The Paradox Effects Futura Envelope Chorus is a full analog chorus/vibrato pedal built around a bucket brigade (BBD) chip, the older-style chip design many players associate with classic chorus sounds. What sets it apart from a conventional chorus is an embedded envelope follower, a circuit that reads how hard you pick and lets that playing dynamics drive the modulation itself. Pedal of the Day described it as featuring "a world of Chorus/Vibrato tones"1. It sits within the wider field of chorus pedals as a specialized take on the effect type.
What it does
The Futura pairs a BBD chorus/vibrato engine with an envelope follower. The Blend control moves between what Pedal of the Day called "modern and classic chorus tones to distant age vibrato feelings"1. The reviewer described the range of textures the pedal summons as reaching "far beyond conventional, shimmery classic chorus, vibrato bar bendings, slimy warbles, and even tones resembling the scratching on a vinyl record"1.
The envelope follower is the heart of the design. Premier Guitar treated it as more than a bolt-on feature1:
"more than a feature, it’s a specialized engine that behaves in a multi-parametric fashion, with combinational options interconnected with the LFO’s parameters reacting to your guitar picking"
In practice, that means the strength of your picking changes how the chorus or vibrato moves, so the effect responds to dynamics rather than running on a fixed cycle alone1.
Envelope interaction modes
The pedal offers three modes for how the envelope engages with the modulation1:
- Rate (R): your picking envelope drives the modulation rate
- Depth (D): your picking envelope drives the modulation depth
- Rate+Depth (R+D): both simultaneously
Release history and price
The Futura Envelope Chorus is made by Paradox Effects1. It offers three envelope interaction modes, letting the envelope drive the Rate (R), the Depth (D), or Rate and Depth simultaneously (R+D)1.
Videos
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Sources (1)
- Paradox Effects Futura Envelope Chorus, Pedal of the Day, 2021-03-17
