The TWA LD-02 Little Dipper Mk II is an envelope-controlled vocal formant filter pedal: a filter that follows your playing dynamics and reshapes your tone with peaks and notches that mimic the vowel sounds of human speech. Guitar Interactive Magazine, announcing its release in September 2014, described it as "an envelope-controlled vocal formant filter based on a classic 70's circuit"1. It sits in the wider family of filter pedals, but where a standard auto-wah sweeps a single resonant peak, a formant filter stacks two filters that move with your attack, which is what produces the talking, vowel-like quality.
What it does to your sound
The pedal's dual filters react to how hard you play, creating peaks and notches that simulate the vowel sounds of human speech. TWA also built in a fuzz circuit that emphasizes harmonics for a more dramatic effect, along with dry blend and noise gate controls1. If you want to hear the same dynamics-driven filtering idea taken further, TWA later released the DM-02 Dynamorph, a dynamics-responsive distortion and filtering pedal1.
The controls
The Little Dipper Mk II carries a good deal of shaping on its face, plus one trim pot inside the chassis1.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Inclination slider (5-way) | Selects the vocal formant effect1 |
| Occultation rotary switch (7-way) | Offers several EQ and filter timing variations1 |
| Ascension | Adjusts the strength of the filtering effect1 |
| Diffraction | Adjusts the strength of the fuzz effect1 |
| Low Boost switch | For increased low frequency response1 |
| Dry Blend trim pot (internal) | Blends your unaffected signal with the filtered signal1 |
The Dry Blend control is an internal trim pot, not a panel knob. Setting the dry-to-filtered balance means opening the pedal up, so plan your blend before mounting it on a crowded board.
An expression pedal input allows outboard control of the Ascension pot, so you can sweep the strength of the filtering with your foot while your hands stay on the guitar1.
Power and practicalities
The pedal requires external 9 VDC power and has no battery option1. Guitar World's news item on the release also noted a 3-year warranty2.
With no battery option, the Little Dipper Mk II will not run on a one-spot style supply shared carelessly or on battery power; it needs a dedicated 9 VDC outlet on your power supply.
Where it came from
Godlyke, Inc. announced the release of the TWA LD-02 Little Dipper Mk II in September 2014, with a street price of $2991. Guitar World covered the launch in October 2014 as an envelope-controlled formant filter1. It followed the original Little Dipper in TWA's line, and the maker has since continued the filter theme with pedals like the LF-01 Ladditude1.
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Questions
Does the TWA Little Dipper Mk II take a battery?
No. The Little Dipper Mk II requires external 9 VDC power and has no battery option, so you will need a suitable power supply or pedalboard power output to run it. Because it needs its own external 9 VDC supply, it is worth checking that your power brick has a free outlet before adding it to a board.
Is the Little Dipper Mk II true bypass?
Yes. TWA fitted the pedal with its proprietary S3, or Shortest Send Switching, a relay-based true bypass design. When the pedal is off, the relay switches it out of your signal path entirely, which is the arrangement most players look for on a pedalboard.
Can you use an expression pedal with the Little Dipper Mk II?
Yes. The Little Dipper Mk II has an expression pedal input that gives outboard control of the Ascension pot, the control that adjusts the strength of the filtering effect. That lets you sweep the intensity of the formant filtering by foot while you play.
What does the Inclination slider do?
The 5-way Inclination slider selects the vocal formant effect. Formants are the resonant peaks that give the human voice its vowel sounds, so the slider lets you choose which vowel-like character the filter produces as it reacts to your playing dynamics.
Where is the TWA Little Dipper made?
The Little Dipper Mk II is made in the USA. TWA, short for Totally Wycked Audio, is distributed by Godlyke, Inc., which announced the pedal's release in September 2014.
Sources (2)
- TWA Releases Little Dipper MK II, Guitar Interactive Magazine, 2014-09-18
- TWA Releases Little Dipper Mk II Envelope-Controlled Formant Filter, Guitar World, 2014-10-24
