Red Panda Particle

The Red Panda Particle is a granular delay and pitch shifter pedal. Instead of repeating your whole signal the way a conventional delay pedal does, it chops the incoming audio into short segments called grains, 15 to 250 milliseconds long, and then shifts, randomizes and mangles those grains using the techniques of granular synthesis in real time¹². The result is a delay that can stutter, reverse, detune, pitch shift and smear, all from one box.

Red Panda describes it plainly: the Particle "chops your signal into small grains and then rearranges, shifts, and mangles it, using the techniques of granular synthesis in real time"³. Delicious Audio's reviewer put the sound in different words, writing that "adjectives like robotic, chaotic, unpredictable and warped only begin to paint a picture"⁴. The original Particle was designed in 2010, with the first batch released in 2011, and it has since been superseded by the Red Panda Particle 2⁵.

How it works and what it does to your sound

Granular processing is the core idea. The Particle records your playing into a delay buffer, slices it into grains, and plays those grains back shifted in pitch, reversed, randomized in timing, or dense enough to blur into a wash. Short grains produce more gradual, textural effects, while longer grains produce stepped changes in delay and pitch⁸.

Because the grains can be rearranged and randomized, the pedal behaves less like an echo and more like a machine for tearing your signal apart. Delicious Audio noted that by incorporating controls like pitch shifting, detune and an LFO, "this pedal has claimed a very unique place among a crowded group of modern delays"⁴. Pedal of the Day's reviewer called it "an awesome sonic adventure" and noted that with all the mode choices and randomness, it is difficult to reproduce the same exact sound twice⁷.

The controls: Chop, Param, Delay/Pitch and Freeze

The knob set is Blend, Chop, Delay/Pitch, Feedback, Mode, Param and Preset⁹. The two most unusual controls are Chop and Param, because what they do depends on the active mode.

The FREEZE function deserves its own note. In freeze mode the delay buffer is recycled instead of taking live input, so whatever was caught keeps playing². When Chop is fully clockwise, whatever is in the buffer loops indefinitely, and changing modes or switching to bypass will not erase the loop; turn the knob back past the freeze line to return to normal playback⁸. For more reliable triggering in freeze mode, Red Panda suggests putting a compressor in front of the Particle².

The modes

Mode determines how Delay/Pitch and Param behave, and PARAM has a unique function in each mode¹³⁹. Examples from Red Panda's mode guide:

• Low frequency oscillator mode: delay time is controlled by an LFO. Delay/Pitch sets the maximum delay time, while Param adjusts the speed of the LFO¹³.
• Detune mode: grains are randomly detuned around a specified pitch. Delay/Pitch specifies the pitch, Param adjusts the amount of randomization¹³.
• Pitch mode: Delay/Pitch shifts grain pitch, and Param adjusts grain density, interacting with Chop for a granular tremolo effect¹³.
• Reverse mode: Param adjusts the probability of forward or reverse playback¹¹.

The Pitch knob can also be configured for continuous, free pitch changes or stepped, quantized changes. Quantization alternatives include 12 semitones, Octave Up, Octave Down, Octaves and 5ths, Intervals, and Intervals and Inversions, set through the web editor, TouchOSC or MIDI, and the setting is saved in presets and remembered when power is off¹⁴. Holding the DIV switch while adjusting Delay/Pitch applies a note division to the delay time, with an LED blinking to indicate the divisions¹⁴.

Feedback itself has selectable modes, including Recycle, Ping Pong Recycle, Post Delay, Post Delay Ping Pong, and Repeat number and percentage feedback modes, set using the web editor or MIDI¹⁰.

Presets, MIDI and expression

The Particle holds 127 presets in memory, accessible via the web editor or MIDI. Presets 1 to 4 can be accessed and programmed onboard using the Preset switch¹². The pedal also works with external control: Red Panda states it "can be used with expression pedals, CV input, and other external devices"³.

Any expression pedal with a 10k to 50k ohm linear pot works, for example the Roland EV-5, Moog EP-2, M-Audio EX-P or Mission Engineering EP-1, and the pedal's own knob sets the maximum value when an expression pedal is connected². The Particle v2 is also listed as supported by Disaster Area Designs MIDI controllers¹⁵, and newer firmware allows the AUX4RP four-button remote to connect to the expression jack¹⁶.

Power and connections

The original Particle requires a 9V DC center negative, regulated Boss-style power supply providing 100 mA, and the supply is not included²⁷. It does not take batteries⁷.

Connections are mono in, mono out, plus the expression jack⁷. All jacks are on top of the enclosure, which Red Panda describes as pedalboard-friendly³. The warranty covers defects in materials or workmanship for one year from the original purchase, and does not cover accident, misuse, abuse or unauthorized repair².

From the original Particle to Particle 2

The original Particle, model number RP-101, ran on the Spin FV-1 DSP chip, and Red Panda says some of its limitations, and character, came from finding clever ways to do things like reverse delay and granular pitch shifting on that chip⁵⁶. The Particle 2 moved to a much more powerful processor, becoming what the maker calls a full-fledged granular processor, and added stereo I/O, presets, MIDI, higher fidelity, and greatly expanded the sounds possible while keeping the same character¹⁵.

The Particle 2 also gained bypass modes (Auto, DSP, Analog, Analog plus FX Level, Kill Dry) and random stereo panning in firmware 2.2 and later⁵. Premier Guitar's review of the Particle 2 noted that you cannot use a battery and that the adapter is not included¹⁷.

What reviewers said

MusicRadar's Alex Lynham reviewed the Particle V2 at $299 (also listed at £299 in a buying guide) and summed up its strengths and drawbacks as "unique sounding delay and reverb" with controls that can radically change the sounds and a compact form factor, with the price as a drawback¹⁸⁹. The same reviewer noted that "the Particle is a granular delay pedal, not a reverb," though in DENS mode it is closer to a bitcrushed digital delay, while the random buffer resizing in RND mode takes it into reverb territory¹⁸. Guitar World's buying guide grouped the Particle among exotic pedals that will each set you back around $300¹⁹.

Videos

Click to load

Click to load

Click to load

Questions