Flux:: releases Ircam Tools

9th August 2010 - KVR Audio News

Flux:: Sound & Picture Development has announced the release of the software plug-in suite Ircam Tools.

In March 2010 Flux:: announced a partnership with Ircam (Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics and Music) in Paris, France. Ircam is one of the world's leading public research institutes within the fields of musical expression, musical research, sound, and acoustics. The first result of this partnership collaboration is the software audio plug-in suite, Ircam Tools.

Ircam Spat - The complete Room Acoustics Simulation and Localisation Solution
With more than a decade of research performed by the Acoustic and Cognitive Spaces Team at Ircam, being at the forefront of scientific and technological innovations, the Spat is said to be "the most advanced and sophisticated tool for room acoustics simulation and localisation ever designed", managing both spatialisation (source localisation) and room acoustic simulation in a consistent and visually logical way.

Designed for surround and multi-channel use, Spat presents the option to setup the output arrangements providing a variety of stereo and surround configurations, including subwoofer configuration. With eight input and output channels available in Spat, configurations up to 7.1 and 8.0 are feasible.

Spat introduces state-of-the-art techniques for room acoustics simulation utilizing advanced perceptive models, concealing the complexity behind the actual algorithms, allowing for intuitive and accommodating user interaction capabilities.

Ircam Verb - Room Acoustics and Reverberation
Verb is an algorithmic room acoustics and reverberation processor. It has a modular construction, employing a recursive filtering reverb engine, reproducing and synthesizing the specific acoustical characteristics of any spatial sound environment.

Following a decade of intense research by the Acoustic and Cognitive Spaces Team at Ircam, the Ircam Verb introduce state-of-the-art techniques for room acoustics simulation utilising advanced perceptive models, concealing the complexity behind the actual reverb algorithms and allowing for a flexible and intuitive experience for the user.

The Ircam Verb provides eight input and output channels, presenting the option for reverberation processing in multi-channel and surround formats. A built in Input/Output (I/O) routing matrix provides instant flexibility when setting up the I/O in relation to the physical audio monitoring in the control room.

Trax - The Next Generation Voice and Sonic Processing Tools
Trax is a suite of three processors using advanced technology, developed during many years, by the sound analysis/synthesis team at Ircam. These precision tools provide innovative signal transformation algorithms allowing the user to alter sound characteristics such as: pitch, timbre and duration, using an intuitive user interface.

Transformer - Real-time Voice and Sonic Modelling Processor
Trax Transformer is based on an augmented phase vocoder technology and a cutting edge transformation algorithm, allowing for manipulating characteristic properties of a voice such as gender, age and breath, and on any other sound; expression, formant and pitch.

Cross Synthesis - Spectral Envelope Morphing Processor
Trax Cross Synthesis utilizes a phase vocoder (the amplitude and the frequency/phase spectra), to morph the spectral characteristics of two sounds. The amplitude and frequency/phase spectra can be blended continuously and since the features that are used here are strongly non-linear, the sound morphing is non-linear as well, offering a way to create a wide range of new exciting and unusual sound effects.

Source Filter - Enhanced Sound Filtering Processor
Trax Source Filter is based on a signal model decomposing the signal into a time envelope describing the energy/loudness contour of the sound, and a spectral envelope describing the spectral colour of the sound timbre. The energy contour and the spectral colour of the source sound, can be continuously blended with the spectral colour and energy contour of an arbitrary filtrating sound, allowing transformation that extend well beyond the more common source filter morphing effect.

Ircam Tools plug-ins all provide: