Adrian Utley explains his love of Eventide's Space reverb
Portishead's synth and guitar legend on what he gets out of the stompbox
Eventide's UK distributor Source Distribution recently had the pleasure of spending a few hours shooting video in the company of Adrian Utley, as he explained how he's been using the Eventide Space reverb stompbox.
Space condenses some of the greatest digital reverbs from Eventide's flagship rack processors into a small footprint effects pedal that is as comfortable on the stage as it is in the studio or hooked up to a live sound console. It boasts 12 lush reverb and delay effects - from conventional Halls, Rooms, Plates and Springs right through to off-the-wall sounds including Blackhole, Reverse Reverb and ModEchoVerb.
"When I heard Space, it blew my mind," enthuses Utley. "I've got loads of pedals and with some of them you think 'I've got to have that' and then you never ever use it again, whereas this I just use all the time, it's great. We use it with Portishead live on the front-of-house as well, because we all got massively addicted to it."
In the video, Utley demonstrates how he uses Space's programmable HotSwitch to crank up the feedback of the unit at key moments: "I don't know many pedals that have that - to be able to hold stuff is just great. It means you can create a giant ambience if you want, which is cool."
During the film, Utley fires up a bewildering array of sound sources and feeds them all into the Space pedal - including a Moog synth, Mellotron and electric guitar (played conventionally and then with both violin bow and pliers!) to give the viewer a fascinating insight into how he creates his trademark soundscapes. He concludes: "It's a wicked sound, I love it."
Get the MusicRadar Newsletter
Want all the hottest music and gear news, reviews, deals, features and more, direct to your inbox? Sign up here.