The BSRI Floriography is a boutique tremolo handbuilt in Baltimore, with an amplitude and a dynamic mode1. Alongside a traditional LFO mode that delivers what Delicious Audio describes as lush vintage optical tube amp tremolo, it recreates envelope tremolo functionality, where the strength of your picking drives the speed of the effect rather than a set tempo1. Before 2023 the pedal was named the EVT; the 2023 update and redesign brought the new name and an extra mode1.
What it does: an envelope-driven tremolo
A conventional tremolo uses a Low Frequency Oscillator (LFO) to modulate the volume of the signal. As Coda Effects explains in a technical analysis of tremolo circuits, the LFO can light a LED coupled to a Light Dependant Resistor (LDR) on the signal path, often combined in a vactrol, and the photocell can be connected to ground or used to bias a tube, an IC or a FET transistor2. The Floriography's LFO mode works this way, but its dynamic modes replace the oscillator with the envelope of your playing: pick harder and the rate of the modulation changes.
The pedal's Class A preamp gives it a second use. Delicious Audio notes that "it can also be used as a clean boost when the Depth control is at zero"1, so with the tremolo dialed out it can sit on a board as a boost as well as a tremolo.
The modes and controls
The Floriography runs in two basic modes, amplitude and dynamic1:
- Amplitude mode: a traditional LFO tremolo, with the modulation's speed adjustable via the Rate knob1.
- Dynamic mode: envelope-driven operation, in the spirit of the pedal that inspired it1.
- Reverse dynamic mode (2023 version): the 2023 version adds an extra mode that does the same, but in reverse, so the rate decreases the louder the input1.
The Depth control sets the intensity of the tremolo, and at zero the pedal works as a clean boost thanks to its Class A preamp1.
From EVT to Floriography
The pedal was named EVT before 2023, when it was renamed Floriography as part of an update and redesign1. The redesign added the extra reverse envelope mode, in which the rate decreases the louder the input signal is1.
The inspiration is a specific pedal. Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio writes that the Floriography is inspired by, but not a clone of, a little blue Japanese tremolo pedal he owned in the early 2000s that had no traditional speed control and changed the rate of the modulation based on the strength of pick attack1. That pedal was purchased, and then sold, in the early aughts by company owner David Gill, who is the builder of the 2023 version demo1.
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Questions
Can the BSRI Floriography be used as a clean boost?
Yes. The pedal features a Class A preamp, and when the Depth control is set to zero the tremolo effect is removed, leaving the preamp to act as a clean boost. Delicious Audio notes that this makes it usable as a clean boost when Depth is at zero, so the pedal can serve two roles on a board.
What pedal inspired the BSRI Floriography?
Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio describes the Floriography as inspired by, but not a clone of, a little blue Japanese tremolo pedal he owned in the early 2000s. That pedal had no traditional speed control and instead changed the rate of the modulation based on the strength of the player's pick attack.
What is the difference between the BSRI EVT and the Floriography?
They are the same pedal at different points in its life. The pedal was named EVT before 2023, when it was renamed Floriography as part of an update and redesign. The 2023 version adds an extra envelope mode that works in reverse: the rate of the modulation decreases the louder the input signal is.
Where is the BSRI Floriography made?
The Floriography is a boutique tremolo handbuilt in Baltimore. Company owner David Gill is the builder, and he also appears in the demo of the 2023 version of the pedal.
Sources (2)
- BSRI Floriography/EVT Dynamic Tremolo, Delicious Audio, 2023-04-03
- Coda Effects, Coda Effects (www.coda-effects.com), 2016-05