homemade noize » plug-ins

Linux VST Compatibility or A Helpful List

kubton — Fri, 15 May 2009 11:56:00 +0000

I found this list of VST plug-ins that list there compatible with Linux. It gives you idea of how or if they work and some work around for problems. You can find the list here. All of this is of course depenant on WINE and either FST or DSSI.

This kind of of thing is is probably only for a minority of people the love Linux and don’t mind hack things together a bit. Of course expriementing on your own is encouraged but the list is helpful. Hopefully more of this kind of thing continues. One of the major draw backs for me is the there are very few audio plugins as compared with other platforms. Find away to use Windows pluggies is a very good thing.

miniSID VST or BASIC Memories

kubton — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 04:24:34 +0000

It is most likely do to being just at the right age but I love chiptune 8-bit lofi sounds or whatever else you want to call them. I still being in like the second grade and writing basic programs. At that time it was a amazing being like 7 and making a machine do things. It was cool those machines could make noise. I was addicted to video games and those lofi sounds always occupy a warm place in my heart. So, it not surprising I like miniSID from dlm. It not the most in SID emulation but it is easy to use and free which of course makes it cool. It is one of the many things I missed when I have been neglecting this blog. If you have a warm place in your heart for lofi goodness you should check it out.

9 Tips and Tricks to Making a Fuzzier World or I Heart Fuzz

kubton — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 05:19:00 +0000

This a except from my Fuzz Guide. If you have in interest in the science, history, devices and use of fuzz check it out.

9 Tips and Tricks to Making a Fuzzier World

1. EQ

EQ is the friend of fuzz and a dedicated EQ unit can do a lot more than a simple tone control. It helps you sculpt the fuzz to the sound how you want. This is especially useful for big aggressive thick fuzz. They can get out of hand quickly so EQ can be used to tame unwieldy fuzz. Scooping out some midrange is a common practice. Also it can be used to clean up any offending harshness in the highs. It you like a ballsy bass fuzz EQ can give your bottom end a big deep kick. For more info on EQ see my guide.

2. Fuzz For All

Fuzz is not just for guitars. Of course a lot of bass players love it but it can add its special character to anything. It is great for synths. A nice fuzzy synth bassline can liven up a track. But fuzz can really be used on anything from drums to vocals so keep an open mind.

3. Good Noize & Bad Noize

Fuzz pedals are noisy but there is some kinds of noize you just don’t want especially when the pedal is off. Fuzz pedals can also “tone suck” even when off. This can be especially true of vintage and fuzz wah pedals. The way to get around this is using a true bypass pedal or modifying one to be true bypass or using a bypass loop. True bypass is really a buzz word in the world of guitar pedals but you shouldn’t get carried away. Each true bypass pedal you patch together is like attaching another length of cable together. And well all know what happens with long runs of cable linked numerous times. You get signal loss that can start to effect your sound. There is nothing wrong with the buffered switching in most modern pedals. It is often a good idea to mix true bypass with some buffered pedals or use a line buffer.

4. Playing Nice With Others

When playing with band members or recording it takes some work getting fuzz to play nice with others. If you are using thick fuzz with octave up or ring modulator sound that sustains forever you run the risk of overpowering the other instruments. Again EQ is your friend and don’t over do the volume. Recording gives you more options to deal with all that fuzz. Not only can you utilize equalization but you can use panning as well to carve out a nice cozy space to move your fuzz into.

5. Too Much of a Good Thing

You may want to wrap yourself up in a thick blanket of fuzz but there is such a thing as to much of a good thing. There are a lot of great tracks that are solid fuzz but that is not always the way to go. The juxtaposition of clean and dirty sounds can be a wonderful thing. Also fuzz kicking in for the chorus can really add a dramatic impact.

6. The Order of Things

The order of effects is important. There is nothing wrong with guitar->fuzz->amp but if your setup is more complicated the order of the effects can really make a big difference. While there are typical orders there is no such thing as the right order. Experiment to see what sounds best. If you are working in the virtual world you can easily try out a lot of different orders and complex routing without having to deal with patch cables.

7. The Sincerest Form of Flattery

If you are looking to emulate someones sound Guitar Geek’s Rig Database is a good place to start. Google is also your friend. Once you find out the artist’s gear remember when you are trying to capture that famous sound the whole signal chain matters including the guitar. Now some of those vintage pedals and other gear is hard to find or just way too expensive for most people but there are usually clones of most famous vintage equipment at a more reasonable price. Most of them sound pretty close and sometimes even better than the original. I believe that you can get close, but exact matches may be impossible. Consider that vintage pedals often used different transistors in the same model and old germanium transistors can vary quite a bit even if it is the exact same part. Plus so much of anyone’s sound is in their fingers and soul. Also be aware sometimes an artist’s gear is modified by themselves or their guitar techs. Also if you are after a sound on a studio album often the sound on the record is different equipment used in the artist’s live setup. A big chuck of the a records sound is due to the things outside the signal chain going from guitar to amp. The effects of a mic and its placement, mixing and even the room it was recorded in have a big effect on the sound. Still with careful research and shopping you can probably can get a satisfying famous tone.

8. Be a Mad Scientist

Copying someone else’s sound is alright but but coming up with your own is even better. Fuzz and all distortion sounds started off as accident. Overworked amps and malfunctions gave us fuzz. Happy accidents and experimentation were how all those great sounds were found in the first place. There are millions of things to try. You could split your signal and send two different fuzz’s to two different amps. You could mix in modulation effects, use radical EQ settings, user a filter, modify your equipment, play through a cheap transistor radio or old beat up speaker, mix clean and fuzz sounds, try weird mic placement and spaces, strange tunings etc., etc. Nothing is out of bounds.

9. Silicon and Germanium

Germanium is kind of a buzz word when it comes to fuzz. The important fact is that the germanium transistors were lower gain the the silicon variety and provide a a less harsh distortion. Many players consider germanium a much more organic sound. Some people prefer germanium and some silicon. Is a matter of preference.

Weekend Links or Tips, Instrumnets, Plugins and Laughs

kubton — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 03:01:06 +0000

Tips and Resources:

Robert Green DIY show you how to make a DJ set in Ableton Live.

Digital Burn has a cool tutorial on creating that Aphex Twin effect in Reason.

Recording Review has some great idea about getting good results with vocal doubling.

Ableton Live DJ has a bunch of live goodness

Instruments:

Electric Guitar Review Telecater Relic project is getting further along and lookin’ good. I was apposed to relicing as phony but my mind is changing. I like to give it a try if I get the chance.

Amptone has about a list of about a zillion books about guitar sound.

Bored Space a collection of crazy bass guitars.

Plugins:

VSTPLANET is a site keeping track of the wild world of VST plugins.

Laughs:

I love the Onion. This piece might be older but it is still fitting and funny. I am sure the RIAA would if they could.

I was watching the Muppets with my nephew. The Muppets are pure quality. So, here is to of the greatest drums in history Animal and Buddy Rich.

End of Week Links or Lot of Wires In Boxes

kubton — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:16:22 +0000

You can find this strange delay effect and other DIY audio goodness at WRONGROOM.

Along the same lines is this great video I found. Analog sequencer in a cigar box is cool enough but controlling other circuit bent gadget is just beautiful noise.

From Kendall Scott is a Basic Guide to Understanding EQ. A good graphics for visual learners. You also can check out my EQ Guidelines & Free Tools.

Robin Schmidt’s Music Engineering Tools has a every practical and useful VST ptich shifter if you scroll down the page. ANd check out the other stuff also.

Euphoria Magazine has t his list of strange and wonderful instruments.

Found this cool video on EtherBomb. The one man band is alive.

For those of you that want to turn back the clock and stopping buy the new versions of music software every and just happen to have a old ST in the closet should check out Tim’s Atari Midi World. A nice page on Cubase on Atari. It is where most of this computer music business started. It really is not as diffent as you would think after such a long evelotion. I now a lot of people still use it squence. Why not?

Loop Slicer Plug-in or Mangle Your Beats for Free

kubton — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:11:12 +0000

yedey has released Loop Slicer a free VST loop slicer and re-arranger VST Plug-in. Here is the description from the website:

What it is: It’s a Loop slicer and rearranger with some weird FX. So you load in a drum loop wave, set the tempo, and LoopDrive slices it into beats. Now you can use the build-in sequencer grid to rearrange the beats. There is also a “reverse sequencer” which enables you to play selected beats backwards. After rearranging the loop you can apply a filter, bit crusher, distortion, overdrive and even a grain FX. There’s also the possibility to set the FX order, which gives you more control over the FX.

There are also some other things that I haven’t mentioned here, so try it yourself.

I really love plug-ins like this. But then I love to mangle by boring loops. Even better is the .OSM file is available for any Synthedit users to to explore. Cool stuff.

Vonengo Sound Delay or Free Delay Plugin

kubton — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:27:36 +0000

Vonengo Sound Delay is now available for free.

From the site:

Sound Delay is an auxiliary multi-channel signal delaying plug-in for professional audio applications. You may specify delay time in both milliseconds and samples, with a high level of precision. This plug-in – being technical in its purpose – provides a basic signal delaying function only, without signal feedback or modulation capabilities.

Sound Delay also features internal mid/side encoding and decoding, and allows you to delay mid and side channels independently.

Seems to be a useful tool and a little different from the other free delays plug-ins out there.

Available in Windows Vst and Win64 VSTand Mac Audio Units and VST.