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VST-Plug-ins now enable you to use effect plug-ins as already integrated into Sequoia and Samplitude. Since their introduction these tools enjoy excellent reputation within the studio scene and are now also available for other VST-enabled audio products for the first time.
The VE Suite enhances the repertoire of your sound editing program with a chorus/flanger, delay and filter plug-in. CORVEX, ECOX and FILTOX are each based on the same basic handling principle: as required, a modulator (LFO) controls almost all knobs accessible via the "frontplate".
This very easy, but highly effective principle enables an almost inexhaustible supply of forms for sound design from subtle to crazy distortion effects. For example, on normal guitar choruses: with CORVEX you can have the sound travel through the room by changing a few modulation settings, with ECOX you can reinvigorate old tape echoes, and with FILTOX you can add more power to weaker drum loops.
In the following MAGIX presents the individual effects of this suite and describe what the three devices have in common in their features, using examples from CORVEX, especially in relation to the handling of the modulation section and the modulation targets.
CORVEX
When talking about Chorus and the Flanger effects in CORVEX, it doesn’t only refer to one of the two effects, but also the variations between them which go beyond standard concepts.
A chorus generates the typical 'floating' sound as known from guitar sounds or synthesizer pads. You can add acoustic 'depth' to an instrument to add more power to the sound or to create the illusion that it exists multiple times.
The Chorus sound is created by using the so-called Doppler effect. You've probably noticed this phenomenon in daily life: The sound of an approaching ambulance sounds higher than when it is moving away. This effect is a result of the speed of the sound which first increases and then decreases, thus also changing the sound pitch. If there were a second siren at your location, an oscillation would develop between both sounds (just like when two instruments are out of tune).
Chorus also splits the signal into at least two: a direct sound and an effects part, whereby there are multiple effects parts in CORVEX.
The Doppler effect is created by a short signal delay from the effect. For most equipment this delay is within the range of 10-30 ms (as in this one), this means that it is too short to be perceived as an "echo". The times would also be similarly short if you were to double a guitar track for instance. An ordinary short delay in the mix already sounds "doubled" but is not authentic. This is where the above-mentioned "out-of-tune" effect comes in: the pitch of the effect signal is slightly modulated by gently "drifting" forward and backward as a function of the delay time shift. The result is a floating effect where the speed is influenced by drifting.
The "Flange" effect is similar to that of the chorus, but does have a different technical and historical background. It came about by chance: Someone (various sources say John Lennon) slowed down one of two running interconnected tape machines in a studio with his hand. The result, a rather brief delay of the second signal compared to the first, brought about cancellations within the frequency spectrum, leading to a so-called comb filter effect (the sum of both signals creates "peaks" and "dips" in the spectrum that look familiar to the teeth of a comb).
Flanging is basically a chorus effect which, however, has a low delay time (less than 10 ms). 'Release' or doubling of signals is not at the fore in this case; resulting in a far more creative deformation of the frequency response.
A complete flange effect will definitely require feedback: the flange portion is returned to the input to increase the effect. People often talk of the "Jet effect" as it resembles a jet on take-off.
CORVEX Parameters
Delay/Modulation section
Time: Here you can specify the delay time and fundamentally set if you want to have a chorus or flanger sound. With the flanger, delay times are usually between 1 - 10 ms, as, with these times, the typical comb filter artefacts usually lie within the audible frequency area (Frequency = 1 / delay in ms). For a chorus, values of 20 - 40 ms are normal. Wars of attrition are fought about what the actual correct delay times are.
However, it’s not advised for you to strictly conform to such standards. Just let your ear decide.
Voices: Use this to set how many internal voices the effect should contain. Two to max. 8 delay units can be activated here. With more than two voices the sound becomes fuller and fatter. Uneven voices (1, 3, 5, 7) are assigned to the left channel, even voices (2, 4, 6, 8) to the right. The subsequent elements like the filter and diffusion unit also count as part of these voices/delay units. For this reason, you should note that an increase in the number of voices leads to an increased CPU strain.
Span: The time of each delay unit activated by 'voices' can be shifted using this controller. Example: With the 'time' potentiometer you can set 10 ms and select four voices. "span" at 50% would mean that voice 2 is delayed by 15 ms, voice 3 by 20 ms and voice 5 by 25 ms. For example, you can break up the resonance of high feedback rates by increasing the "span" value or by separating the audio field at high stereo width.
The modulation depth: The depth or intensity can be adjusted here using the small fader below "time". Here, you'll see one of the most important properties of these three effects: the small pot on the lower row on the front plate is seen as having the same value. They are basically modulation targets. If, like in this case, the modulation target of the LFO is the "time" pot, you have set the depth of the pitch shift.
At max, the amplitude is at its largest, in the minimum position the effect remains static.
Modulation speed: Slow times create a quiet beat; high speeds sound like vibrato or, in extreme cases, like it's under water. The type of modulation can be selected using the buttons. Waveform selection: sine, square (sqre) and random (rand) are available.
The sine wave is suitable for rhythmic, quiet sounds. On the other hand, a square wave sounds quite drastic and very rhythmic. Random mode is a good partner for ambient sounds or sound landscapes, the progressions are not foreseeable and can add an interesting accent to the sound.
The sync button snaps the speed to the song tempo. Alternately you can set the modulation tempo in Hz manually.
Tone/Filter section
The low and high cut filters limit the signal within each voice/delay unit.
Feedback: Here you can set how strongly the signal in each unit is fed back to itself. At high values you can get a typical, cutting flanger sound. What makes CORVEX stand out from many other digital devices is that high feedback rates do not result in overmodulation. In each delay unit, the signal is fed at a saturation level which brings about a soft, analogue-sounding restriction.
Diffusion: This is one of the most interesting parameters of CORVEX and rather unusual for this effect range. Normally larger delays are audible as discreet echoes. Using "diffusion" you can soften the signal in each voice, thereby scattering its shape. In extreme cases and with sufficiently high "time" values, even reverb-like sounds are possible. This way you can replicate a small room by using "time", "voices" & "span", and by using "diffusion" you can simulate the natural properties of scattering signals over surfaces. With high feedback values, simply modulate the pitch a little (the small pot below "time") to break up the creation of comb artefacts as a result of static repeating.
Complex: Usually each voice pairing functions in "PingPong" mode, that is, the left channel is thrown back to the right and vice-versa. On the other hand, with "complex", the parameters feedback & diffusion are combined in some way, which gives it a quite chaotic sound. In "complex" mode each one of the eight possible voices affects every other one, that is, echo repeating makes sure that diffusion is even faster. Here, at the maximum number of voices, drastic spatial sounds are possible. For this reason CORVEX manages to eclipse some specialized reverb effects...
After this overview of the main parameters there’s still an explanation for the other small knobs of the lower row.
As mentioned above, this relates to an intensity setting of the modulation depth: Each of these faders specifies how much LFO affects the relevant parameter above it.
The following applies:
- The envelope of the LFO affects the "time" parameter directly, meaning that lighting of the round LED in the modulation section results in an increase to the delay times.
- The LFO also affects all other parameters to the right of the middle in a similarly direct fashion. To the left on the other hand, the inverse value of the modulation envelope is taken. If, for example, you have selected "sine" as the waveform, the inverse curve shape will correspond to a sine wave which is mirrored along the X-axis. In practice, this results in a temporal shift of modulation by exactly half of one period length.
Basically, the modulation values combine with the settings of the main pot. For example, to get a rhythmic stereo width introduction, set the stereo width control to 0%. Switch on "sync", turn "speed" to "1/4" and the small fader for the modulation target (stereo width) to the right. This way the stereo picture plays at maximum every fourth note. Now turn the small pot below "stereo width" to the left: the stereo picture now plays on the off beats. This is where the inverse envelope is effective and the mentioned temporal shift is kept intact.
Use the exact same method to modify the other modulation targets and get sounds out of CORVEX that a normal chorus or flanger wouldn't know. There are a few presets that make heavy use of modulation which can be used to quickly get things right...
ECOX
This delay offers creative playing along with common delay effects.
On playback you can change the delay times without scratchy digital artefacts appearing. Instead, the times are softly faded out, similar to the old tape echo machines or bucket-brigade circuits that used the tape speed to change the delay and where the system also had a certain sluggishness.
ECOX can reproduce this type of sound relatively impressively and easily, and includes tracking fluctuations and loss of highs during each feedback in tape echoes, which are, in reality, always present.
Like the CORVEX, the internal feedback has a two-band filter (low and high-cut) that can be used to create dark, high or mid repetitions depending on the settings.
A particular characteristic of ECOX is that the delay cannot be distorted 'digitally'. Even in a 'looped' repetition the signal can not be distorted indefinitely but compressed by an increasingly slight degree and distorted like with a tape.
ECOX Parameters
Delay time
- Left + right: The delay times can be adjusted separately for left and right. In the "synced" settings you can select the note value to which the turn switch should snap. The same note values as with CORVEX can be chosen. You can also choose to do without "sync" and specify free delay times in milliseconds.
- Link button (lock symbol): Press this button to change both channels simultaneously with a delay knob. The link function also has an effect on the two modulation depth faders of this section.
- The sync button beneath it affects the display of the delay time of the left and right channel in the bar grid.
Modulations section
The same features as with CORVEX can be chosen. If you want to change the pitch modulation, the same conditions apply as those mentioned above.
Feedback path
Filter section, feedback, diffusion, stereo width: see CORVEX
With ECOX, too, there are alongside a few sensible presets, some pretty wacky ones, just to prove how much this echo device is capable of ... be creative…
FILTOX
Much like CORVEX and ECOX, FILTOX is also a "modulation effect". Here though, everything relates to frequency response deflection: a modulation source controls two filter units. Possible areas of application are synthesizer sounds (filter sweeps on pads) or creative distortions of drumloops (e.g. for variations, fills, etc). With guitars you can create typical 'wah' effects: either by tempo modulation or in a special mode, modulation via the signal envelope curve.
The 'core' of FILTOX is a stereo multimode filter based on an analogue model (Chamberlin 2-pole filter), which, for example, is known as the "Oberheim" filter. With FILTOX, two such modules were cascaded per channel to achieve a switchable 24dB slope.
The digital model of the filter is designed correspondingly so that it delivers the typical "analogue" sound character, but it's especially useful if you want to use internal overmodulation. Here interaction between cut-off frequency and resonance occurs, which makes the sound appear "undigital", in a positive way though.
FILTOX Parameters
The following filter types are at your disposal:
- low pass
- band pass
- notch / band reject
- high pass
Usually these filter types are designed in a way that they can be toggled. With the Chamberlin filter, however, a "state-variable" network is used, which means that all filter types can be taken from taps simultaneously. So why leave the taps static, when they can be processed dynamically...?
The actual filter circuit provides the following parameters:
- Cut-off frequency (freq)
- Resonance (reso)
- Internal saturation (drive)
The filter can be set up separately or together with the link button.
You can set up the cut-off frequency or the resonance of every channel as modulation targets. Just like with CORVEX and ECOX, the small knobs on the lower row specify the modulation level.
For the modulation source, in general the same applies as with the previously mentioned effects. In addition, FILTOX provides you with the modulation of the filter section via an envelope follower. Here the input signal itself serves as a modulator. This makes it possible to use, for example, well-known "auto wah" sounds.
To use this envelope follower mode, proceed as follows:
- Drücken Sie in der Modulations-Sektion den Taster "env"
- The two small "gain" pots to the bottom left serve to customize the input level for setting the envelope. The LEDs at the top no longer show the LFO speed, but rather serve as visual responses of the set sensitivity.
- Usually the sensitivity is controlled in such a way that signal peaks bring about bright lighting in the LEDs. If gain is set too low, you'd have to set the knobs to be unnecessarily high for the modulation targets. If input levels are too high, the behavior will not be noticeable. Additionally, the problem of overmodulation arises when the detector circuitry of the envelope follower leads to inaccurate tracking as a result of saturation. This tracking is also influenced by the following parameters:
- Knob "speed left & right": These help you set the LFO speed. In envelope mode on the other hand, these can be used to set the attack & release of the envelope for each channel. This means that minimum speed settings can lead to a quick increase of the envelope, thereby bringing about quick access of the modulation. Since attack & release are coupled settings, quick attacks correspond to short release values. This way the control voltage for the filter drops more quickly than at middle or slower settings.
- You should adapt the speed as precisely as possible to the signal. Times that are too short can lead to errors in tracking and to fluctuations, while times that are too long miss short signal peaks. Internally, however, the detector works semi-automatically for release time, so that the setting is less critical than with a purely manual method.
- The lock symbol of the modulation section has a special meaning in envelope mode: Once active, both channels are linked together for detection so that panning effects can be created solely because of different knob settings, but not because of a stereophonic input signal.
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