2017 been a hectic years for us. Aside from the usual development projects in the pipeline, we are also exhibiting in a lot of places (including Austin’s South-by-Southwest) and finally get some recognition from our country’s President Joko Widodo (he’s a metalhead though šŸ˜‰ ). Five new pieces of the Efektor series along for both plug-ins version and Rack Extension platform with maintenance updates are released this year, enough for keep us busy during 2017. So here’s a summary on what’s the best thing happened to us during 2017:

1. South-by-Southwest (SXSW) 2017


We took part as one of the Indonesian tech startups delegation showcasing our digital products at SXSW (South by Southwest Conference and Festival) at the festival’s Interactive Trade Show section consisted of games, VR, tech and Venture Capitalists from March 10 to 19. Along with Dreadout, Go-Jek, and many others.

2. Follows up the Efektor Series with the Modulation Devices

The release of Efektor Distortions back at the end of 2016 were a big success, then Efektor Modulation devices, each for Chorus, Flanger, Phaser and Tremolo, also follows up to satisfy the needs of guitar players. Other than comes in plug-ins format, it also comes in a sleek 1U RackExtension format for Propellerhead Reason users. Well suited to be stacked with other Efektors or Amplifikation devices, both sound-wise and visually.

3. Teams up with Anymo

Despite being in the same city (Bandung, Indonesia) we never meet each other (although Arie and Raka have met via a mutual friend when Raka is introducing Impera guitars) after we both represent Indonesia in the SXSW (South by Southwest Conference and Festival) in Austin, US, from March 10 to 19, 2017. After that event, we have a chemistry and same passion in music instruments industry then decided to tag along to collaborate. With the welcoming of Anymo Guitar Essentialsā€™ talents with Kuassa team, this will mark Kuassaā€™s expansion into the realm of acoustic guitar. Anymo will also have the equal access to Kuassaā€™s R&D team, and DSP expertise to anticipate the future necessities of digital powered acoustic instruments.

4. Hey Mr. President šŸ™‚

Joko Widodo or simply Jokowi, is our current President. He’s known to be the first Indonesian President with a down-to-earth leadership style and really put concerns on the development of the tech and creative based economic development. Back at September 2017, he held a casual/informal meetup which gather Indonesian creative figures as well as a small stage filled with Indonesia’s independent bands.

He visited our booth and tried Kuassa along with Anymo and ask us about how the government can support the creative players to be developed further, this is a monumental moment for us since we haven’t feel that government have been really much supportive (and understands) how the creative and tech ecosystem should be flourished within the country from the inside out. Well done Mr. President!

5. The release of Efektor CP3603 Compressor

The pedal compressor with a character. CP3603 was released in the middle of the Holiday Season and quickly gather attention of guitarists, giving another compression option for guitarist modeled after real hardware compressor pedals rather than general compressor plugins. This CP360 will help yo increase the softer signal, narrowing the dynamic range thus delivers a more consistent overall level. And please take note, although this unit is designed specifically for guitar and bass players, you can also use it on any other instruments as well. Well, why not?

We research many pedals then narrowed down them all into only the best and distinctive ones. There are three types of compression style in this unit:

  1. VCA: Stands for ā€œVoltage Controlled Amplifierā€. Itā€™s fast, modern, and sounds very clean.
  2. FET: Stands for ā€œField Effect Transistorā€. Known for its aggressive behavior and also adds distinct color to the resulting sound.
  3. OPTO: Shorts for ā€œOpticalā€. It has the slowest reaction, but gives more characteristics and tightness to the result.