Attack
How slowly the sound swells in after you pick.
- Turn up Notes fade in like a volume swell or violin bow.
- Turn down Faster onset — closer to a normal pick attack.
Pedals / Slow attack
Slow Gear
Slow attack · play-tested
seth — fish
seth@ninevolt:~$
Knobs
In the TUI each knob runs from low (left / 0%) to high (right / 100%). Start near noon, then nudge while you play.
Release
How the swell behaves as the note ends / resets.
- Turn up Longer, more dramatic swell recovery.
- Turn down Quicker reset for faster playing.
Level
Output volume.
- Turn up Louder.
- Turn down Quieter.
Inspired by
Boss SG-1 Slow Gear (1979) — automatic volume swell / “reverse noise gate.” Mutes the pick attack, then fades the note in like a violin bow or volume pedal. Reddit guitorgan stacks use slow attack before octave pedals to soften B9 / POG pick hash (reddit-guitorgan.yaml). Hardware: Sens (threshold) + Attack (swell time) only. Ninevolt display name Slow Gear; Release and Level are software extras.
Not compression — no RMS leveling or sustain boost (Blue Comp). Not a noise gate — opposite of Hush Gate (cuts quiet signals). Not organ swell shoe — full signal, not wet-only (Organ Donor Swell).
Signal path
| Step | What it does | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Slow peak envelope | Tracks `\ | input\ | ` — Attack sets rise time ~20 ms–2.2 s; Release sets fall ~35–885 ms. |
| Pick shaping | Output gain = envelope / peak — env lags on pick spikes so the attack is hidden; catches up on sustain. | ||
| Level makeup | Subtle trim 0.88–1.12× after shaping. | ||
| Output | Clamped mono; true bypass copies input unchanged. |
Simplifications
- Mono in/out - No Sens knob — always triggers on normal guitar levels - Digital envelope (no Boss VCA / NF-1 analog path) - True bypass (no engage ramp) - Monophonic — chords smear swell timing like hardware