Airwindows Guitar Conditioner: AU, Mac and PC VST

[jinxtigr]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nEADW-PNtQ

TL;DW:

Replace your Tube Screamer (plugin OR REAL DEAL) with this plugin, to get ‘scrunch’ and subs conditioning, but without the sponginess that even hardware TS9s have.

Guitar Conditioner

I designed this plugin when I saw what Slew was capable of. It uses a combination of Slew and Highpass in a sort of parallel matrix arrangement, with heavy use of my Highpass’s unusual tone shaping features (extreme lows get Tight tone shaping behavior, and a boosted mids circuit is set to Loose rolloff for the proper texture). Both aspects hit their own Slew at different levels and with different voicings, causing a distinct tone quality.

This is not a Tube Screamer plugin at all. It’s an alternate tone for doing similar things but with more sonority, focus and impact. It’s intended for Djent style sounds and people who can play much, much better and more aggressively than me

It is free. Get more like this by supporting my Patreon, because lots of other people can give you ‘imitation Tube Screamer’ but Airwindows is for trying to give you ‘beyond Tube Screamer’ through understanding what, in the conditioned sound, should be distilled and extracted. Happy Djenting

[soulone82]

Thanks again, Chris!

Do you mind if I put it on my drum bus, set it to 77% wet (using REAPER´s built-in mix knob) and boost the lows and possibly the highs afterwards with a 1073 EQ?

[Robert Randolph]

I haven't been a fan of the other stuff that you've released so far, but this is fantastic.

I will definitely look in to joining the patreon if I find consistent use for it, or for any other things you release.

Keep it up! I hope this works out for you.

[jinxtigr]

Thanks again, Chris!
Do you mind if I put it on my drum bus, set it to 77% wet (using REAPER´s built-in mix knob) and boost the lows and possibly the highs afterwards with a 1073 EQ?

NO. NO PLUGIN FOR YOU



Just kidding. Go right ahead!

[nineofkings]

I just realized how easy tone-shaping is with channel4. Something to create, now something to destroy

[cprompt]

This is a really great plugin. Does what a tubescreamer does but better! Takes out that muddy flubbiness and tightens up the top end. My guitars cut through better and sound more aggressive.

Tried it on bass and although I wouldn't use it all the time, it does help the bass poke through a dense mix very nicely. With an ultra-low CPU usage, this is something that I can just fit and forget.

[jinxtigr]

That's indeed the point. It's not a standard overdrive of any type (the only kind of clipping in it is slew clipping!) so my hope is that it naturally lends itself to a 'set and forget' scenario.

This design isn't new for Airwindows (the original Console, and also the tone shaper Mudslide, were like this) but it's even more appropriate now that it's a Patreon-supported Airwindows. My notion is this: the more you have to tweak and fiddle with a plugin to get the sound, ESPECIALLY if it's part of how you address your instrument, the worse the plugin is.

So the featureless, control-less plugin can be the ultimate design as long as the most important goal isn't 'keep the user thinking about the plugin and how pretty it is and how much they want to buy more knobs and whistles from the developer!'. The more you can forget the plugin and just make music, the poorer the plugin will perform in a capitalist marketplace. The more you actively fiddle with the plugin and enjoy/admire that fiddling process, the better it is for the plugin maker, as your attention is there.

Patreon isn't a capitalist marketplace (at least, not in quite that sense)

As soon as I have a better handle on VST settings saving, I'll put out Highpass and Lowpass (this is a matrix of Slew and Highpass instances, internally, plus a gain boost on a midrange-oriented section). Audio Unit users can already use Highpass but I want it to cover VST also.

It's nice to be able to tell people how stuff works rather than have to be all coy and mysterious about the dark mojo

[cprompt]

It's nice to be able to tell people how stuff works rather than have to be all coy and mysterious about the dark mojo

A little bit of the dark mojo is still nice

But yeah, this utility type of plugins are just very useful indeed - they just kinda... work!

[Aloysius]

Is it enough to use just the GuitarConditioner32.dll or do we need the other folders?

GuitarConditioner.vst
GuitarConditioner.component
__MACOSX = No. I'm on Windows 7 64bit using 32 bit version of Ableton Live 9, which is down at the moment and causing me some frustration, so if you could answer my question that would be great, so I can try the plug later on, thank you very much.

[jinxtigr]

Is it enough to use just the GuitarConditioner32.dll or do we need the other folders?

GuitarConditioner.vst
GuitarConditioner.component
__MACOSX = No. I'm on Windows 7 64bit using 32 bit version of Ableton Live 9, which is down at the moment and causing me some frustration, so if you could answer my question that would be great, so I can try the plug later on, thank you very much.

Of course if you're only using 32 bit Windows VST, then you only need to use GuitarConditioner32.dll.

The 64.dll is for 64 bit, the .vst is a Mac VST, and .component is Mac Audio Unit. You don't need those

[Aloysius]

Thank you.The video was very interesting. I look forward to trying the VST later.

[Agreed]

Downloading now, mind if I use this in a free software demo clip? I'm not a monster player or anything, just enjoy recording demos for stuff. Probably make a blog post about it at some point, I have a real soft spot for cool guitar sound tool plugins

[jinxtigr]

Downloading now, mind if I use this in a free software demo clip? I'm not a monster player or anything, just enjoy recording demos for stuff. Probably make a blog post about it at some point, I have a real soft spot for cool guitar sound tool plugins

Don't see why not. That means a video or some sort of news thing, right? Please do. It will remain free to download for everyone who comes to airwindows.com

[jbraner]

Chris,

So - you put the guitar conditioner first - ie before amp sims and cabs etc?

Does this do anything for "less than full on metal" - ie old school distorted Boogie/Marshall type sounds?

I'll try this all myself, but won't have a chance for a few days
There's no manual or anything is there?

I'm still getting my head around what you're doing (never used a Mac and never heard of AirWindows) and whether to "sign up" or not

[cprompt]

So - you put the guitar conditioner first - ie before amp sims and cabs etc?

Yes

Does this do anything for "less than full on metal" - ie old school distorted Boogie/Marshall type sounds?

Well, I haven't tried it myself for anything less than full on metal! Bear in mind that it takes a lot of the mud from the bass and sharpens up the treble... well, would you use a TubeScreamer on anything less than metal? Don't see why not, it's just an effect and who knows what it will do for you.

There's no manual or anything is there?

Hell, there's not even any controls!

I'm still getting my head around what you're doing (never used a Mac and never heard of AirWindows) and whether to "sign up" or not

I'd definitely recommend Channel4, Console4 and Guitar Conditioner (I'm still getting my head around Skew). Sign up for a dollar a month, heck in a year you'd have paid $4 for just those three plugins alone! I'm a Windows guy and never knew what all the buzz with Airwindows was, but now I'm a convert. Really. The more people that sign up with Patreon the more plugins Chris will release, and there's lots of great ones I'm really looking forward to - fingers crossed