How to Use the Parallelarator as a Studio Tool (Not Just for Live Rigs)

When we designed the Parallelarator, we wanted to build more than just a pedalboard utility. We wanted a creative tool that could live anywhere — from a crowded pedalboard on stage to the pristine signal paths of a recording studio.

And while many players know it as a way to run complex wet/dry/wet rigs or blend

effects in parallel, the Parallelarator shines just as brightly in the studio.

Here’s how it can become a secret weapon for recording, mixing, and re-amping — even when you’re nowhere near a stage.

🎚️ 1. Blend Effects Like an Outboard Mixer

In the studio, the Parallelarator can act as a mini analog mixer for your pedals. Instead of stacking reverb, delay, and modulation in series — which can quickly turn your tone to mush — you can run each into its own loop, control their blend, and keep your dry signal perfectly intact.

Use the Dry Mix control to dial in the exact amount of unaffected tone you want, then balance your wet loops for a rich, dimensional texture. It’s like having a mixing desk at your feet — but with true analog warmth and zero latency.

And beyond preserving clarity, the studio is the perfect place to experiment with creative parallel combinations that might otherwise be too extreme or chaotic in a live rig. Try blending a fuzz pedal with a chorus, or running a heavily filtered delay beside a clean compression path. The Parallelarator lets you combine effects that would normally clash in series, revealing completely new sounds and textures that are only possible when they’re run in parallel.

🎧 2. Re-Amping Made Easy

Re-amping guitars through pedals is a fantastic way to add character and movement to recorded tracks — but managing levels and impedance can be tricky. The Parallelarator handles this gracefully.

Send your re-amp signal into the Parallelarator's dry input, use the loops for your favourite pedals, and take the stereo outputs back into your interface or desk. Because it’s buffered and impedance-matched, you get studio-clean fidelity whether you’re processing a DI guitar track, a synth, or even a vocal.

🔄 3. Parallel Compression & Drive Blends

One of the oldest studio tricks is parallel compression — blending a clean track with a heavily compressed version for added punch without losing dynamics.

You can do the same thing with pedals.

Run a compressor or drive pedal into one of the Parallelarator’s loops, blend it with your dry tone using the Dry Mix control, and you’ll get that studio-grade punch and clarity right at your feet. It’s perfect for recording direct or adding subtle harmonic depth to amp tracks.

🌀 4. Stereo Experimentation and Spatial Design

Because the Parallelarator is fully stereo-capable, it’s ideal for sound design and ambient layering in the studio. Feed it with a mono source and send the stereo outputs to two amps, two channels of your interface, or even two reverb pedals.

Try modulated reverbs or ping-pong delays in separate loops, then blend them in parallel for wide, immersive textures that retain their definition. This approach gives your mixes natural width without the phase smear of stacking multiple digital effects in series.

⚡ 5. Creative Tricks with Loop 3

Loop 3 on the Parallelarator includes both a phase switch and a footswitch-controlled send, which open up even more creative possibilities. In the studio, these features can be used to create unusual tonal effects, phase textures, or switchable blend layers.

One particularly fun technique is to use a mono patch cable to connect Loop 3’s Send to its Return, and switch Loop 3 to Mono mode. With the Phase switch engaged, this effectively introduces an out-of-phase version of your dry signal into the mix. You can then use the Loop 3 level control to blend this in subtly for a sense of depth and movement, or push it higher for comb-filtered, phasey textures that interact dynamically with your main tone.

The footswitch allows you to switch this out-of-phase layer on and off in real time — perfect for adding rhythmic motion, tonal shifts, or subtle modulation-style effects without using another pedal. It’s an experimental trick that can yield anything from widening stereo effects to strange, atmospheric tones that sit beautifully in a mix.

🎛️ 6. Recording Three Outputs for Ultimate Flexibility

One of the most powerful — and often overlooked — studio features of the Parallelarator is its three independent outputs. These allow you to record a wet/dry/wet setup directly into your DAW:

• Left and Right Outputs: capture your stereo effects blend.

• Centre (Dry) Output: captures the unaffected, pure guitar signal.

  
  

Recording all three simultaneously gives you enormous flexibility when mixing. You can track your full stereo sound while also saving a clean DI signal that can be re-amped later through different pedals, amps, or even back through the Parallelarator itself.

But that dry signal doesn’t have to stop there — it can also be used as a blank canvas for further processing inside your DAW. You can apply plugin-based effects, automation, or external outboard gear to the dry track, creating new tones and textures without having to re-record the performance.

And the best part? You don’t need to change a single cable on your pedalboard. Your effects stay connected exactly as they are for live use — just take the Parallelarator’s outputs and plug them into your audio interface inputs instead of your amplifiers. No rewiring, no repatching, no hassle. The same rig that delivers your live sound can become your studio recording system in seconds.

This means you can change your effects chain, tone, or mix balance after recording — something that’s nearly impossible if you only track a processed stereo signal. Want a different delay setting, modulation texture, or reverb depth? Just tweak it in the DAW or send the dry track back out for re-amping and re-recording.

It’s like having a “time machine” for your tone — letting you experiment freely without locking yourself into one sound.

🛠️ 7. Clean Routing and Signal Management

Studio setups can quickly turn into spaghetti — patch bays, pedals, DI boxes, re-amp boxes, interfaces… The Parallelarator simplifies things. It can serve as a central routing hub, letting you patch pedals or outboard gear in and out without losing level or tone.

And because the unit automatically adapts to mono, stereo, or wet/dry/wet configurations, it’s effortless to integrate with whatever setup the session calls for.

🔗 8. Expanding Your Setup

Need more parallel loops for bigger studio experiments or advanced routing setups?You can combine multiple Parallelarators to expand the number of loops available using the Cosmic Loop FX Parallel Link cable

This simple connection lets you chain units together while keeping signal integrity and phase alignment perfect across all loops. Whether you want to run multiple reverb chains, split synth signals, or blend several modulation pedals in parallel, the Parallel Link system makes it seamless — no complex patching or signal loss.

And here’s a bonus: the Parallel Link input can also function as an additional stereo input when using a standard 3.5 mm stereo cable. This is ideal for bringing in extra sound sources such as a synth, drum machine, or playback device directly into your parallel mix. Just note that this input doesn’t have a built-in level control, so the signal level must be

adjusted at the source.

It’s a modular, expandable approach to creativity: start with one Parallelarator and grow your system as your ideas evolve.

🚀 In Short

The Parallelarator isn’t just a live performance powerhouse — it’s a studio-grade tone sculptor and a creative playground. Whether you’re recording guitars, processing synths, experimenting with wild parallel pedal combinations, exploring out-of-phase textures with Loop 3, or chaining multiple units for massive sound design flexibility, it brings the control of a mixing desk and the warmth of analog circuitry together in one box.

And with the Parallel Link system, it’s infinitely expandable — ready to evolve with your studio setup and imagination.

It’s not about replacing your DAW or your plugins — it’s about bringing the tactile,

musical control of pedals into the recording world. And that’s where the Parallelarator really earns its name.

Checkout the Cosmic Loop FX Parallelarator and see how it can improve your studio and live guitar rig.