Browse Helix Models and Effects

Helix currently supports 72 amplifier models, 194 effects, 37 speaker cab models, and 16 microphones. On top of all that you also have the ability to load Impulse Responses (IRs) that you can grab from free or paid sources. Go have fun.

Line 6 Original. Tesselator is part morphing delay, part loop sampler, part drone machine... it's stellar for creating rhythmic pads, textures, or pitch/filter ramp effects to play over and has been placed in the Delay category so you can run multiple instances at once. Once audio is captured and repeating, you can effectively transition/morph between two states—First and Last, each with its own time, speed/pitch, HP filter, and LP filter—by applying increasing amounts to each repeat until the target settings are reached.

1. Assign Tesselator to a stomp footswitch. It's bypassed by default.
   
2. Play a chord and while it's ringing, press the Tesselator switch. Audio captured BEFORE the switch press is repeated and manipulated by the following parameters:
   

• First—Determines the length of the first step in the sequence, that is, the length of repeated audio when first engaged. Press the knob to toggle between ms and note values
  
• Last—Determines the length of the last step in the sequence. If shorter than the First step's time, the sequence will get shorter; if longer than the First step's time, the sequence will get longer. If First and Last are the same time, the sequence length remains constant (Ex. 1 below). Press the knob to toggle between ms and note values
  
• Steps—Determines how many steps there are in the sequence (1 ~ 50). For example, if your first step is 100ms and your last step is 500ms, each successive step in the sequence will lengthen from 100ms to 500ms. The more steps you have, the longer it takes to reach the last step and therefore, the longer it takes to alter the sequence's characteristics
  
• Direction—Determines the direction of the steps:
  
  
  
  • Forward: Each step plays back normally (Ex. 2a below)
    
  • Reverse: Each step plays back in reverse (Ex. 2b below)
    
  • Fwd/Rev: Steps alternate between forward and reverse (Ex. 2c below)
    
  
  
• Boomerang—When off, the last step in the sequence repeats indefinitely. When on, all steps play forward, then backward, then forward again, etc. (Ex. 3a below)
  
• Operation—Determines what happens to your signal when Tesselator is turned on (remember, it's bypassed by default)
  
  
  
  • "Mute All"—When Tesselator is on, THE ENTIRE PATH IS MUTED
    
  • "Dry Kill"—When Tesselator is on, only the effected signal is heard. TIP: With Tesselator on a parallel path, assign a second stomp switch to toggle between Mute All and Dry Kill. This lets you leave the block enabled and bring the effected signal in and out by switching between the two values
    
  • "Normal" (default)—When Tesselator is on, both the dry and effected signals are heard
    
  
  
• Type—Determines whether any speed/pitch changes across the sequence reference a static or semitone value
  
  
  
  • "Speed" (default)—Sets the target speed of the last step. Use the Speed parameter to set the specific value (0.0x speed ~ 2.0x speed)
    
  • "Pitch"—Sets the target pitch of the last step. Use the Pitch parameter to set the value (-12 ~ +12 semitones; see Ex. 3c below)
    
  
  
• Speed—Sets the target speed for the last step. For example, if set to "2.0x," the last step will be twice as fast as the first step and if set to "0.0x," the last step will appear to stop completely. Disabled unless Type is set to "Speed"
  
• Pitch—Sets the target pitch for the last step. For example, if set to "-12", the last step will be an octave lower than the first step. Disabled unless Type is set to "Pitch" (see Ex. 3c below)
  
• HP Filter—Very different from Helix's traditional Low Cut and High Cut filters. Sets the high-pass (low cut) filter target for the last step. For example, if set to a higher value, each successive step will filter out more bass until the last step of the sequence
  
• LP Filter—Very different from Helix's traditional Low Cut and High Cut filters. Sets the low-pass (high cut) filter target for the last step. For example, if set to a higher value, each successive step will filter out more treble until the last step of the sequence (Ex. 3b below)
  
• FX Level—Controls the level of the effected signal
  
• Level—Controls the overall output level of the block
  

Woohoo! More charts and diagrams!

Tesselator is capable of hundreds of unique sounds, and it's impossible to illustrate them all, but here are a few examples:

Example 1: If Knob 1 (First) and Knob 2 (Last) are set to the same value (say, 1/4 note), the same length of audio repeats until Tesselator is bypassed. In this case, it acts very much like Delay > Ratchet, except the audio is captured BEFORE the stomp press, not after.

Example 2: If Knob 2 (Last) is set to a shorter time than Knob 1 (First), steps in the sequence progressively get shorter (Ex. 2a). If Last is set to a longer time than First, steps in the sequence progressively get longer. The last step is repeated indefinitely until Tesselator is bypassed. Setting Direction to "Reverse" (Ex. 2b) reverses all steps; setting Direction to "Fwd/Rev" (Ex. 2c) alternates between forward and reversed steps.

Example 3: Turning Boomerang to "On" plays the entire step sequence forward, then backward, then forward again, etc. (Ex. 3a) Increasing LP Filter to a higher value progressively darkens each step in the sequence (Ex. 3b). Increasing HP Filter to a higher value progressively thins out each step in the sequence. Setting Type to "Pitch" and Pitch to a value other than "0" will change the pitch of each step until it lands on the target pitch at the last step. For example, if Pitch is set to "+5" and you play an E note, the last note in the sequence will be an A, or 5 steps higher (Ex. 3c). If you want the last A note to repeat indefinitely instead of stepping back down to E, turn Boomerang back to "Off."

TIP: You can change all of these parameters while Tesselator is... tessellating, to create evolving, engaging soundscapes. Run it into Pitch > Dual Pitch and Reverb > Shimmer and prepare to waste hours in drone land.

Description source: Line 6
Image source: Line 6

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