Electronic Audio Experiments / Mirror House

A labyrinth of mirrors dancing on the borderline between madness and harmony. A unique pitch shifter that manipulates subtle dissonance.

Mirror House is a unique pitch shifter with a completely new worldview. It was created in collaboration with EAE and their good friends, the American alternative rock band ""Pile.""

It generates two mirrored ""alternates"" of the input signal, applying equal and opposite pitch shifts to each, isolating them from each other. Completely different from typical pitch shifting devices, this ""DIAMETRIC PITCH SHIFT"" approach allows you to freely manipulate strange detunes, parallel harmonies, dazzling microtonal clusters, and even ugly yet beautiful dissonances.

Its three modes and simple yet profound controls are all designed to intentionally deviate from the established musical aesthetics that are prevalent today. Mirror House creates a ""perfect misalignment,"" creating a new landscape on the border between harmony and insanity.

■A Pitch Shifter Designed to Go Beyond the Boundaries
Mirror House is a ""diametric"" pitch shifter that generates two-voice pitch shifts centered around unison from the input signal, shifting them equally apart to opposite positions. While the concept is simple, like the distorted reflections in a labyrinth of mirrors, it exudes a unique atmosphere not found in conventional pitch shifters.

Of course, the glittering, floating shower of sound that is typically associated with pitch shifters is fine. But Mirror House's magic begins with settings that are slightly off-kilter and deviant. Microtonal clusters on the verge of insanity. Unstable detune. Creaking, fluctuating dissonance. At times it presents beautiful harmonies, and at other times it presents an unpleasant, urgent disorientation.

In a world where pitch shifters often pursue precise harmony, Mirror House, with its focus on ""creating the perfect sense of incongruity,"" is both seductive and challenging. If you find beauty in things that stray from the norm, or simply enjoy dancing to the sounds they produce, Mirror House will open up a new world for you.

■Three Unique Modes
・Shift (Switch Up)
The Amount knob sets the pitch shift amount from -1 to +1 octave. This mode is ideal for precisely targeting the desired pitch, as it changes in semitone steps. It also provides access to chords rarely used in typical Western music theory, such as tritones, parallel chords, and perfect fourths.

・Detune (Switch Down)
The Amount knob shifts the pitch of each voice up or down by up to a semitone. This produces microtonal and detuned pitch shifts, and when pushed further, it expands into beautifully disordered dissonances.

・Flutter (center switch)
As with Detune mode, the Amount knob shifts the pitch of each voice up or down by a semitone, and the Animate knob applies a random LFO. The organic, off-kilter waveforms created by self-modulation are ideal for chorus and random vibrato sounds.

■Envelope Control/Random LFO
The Animate control applies dynamics and an LFO to Amount, adding interactive control and unpredictability to static pitch shifts.

In Shift and Detune modes, this is envelope-controlled. By pulling voices apart and back together depending on the attack of your playing, you can create glissandos and pitch-plunging dive-bomb effects. It also simulates realistic pitch bending, choking, and the floating tremolo of a Jazzmaster. Pushing it further can produce unique artifacts reminiscent of tape warping or a degraded MP3 file.

Flutter mode applies a random LFO, modulating the Animate knob with an organic waveform. It mixes the voice with the dry signal for a pseudo-chorus effect, or maximizes the mix for a random vibrato effect.

■SPECIFICATIONS
- 121 x 66 x 40mm, 400g
- Relay switching, true bypass
- Input impedance @ 1kHz: 500kΩ
- Output impedance @ 1kHz: <1kΩ
- Power supply: 9V DC, 2.1mm center negative
- Current consumption: 95mA (Regulated, isolated power supply recommended. Battery operation not possible)