PLUG-IN FOLDER

Shiny FX Spectral Monkeyage

Spectral Monkeyage by Shiny FX is an original freeware VST plug-in for Windows, Mac OS and Mac OS X, and should appeal to the more fearless and experimental sound designers out there. As its name (sort of) suggests, this plug-in specialises in a kind of spectral or 'frequency domain' signal processing, and can be used to create a range of bizarre pitch-transformation effects, all in real time.

There are six main parameters. The Spectral Dynamics slider is first, alongside which sit knobs labelled High Gain and Low Gain. Used together, these allow some control over the extent to which different frequencies in the input signal contribute to the processed end result. Spectral Blurring does more or less what its name suggests, seeming to soften any rough edges in the sound. Moving the slider to its maximum setting activates the Freeze button (and vice versa), resulting in what sounds like an odd kind of 'infinite timestretch' effect. Very unusual. The Pitch Scaling slider allows you to raise or lower the perceived pitch of the sound by quite drastic amounts. This is not a natural-sounding process by any means, and Spectral Monkeyage is no substitute for Auto-Tune if accurate, transparent pitch correction is what you're after!

A drop-down menu allows you to incrementally adjust the FFT size of the processing 'window', with a range of 256 to 8192 samples. Bigger numbers seem to result in cleaner results, but also increase the load on your computer considerably. Newer machines will probably cope well with the higher settings, but my old G3 was struggling with much above 512.

Finally, there are menus allowing you to change the Oversampling rate (a range of 1x to 8x is available) and choose between four different kinds of processing 'window' (Hann, Hamm, Blackman and Bartlett). The first three window types seem to produce subtly different variations on the same effect, while the Bartlett setting tends to be startlingly, shatteringly noisy. Spectral Monkeyage is not a plug-in you'll use every day, but if you're stuck for an unexpected, attention-grabbing sound to really draw your listeners in, this could be just the tool to make it with. Paul Sellars

www.shiny-fx.com

Big Tick Cheeze Machine
Formats: Mac & PC VST

Cheeze Machine from Big Tick is another example of how it's increasingly possible to get something for nothing... at least where VST plug-ins are concerned. It's described by its author as a string ensemble synthesizer, and it specialises in generating lush, distinctive pads reminiscent of '70s keyboards such as the ARP Solina string machine.

Originally based on a CSound project, Cheeze Machine works by processing 'saw-like' waveforms with built-in chorus (or 'ensemble'), phaser, and stereo reverb effects. There are dials for setting the attack, decay and brightness of the initial waveform, and speed, amount and feedback controls for both the ensemble and phaser effects. The reverb section has controls for Amount and Time, while a master volume knob and a dial for setting the instrument's maximum polyphony (and consequent CPU load) make up the rest of the controls.

Its uncluttered user interface makes Cheeze Machine a piece of cake (cheesecake?) to use, and its eight built-in preset patches provide good starting points for dialling up just about any sound you might think of... provided it's a string pad. The ensemble and phaser effects work well, but are at their best when used with restraint. The reverb is simple but effective, and does a good job of adding some depth to the sound. The only potential pitfall to be aware of is the brightness control. At extreme settings, it introduces a fair amount of what sounds like aliasing noise in the high frequencies. At about three quarters of the way up, this can add a not-unpleasant rasp to the sound, but anything beyond that is probably a bit too much to be useable.

Cheeze Machine may be a one-trick-pony, but it's simple, easy to use, and does what it does with aplom

b. If you enjoy the particular brand of knowingly artificial string sounds in which it specialises, chances are you'll be delighted. It's available in versions for Windows and Mac OS, it imposes only a minimal CPU load -- and it really seems a bit too good to be freeware. Paul Sellars

www.chez.com/rainbowvst/

reFX QuadraSID
Formats: Mac & PC VST

QuadraSID from reFX is a VST synth quite unlike any of its competitors. Rather than imitating the analogue polysynth designs favoured by so many developers, QuadraSID is instead built around four parallel software emulations of the infamous 6581/8580 'SID' sound chip. Readers who had a penchant for low-budget computer games in the mid-1980s may recall that these were the chips responsible for generating the distinctive noises produced by the then enormously popular Commodore 64 home computer.

While this might not seem like a promising concept for a professional synthesizer, you should not underestimate the flexibility of this unusual design. QuadraSID can certainly produce some fantastically cheesy toy sound effects, but it's also capable of a range of much more grown-up sounds, many with a depth and character not found in its more expensive rivals.

QuadraSID is at least four-part multitimbral, as each of its four virtual SID chips operates independently. However, as each chip has four channels of output (three 'normal' channels, and one for 'Galway noise'), and since each channel can be set to respond to a separate MIDI channel, a total of 16 simultaneous voices can be produced by each instance of QuadraSID. Four oscillator waveforms are available (triangle, saw, pulse and noise), and you have the option to ring modulate one chip channel with another, creating some nice metallic sounds. The hard sync function allows oscillators to be sync'ed for still more variation, and there are low-pass, high-pass and band-pass resonant filters.

QuadraSID uses flexible multi-stage envelopes, which can be edited graphically using the mouse. The unique COM page enables you to generate unusual hybrid modulation signals by mathematically combining (adding, multiplying, subtracting and so on) signals from sources including the envelope generators, the four built-in LFOs, and various external MIDI controllers. The 16-step 'wavetable' allows you to sequence short phrases (or just make rapid burbling noises), while the aptly named Modulation Matrix makes it possible for just about any parameter to be modulated with just about any signal. There's also a built-in arpeggiator.

With so many parameters to play with, it can take a while to get the hang of programming QuadraSID, but the surprising diversity of its output makes this time well spent. The supplied preset patches do a good job of demonstrating the kinds of things that are possible, including thumping electronic kick drums, horribly accurate dentist's drill sound effects, and dozens of useable pad and lead sounds.

In view of its features, flexibility and great sound quality, QuadraSID seems like very good value for money. A free, feature-limited demo version is also available, and I'd highly recommend downloading it. Paul Sellars

	$60.
	www.refx.net

Emagic ES2
Formats: Mac & PC Logic Instrument

Emagic's ES2 is a plug-in virtual instrument designed specifically for use only within Logic 5 or above (Mac and PC). As a consequence, you authorise it using the same USB XSkey that serves as Logic 5's dongle, so you won't be asked to insert your master CD-ROM every so often.

ES2's user interface is reassuringly conventional to look at, with familiar labels for the controls and attractive hardware-style graphics. The general topography of the synth is similar to that of a classic analogue instrument, but in addition to the usual analogue waveforms and noise, there are also 155 single-cycle complex waveforms called DigiWaves. The modulation capabilities of the ES2 are particularly comprehensive, enabling the user to set up 10 sets of source/destination modulation routings and modulatable amounts as well as a number of 'pre-wired' modulation facilities. One possibility is to use a modulation source to move through the waveforms to create a wavetable synthesizer effect.

To conserve CPU power, the synth only 'activates' those elements that are used in the current patch. Polyphony is restricted to 32 notes per instrument, but you can run more than one instance of ES2 at once if you have sufficient CPU power.

The general structure of the instrument starts with three tone oscillators, each of which can be transposed over three octaves and can make use of any of the available waveforms, plus two LFOs for modulation. Additionally, oscillator sync and ring modulation between oscillators are available, along with frequency modulation between oscillators 1 and 2. Portamento, pulse-width modulation and constant beat detuning are included along with the option to restrict polyphony to a certain number of voices. Oscillator start times can be synchronised to zero crossing points ('soft sync

Plug-in News     Registered users of TC Works' Spark and Spark FX Machine can download a new free plug-in from the TC site. Sonic Destructor is, as its name suggests, designed to dirty up audio in a variety of creative ways, and offers eight different effects known as BandPass, Bitter, Clipper, Crackle, Fuzzer, Noise, Rumble and Squeezer. The actions of these range from bit-crushing to downsampling, heavy compression and filtering. All effects can be used simultaneously and each module can be loaded multiple times into Spark FX Machine. www.tcworks.de New from shareware developers Polyfractus, best known for their excellent DR-Verb, is a unique pitch-to-MIDI conversion plug-in. PitchToMidi analyses the contents of a monophonic audio file in real time, and generates a MIDI output which can be used to control synths or effects. The full version costs $50, but a free demo is downloadable from the site. www.macmusic.org

At the centre of the screen display are the controls for the two multi-mode, multi-slope resonant filters, which can be used in series or parallel. When you switch from series to parallel or vice versa, the whole central filter section rotates like the arming device of an atomic bomb (you must have seen one!). A Blend control mixes the outputs of the two filters and can be modulated to produce dynamic timbral changes.

A Drive control enables the filters to be overdriven for polyphonic distortion, and at the output, there's a neat effects section for adding further global distortion, chorus, phasing or flanging, as well as a novel unison mode for creating a huge, layered effect on both mono and poly sounds. A further feature (borrowed from Yamaha's old analogue synths) is a sine wave fed from oscillator 1, post filter, which can be added in to beef up sounds that have been subjected to high-pass filtering.

Three envelope shapers are provided, the third being preset to control the overall level, though it can control other parameters at the same time if required. The remaining two may be freely assigned as modulation sources, and it should be noted that there is no 'hard-wired' envelope filter routing, so this must be set up when needed.

As if all this wasn't enough, there are also dynamic vector automation functions. One of these allows you to assign your chosen parameters and control them using The Square, an X-Y panel that functions as a virtual joystick. Another is triangular and controls the balance between the three tone oscillators. Both of these are linked to the 15-stage Vector Envelope section, where each stage can control the position of both the triangle and square vector windows' cursors. Any point can be nominated as a sustain point, forcing the progression to stop at that point until the key is released. It's also possible to loop around sections of the vector envelope (either free running or sync'ed to tempo) to produce changing timbres that go on for as long as a key is held down.

Making full use of ES2 requires a fair amount of skill, and it could take months to master fully. Fortunately, it comes with a huge set of patches that you can edit, tweak or process with the Randomize function. This is rather better than most randomisers as you can set the extent of randomisation and also confine it only to selected parameter types.

The library patches at least give you a good sense of what the ES2 can do, which is broadly everything you can get from any well-equipped analogue or virtual analogue synth with flexible routing and modulation, plus a lot more besides. So, in addition to emulations of all your favourite analogue synth sounds, you get touches of FM or hints of modern wavetable synthesis sneaking in, while the vector capabilities facilitate long, evolving pads, some reminiscent of Absynth or the old Korg Wavestation. Indeed, the only software synth I've used which really compares with the ES2 (other than some of the weird things you can cook up in Reaktor) is Absynth, so if you're the type of Logic 5 user who hankers after the power of a big modular analogue system but without the tuning hassles and the knitting, the ES2 has a lot going for it. Paul White

	£199 including VAT.
	Sound Technology +44 (0)1462 480000.
	+44 (0)1462 480800.
	Click here to email
	www.soundtech.co.uk
	www.emagic.de

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