Music and the Mac

http://www.ilovemymacthesong.com/

Getting Plugged In With Audio Effects

by Daphne Kalfon

To start off, I should give a quick explanation of what a plug-in is, for those who are new to the whole concept. A plug-in is additional software that can be utilized by many different kinds of software. It’s an easy way to add features to an existing application or host software application. Examples of plug-ins that you may already be aware of are Macromedia’s Flash and Apple’s QuickTime. These are plug-ins that make surfing the net a more fun, enjoyable experience because they allow you to view animation, music, video and more.

Plug-ins also come in various formats. A few common formats are for example Steinberg’s Virtual Studio Technology, or VST, Apple’s Audio Unit or AU, and Micro$oft’s DirectX or DX. Apparently there are also plug-ins known as “wrapper” plug-ins; they are called that because they allow you to run one type of plug-in as another, so for example you can run VST plug-ins as Audio Units, and such.

I should also mention that most of the plug-ins I talk about here have been recommended by people who have used them, and I’m thankful for their input on this topic. I myself have used a few audio effects plug-ins, but I tend to concentrate my efforts more on the music itself. What I do tend to use more, are virtual instrument plug-ins. Those are different, at least in my eyes, to effects plug-ins, because they perform a different function. Effects plug-ins have an effect of some kind on the actual audio, performing such common functions as reverb, delay, compression, chorus, flange, gate, EQ, filtering and such.

Virtual instrument plug-ins on the other hand, are software applications that emulate an actual instrument, like a guitar, drums, saxophone, vintage synthesizer, etc. As with the effects plug-ins, they usually come with a certain number of “factory” presets, but you can also create your own presets/patches by manipulating the parameters it comes with.

For this column, I’ll concentrate on the audio effects plug-ins, which all except for one I mention, are free or donationware.

First, and coming highly recommended, is Smartelectronix - a collective of people all over the globe who create many unusual but useful music or audio effects plug-ins. They pride themselves on making music software that goes against what is considered current or the norm in the music software world. At the same time, the music software they produce is of a high quality, and is available for free or at the very least, is affordable.

Here are a few plug-ins from a very active (and generous) member of the Smartelectronix collective, Bram:

s(M)exoscope: this one is a realtime waveform display - it allows you to see what your audio waveform looks like. To the right side of the display, there are several settings such as time, amp, four retrigger modes, a waveform analyzer, and more. The documentation for this plug-in is available in a zipfile or online.

Bouncy: this one imitates a bouncing ball delay. On Bram’s page, which I’ve listed further below, there’s a link to a QuickTime demo of what this plug-in does to a sound. Very cool effect! This one is also donationware, should you wish to download it. The AU version has had some features added to it such as a longer delay and it eats up fewer CPUs. It comes with a few slider settings, such as delay, delay shape, amp shape, and such.

Bram’s Cyanide 2: this one looks like fun. It’s a graphical wave shaper. Also donationware. It allows realtime shaping and distortion of audio anyway you like. There’s a graphic window, with knobs on both sides, one side being “Pre”, the other side being “Post”. The knobs control amp, filter type, and filter frequency. The bottom window shows a preview of what you’ve done, along with another knob alongside the preview window, which allows you to set how wet or dry you want it. You can even save what you’ve done in a bank, as a patch. A readme is included with it.

Bram’s SupaPhaser: this one’s a phaser plug-in, and touted as one of the best available. As with the others, it is donationware. This one too comes with many settings for envelope and oscillator, as well as pre-phaser distort or saturate, so you can get exactly the effect you’re after.

Please remember that these plug-ins take a lot of time and lots of hard work to create, so please make a donation (PayPal) to the developer before you download any one plug-in.

To view all the plug-ins Bram has created, learn more about the plug-ins I’ve mentioned, make a donation(s), download, news, and more, visit Bram’s page at:

http://bram.smartelectronix.com/

And here’s the link to the smartelectronix collective, where you can get more information about what they do, news updates, sign up for their free newsletter, and check out the plug-ins that have been created by their other members:

http://www.smartelectronix.com

Than there’s a bundle of audio processing plug-ins available from the people at http://www.digitalfishphones.com called fish fillets. It’s a package of three effects, and is a free download, along with a downloadable manual, with the one for Mac OS available for VST or as AudioUnits. The three effects are:

“Blockfish”: a versatile compressor

“Spitfish”: an easy to use de-esser, mainly to correct vocal tracks

“Floorfish”: a simple expander/noise gate device

You can visit the website for more info, news and updates on the latest changes, installation and known issues/bugs:

http://www.digitalfishphones.com/main.php?item=2&subItem=5

 

Than there's a company called “Waves”, which specializes in the development of audio signal processing software. Please note that the plug-ins here are not free! They range in price anywhere from $150 to the most expensive, at $700, with most falling somewhere in-between, and include things like EQ, compression, noise gate, dynamics processor, de-esser, chorus, phaser, flanger and much more.

For more info, visit their website: http://www.waves.com

From a company called Luxonix, a plug-in called the LFX-1310. It is freeware, available for OS X, VST and AU - check the website for those particulars. It’s a three-pronged effects generator, which apparently allows you to increase the number of effects you can use in GarageBand from two to six. To download it, visit the website at http://www.luxonix.com/home/en/

Under the “Downloads” column, you’ll find the LFX-1310 listing which will take you to its download window.

Next, from maxim digital audio is a bundle of free audio effects plug-ins that you can download all in one go. They are available as AU and VST plugins. The AU plug-ins bundle includes things like amp simulation, detune, delay, compressor/limiter/gate, Leslie, 3D panner and vocoder, among others.

To check it out, visit the link: http://mda.smartelectronix.com/effects.htm

Another company called Nomad Factory also puts out free plug-ins. One is called “Blue Tubes”, another called the “Essential Studio Suite”, “Rock Amp Legends”, and “LIQUID Bundle”. There is also something called the “Nomad Free Bundle”, which was recommended in particular, and includes something called a sweeper, tremolo and a phaser. All the plug-ins I’ve mentioned here comes with user manuals as well. Here’s the link:

http://www.nomadfactory.com/downloads/index.html

Another free AU plug-in recommended by a GarageBand user is called Frohmage. It’s a resonant low-pass filter made by a company called Ohmforce, who by the way, make other plug-ins. This plug-in is actually listed somewhere on the macmusic.org plug-in page I’ve mentioned at the end of this article, but I wanted to make special mention of Frohmage since it was recommended. Here’s the direct link to it:

http://macmusic.org/softs/version.php/lang/EN/id/2042/

There’s a Swiss (?) company called apulsoft, which creates some of their own plug-ins, but it looks like mainly they port free plug-ins to other platforms and standards, so that both Mac and Windoze users can use them in whatever software program. (Cubase, GarageBand, Logic etc.)

There’s a link on their website which takes you to a page of free plug-ins, called “Ports of Free Plugs”. Here’s the direct link:

http://apulsoft.ch/freeports/index.php

And finally, for a very detailed listing of many (or perhaps most, going by how many there were!) available software plug-ins, visit this link:

http://macmusic.org/softs/softcat.php/lang/EN/id/7037/

It lists the name of the plug-in, the developer, which formats it is available in, which OS it will work with, cost and other assorted information. And there are several ways of viewing the information on the page. If for example you would like to see only the plug-ins that are available in AU, just click on “AudioUnit” near the top of the page, and it will list only those plug-ins. I did that, and what came up was a listing a mile long, so the sky’s the limit!

This article was a very broad overview of free or low-cost effects plug-ins. Just try a few at a time, otherwise it’s easy to quickly become overwhelmed with the myriad of possibilities that they each offer. And most importantly, remember to have fun!