Eventide gear on the Anagram

Eventide is a New Jersey company that pioneered digital studio effects, from early delays to the Harmonizer pitch shifters. Its H3000 rack unit, launched in 1986, became a standard in studios and in large guitar rack rigs of the late 1980s and 1990s.

Mercuriall Audio says Braid-231 is built around the H3000's MicroPitchShift effect. The number in the name is that preset's number on the original unit. That is confirmed by the developer.

The micro-pitch effect is simple but very effective. It splits the signal, shifts one side very slightly up and the other very slightly down, and adds a short delay to each. The result is a wide stereo sound that thickens the signal without the regular wobble of a chorus.

That is the appeal. A chorus moves in cycles, and you can hear it pulse. Micro-pitch stays steady, so it sounds like a doubled part rather than an effect. Guitarists used it on clean parts and solos to fill a stereo field.

For bass, it is worth care. Pitch-shifting the low end can make it sound loose or out of tune. The best approach is to apply it only to the upper part of the signal, or keep the mix low so the clean bass carries the bottom.

On the Anagram, Braid-231 works best at the end of the chain into a stereo output, where the width can be heard. In mono, it gives a thicker, slightly blurred sound.

Try Braid-231 with the mix around a third on a clean or lightly driven sound, and listen in stereo to hear the full effect.