Lexicon Vortex


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Audio Morphing Processor

[ Vortex chilling with some other red+black friends ]A while back I found a Lexicon Vortex morphing digital effects processor for sale. This is a creative and misunderstood piece of kit that does weird things to audio, but requires some concentration and RTFM, hence didn't sell well, despite having some amazing and unique features, such as morphing one effect into another.

Initial impressions are that the Vortex is not very hands on. But dig deeper and try plugging in a footpedal: "Any one of 14 parameters can be assigned to pedal control." The Basic Ops manual excellently describes briefly in just two pages how to use the unit, which at first mostly baffled me. It's amazing what you can do with this thing! Talk about secret weapon: live looping, independent polyrhythmic delays with tap tempo by foot or finger, pedal control of one parameter while the Value knob changes another, morphing from A to B effects, all programmable for each patch... I'm in awe of the features and the inventive user interface which uses so few buttons to accomplish so much.

Here are some Vortex links to explore further:


© copyright Malcolm Smith 2010-10-30 - last updated 2011-05-16 - links verified 2010-10-30