Airwindows

AcousticBass

AcousticBass is one of the early Airwindows convolution plugins. It’s programmed similarly to CabSVT, which is to say oddly but if you like the sound it’s all good. Part of it was to try and get a convolution impulse done through raw multiplies like a giant FIR filter, but in such a way that the computers of 2007 could handle it. It’s free, and it applies an acoustic bass tone to the sound.

The very strange internals basically mean this: you’ve got two controls, closeness and dry/wet. Changing the closeness alters the weighting of how the sound’s applied. Pretty much just fool with the controls, this is one of those early unmaintainable freebies that’s just strange math and approximations. One result of how it was done, is that it’s got a nice solid tone. If that works for you, enjoy!

AcousticBass declares fifteen samples of latency.

Date April 23, 2007
Author Chris
Comments No Comments

CabSVT

CabSVT is a monster plugin. It runs off convolution impulses, so it expects you to be running at 44.1K (mind you, it’ll still work whatever sampling rate you have, it’ll just be pitched up) and it applies a bass guitar cab impulse to your tone. It does it in an extremely peculiar way, even for Airwindows. You might like the sound you get: I hope so, as it’s pretty unmaintainable. CabSVT is free.

It takes a big long sample buffer and begins adding sample positions, as if randomly. Then divides the result, and begins adding in more samples. The result being, you get the effect of a giant convolution impulse, but with a fraction of the processing. It all sort of blends together, and gives a solidity to the sound not often found in convolved audio (which usually gets sort of washed out, to my ear).

There’s a wattage control that’s basically overdrive of a sort, a closemiking control that weights the internal calculations, DI versus Cab controls… basically, it’s free, play with it. It’s like a convolution impulse of a bass cab, except it’s implemented really strangely and the tone is pretty huge. Have fun!

CabSVT declares three samples of latency.

Date April 23, 2007
Author Chris
Comments No Comments

SampleDelay

SampleDelay is the only sample delay with negative delay, allowing you to nudge things slightly ahead of the beat, as well as behind! It’s free from Airwindows, and also includes sub-sample interpolation so you can nudge things even more subtly.

Yes, it’s really negative delay, but it’s done by a trick: unlike many Airwindows plugins, this one declares a bunch of latency. That’s how it works: tell the DAW there’s a bunch of latency and then delay up to twice as much as it declared. That way you can delay, or anti-delay by not delaying as much as that, or claim there’s a bunch of latency and then not delay at all, causing the track to play ‘in the future!’

Or you could slide it in the arrange window. It’s just hard to slide a track by half a sample in the arrange window, hence this utility plugin freebie.

SampleDelay declares 1024 samples of latency, so I don’t recommend tracking through it. It’s a mixing tool only.

Date March 4, 2007
Author Chris
Comments 5 Comments

High Impact

HighImpact answers the question: can you be distorted/slammed and thin at the same time?

This plugin combines two kinds of saturation curve, one that’s a distortion and another that’s the opposite. As you increase the slider, the top of the dynamic curve gets more distorted and punchy, but the quiet parts of the sound don’t come up as they’d otherwise do.

The result is like a gatey overdrive. It lets you dial in the amount of lean, gutsy punch you want, and it adds impact and aggression without increasing fatness or fullness. It’s not just things like drums that work with this, basses and guitars and pretty much anything can be made shockingly aggressive with High Impact.

It’s an unnatural waveform-transformation, so be cautious if you want natural results. Also, since it’s distorting the transfer function in a special way, High Impact isn’t super compatible with phase rotation, like on FM radio. On the other hand, the dynamics it produces will survive phase rotation just fine, it’ll just alter the tone making it a bit grungier but just as punchy dynamically.

If you know that ‘fatter isn’t always better’, High Impact is for you.

Date March 1, 2007
Author Chris
Comments No Comments

Chris

AcousticBass

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SampleDelay

High Impact

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