Airwindows

Desk3

Desk3Demo is a universal binary AU plugin that takes the original ‘Desk’ plugins to a new level! Unique modes of analog overload give the ultimate dial-a-warm. The ultimate Airwindows saturation yet, and 96K ready!

Desk3 works really well as two things- as a ‘generic analog console sound’ with a really slick fat overdrive that can run 96K where BussColors can’t, and as a ‘internal mixer stage’. If you wanted to take BussColors (which already imitates a large format analog console exactly) and say, now let us model the wiring harness or longer mic cables or lower the power to the whole console, Desk3 is capable of making those kinds of adjustments, either on the 2-buss or on individual channels or busses (including busses you weren’t including BussColors instances on).

The Overdrive control is what you’d think it is, but Airwindows style—articulate and fluid beyond what most software can do, thanks to the very latest generation of anti-aliasing algorithms. Push it to see what the tone is, then dial it back to use as a subtle enhancement. There is no ‘clip point’ to it, it’s one continuous curve whatever the setting, so don’t go too saturated by mistake expecting to hear a clipping edge appear—it won’t!

The Hi Choke control is unique to Desk3. Go ahead and push it, but you’ll be happiest if you keep this one subtle too. It breaks up in a really unusual way that might be good on snares, but it too is best used as a subtle tone shaper, as the original Desk plugins used it. It’s just that now you can abuse it if you wanted.

Power Sag has two controls, Power Sag and Frequency. You can crank Power Sag to the max to hear where it’s hitting, but then back it off to add dimension and articulation to your sounds in many interesting ways. It basically acts like an analog power supply crapping out, but over a range broader than you’d ever see in real analog gear. Very low values give the SSL haze, very high values do things to the bass. Experimenting is the key here, and you can always keep it extreme if you hit on something that really works :)

Desk3 is $50.

Date July 15, 2012
Author Chris
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Wider

WiderDemo is a universal binary AU plugin for adjusting stereo image in two ways: manipulating the space of the side channel, and manipulating the space of the mid channel (using a mid/side matrix). I say manipulating the space, because rather than just change levels, it’s using algorithms that bring stuff more upfront or set it back in the soundstage.

That means the two simple controls work more like lens correction tools on an image (such as to correct ‘pincushioning’) rather than the usual ‘more widerer’ plugins. Here are some situations you can look for and correct using Wider—apologies if the language seems awkward but there isn’t really a way to describe this stuff as tools didn’t exist to directly work on it in this way.

If the stereo field seems too narrow, you can increase Width to ‘un-pincushion’ the image and widen the back wall of the space. This is not a substitute for panning, don’t go for overkill—it won’t generate new information. Try to listen for the outline of the envelope of the space, rather than listening to isolated instrument images within it.

If it feels much too heavily centered, try pulling Center back to negative values. Doing that should make the instrument drop back spatially and enhance what width it has. If the stereo-ness seems to recede relative to the mono-ness, this is a good option for locking in a convincing image.

If it’s convincing spatiality you’re after, and the (mainly centered) image is indistinct and not well located, you need to dial Width back to negative values, wrapping the sides of the space in slightly. Doing this allows stereo imaging to persist, but cuts back on the distraction factor of poorly imaged stereo miking. If you want a sound source to feel precisely located, small cutbacks in Width can do a lot to anchor floaty stereo imaging.

If the main thing is having the stereo sound source direct and upfront, boosting Center will help. It brings the sound into the foreground without spreading it, giving a spotlighting effect without losing spatiality.

Remember, the way the algorithm works, having matching boosts or cuts is NOT the same thing as just trimming the overall gain—or even processing L/R using the same type of effect. Just think of it as bringing sides or mid forward or back in space. Some sounds might surprise you—for instance you might not think ‘cut the center drastically’ on a stereo drumkit, but if pushing it back in space drastically and bringing the sides forward a bit gives you a fantastic image, there you go.

Wider is $50.

Date May 14, 2012
Author Chris
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Mudslide

Mudslide was designed as a demo for the plugin DubSub. It’s a faceless, control-less bass guitar plugin designed to celebrate the magic of the mighty P-bass! I was going for an ideal thick, solid, articulate yet totally dull bass tone for driving a track from the backline, for free because you don’t get to tweak the knobs.

Date May 3, 2012
Author Chris
Comments 2 Comments

DubSub

DubSubDemo is all things subsonic and bass! It can generate dubstep style sub-basses, fill in the bottom octave, octave-divide, synthesize house kicks from raw materials, and it defaults to a nice SansAmp-style bass tone!

Signal flow goes from top to bottom, so get sounds by starting with the grind and bass sections. The subs section (octave divided) draws on the bass section to work, so it’ll trigger differently based on what the bass section is doing. The bass section uses the lows out of the grind section’s crossover, so the whole plugin is really interactive—that’s why it defaults to a working bass tone when you first open it.

Treble Grind isn’t just a frequency band, it also distorts independently of the low-frequency sections, so to keep it clean you have to turn it down and the output level up. To distort the highs, turn the output down and crank the Treble Grind.

Drive and Output Level for each section are pretty obvious, and Voicing controls the range of power for each low-frequency section separately. High values means bass. Low values means monstrous heavy sub-lows, and putting Voicing to zero basically means subsonics and makes the low-frequency section just barely stable—if you are getting DC offset, check to see if you can make Voicing higher.

DubSub is $50.

Date March 29, 2012
Author Chris
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