Recording - July 2011 - 59

Beat feet For all of the flexibility Space provides you for parameter tweaking, I found it somewhat easier to use than my PitchFactor; the knobs are laid out in a straightforward way, and Eventide also improved preset usability by providing dedicated footswitches for moving both forwards and backwards through the presets, something sorely lacking in previous Eventide pedals. It also features a “HotSwitch” that allows you to quickly jump between two separate sets of parameters, essentially allowing you to have the equivalent of two presets in one. Speaking of footswitches: Space also allows you to connect an external triple footswitch (such as the DigiTech FS3X) as well as an expression pedal to vastly increase its real-time adjustability. I highly recommend doing so! Not only will this give you immediate access to various parameters normally only available under either the “Preset” or ”Play” modes, but it’ll let you make real-time changes to any number of parameters on the fly, allowing you to create wildly expressive tones without having to bend over and twist knobs by hand. MIDI Like all of the Eventide pedals, Space also features a wide array of MIDI features available both through dedicated 5-

pin MIDI In/Out ports as well as USB (which also provides software updates and preset control using Eventide’s FactorLib software). This allows for control of various parameters, program changes and tempo via MIDI clock. Since Space has quite a number of tempo-based parameters like decay time, pre-delay, and tremolo speeds (all of which can be based on seconds or actual note-lengths depending on whether or not the pedal is in “Tempo” mode), this opens many possibilities when synced up to sequencers or even other Eventide pedals. I tested this out by connecting Space to my Eventide PitchFactor, using Space as the MIDI clock source: it was wonderful being able to set tempo on Space either in real time through tap-tempo, or through tempos stored in the presets themselves, and have the PitchFactor immediately sync up. Final thoughts The only thing I found somewhat disappointing about Space was that I felt that some of the factory presets—in particular the first twelve meant to demonstrate each of the algorithms—were rather underwhelming and “safe” sounding, barely scratching the surface of what might be possible with the pedal. I could imagine someone trying the unit out for the first

time, stepping through the first few presets without tweaking anything, and giving up after being less than impressed... which would be a real shame! That said, there are also a number of very interesting and useful presets further in (Space has room for 100 presets) created by famous users like Flood, Alan Moulder and members of Sigur Ros. So could Space be your “be-all, end-all” reverb pedal? Depending on your own needs, it very well could be—especially if you’re interested in pushing the envelope in terms of creating your own unique and creative sounds. If you need more traditional reverb sounds, this kind of power could be overkill to a degree. But that having been said, Space excels at these more traditional sounds as well, and the Spring algorithm alone might turn the heads of some hardcore hardware-only fans! I’d say Eventide hit it out of the park once again... and the guitar-effects community is now wondering what’s next. Perhaps a Fripp-tastic “LoopFactor” for building up evolving soundcapes from all that sonic richness coming out of the previous four pedals? Hmmm...! Price: $499 street More from: Eventide, www.eventide.com.

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Recording - July 2011

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