisetoysimportstv1248]

🙏🏼 cheers

[@TheRealMellowFellow]

@@noisetoysimportstv1248 can you do the same with the volante?

[@dmitrymashkov9379]

The pad texture is absolutely terrific!

[@Art-zs6sl]

My favorite pedal in the past 20 years.

[@phillseagram]

Pitch shifting a loop!!! Mind blown. Awesome

[@pangloss9]

Great video! I’ve owned this pedals for two years and I still keep seeing ways of using it that I’d never thought of before. Thanks very much for sharing.

[@ManCalledMif]

thanks for the helpful tutorial. 3:22 the blank loop technique is a great feature

[@DanielG0m3z]

The ambient music was superb!

[@noisetoysimportstv1248]

Thanks very much

[@waynespradley6972]

This is an awesome idea for a series. I recently found I have purchased additional pedals only to find that I could get that sound from a pedal I already own. I'm trying to develop a deeper understanding of the equipment I own so this series has a lot of value to me. Happy to be a new subscriber and look forward to more entries in this series.

[@noisetoysimportstv1248]

Thanks mate, much appreciated! After we finish our Ampero series it’ll be back onto some more Strymon pedals in this format.

[@brmbkl]

@@noisetoysimportstv1248 another idea; do these techniques (chorus and reverb) on synth sounds, to show the results on a more continuous tone

[@icecreamforcrowhurst]

Are we playing the pedals or are the pedals playing us? Sometimes I wonder.

[@alexjones4219]

A big muff played me and I sharted

[@michaelmolenda1712]

I just bought this based on this and a couple of other videos. Arrives tomorrow and I hope its half of what it seems like - a seriously high quality piece of guitar toy-tech. Can't wait.

[@JimmyDevere]

Great video! Please do more like these for the other Strymon pedals and more for the El Cap if you have more ideas!!

[@noisetoysimportstv1248]

Will do!

[@georgegrewal8797]

I totally agree like the Strymon ultraviolet 😊

[@sranje3000]

A friend of mine hooks this thing to a mixer to use it while DJ-ing. Sounds amazing.

[@johncitizen8828]

Does he just tap tempo, or is there another way to sync?

[@sranje3000]

Taps the tempo@@johncitizen8828

[@Poppaneedsanap]

I have 2 of these suckers and have never messed around much with the looping mode. v. cool usages

[@Dam-oH]

Thanks for that. I like the el cap but there are so many options. I have favourite switch set up for slap back and just set up an echoplex style setting for solos.

[@Alchemist3333]

Excellent video! Please do the same with the Big Sky.

[@noisetoysimportstv1248]

I will as soon as I can get some available stock to my studio 👍🏼

[@diamonddad3059]

Awesome stuff. Thanks for the ideas

[@LoVeAmBiEnT]

Why it’s one of my favorite pedals

[@j.schaefer5622]

What a wonderful pedal....and hey I have it. Thank you very much for this demo...

[@davemau5e]

Awesome! The Double Tracker effect could have been heard more if you would have connected the pedal in stereo as oppose to a mono output. Great sounds! 👏🏼

[@CarstenGoeke]

Very good demo. The pad sound is gold! ✌🏼

[@josephboudreau8794]

SOLD. Take my money!

[@christopherfield7732]

I've been wondering if this can do the tape age, wow and flutter effects in real time, not just on the echo... One of your configurations seems to be doing just that?

[@philh27]

Clever and creative. Good stuff!

[@noisetoysimportstv1248]

Cheers!

[@MusicFed]

Amazing. What a cool pedal and so full of uses

[@samcomfort6564]

Cool ideas. Thanks for the video

[@AL_1991]

loved the 2nd

[@bawseeeee602]

Superb - nothing else to say.

[@javiceres]

What happens if you change tape head while there’s a trail sounding?

[@circuitousvibes5226]

Lovely demos. Thank you for making this!

[@noisetoysimportstv1248]

Thanks for watching!

[@johncitizen8828]

Maybe I missed it, but obviously you need to select the Analogue ‘trails’ bypass to perform several of these sounds, right?

[@anthonymclaughlin6164]

amazing dude

[@Lorneplumber]

I bloody love this - excellent - subbed to the channel

[@noisetoysimportstv1248]

Thanks very much! Appreciate it!

[@CourneliusX]

Were trails on when you were doing ambient swells?

[@theunfrailhale]

way rad. awesome vid, thanks for the ideas.

[@noisetoysimportstv1248]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@earfulaudio5199]

Thanks man!

[@noisetoysimportstv1248]

Cheers

[@Bosumofficial]

Excellent video! Thanks

[@noisetoysimportstv1248]

Thanks very much!

[@JimmyDevere]

What chord prgressions were you playing for this demo?

[@depotgear]

Great demo, thanks!!

[@noisetoysimportstv1248]

Thank you!

[@neoaureus]

You should score the next A) David Lynch B) Abel Ferrera C) Wim Wenders or D) Werner Herzog film... haunting beyond belief the minor 7th 9th or 11th or suspended or diminished or augmented wonders you play.... very sad though why ?

[@mes252]

Unbedingt

[@mateuszbracha3941]

Hi! great video! But when I try to do this ambient texture, I record a sound and then click the bypass button "the sound" stops playing and I can't play on top of the layer. Can you help with that?

[@noisetoysimportstv1248]

Oh yes you need to power up your pedal holding down bypass you activate ‘trails’ mode, sorry for the late response! I missed this comment.

[@mateuszbracha3941]

@@noisetoysimportstv1248 Oh thank! Now it works, great feature :)

[@benjaminfrm4618]

Hey men, Thanks for the amazing vidéo. I had a question, in the « Ambiant pad mod, after recording the loop, you press the bypass button and you still hear the loop... When i do it my loop stop.. When i engage the bypass again i hear it again. Did i miss something? Thx for your answer and keep going ! Cheers from 🇫🇷 France.

[@noisetoysimportstv1248]

I can’t remember exactly how to do it but there’s a way to change the bypass mode, just check the manual.

[@benjaminfrm4618]

@@noisetoysimportstv1248 I thx for your answer. So if someone need to know how to change the bypass mode. You just need to press the bypass button few second when you put the pedal on tension. Cheers.

[@afterstars]

Excellent

[@noisetoysimportstv1248]

Thanks

[@dalewetzel773]

They need to add expression pedal control for time adjustment

[@ShiningTrapezoid]

You can assign the expression pedal to any of the controls

[@Stcprgl]

what is the secondary knobs settings for double tracker pls? thank you

[@noisetoysimportstv1248]

Hi Sait, mix and repeats at 12 o’clock and the other three at minimum (counter clockwise) Cheers!

[@rickfrancismusic]

Great demo man. Thanks for sharing. Your ambient pad sound belongs at Hillsong. Just sayin'... Peace.

[@jokkolorise]

Beautiful. When I try the ambient pad, the loop volume keeps increasing when the repeats are on maximum. Probably something simple I missed? Thanks!

[@noisetoysimportstv1248]

I think it might be the secondary function boost under the mix knob, if that’s set past 12 o’clock it will add boost each time the loop progresses.

[@marijnstam7374]

The reason I believe this happens is because the delay starts oscillating at maximum repeats. You can hear this when you use a short delay time and have the repeats set to max, it will increase in volume and start oscillating out of control. The same thing happens with the ambient pad when you have the repeats set to maximum, it's just that the process takes longer since the delay time is so long.

[@igorbroeckel279]

You need to set the secondary function of the repeats (bias) to max

[@rishpanjeet7479]

I simply cannot decide bw this and the DIG - despite them being so different.

[@middle_pickup]

When you're playing with the SOS mode and you turn the time knob how are you matching the pitch to your next chord so perfectly? Does the time knob only let you speed up the playback of the recorded loop at speeds producing musical intervals?

[@riffswamp]

i think it doubles the speed so it pitches it up exactly an octave \m/

[@johnbagnato3761]

why dose my loop stop when I hit bypass

[@ricklewis5804]

I missed what you did around 2:42 to get reverb, your right hand kind of hid what you did and I only saw you turn the knob on the left all the way clockwise then all the way back counterclockwise.

[@noisetoysimportstv1248]

You’re 90% there man, hold the two footswitches, turn upper left knob to dial in the amount of reverb you want, them let go of the footswitches and adjust the time knob to taste or tap in tempo

[@ricklewis5804]

Noise Toys Imports TV Thanks. I already have the TC Electronics triple delay so would the El Cap be redundant or unnecessary? My amps have a reverb feature plus I have other pedals that have reverb.

[@noisetoysimportstv1248]

Personal opinion (and this is me speaking from being a Strymon customer) I would get rid of the TC and replace it with an El Cap and never look back. Horses for courses though, that’s just my preference.

[@ricklewis5804]

Noise Toys Imports TV Thanks. Too bad the el cap doesn’t have a third switch that does what holding down both switches does. That should have been a no brainer for the Strymon engineers. You are getting some nice sounds out of that box. The el cap and EHX Mel 9 are due to arrive today. Guess I’ll keep both.

[@aryasevenfold]

Genius 👍🏻👍🏻

[@noisetoysimportstv1248]

Cheers!

[@mataneshel1744]

When in pushing bypass in the pad all the loop dont continue have a idea why

[@noisetoysimportstv1248]

You need to swap the El Cap from true bypass to buffered bypass, I forget exactly how to do that but if you grab the manual online you’ll find it, pretty sure it’s some sort of combination of things while powering up.

[@samueldominguezlorenzo5734]

Unplug power supply, press bypass and hold it while you plug it back again to go to sound on sound mode

[@kimgaugemusic]

great demo - love that features of this pedal. Since it's 9 years old as you say, do you know of any other pedal that has these features?

[@noisetoysimportstv1248]

Thanks for compliment! The only pedal I can think of that will probably rival the El Capistan is the new Volante, there are other great delays with loopers but nothing that can compare closely to the El Cap specifically IMHO.

[@kimgaugemusic]

I've done a lot of searching and I can't find anything that does what the el cap does. The Zvex Instant Lo Fi Junky comes close to the el cap's wow and flutter but it's mono and the tape crinkle is not quite as good. The el cap really is special in that regard. The other one that has a really great tape sound is the Warped Vinyl, but that's mono as well - I think the same guy designed both. @@noisetoysimportstv1248

[@jumpingman8160]

Echosystem

[@kimgaugemusic]

@@jumpingman8160 I'll check it out, thanks!

[@bentrisshaw]

David I own the Echosys and the El Cap, while the Echosystem is brilliant it still can’t do the same sort of looping stuff as the El Cap. Two incredible delays though.

[@Jason-to5cs]

I can't get it to loop. What am I doing wrong?

[@noisetoysimportstv1248]

Hi Jason, hope this helps. Both toggle switches down. Set repeats to max Mix somewhere between 12 o’clock and max and other settings to taste Make sure you’re not in bypass Press Tap to start recording And tap when you’re done to end the loop length Everything from there will be layered Let me know how you get on!

[@TerenceHillDesigner]

@@noisetoysimportstv1248 hi there. I just watced your video right now and I was trying to emulate your SOS pad but I must be doing something wrong, because as soon as I Bypass the pedal, the looping stops and it ends being silent...

[@AIRthatBreaths]

@@TerenceHillDesigner You should have the El Cap in “Trails” mode so it doesn’t cut off when bypassed.

[@TerenceHillDesigner]

@@AIRthatBreaths Thanks Dylan, it's working just fine now! \m/

[@Wooburnmusic]

I can't imagine taking a gig out with Johnny b Goode and rocking all over the world based on what I have heard here not to mention the dopey noises, probably best for making dopey noises at home ?

[@shckltnebay]

Did this come out before the Timeline? Imagine if you had an expression pedal?

[@noisetoysimportstv1248]

Yes a couple of years before the Timeline. I should do a part 2 with Expression, there’s a bunch of things you can do 👌🏼

[@shckltnebay]

@@noisetoysimportstv1248 I have the Timeline and its missing a bit of the magic the El cap has

[@noisetoysimportstv1248]

Yes the Dtape algorithm on the Timeline is a little less characterful. Have you updated your timeline firmware ever? I know there were a few updates along the way that added some more of the El Cap mojo back in.

[@shckltnebay]

Noise Toys Imports TV thanks I have. V. 1.8 I think. It’s pretty good maybe the reverb is missing?

[@noisetoysimportstv1248]

Yeah that spring does add that little bit of extra magic

[@橋本絵莉子]

When it would be called El Comandante I would buy this one, but not like that.

[@lukesandroni3436]

Wow sold. Bahahaha

[@nickseckler]

I've always thought the l looks like a lowercase e. "Ee Capistan"