Known for his work with Ministry, Cesar Soto recently put the EarthQuaker Towers Stereo Reverberant Filter through its paces and now I want one. Thanks, dude.
Towers takes your input signal and launches it into a sprawling stereophonic field. Built around a network of cascading micro-echoes feeding into a cathedral-scale reverb engine, the pedal creates a sense of motion and dimension. Add in a resonant low-pass filter woven directly into the feedback paths, and the result is something far more immersive than traditional delay or reverb.
Central to Towers’ identity is its trio of filter modes, each offering a different way to shape the sound.
- Manual Mode puts control squarely in your hands, letting you sweep filter frequencies across the stereo field. The left and right channels move in opposition, creating wide, hypnotic motion with even subtle adjustments.
- Envelope Mode turns your playing dynamics into the driving force. Dig in harder, and the filter responds—opening up, shifting, and reshaping the harmonic content in real time.
- Then there’s LFO Mode – the one Soto gravitated toward for lush, sweeping textures. Here, a slow-moving oscillator takes over, gliding across the stereo image and creating a constantly evolving panning filter effect.
Though if there’s a defining feature, it’s Stretch. With a tap or a sustained hold, this function slows down the entire processing engine, effectively doubling the reverb length while degrading the signal in a beautifully unpredictable way.
Despite its experimental nature, Towers remains surprisingly playable. The Length control shapes reverb decay and density, while Mix balances your dry signal against the vast ambient field.
The Filter knob determines how much of that resonant low-pass character seeps into the sound, from subtle warmth to full-on spectral transformation. Add in eight onboard presets and you’ve got a ton of options.
Get the EarthQuaker Devices Towers Soundscape Generator Pedal here for $299 and keep up with all our EarthQuaker Devices coverage right here!
