Going soft with some new classic plug-ins from Eventide

Many of you probably already know about the Eventide Clockworks Legacy plug in bundle for TDM users. Consisting of the legendary Omnipressor, The Instant Phaser, The H910, The Instant Flanger and the H949, it takes five Eventide hardware classics and brings them to the desktop. But the company has a slew of other new software releases that we’ll take a look at below. My personal favorite is their H3000 Band Delays plug in for Pro Tools TDM Accel, TDM and Mix systems. Laid out much like the original hardware, it features a set of functional soft keys, level meter, a numeric keypad and the famous large front panel rotary dial. Below this section though, sits the meat of the plug in.

Above: Eventide's H3000 Band Delays

The large GUI features a wide assortment of flexible options. The Preset Parameter section features sliders and value windows for Delay Time, Frequency, Q Factor, Pan, Feedback Delay, Feedback, Mix and Input/Output levels. A key factor is also the tempo/meter window, as this plug in can be locked to your sessions’ time signature and BPM value. Below the Preset section sits selectable tabs for viewing the Program Page (featuring a Beat Grid and Band Display window), the Expert Page and an overall Function Page. Parameters include eight voices of tempo-based delays, each with up to 1.2 seconds of delay time and either band, notch, high or low pass resonant filters. There are also independent level, pan and phase controls, as well as a function generator with nineteen modulation sources. The aforementioned Beat Grid allows for tempo matching to your sessions’ master time and tempo, allowing you to quantize voices to 1/16th, 1/8th, 1/4th, half or whole notes. The Snapshot feature allows you to easily save and recall the settings with a single click (they can also be automated via MIDI). "Many users of the H3000 will remember such remarkable presets as #638 Band Sweep, #635 Band Pan and #658 S/H Pan-a-Delay," notes Eventide’s Audio Software Group GM Jason Beck. "These and all others are included in the Band Delays plug in, along with many new presets." That’s exactly where I started, by jumping through the presets to hear some different sounds. Within a few minutes, I was tweaking delay times and filters on a vocal for a remix I’m doing, as well as delaying and panning a guitar part. It’s great when you use a plug in that delivers unique sonics that truly add to your mix. Overall, the H3000 plug in is easy to use, sounds amazing and it rocks - plain and simple. Reflections on Reverb Two other cool new plug ins are also now available for the TDM platform. The Octavox Harmonizer and the Reverb plug in are both based upon the technology used in their Orville hardware unit. Eventide Reverb includes some great sounding halls, plates, chambers, rooms and even Lo-Fi effects from the DSP 4000, Eclipse, and of course - Orville. There is a three band stereo parametric eq available both before and after the verb, as well as a reverb contour for tone shaping. What propellsq it beyond a typical reverb is the inclusion of stereo delay lines with filtering and a nice high-quality compressor. Usually, I would have to call up a separate plug-in (or two) to delay and compress my verbs, but this lets me handle all creative tweaking in one window.

Above: May your tails be smooth with Eventide Reverb.

Sing Along with Octovox The Octavox Harmonizer is an eight-voice diatonic pitch shifter based on Orville’s multi-voice pitch shifter. It features an easy to use Notation Grid that shows the individual voices on a music staff. Since the plug in also locks to the master sessions’ Tempo and Meter, the delay times can also be represented in quantized grid times. It also provides individual Level, Delay, and Pitch controls, as well as a Pitch Setup and overall Levels section. The Snapshots section can be used to instantly change settings or simply store commonly used presets. I created some beautiful vocal harmonies with Octavox (as well as some bizarre ones), in conjunction with the Reverb. Note that the controls are quite fluid on this plug in, so I found myself typing in the values to achieve the exact settings I was looking for. In addition, it can be used to create a nice depth on vocal tracks by setting the first two voices to Unison, panning each left and right, and giving them short delay times (30-60 ms.).

Above:Eventide's Octavox harmonizer.

And one actual box... Ah, I guess it’s not all about software - since a piece of hardware is worthy of a mention here as well. The Eventide Reverb 2016 has become a hit with studio pro’s, offering a recreation of the legendary SP2016’s algorithms. The company notes that while every aspect of the original has been duplicated (and more), it also has 24-bit DSP, 24-bit analog audio I/O, MIDI interface and 24-bit digital I/O. For you reverb freaks out there, check one out.

Above: the Eventide Reverb 2016, proving that not everything has to happen "in the box".