Cognate Cursive

Cognate Cursive starts from a circuit-level model of the classic four-stage JFET phaser – the little orange box that has been on pedalboards since the seventies. The all-pass stages, the transistors that sweep them and the feedback path are all modelled, so the notches move the way the original does.

Then Cursive gives you options: Stages runs from two to sixteen: two or four for the vintage sweep, six or eight for something richer, sixteen for dense, futuristic combs. Feedback pushes the resonance from a gentle lift to a sharp, vocal edge. Depth runs both ways, so the direction-aware shapes can sweep up or down — and in Envelope mode a negative setting starts the sweep bright and dips it down on every note, so one knob sets where the sweep starts as well as how far it goes.

Shape controls the sweep's modulation. There's the classic triangle; a stepped random sample-and-hold; a note-triggered envelope that fires a fresh sweep on every note you play; a one-way ramp; and a barber-pole mode that seems to rise (or fall) forever. Rate sets the speed and, in Envelope mode, the character of the sweep, from a slow swell to a fast pluck.

Traditional phasers aren't always bass-friendly, as they eat into the fundamental. Cursive's Stereo control offers mono and stereo modes with an optional crossover that keeps everything below 100 Hz solid and unphased, so the movement lives in the mids and top while the low end stays put.

Swirl. Sweep. Sing. The classic, in joined-up writing.