The MXR Layers Pedal blooms with rich, organic sustain that imbues every strum and pluck with resonance and depth—pull off chord voicings you never thought possible, compose transcendent melodies, orchestrate harmonic ensembles, create lively stereo pads, and more—all from a standard MXR housing.
THE LONG STORY
The MXR Layers Pedal blooms with rich, organic sustain that imbues every strum and pluck with resonance and depth. With a versatile suite of controls, this pedal can be as simple or complex as you need. Whether you want to lengthen single notes or generate multi-layered soundscapes rich with ambience, the MXR Layers Pedal will extend the creative potential of your instrument. Pull off chord voicings you never thought possible, compose transcendent melodies, orchestrate harmonic ensembles, create lively stereo pads, and more—all from a standard MXR housing.
HOLD ON TO YOUR TONE
The MXR Layers Pedal will confer its expertly created sustain and natural decay to up to three layers, each with its own mini LED to tell you its active. First, decide if you want to run just a single layer or up to three—engaging the Single switch keeps it to one. Layers can be triggered both with the footswitch and through your playing dynamics. With the footswitch, you just play a note or chord and hold the switch down—releasing the switch will allow the layer to fade according to your Decay knob setting. This is perfect for composing complex solos over droning accompaniments. Alternatively, you can trigger layers automatically in response to your attack, as set by the Trig knob. Combine these two methods for more creatively complex sound stacking: with Single mode disengaged, you can hold a layer with the footswitch and then auto-trigger more layers over top.
STACKED WITH OPTIONS
The MXR Layers Pedal offers a straightforward set of controls to tailor your layers to taste. The Mix knob adjusts the wet signal level; in other words, the volume of your layers. As previously stated, the Trig knob sets the sensitivity of the pedal’s auto-trigger function, allowing you to generate new layers according to the intensity of your pick strokes. The Attack knob adjusts the fade-in time of each layer, while the aforementioned Decay knob sets the fade-out time, which mimics the natural vibrations of a physical string by decaying the high frequencies first. For a fat subterranean vibe, engage the Sub Oct switch to take one or more of your layers down an octave.
LAYERS DEEP
Delving beyond the core features, the MXR Layers Pedal offers the experimentally inclined even more intricate opportunities to customize not only the sound of your layers but the overall playing experience. Through the pedal’s programming functions, you can adjust additional parameters, including modulation intensity, delay time, diffusion, and more. You can also use your keyboard’s sustain pedal or another off-board switch such as the MXR Split + Tap to trigger your layers, blend setting configurations with the Volume(X)™ 8 Pedal, and run Stereo Input, Stereo Output, and Dry/Wet Split modes.
THERE’S LEVELS TO THIS
With its pristine, high-fidelity sustain, the MXR Layers Pedal begs to be the new mainstay of just about any signal chain. Its deep feature set invites you to venture beyond your creative frontiers, where you can build richly detailed soundscapes that elevate musical expression to new heights.
CTR jack can be used to connect an expression pedal
or external footswitch or to send a dry output signal when using Dry/Wet Split mode (see Advanced Operation).
2 FOOTSWITCH governs creation and deletion of sustain layers. Pressing the footswitch engages a layer. Holding
the footswitch holds a layer indefinitely until released.
Upon release, the layer fades out according to the DECAY setting. A double tap will clear all layers and put the pedal in bypass.
3 ATTACK knob sets the attack, or fade in, time of each layer.
4 MIX knob controls the level of the wet signal.
5 SINGLE button limits sustain effect to a single layer. By default, there are 3 simultaneous layers that overlap with each other. When SINGLE button is engaged, only one layer will be active at a time.
6 TRIG knob sets the sensitivity for auto triggering layers with your pick attacks. When TRIG is in the OFF position
(fully counterclockwise), auto triggering is disabled, and only the FOOTSWITCH can activate layers. The TRIG LED is red by default when auto triggering is enabled; when the input signal exceeds the set threshold, the TRIG LED will turn green. Note that, for a layer to be triggered, the signal must exceed the threshold (i.e. the TRIG LED is green), and the pedal must detect a pick attack.
7 DECAY knob sets the decay, or fade out, time of each layer. For a given DECAY setting, higher frequencies will decay faster than lower frequencies, just like they do for a physical vibrating string. When TRIG knob is in the OFF position, the effect signal will automatically bypass once all three layers have fully decayed. The three layers LEDs and the main bypass LED will turn off to indicate bypassed status.
8 SUB OCT button transposes new layers down an octave. Previously created layers will not be affected. This allows you to have some layers at the normal transposition
and others shifted down an octave. This mode can be adjusted on the fly using an expression pedal to morph between different settings (see Advanced Operation). There is also a setting for only transposing the lowest frequencies of a layer down an octave (see Advanced Settings)—useful for adding bass to a layer without having the whole chord or note transposed down.
Power
The MXR Layers Pedal requires a 9-volt (300mA) center-negative power supply a 9-volt DC center negative adapter. This pedal cannot be powered by a battery.
Bypass
The pedal always operates with a buffered analog dry signal, mixing in the wet signal when the effect is engaged. This scheme ensures seamless transitions between engaged and bypassed states.
