The Strymon NightSky has officially landed – and it looks good
A reverb with analogue-synth inspired control
The new Strymon NightSky has finally been officially released after a number of teasers this week, as well as last night’s leaked photos. As expected, this new pedal is a reverb, with analogue synth-like control parameters and a sequencer. Strymon calls it a “reverberant synthesis workstation”.
Strymon NightSky
The Strymon NightSky uses three reverb textures in the decay section of the effect, and three modes that allow you to tweak these further. The Sparse mode spaces out the reverb reflections, which makes them more prevalent and distinct. The Dense mode is similar to a traditional plate reverb and therefore, more immediate, whilst the Diffuse mode gives you some nice, slow-rising ambient swells.
You can modulate the reverb using the Mod section which has six waveforms. Each of these can be applied to the following parts of the effect: reverb core, pitch-shifter, and filter. The Infinite switch is a hold function and freezes the guitar signal indefinitely, so you can float out into space and time! The Morph switch will transition smoothly between two presets, allowing for textural drifts and dramatic organic changes.
Up to 16 presets can be stored in the unit, and an external controller gets you access to 300 presets in total.
Strymon NightSky a reverb with analogue-synth inspired control · Source: Strymon
Shimmer, Glimmer & Drive
A lot of players are familiar with Strymon’s Shimmer effect from its BigSky and BlueSky reverbs, The NightSky updates the effect by adding set shimmers to 2nd, 4th, and 5th intervals, which can go up or down. Glimmer can be set to either high or low, enhancing upper or lower frequency harmonics. And the Drive adds harmonic saturation at either the input or output stage of the NightSky.
Time Warped Reverberator
One of the most interesting things about this reverb is the in-built step-sequencing function. It is an eight-step sequencer that enables you to sequence different intervals, either manually or to a tap tempo. For me, personally, this is a really nice feature and makes this pedal stand out from many others on the market. I can see it being great for live work, as well as introducing new creative avenues for players.
It has the usual Strymon MIDI in/out, mono/stereo ins and outs, and an expression pedal input. There’s also an Instrument and Line level selector switch on the rear, plus a USB port for updates, etc.
My advice is to listen to the demo videos below, and if you like what you hear, then go pre-order one as soon as possible. Many players had to wait ages for the Volante when it was first released, and the NightSky could have similar wait times.
RRP – USD 429
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2 responses to “The Strymon NightSky has officially landed – and it looks good”
Really nice sounding… I think the disappointing thing to me is that there is no clock sync in/out. I love that it has MIDI, but why not something that also would work with Eurorack. Seems like missing a market segment there…
Yeah, it has a lot going for it. I think you’re right though, they are missing a trick there.