MUSIKMESSE 2016: Unstoppable bastion of tone DigiTech has launched a pair of new pedals for Messe: the Whammy Ricochet polyphonic pitch-shifter and Dirty Robot stereo mini-synth.

DigiTech Whammy Ricochet

Like the Drop and Luxe, the Ricochet is an offshoot of DigiTech's legendary Whammy pitch-shifter, but takes the pedal's treadle-based pitch bends and maps them onto a momentary footswitch instead.

Seven pitches are available - 2nd, 4th, 5th, 7th, Octave, Double Octave, and Octave+Dry - up or down, while shift and return knobs control the rate at which the pitch rises and falls - a series of trajectory LEDs provide a visual indication of pitch-shift direction and rate.

A true bypass latching footswitch mode is also available to maintain the selected pitch, and players have a choice of polyphonic Chords mode (from the Whammy DT) and glitchy Classic (from the original Whammy) tracking.

The Whammy Ricochet is available from May/June for $187.44/€175.

DigiTech Dirty Robot

Also in the offing is the Dirty Robot stereo mini-synth, a successor to the company's Synth Wah that's designed for both guitarists and bassists.

Two synth voices are available - straight envelope-style synthesis and vocal formant synthesis - controlled by seven controls, including mix, mod (which adds chorus to the synth signal), drift (adjusting between sub, octave and square waveforms) and sensitivity - start, stop and time knobs adjust the time between the sweep starting and stopping.

What's more, there's a momentary vibrato setting, which modulates the synth signal with, well, vibrato, like a mod wheel on a keyboard synth. Neat.

The Dirty Robot is available from May for $187.44/€175. Expect reviews of these fresh stompers soon.