NATIVE INSTRUMENTS

Jun 1, 2001 12:00 PM, By Chris Gill

An innovative effects processor for 21st-century sound designers.

Software programs that emulate beloved pieces of audio hardware seem to come out every day. We've seen our fair share of soft synths that faithfully duplicate vintage analog instruments, and effects plug-ins that provide the sounds of high-end processors for less than the cost of a replacement knob for an original unit. But only a few audio software developers have created programs that take advantage of a computer's vast power and unique processing capabilities to provide musicians and producers with exciting effects unlike anything we've ever heard before.

Native Instruments' Spektral Delay is one such product. No ordinary delay program, Spektral Delay allows you to split each channel of a stereo signal into 160 to 1,024 frequency bands that you can process separately to create a wide variety of unusual delay, modulation, and filter effects. With the software's large visual interface and mouse-controlled tools, you can easily control parameters and functions or program new effects. Able to run as a standalone or plug-in processor, Spektral Delay offers sound designers and producers many unique effects and powerful applications.

Spektral Delay is compatible with both Windows PCs (minimum Pentium II/400, 64 MB of RAM, Windows 98, Windows 98-compatible sound card) and Macs (minimum 604e/300, 128 MB of RAM, Mac OS 8.6, Sound Manager-compatible audio interface, Opcode OMS). We tested the software on a 400 MHz iMac DV with 128 MB of RAM and Mac OS 9.0.4, and also on a 350 MHz Power Mac 9600 with 320 MB of RAM and Mac OS 8.6. As a standalone processor on the Mac, Spektral Delay uses 38.4 MB of RAM. Performance on both systems was nearly identical, and we encountered no perceptible latency or audio glitches throughout our testing process. The software also supports ASIO, offering audio-card users exceptionally low latency and the ability to use Spektral Delay on multiple audio channels.

GENERATION EFX

Although Spektral Delay itself opens quickly, the audio files and presets in a program bank can take two or more minutes to load. However, each program bank can hold a huge variety of sounds and presets — enough for an entire set should you plan on using Spektral Delay for live performance. The presets included with the software are stunning, and many rival the effects found in an Eventide Ultra-Harmonizer in terms of complexity and sound quality. Users should spend some time going through all of the presets first to get an idea of the processor's creative capabilities. Spektral Delay is no ordinary delay processor: among its effects are lush phase shifts and flanges, deep tremolo, metallic ring modulation, dramatic filter sweeps, swirling “barber pole” pitch shifts, unusual reverbs, and more. In standalone mode WAV and AIFF files can be read directly from the computer's hard disk, and you can record all the processed output and real-time manipulation of Spektral Delay as a new audio file on hard disk.

The software's graphical display is very logically designed and easy to use (see Fig. 1). An input sonogram on the far left side of the screen shows a linear snapshot of each frame's frequency content, and the frames scroll to the right as the audio plays. The louder a frequency band, the lighter yellow the pixel depicting it. The output sonogram on the far right displays the frequency content of the processed signal in the same manner. This system makes it very easy to determine the most active frequencies. When you place the mouse over any of the sonograms or matrixes, the frequency window displayshe selected frequency range — a welcome feature for engineers more accustomed to working with specific numeric values (80 Hz, 3 kHz, 8 kHz, and so on) than with a visual representation of a sound.

ENTER THE MATRIX

Between the two sonograms lie the software's main creative tools. To the right of the input sonogram is the Input Modulation Stage, featuring a variety of modulation algorithms with unusual names like JelloMold, TimeSponge, LimeTwist, and PhaseBlaster. Each algorithm is like a separate effect in itself, providing a wide range of pitch and phase shifts, ring modulation, distortion, comb filters, and tremolo sounds. Next in the signal chain is the Attenuation Matrix Editor — a filter bank that lets you cut the attenuation for individual frequency bands from 0 dB to -49 dB or “kill” the frequency by setting attenuation to -• dB (see Fig. 2). This feature makes it easy to cut or isolate very specific frequencies, allowing you to remove high-frequency static or zero in on a bass drum's thud.

The Delay Matrix Editor lies in the center of Spektral Delay's graphical display. Like the Attenuation Matrix Editor, it lets you use a mouse to draw separate delay settings for each individual frequency band and choose a specific frequency range for editing. The matrix offers selectable maximum delay times of 375 ms, 750 ms, 1,500 ms, 3 seconds, 6 seconds, and 12 seconds. A tempo grid divides the matrix into quarter-, eighth-, eighth triplet-, and 16th-note segments, so you can sync the delay values with a designated tempo. This is an incredibly powerful and welcome feature for dance music producers, allowing them to easily create highly animated, trippy rhythmic effects perfectly synched to the music.

The final stage in Spektral Delay's signal chain is the Feedback Matrix Editor, which lets you apply separate feedback settings to each frequency. By setting various delayed frequencies to long feedback settings, you can create sophisticated polyrhythmic patterns that differ dramatically from the original audio source.

Each matrix includes a Bypass switch, a Link button that makes identical modifications to both the left and right channels simultaneously, a Copy Down button that duplicates the contents of the left channel to the right channel, and a Copy Up button that copies the contents of the right channel to the left channel. The Editor Panel lets you make further modifications to each matrix window, such as quantizing delays to fit a tempo grid, smoothing the settings within a window, calculating the average between two neighboring matrix points, and flipping matrix settings along a horizontal or vertical axis.

From the LFO control panel you can select six different oscillation waveforms and assign LFO modulation to three different parameters (see Fig. 3). Adventurous sonic experimenters will love the Settings panel, from which you can select frequency-band resolution (from 64 to 1,024), amount of overlap (0, 1, or 2 times), and windowing options that color the frequencies and add harmonic distortion to create unusual textures. Best of all, you can control most of Spektral Delay's functions with a MIDI sequencer to automate effects settings, or use a MIDI controller to operate the software's functions in live performance.

EXCESSIVE DELAYS

Spektral Delay is like having 160 to 1,024 separate delay units per stereo channel, each controlling its own frequency band independently. The features and applications described in this review only scratch the surface of Spektral Delay's capabilities. After spending a few hours exploring the program, you will probably come up with dozens of stunning new sounds. Considering that this software costs only a fraction of the price of a budget hardware-effects processor and provides infinitely more creative options, it is an incredible bargain for anyone seeking new ways to manipulate sound.

PRODUCT SUMMARY