The Audio Cultivation Project - PALA

Pala at it's core is a pre-amp and compressor pedal.

Pala has a fairly lengthy history, beginning life as a commission project to create a compressor that is "transparent" and doesn't have the pumping effect that so many OTA based compressors are plagued by. After the initial commission project, three more years of development ensued. Countless prototypes and tweaks have led it to where it is now in its released form. Pala at its core is still a compressor, but has now evolved and been designed to capture the physical event of a loud amp in a reverberant room. That clean, yet edge of feedback phenomenon is what Pala aims to capture to some extent, within the confines of analog circuitry of course. To help the compressor part, Pala has a pre-amp loosely designed to give the same feel as a Bassman 10 with the ultra-linear transformer. A very dry amp, slightly trashy, but unique.

Pala of course excels at all things normal compressor also. In the highest headroom setting, the clipping of the pre-amp is bypassed and Pala can receive up to 5Vp-p signals without any signal distortion. Combine that with the ability to drive 10K ohm loads without frequency loss, Pala is just at home with line level equipment as much as it is with traditional guitar and bass instruments/gear. Pala also features some EQ controls to better allow it to fit into any situation. The treble control offers 10db of boost, or cut, of high frequencies. There is also an adjustable dry, uncompressed, low passed (bass frequencies) thru path that makes Pala a great fit for bass guitars, keys, and other instruments.

For more info on the history and function of Pala, check out the product page for demos and a more technical deep dive into Pala.

Find it here:
audiocultivationproject.com

00:00 - Intro
00:32 - Controls
14:17 - Default Power State
15:45 - DI Guitar
16:18 - Light Drive
17:12 - Clang
17:54 - With Spring Reverb
18:49 - Dark Yet Defined
19:55 - Bass DI
20:26 - Bass Light Drive
21:04 - Bass Heavy Drive