help with 'new' effect please

[sl23]

I would like to implement an idea but no clue how to go about it. Hopefully it can be done with the mux.

It's not really new as such, but the closest it could be compared with is a compressor. Basically, imagine a compressor and how it works, but remove the effect of compressing and insert distortion or delay or anything you like.

It would work by adding the desired effect once a volume threshold has been reached. I want to use it as an analogue tape clipping effect but realised it could have many uses and even use any effect.

Thanks for any advice.

[AndreasD]

This can work

SL Effect.jpg

Only when 'Threshold' is exceeded the Effect Rack is used and the Attack and Release times take effect.
It's a hard effect, meaning the effect is 100% wet. Adjust the dry/wet of the effect you place inside the rack.

Edit: This is a prototype. Just half an hour work with no serious testing!

[sl23]

Wow! Thanks Andreas, fantastic, just what I was hoping for

I was just looking at the layout and wondered why the Wet/Dry doesn't work on the Audio Balancer module? I assume it's to do with it being modulated by the audio reaching threshold level is that right? It's just that it sounds like it's effecting the whole signal when it goes over the threshold by turning the Balance up depending on the amount it goes over. Which, actually is what I asked for

Whereas I was hoping for something that only effects the signal that goes over the threshold while leaving the signal below intact or dry?

Perhaps I'm being a bit picky and the end result may be very similar as to not warrant the extra trouble? Is that making things unnecessarily complex?

Still, thank you again for the preset, it's still great as it is

[AndreasD]

As you correctly say, the balancer module is modulated by the ADSR from 0% (dry) to 100% (wet).
You can add a modulation mapper in that green connection and reduce the modulation amount, or use the Global Level of the ADSR to reduce the effect.
Or, do the dry/wet in the effect itself.

The effect is only affecting the entire signal when above threshold. It has to be the entire signal. You can not use only, in analog terms, the voltage above 3Volt and not affect signals below. It's a continuous signal that goes through zero and will leave the threshold area.
You can set Attack and Release to 0, but that will create crackles, but will ONLY handle signals above treshold.

Alternatively, you can use the green output of the Envelope Follower to go into the Balancer.
That will affect all signals but "the louder the more". In this case you should play with the Mod. Out Gain and try different curves in the properties of the green connection (like Exp2 or Sine with 2 quaters).

I hope that helps.

[sl23]

Is there a way of splitting a signal so that over a threshold is sent one way and under sent a second way?

When the current effect is active, I assume it's proportionate to the amount the threshold is exceeded? IE gain Is adjusted gradually as volume exceeds threshold not just on and off? It seems to work proportionally, but is a bit harsh in the transition. Theres no effect but then the volume increases and suddenly the whole signal is effected.

I'm curious how setting attack and release to 0 then only affects the signal above the threshold? How does this change how the effect works?

I'll have another go with it tonight see if I can figure it out, thanks Andreas

Edit :
Its a shame there's no way to filter volumes with different cutoff types. Like a LPF that cuts high volumes and a HPF that cuts low volumes leaving louder sound intact just as normal filters would do.

[pljones]

There's no such thing as "the part of the signal above -6dB" for example. A HPF is removing frequency information. A LPF is removing frequency information. Volume information doesn't work the same way - if you remove volume from a -12dB signal, it gets quieter. If you remove volume from a 0dB signal, it also gets quieter. There's no way around it.

[sl23]

I know there isn't a way to do it, that's why I said it's a shame there's no way to filter volumes. Although, a volume control is exactly like a LPF for volume info, but there's no way to reverse it to filter out low volume info instead.

[AndreasD]

Is there a way of splitting a signal so that over a threshold is sent one way and under sent a second way?

Basically that is done already!
Below threshold you only hear the original, above you only hear the 'effected' signal. That's what the balancer module is doing.

Otherwise I fully agree with pljones's comment.

[Taron]

...kinda funny, but interesting is what you really want to do, because sometimes we have a very conventional desire without knowing it.
I can imagine that a balancer could have the balance controlled by the incoming velocity or value that controls the incoming volume and that balancer feeds into the desired effects. Not sure why one would want that, but it could work nicely.

[sl23]

Quick question, related to a possible solution I've thought about.

What affect does a limiter have on audio, other than stopping audio at a threshold. Does it change the sound in anyway? Or would that depend on the limiter used? I would use a mux for this.

[Taron]

This is where you should just try it out, really!

[sl23]

Thanks taron I plan to but my boy is playing Lego batman at moment so just thought I'd ask. I always have wondered if limiters affect the sound as they are compressing it, so do they have similar effect on the sound as would a compressor?

I realise what you're saying, test it and see for myself. But I'm not experienced enough with compression to fully understand it, hence my question.

[Taron]

Well, you can end up distorting the sound, which is really the only way it changes in tone. Other than that it's there to manage volume. That means, ideally a compressor simply tries to push all signals closer together in volume, reducing the dynamic. Driven to some extreme, it can lead to a pulsing based on the loudest sounds, suddenly lowering the volume of the rest. That's also a reason for why you want to control attack and release times so that they relate to your song's speed. Just divide 60 by the beats per minute, so you find out the speed of a single beat. Then you can divide that to what ever note length would work best for your kind of genre and "breathing tempo", really. I would recommend that for even more subtle compressions, but it's most crucial for strong compressions, of course.
I've had some difficulties with MuLabs compressor (limiter, too, for that matter), because they behave quite brutal as you overdrive into them. Also, there's somehow something missing, and I don't know what it is. But once you have your mix leveled properly, rather quiet for that matter, you can use the compressor really well again. I just recently got reminded of that, to keep the levels of your racks low at around -10 on the master, to avoid any accidental overdrive and leave enough headroom to control the dynamics of it.

That's cute, by the way, with your son! ...I wouldn't want to drag you away from him, that's for sure!

[sl23]

Thanks for the explanation it helps to understand how it works.

Some limiters are classed as transparent, does that mean they don't distort or pump the sound as you described?

Haha thanks my boy is only 3, he absolutely loves all the Lego games! Soon as I get home from work its first thing he says!