Shimmer usually means one thing: a reverb with an octave-up voice feeding back into the tail. It's a beautiful sound, but it's only one sound.

The Shimmer algorithm on the Solis Ventus starts from the same idea and opens it right up. It's a Spatium-style reverb infused with regenerative pitch-shifted voices, and the harmonized decay sounds like string pads accompanying your instrument. There are two voices, each with its own interval, so it can go anywhere from brilliant string pads to eerie, haunting atmospheres.

The basics

Shimmer is one of the 11 reverb algorithms on the Solis Ventus, and it runs in true stereo. Turn the ALGO knob through the reverb list to number 6, Shimmer Reverb, shown as SHIMMR on the display. Like every reverb on the pedal:

• The TIME knob sets the predelay.
• The MIX knob sets the wet and dry levels.

Everything else lives on the PARAM knob, which holds Shimmer's 8 parameters.

The eight parameters

1. Decay: length of the reverb decay.
2. Intensity: level of both pitch voices together.
3. Voice 1: pitch of the first voice.
4. Voice 2: pitch of the second voice.
5. Voice Blend: the mix between the two voices. At 0 you hear only Voice 1, at 100 only Voice 2, and anywhere in between is a continuous blend of both.
6. Early Energy: amount of early-reflection energy.
7. Low: how much low-frequency energy goes into the reverb.
8. High: how much high-frequency energy goes into the reverb.

26 intervals per voice

Voice 1 and Voice 2 each choose from the same list of 26 intervals, going down a full octave and up a full octave:

• Down: -1 Octave, -Major 7th, -minor 7th, -Major 6th, -minor 6th, -Perfect 5th, -Tritone, -Perfect 4th, -Major 3rd, -minor 3rd, -Major 2nd, -minor 2nd, -10 cents
• Up: +10 cents, +minor 2nd, +Major 2nd, +minor 3rd, +Major 3rd, +Perfect 4th, +Tritone, +Perfect 5th, +minor 6th, +Major 6th, +minor 7th, +Major 7th, +1 Octave

Going eerie: Voice 1 on the Tritone

Here's where Shimmer stops being "just an octave". Set Voice 1 to +Tritone, the interval that sits exactly between the fourth and the fifth, and the tail stops sounding like a string section and starts sounding tense and unresolved. It's the eerie, haunting end of what this algorithm can do.

Then use Voice Blend to decide how much of that tension comes through. Here it's at 51, just past the midpoint, so both voices are in the tail and Voice 2 leans in slightly over the tritone. Turn it toward 0 for more tritone, or toward 100 to let Voice 2 take over and resolve the sound.

Use Intensity to set how loud the voices sit in the reverb overall.

More places to start

• The classic: set one voice to +1 Octave for the familiar shimmer sound.
• Fifths and octaves: put +Perfect 5th on one voice and +1 Octave on the other, then use Voice Blend to move between them.
• Going down: try -1 Octave or the other downward intervals for a darker, heavier tail. This is Anti-Shimmer if your'e familiar with the Specular Tempus!
• Subtle detune: use -10 cents or +10 cents when you want movement in the tail without an obvious new pitch.

Hear it in the factory presets

Three of the 24 factory presets use Shimmer:

• Golden Dawn (Bank 2, Patch B): Shimmer reverb with the 3-Heads delay.
• Dark Clouds (Bank 6, Patch B): Shimmer reverb.
• Ominousity (Bank 6, Patch C): Shimmer reverb with the Analog delay.

Load one up, then open the PARAM menu and change Voice 1 and Voice 2 to hear how much the character shifts.

Shimmer doesn't have to mean "octave up". On the Solis Ventus, it's two voices and 26 intervals to build your own harmony into the reverb.