Airwindows

Distortion

TL;DW: Distortion is a slightly dark analog-style distortion with several presets, like Focus.

I think this one ought to go over well. People often want ‘analog-style distortion’. Here’s a collection of Airwindows distortion algorithms in a handy plugin with a new twist: it’s optimized for high sample rate in an innovative way.

What does that mean? Distortion is a slightly ‘dark’ distortion plugin. Not only are the algorithms pretty smooth (with some exceptions: check the end of the video for one!), it uses sample averaging to stop extreme highs from getting through. At 44.1k, there’s an averaging stage before the distortion, darkening the output but also interfering with aliasing. Averaging also has some tonal benefits to midrange and bass, so this gives the plugin more of a ‘voice’. That’s at 44.1k, CD quality.

But, if you use higher rates like 96k or 192k, Distortion begins to use more ‘poles’ of simple averaging. It’ll bring in averaging after the distortion, softening the tone. It’ll use more and more stages of this treble-softening, still always on just the most recent two samples, even though that becomes more and more finely grained as the sample rate goes up. Because of how averaging works, this never brings in weird notches or cancellations (like broader averages) but it does produce a sort of bleed-off of highs. Run at 44.1k this would give you an increasingly wide roll-off.

At the high sample rates this was designed for, what you get instead is exactly the same ‘dark distortion’ tonality, but increasingly better aliasing rejection as the sample rate goes up. I think 96k is a sweet spot for this: at 96k, still a basically normal sample rate, you get extremely warm and fluid distortion, even when pushed to extremes.

If you like extremes, look into the final two distortion modes. In Distortion, the modes Mojo and Dyno operate in their purest form, where the distortion shape can curl around again to produce strange effects if you slam them ruthlessly. In the video you see me discovering this on Mojo, running a simple DI bass at far too high a volume into Mojo, and then doubling it up to make crazy organic synth-like effects. Other modes like Density, Drive or Spiral will just go to ultra-clipping normally.

Distortion will give you truly warm overdrive effects, especially at high sample rates, without a bunch of fake analog modeling. I don’t recommend using it on everything (because maybe some sounds are good WITH extended high-end, especially if you’re working at 96k and all) but as always, I’m not the boss of you.

My work is supported by Patreon, and that’s why I’m still here putting out new plugins. Since they’re open source that means others can build upon them (such as a recent project where someone is doing the VCV rack versions for me: thanks!) and I’ll keep making them as long as my power’s on. See ya on the live streams :)

Date April 12, 2020
Author Chris
Comments 5 Comments

Airwindows Plugins Starter Kit

StarterKit.zip(6.0M)

This is the Airwindows Plugin Starter Kit. It contains 11 plugins (if you count Console as its own kind of plugin) and you should be able to make ’em do just about anything musical you could want. This includes many forms of ‘analog emulation’ and a great deal of creative mix exploration. There’s a video explaining many things you can do, and I’ve got two tracks up on SoundCloud (featured at the top of the page) that demonstrate a heavy rock song mixed entirely on my fully analog system (MOTU>Heritage Audio>Heritage Audio hardware buss comp>Lavry ADC) and then the same thing done entirely ITB using the Starter Kit (not even all the plugins). It’s not meant to be an utter and exact clone, but the Starter Kit is basically just as good as the expensive analog rig tonally, even on a mix designed to get the most out of the analog approach (no sound is so much as touched digitally in the analog mix: it’s basically using Logic as an iZ RADAR)

The downloads of the full songs are FLACs of the 24/96, on the one hand the raw capture from the Lavry and on the other hand a simple bounce from Logic using the Starter Kit. So if you want to subject these claims to extreme scrutiny, that’s possible. (maybe I should have a mix-off and put the Logic project file up somewhere: a mix-off where you can ONLY use the Starter Kit. We can see how extreme the variations can become!)

These are the plugins included in the Starter Kit: the video goes into detail on why these perhaps audacious choices were made. It’s not arbitrary: this is meant to serve professionals and also to guide newbies towards mix enlightenment.

EQ: Baxandall, Capacitor2, Focus
Dynamics: Pressure5, ClipOnly2, DeBess
Utility: PurestGain, Monitoring
Analogifying: Interstage
Ambience: Galactic, Verbity
Console System: Console7Buss, Console7Channel, Console7Cascade

(edit: I have added Channel9! Consider it as part of the Analogifying category :) )

If you’ve never gotten into Airwindows Console, or Airwindows Plugins, this is the time. I’m demoing this kit on Logic Pro X, which is now available from Apple on a 90-day free trial, but the plugins are provided in signed AU and VST2.4 form for Mac, Windows64 and Linux (x86 and ARM64 for Raspberry Pi). It shouldn’t be that hard to translate everything I’m doing to any DAW that supports generic-interface plugins. Most importantly, if you looked over the hundreds of plugins Airwindows produces, and wondered where on earth to start, here is your answer! Start here.

Note there are no tape plugins or any name-brand ’emulations’ of anything. You should not be starting with that stuff. Fight me :D

If you have other questions you can post to this thread about the Starter Kit, or show up to a Monday Q&A session, or get in touch with me some other way and I’ll try to help. The Starter Kit is meant to be very approachable, so it should help you start to get pleasing results provided you know what kinds of sounds you want to make! :)

All this is made possible by my Patreon. If it turns out that these free and open source plugins help you out a lot, and especially if you start wanting other more special-purpose ‘kits’ or still more plugins, you might want to support my Patreon! That’s how I’m able to do this full-time.

Thank you, and I hope you enjoy the Airwindows Plugins Starter Kit! If you want more plugins, there are hundreds, but this is a good start. If you need the original version of the starter kit, before the signed plugins and all, it can still be downloaded at OldStarterKit.zip(5.6M)

Date April 8, 2020
Author Chris
Comments 11 Comments

Cider (and Beyond Snares)

TL;DW: Cider is a re-release of another old Character plugin. (also, drum samples!)

Cider.zip(373k)

So, don’t watch the video!

I mean, you can, but it’s nothing but me talking. My rig broke. I hope I can have it fixed by next week, we’ll see. (Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday streams are still on)

So in the absence of ANY audio…

Hi! I have two things you unfortunately can’t hear, this time. Firstly, Cider is another Character plugin. Works like the last few, sounds kinda like an MCI console? You’ll have to listen for yourself as my rig is broken (this might drive me back to Logic or something, but I’ll fix it somehow).

Secondly, I was working on drum samples. I use a little sampler in my music and it can take pretty high-end samples, so I thought I’d re-do my snares. Specifically, I ran them through this chain: Ponoplayer into Heritage audio mixer with Successor compressor on the 2-buss insert into Lavry Black ADC… the signal path of how I make music, with a heck of a lot of transformers and stuff. This was to compress the snare and re-record it: not only that, re-capture it at 24/96 because the compressor, transformers etc are producing effects at that rate even though the raw samples are the ones in my Dimensional Snares collection, and not 96K to start with.

And then I processed ’em with SoftGate to cut off the hiss from the comp, and make them merge with silence on the tail end more cleanly. Also sets ’em back spatially a bit, while they still open up to full brightness. Just right for my purposes.

And then you can’t hear them on the video because it broke… but that doesn’t mean you can’t have them. I’m not waiting until I’m up to tackling my twitchy recording process again, I’m giving you both of these things NOW ‘cos why not?

BeyondSnares.zip(4.5M)

You can still get on my Patreon if you want. I’m not doing as well as I’d like but I can still handle taking a dive if it helps people survive, and I’m not sure more income is even relevant to what’s tough about all this: we shall see. I think Cider works excellently and I think the new snares will be useful: both to me, and to anyone who needs some reinforcers or a proper backbeat in your own productions. I’ll try to fix my rig for next week, and it’s working well enough that I can still do my early-week streams as normal. So I’ll see ya Monday, and I hope you like Cider! (really, if you’ve been getting the Character reissues you were going to grab this anyway so it’s a moot point that I couldn’t demonstrate it. And I did such a terrible job demonstrating the snares that it’s better you discover them for yourself, and you’ll be hearing them in my music if you listen to that)

Date March 29, 2020
Author Chris
Comments 3 Comments

Calibre

TL;DW: Calibre is a re-release of another old Character plugin.

Calibre.zip(373k)

Hi! I’m back with another plugin, though I’m still trying to keep it boring and encourage people to only be on my Patreon if they really, really can afford it. I’m doing my best to show that I’m doing fine, beyond that I don’t know what to do. Other than keep on keepin’ on.

Calibre is another Character plugin, re-released in AU and VST form. This one’s got kind of a steely quality and if you hype the Character control there’s a point where bass cancels out: weird variation on a tone control! Also, that means if you duplicated the track (or used Blue Cat Patchwork or something) and flipped phase, you’d get a really unusual lowpass and would have only the bass and a lot of strange color. It’s free and open source and I hope you like it.

Like I’ve said in the video, I’m trying to not be too exciting while I ask people not to overcommit to the Patreon, but I do have plans and I’m doing stuff. I could do a video on how I’m making LUTs, and I’ve figured out how I’ll review modular stuff I love while keeping it relatable to non-modular users: I will do the video celebrating the module, and then put up the raw module sound (very high res!) on my Soundcloud as downloadable 24/96 which will also mean I can post about the video anywhere I’m allowed to post release of sample products. And that way, if I’ve built fancy wiring harnesses with extra caps and stuff as my recommended way to use a module, you don’t HAVE to build the same harness, you can grab the samples heard in the video, isolated from my voice track :)

Anyway here’s Calibre ;)

Date March 22, 2020
Author Chris
Comments 2 Comments

Chris

Distortion

Airwindows Plugins Starter Kit

Cider (and Beyond Snares)

Calibre

handsewn bespoke digital audio

Kinds Of Things

The Last Year

Patreon Promo Club