grm warp, argotlunar and other obscure plugins

[ImmutableTrepidation]

hey guys im really interested in finding new experimental,weird,unique, obscure whatever you want to call it plugins. ive searched kvr, reddit and several other platforms and have collected a few plugins that fit the descriptions above. unfortunately all the hidden gems as well as abandonware are hard to find buried far into past of these forums. some really good ones i know of that come to mind are grm tools warp, evolution, uhbik-gs phase vocoder, argotlunar (real time granular delay one of my fav plugins ever), unfiltered audio specops, audio damage discord 4, and wormhole. as you guys might see i really like fft spectral effects, but good ones are so incredibly rare to find. im also extremely interested in physical modelled resonators like abletons corpus. im big into tonal effects as well like short delays. the coolest one ive ever heard can be achieved from eventides blackhole. its like a diffuser delay or something it sounds almost like a negative inverted flanger or delay but still offers a different unique timbre/tone. post your treasured goodies below and what they do!

[worldfever]

madrona labs virta is quite interesting (https://madronalabs.com/products/virta)
its sort of a cross of a vocoder a semi-modular pitch tracking synth, you'll probably have a certain association of sound with these kind of effects, but you can make really out-there sounds with it that go far beyond standard vocoding (and it works with all kinds of audio). its a really inspiring sound design.
Seeing that you're so much into physical modelling stuff, their synth Kaivo should be very interesting for you too, since it's a physical modelling synth made specifically for experimental sound design, it also has a granular engine and combines these two things in a quite unique way. Both can be demoe'd on their website for an infinite period, all it does is make a (very subtle) noise sweep now and then. I'm thinking about buying Kaivo soon.

you should look into unfiltered audio's BYOME, just released last month, its a toolbox of all kinds of crazy effects, and with all Unfilitered audio stuff, the modulation section really can make the effects feel alive

do you use ableton? if yes, there's loads of great max for live ensembles, for example IRCAMAX I/II, developed by the IRCAM institute, sort of similar to the GRM tools, but they developed some unique algorithms (SuperVP, Modalys) and made loads of interesting out there stuff that I haven't seen in other plugins yet. Modalys is a physical modeling technology they developed, and they have some Physical modeling ensembles in the collection, including a resonator that's similar to ableton's, but with a different sound and different options. there's also tons and tons of free experimental max for live devices, especially granular stuff, on the official M4L library, but you probably knew that already.

sonic charge permut8 (https://soniccharge.com/permut8)
has always inspired me, its really cool for digital artifact kind of sounds, but can also do a wide range of modulation kind of effects and people have made different "firmwares" (extensions) you can load into it to transform it into different effects


by the way, I've been thinking about getting GRM warp (or rather the bundle that contains it ), since you mentioned it in your post, do you think its worth getting it?

[plexuss]

All the IMA GRM tools match your description. I have a bunch of them and they are all "warped" but useful.

You might also want to check out Soundhack -> http://www.soundhack.com/

[tristan-]

Yes, GRM are amazing. they're also 15 years old, which doesn't make them any less great. fairly expensive in my opinion.

[plexuss]

Yes, GRM are amazing. they're also 15 years old, which doesn't make them any less great. fairly expensive in my opinion.

However they do get updated to at least be stable with modern systems. I pick them up on sale which is usually $100 a bundle, making them in the $20-30 each range which I think is more than fair for what they do. They aren't your normal audio plugins.

[thecontrolcentre]

Glitchmachines and InearDisplay make some weird and interesting FX ... also (less obscure) Unfiltered Audio and Audio Damage.

If you use Live, then K-Devices & Amazing Noises are well worth checking out.

[Neon Breath]

For anyone who wants to venture the spectral realm, don't forget Melda. They have several crazy spectral plugin that can severely transform to not say destroy beyond recognition any audio.

[cron]

Not an effect, but Harmor is a must for sample mangling. It's an extraordinarily deep resynthesis tool - arguably the most powerful out there. It also makes it easy to export your sounds as image data for graphical editing/processing if desired. Direct copy and paste between Harmor and your image editor of choice (I use the free GIMP + G'MIC plugin set), so no need to clog your drive with image files.

In the freeware standalone world, SPEAR offers resynthesis + graphical editing, and its ability to stretch/shrink partials 'in-place' without stretching the entire sound is something I haven't seen elsewhere. CDP (Composer's Desktop Project) + the SoundShaper front end is worth a look too for bonkers transformations you won't find anywhere else. Freeware these days, but I paid around £200 circa 2006 and it's probably still the most inspiring sound transformation tool I use and my most-used software. Xenakios' free Hourglass granular processor is also an essential - probably the most powerful granular synthesis tool around.

[c_voltage]

Btw should release soon https://www.re-compose.com/spexx-audio- ... lugin.html , it seems some interesting addition to spectral stuff family

[Neon Breath]

Btw should release soon https://www.re-compose.com/spexx-audio- ... lugin.html , it seems some interesting addition to spectral stuff family

With I'm sure Richard Devine presets

[ImmutableTrepidation]

All the IMA GRM tools match your description. I have a bunch of them and they are all "warped" but useful.

You might also want to check out Soundhack -> http://www.soundhack.com/

ive tried all the soundhack and grm plugins. not a big fan of a lot of the grm plugins like bandpass, doppler, etc. they just arent applicable for what im trying to achieve. the soundhack spectral pitch shifter was okay imo.

[ImmutableTrepidation]

Btw should release soon https://www.re-compose.com/spexx-audio- ... lugin.html , it seems some interesting addition to spectral stuff family

that looks very promising thank you so much. im gonna have to demo it sometime when it releases.

[plexuss]

Btw should release soon https://www.re-compose.com/spexx-audio- ... lugin.html , it seems some interesting addition to spectral stuff family

that looks very promising thank you so much. im gonna have to demo it sometime when it releases.

No license transfers/reselling with re-compose. Also keep in mind Melda's expensive transfer fee. It might not be part of your purchase decisions but for me support for reasonable license transfers is because I usually need time to figure out if I want to live with a particular plugin - it's nice to be able to sell to recoup some $ for other tools.

[c_voltage]

Btw should release soon https://www.re-compose.com/spexx-audio- ... lugin.html , it seems some interesting addition to spectral stuff family

With I'm sure Richard Devine presets

Hehe

that looks very promising thank you so much. im gonna have to demo it sometime when it releases.

Yes i'm plan to grab it too (frankly im big fan of spectral fx's as well). Also i see that in pluginboutiqe there is mention about beta that ready for download after pre-purchase (?) but i may wrong. https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/ ... fect-/4815

"You will be issued with a license code and the beta software download. " i not sure what it mean. (Immediately after payment, or not, i mean.)

[Neon Breath]

Btw should release soon https://www.re-compose.com/spexx-audio- ... lugin.html , it seems some interesting addition to spectral stuff family

With I'm sure Richard Devine presets

Hehe

that looks very promising thank you so much. im gonna have to demo it sometime when it releases.

Yes i'm plan to grab it too (frankly im big fan of spectral fx's as well). Also i see that in pluginboutiqe there is mention about beta that ready for download after pre-purchase (?) but i may wrong. https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/ ... fect-/4815

"You will be issued with a license code and the beta software download. " i not sure what it mean. (Immediately after payment, or not, i mean.)

Spexx is indeed very intriguing, and promising. In fact I was so intrigued that I emailed Re-Compose support to ask some details about that pre-order thing. They emailed me back within minutes with this:

'Customers who complete the pre-order purchase get direct access to the beta version. And, you'll be put on a separate list that receives the latest build with every update that is released. Plus, you can use your license code to activate the full version of the software too.

As is, the beta version uses a prototype user interface (as shown in the video). However, all effects are fully functional, yet the IN/OUT trim controls are automated at the moment and will only become available in the final version of the software - other than that, it's doing what it's supposed to do. Multi-core is causing some hiccups on certain Windows machines, which is currently being investigated.'

So basically if you buy it in pre-order, you already have access to the latest beta build right away + of course the official release once it's out. Very interesting!

Now the real question is: do you trust enough the dev to buy the not yet finished plugin and hope you see the real thing released for real soon? That's the question but at least you have access to the beta.