Electronic Audio Experiments Mirror House V2

Mirror House creates two pitch-shifted copies of your incoming signal, sending them in equal and opposite directions. This symmetrical approach to pitch shifting can produce everything from subtle detuning and off-kilter chorus to microtonal clusters, parallel harmonies and strange, dissonant textures.

Both pitch voices can be shifted statically or dynamically across a selection of ranges and behaviors. Envelope-controlled pitch shifting creates responsive vibrato, glissando and dive-bomb effects as the two voices pull apart and return toward one another. In Flutter mode, the Animate control introduces a random LFO for an organic, slightly unpredictable take on chorus and vibrato.

Detune and Flutter modes each offer a static range of up to one semitone, while Shift mode provides quantized pitch shifting in semitone increments up to an octave in either direction. Depending on how you approach harmony, Mirror House can be equally effective as a subtle modulation device or a tool for creating sounds that are intentionally unstable, unfamiliar and unconventional.

Originally developed in collaboration with the band Pile, Mirror House became a permanent part of the lineup with Version 2. The updated design introduces the new Flutter mode alongside improved envelope sensitivity, a reduced DSP noise floor and relay-based bypass.

Controls

Mix: Sets the balance between the dry and pitch-shifted signals. Turning clockwise increases the effected signal, with fully clockwise providing a completely wet output.

Amount: Controls the amount of static pitch shifting. Turning clockwise moves the two voices symmetrically away from the original pitch, with one voice shifting upward while the other moves downward.

Animate: Adds modulation to the Amount setting. In Shift and Detune modes, modulation is controlled by the input envelope. In Flutter mode, Animate controls the depth of a random LFO.

Voices: Sets the balance between the upper and lower pitch-shifted voices. The center position provides an equal blend. Turning clockwise emphasizes the higher voice, while turning counterclockwise emphasizes the lower voice. This control also influences the direction of envelope movement.

Modes

Shift: Quantized pitch shifting in semitone increments up to one octave.

Flutter: Uses the same general pitch range as Detune while introducing random LFO modulation through the Animate control, ideal for chorus and vibrato textures.

Detune: Symmetrically shifts each voice from unison up to one semitone.

Version 2 Updates

Relay-based bypass
Improved envelope tracking in Shift and Detune modes
Reduced DSP signal-path noise
New Flutter mode
Updated artwork