Airwindows

DeEss2

DeEss2Demo is the latest version of the very successful Airwindows de-esser! It’s refined for easier, more effective operation, and now comes in normal and mid/side versions by request!

NOTE: you can also have the original DeEss when buying this. It turned out that the original, confusing-to-operate DeEss had special tone qualities that this simplification took away. Check to see if you’d rather learn the original Airwindows DeEss, because I’ll send it to purchasers of DeEss2 who ask. And of course, you’ll get future DeEsses, if I manage to get best of both worlds in one plugin…

This is very much a mastering grade DeEsser. When not engaged and triggered, it does a strict hard bypass, doing no processing or anything beyond literally copying the input data right through to the output. When it is triggered, it applies a lowpass filter of a special kind, rather than just gating everything- that’s so it can be used on full mixes without disrupting them too badly. It also processes in 64-bit resolution, and noise shapes that output to the Audio Unit 32-bit output buss (like other recent Airwindows plugins). And of course, like all Airwindows plugins, it’s 64-bit compliant, while still working on 32-bit Intel and even 32-bit PPC Macs.

If you hear it affecting sung notes, it’s already way way past engaging on esses (it is designed properly, to not sound as if it’s doing anything while controlling esses). Set it so it takes the super-hot highs off only the esses, which MIGHT produce lispy effects and might not even go as far as to do that- and then, use the dry/wet control to bring back some of the ess for tonal purposes, while leaving it well controlled. These plugins are designed to work with bright tracks where the esses are a real problem, not meant to turn any old track into thoft thonic thculpture. I hope it finds uses in a few good places.

DeEss2 is $50.

Date September 11, 2012
Author Chris
Comments No Comments

PocketVerbs

PocketVerbsDemo is a universal binary Audio Unit plugin (64/32/PPC) for specialty reverbs! It offers a variety of verb types, both normal and strange, and permits gating and dynamic reverb levels based on signal intensity. Dual mono for bigger mix width!

This isn’t the ‘normal’ Airwindows reverb. That’s been developed over the years, through products like FarSpace, and is now sold under the name Space, and it’s a terrific and very believable stereo reverb.

This stuff is a little different.

PocketVerbs gives you a batch of little weird reverbs and effects. They can run in mono. They can run dual-mono, which has its own merits. You can throw ’em on vocals, on stereo synth tracks, you could use ’em as a main mix verb if that pleased you: maybe weirdness works better for your mix on the whole, maybe there’s just an element in there which could use something different.

Chamber is an airy, verby kind of space, a particular sort of artificial reverb flavor. Spring is another sort of algorithm that’s sproingier and might show you a dub sort of feel. Tiled is on the bright side, Room is much darker and more tightly tied to the raw sound, and then there’s the really weird ones: Stretch acts like a plugin Paulstretch only more edgy, and Zarathustra gives you huge ambient swells of distant sound (just run a horn through it and you’ll soon see why it got that name).

Then, on top of that, there’s the gating section, letting you trap the reverb effect in to the envelope of the original sound, or some variation on it. Instant drum thickness! This makes PocketVerbs instantly useful on individual drum tracks. You can totally redefine a mix element without muddying everything else.

You have to try it and see. None are really ‘good and correct’ digital reverbs. But they’re a very fun bag of tricks, six strikingly different tonalities in one, and then you bring in the gating… Who knows what evils lurk in the heart of PocketVerbs?

This is also the first product for which I ever made a video (and it shows!)

PocketVerbs is $50.

Date August 19, 2012
Author Chris
Comments 7 Comments

DigitalBlack2

DigitalBlack2 is meant to be the ultimate gate for djent or anything staccato.

It can be set up to be ridiculously fast and articulate, with separately settable attack and release thresholds. The reason you can have an ‘on’ threshold lower than the ‘off’ (or ‘gate’) point is, it runs internal timing like DigitalBlack anyway, so you can tell it to open with the on threshold and then it’ll immediately try to close.

While it’s running through its internal timing (which is sensitive to the frequencies passing through it, like DigitalBlack) it passes pure sound without shut-off artifacts. It will not sputter, and it’ll switch off more aggressively if it can (if it’s had mainly highs passing through).

It has to run through to either silence, or go above the off threshold, to stay open: the on threshold is like the ‘hair trigger’ to catch subtleties of attack, while the off threshold is the real gate threshold. Finally, the gate speed is adjustable on DigitalBlack2, on top of the frequency sensitivity: you scale the whole response up or down even though it’s already adaptive to the signal’s wavelengths.

It’s free.

DigitalBlack2 might not be the simplest gate to set, but I think it’s the most high-performance musical noise gate in existence if you can master it. There are more ‘hi-fi’ noise gates for mastering and mixing, but this one is for making things staccato in completely controllable fashion, and delivering sounds with unparalleled aggression. If it does that for you and you know others with similar needs, tell them. Because the thing is, if more people use a gate this good and this sensitive to human performance, it becomes all about your touch and muting. Why not show that off on equal footing?

Date July 30, 2012
Author Chris
Comments No Comments

BussColors3

BussColors3Demo has eight models: Dark, Rock, Lush, Vibe, Holo, Punch, Steel and Tube. These originally came from sets of impulse responses by a guy at Noisevault, with his permission and blessing—over the years I’ve doctored the impulses until it’s algorithms building new impulses for every sample, on the fly. Because it runs on impulses, BussColors3 is intended to run at 44.1K (it will still run at any sample rate, but the sound will be different)

All of these come pre-calibrated to work as drop-in replacements for ConsoleChannel, if you run Console on your mix buss. That means not only can you have expanded soundstage depth, you can also have tone color much like the big-name ‘digital simulation’ companies—or better.

BUT.

The way the industry cannibalizes and trades on the reputations of classic hardware designers has started to piss me off, so I’m no longer providing the reference to what ‘brand’ these sounds refer to. If you gotta pirate illicit bit data, let it be the secret identities of what these sounds were. If you’re really good I see no reason why you wouldn’t just recognize them from the sound or description alone, that’s the important thing, right?

Dark acts like an old medium-format console, with unusual midrange articulation and a really solid sound when pushed. It’s a classic 70s sound.

Rock acts like that ‘post-70s hit record sound’. It’s a very big automated console with a particular gloss and sheen to it. Rock can be dialed in for maximum slam short of obvious breakup, using the input trim control.

Lush acts like a big lush large-format console, emphasis on big. It’s an alternate 70s hit record sound, more in the softrock vein- pillowy and fat, with airy highs and large in scale.

Vibe acts like some sort of funky old console, with a liquid organic sound but not as big-budget as Lush or Dark. Could bring an old dub platter sound to a track.

Holo brings a particular sort of three-dimensionality to the sound, and conveys a distinct soundstage where locations of sound sources take on a special holographic quality. Particularly if you run it with extra headroom it might suit classical work.

Punch is another classic rock console, with a gutsy rocking quality that’s loaded with punch and impact. Very recognizable if you have these pres.

Steel is a special effect console—it’s sort of lean and brings a distinct acidic, metallic quality to the sound. It could really accentuate the personality of some electronic/DnB/dubstep work. It cleans up lowmid mud and sounds aggressive, not mellow.

Tube finishes up the set, bringing an airy, electric quality like some of the oldest recording consoles out there. Only low-voltage starved-plate fake-tube designs are dull and rolled-off: real tubes bring a lot of energy and presence to a sound, and this one’s not shy with the highs. You can also use Tube in stereo to convert a ‘digital EQ’ into a much flashier emulated analog EQ. Put BussColors Tube first, then the EQ, then ConsoleBuss. You’ll get the hotrod fancy EQ sound and behavior, it’s ‘expanding’ the ordinary digital EQ calculations like they were a mix buss. It may change the calibrations…

BussColors3 is $50.

Date July 15, 2012
Author Chris
Comments 1 Comment

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