Chase Bliss Onward: Unleashing Creative Chaos with Omari Jazz

Onward immediately presents itself as more than just another effects pedal—it’s a tool for bending the rules of harmony and structure. Omari Jazz explains that Onward enables non-diatonic effects, letting artists escape the gravitational pull of scales and explore borrowed chords or unpredictable tonalities. This approach is especially valuable for those who find typical delay pedals confining when seeking unexpected sonic colors.

What stands out is how Onward tightly follows the user’s every move while introducing its trademark element of chaos. The result is an effect that doesn’t just decorate the signal but actively participates in reshaping it, orbiting the musical idea like a halo. This blend of precision and unpredictability becomes a catalyst for new creative directions, making Onward a source of inspiration rather than just an effect in the chain.

A defining characteristic of Onward is its ability to generate glitchy, microtonal bursts—what Omari affectionately calls the ‘critters.’ By manipulating parameters such as error, sustain, and size, the pedal can transform tiny repeated sounds into swirling, unpredictable patterns. The glitch side of Onward is particularly useful for injecting texture and life into a track, yielding results that occupy the boundary between melody and noise.

Omari demonstrates the freeze function as a powerful creative tool, using it to capture a buffer and employ it as a pedal tone or evolving layer. Even without a sustain pedal, the buffer freeze opens up possibilities for looping and holding textures in real time, reinforcing Onward’s value for experimentalists who crave hands-on control and surprises in their workflow.

The workshop shifts focus to Onward’s prowess in building up soundscapes and layered textures. Omari showcases how a simple sine wave can be morphed into bird-like chirps through the pedal, highlighting the ease with which Onward conjures complex, organic sounds. Unlike more conventional delay or looper setups, Onward achieves this with minimal setup—its modulation and granular processing capabilities unlock a wide palette of ambient and glitch effects on demand.

Turning up the mix leads to what Omari dubs an ‘Eno-esque cascade’—lush pads and blurred harmonics that transform a basic sound source into an immersive environment. The pedal’s ability to serve as a ‘full wet instrument’ means it can become the central sound generator in a piece, not just a supporting effect. This makes Onward a compelling tool for anyone interested in world-building through sound, whether in the studio or during live sets.