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Chord Pilot is a powerful composition and performance tool for both novices and experts, useful for note strumming, multi-mode arpeggios, and unchartered sonic exploration
Building on its stable of highly functional and inspired Eurorack modules, Knobula introduces Chord Pilot. Like its siblings Poly Cinematic and Kickain, Chord Pilot delivers massive functionality in a 12HP footprint — offering an entirely new way to explore note strumming, chord-based performances, multi-mode arpeggios and much more.
At its core, Chord Pilot is a Eurorack-based midi controller aimed at all types of music creators at any level of musicianship or technical ability. As other modules in the Knobula family, Chord Pilot’s highly intuitive and tactile interface make performance both fun and intuitive — whether you are an expert in Eurorack or just starting out. With its powerful chord audition and preset capabilities, it is ideal tool for both studio composition and live performance, and is an ideal companion to Knobula’s groundbreaking Poly Cinematic 8 voice polysynth module.
“Chord Pilot is yet another powerful tool we have developed to help musicians express their creative visions,” says Jason Mayo, founder of Knobula. “The fundamental principle behind Chord Pilot is that of an imaginary pair of hands that can be manipulated into various finger positions which are then used to play notes on a virtual keyboard. The end result is stacks of unusual chords and arpeggios that are otherwise impossible to describe in traditional chord notation and even harder to play with human hands.”
The power of discovery
Rather than providing a prescribed set of parameters that dictate traditional intervals or key signatures, Chord Pilot is a launch pad for iterative discovery and ‘happy accidents.’ Whatever your starting point, the module makes it easy for users to maneuver and navigate through thousands of possible chord-based expressions so you can quickly find — and save — your own sonic palette that suits your own composition and musical taste. The 192 presets can be recalled quickly either by rotating a knob or by CV/Gate control as arpeggiated midi sequences, rhythmic stabs, or circular chordal expressions.
As with other Knobula modules Poly Cinematic and Kickain, Chord Pilot puts powerful, tactile controls in the hands of the user. Its ergonomic faceplate features 8 easily accessible backlit preset buttons, with an intuitive Audition/Save button in the middle. Switches to control Gate, Preset Buttons and Bank give users immediate access to performance parameters, button functionality and banks of chord presets for easy recall. Modal, Circle and Bias knobs shift the chord shapes, transposition parameters and how note intervals are spread across the chord. Its generous I/O features full CV control over bias, buttons and gate, as well as midi access for CC messages and remote control of Chord Pilot’s parameters, among other features.
As a creative tool, Chord Pilot presents an entirely new way of using chordal expressions. So cast aside everything you’ve ever been taught about music theory or harmony and let Chord Pilot be your guide into an exploratory trip into a wild, wonderful, uncharted world of sonic discovery.
Chord Pilot features:
- 192 Chord memories
- Note Strumming
- Multi-mode arpeggiator
- Circular Chord Progressions
- Internal and external Clock/Gate Input
- Remotely select preset buttons over CV
- Midi In and Out
- 12 HP
Where to buy: 
Chord Pilot is scheduled to begin shipping in January for £320 (UK), $399 (US) and €399 (EU). For more information, please visit the Knobula webpage at: http://www.knobula.com.
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