Effortlessly reshape the attack and sustain of any source.
Revered as a "secret weapon" mix tool by some of the world's finest engineers, the SPL Transient Designer plug-in for UAD-2 hardware and Apollo interfaces allows you to shape sustain and attack of your sources. This allows for total transparent control over important elements of your mix, such as snare drums, overhead and room mics, piano, and more.
- Soften or slam percussion for maximum dynamic impact
- Transparently shorten or increase sustain on drum overheads
- Reduce or increase room mic ambience
- Easily minimize mic bleed on important sources
SPL Transient Designer
SPL Transient Designer Controls
Containing only two primary controls, the UAD SPL Transient Designer is extremely simple to operate. The technology behind the processor isn't as important as how it sounds. However, for those who desire a deeper understanding of the process, a deeper explanation of the underlying Technology is presented at the end of this chapter.
Attack
Attack enables amplification or attenuation of the attack of a signal by up to ±15 dB.
The Attack control circuitry uses two envelope generators. One follows the shape of the original curve and adapts perfectly to the dynamic gradient. The second envelope generator produces an envelope with a slower attack. From the difference of both envelopes the VCA control voltage is derived. Positive Attack values emphasize attack events; negative values smooth out the attack envelopes of sound events.
For more information, see The ATTACK Control Circuitry.
Sustain
Sustain enables amplification or attenuation of the sustain of a signal by up to ±24 dB.
The Sustain control circuitry also uses two envelope generators. One follows the shape of the original curve and adapts perfectly to the dynamic gradient. The second envelope generator produces an envelope with a longer sustain. From the difference of both envelopes the VCA control voltage is derived. The gradient of the control voltage matches the time flow of the original signal. Positive Sustain values lengthen the sustain; negative values shorten the sustain.
For more information, see The SUSTAIN Control Circuitry.
Gain
Gain controls the signal level that is output from the plug-in. The available range is from -20 dB to +6 dB. The default value is 0 dB.
Signal
This 4-stage LED indicates the presence of audio signals at the input of the plug-in. When the input signal is below -25 dB, the indicator is off. At -25 dB to -19 dB, the indicator glows slightly. At -18 dB to -10 dB, it lights with medium intensity. At -9 dB to 0 dB, it shines brightly.
Overload
The Overload LED illuminates when the signal level at the output of the plug-in reaches 0 dBFS. The indicator matches the behavior of the original hardware unit. However, in the software plug-in version, the output can be "overloaded" without causing distortion.
Link
Link indicates when stereo operation is active. It illuminates when used in a stereo-in/stereo-out or mono-in/stereo out configuration. It does not illuminate when used in a mono-in/mono-out configuration.
Note: Link is an indicator only; it does not control any plug-in parameter.
On/Power
The On and Power switches determine whether the plug-in is active. Click the On or Power switches to change the state. On and Power illuminate when the plug-in is active.
When the plug-in is inactive, processing is disabled and UAD DSP usage is reduced (unless UAD-2 DSP LoadLock is enabled).
Note: The On and Power switches perform the exact same function.
Acknowledgement
In addition to creating an amazing piece of hardware, Sound Performance Lab also wrote an extensive user manual for the Transient Designer. Because Universal Audio has full license to make use of the Transient Designer technology, SPL has graciously authorized us to use their documentation as well.
The remainder of this chapter is excerpted from the SPL Transient Designer (RackPack) User Manual, and is used with kind permission from SPL. All copyrights are retained by SPL.
Applications
The SPL Transient Designer is ideally suited for use in professional recording, in project or home studios and sound reinforcement applications.
For the first time you can manipulate and control the attack and sustain characteristics of a signal regardless of level in the most intuitive and simple way. Usually equalizers are used to separate instruments in a mix - the tonal aspect of the signal is considered, but not the temporal aspect.
The Transient Designer opens this further dimension in signal processing. By manipulating the attack and sustain curves of a sound event, the mix can be made to sound more transparent. Instruments can be mixed at lower levels while still maintaining their positions in the mix — but occupying less space.
During a remix or in general after micing you can arrange new positions of instruments. Reduce ATTACK and increase SUSTAIN to move signals back into the mix that are too present. Additionally the FX parts of too dry signals are strengthened.
Applied to single instruments or loops the Transient Designer allows you to create entirely new sounds and/or effects.
The following examples are given as suggestions and examples. The described procedures with specific instruments can of course be transferred to others that are not mentioned here.
Drums & Percussion
Processing drum and percussion sounds is probably the Transient Designer's most typical range of application; both from samples to live drum sets
- Emphasize the attack of a kick drum or a loop to increase the power and presence in the mix.
- Shorten the sustain period of a snare or a reverb tail in a very musical way to obtain more transparency in the mix.
- When recording a live drum set, shorten the toms or overheads without physically damping them. Usual efforts to damp and mike are reduced remarkably. Since muffling of any drum also changes the dynamic response, the Transient Designer opens up a whole new soundscape.
- Micing live drums is considerably faster and easier because you can correct the apparent "distance" of the microphone by simply varying the ATTACK and SUSTAIN values.
- The Transient Designer is a perfect alternative to noise gates in live drum micing. Adaptively reacting to the duration of the original signal, the sustain is shortened more musically than with fixed release times and a drumset is freed from any crosstalk quickly and effectively.
- Create unusual dynamic effects including new and interesting pan effects. For example, patch a mono loop through two channels of the Transient Designer and pan fully left and right in the mix. Process the left channel with increased ATTACK and reduced SUSTAIN while you adjust the right channel the opposite way and you get very special stereo loop sounds. You have to try this to appreciate what it sounds like, but expect to hear a lot of unusual stereo movement.
- Enjoy an amazingly simple integration of drum sounds into a mix. If the acoustic level of a snare is expanded to approximately +4 dB by increasing the attack value, the effective increase of peak levels in the overall mix is merely about 0.5 dB to 1 dB.
Drums: Ambience
If your drums happen to sound as if the room mics have been placed in a shoe closet, the Transient Designer can immediately turn that sound into the ambience of an empty warehouse. Just send the stereo room mics through the Transient Designer and crank the ATTACK control to emphasize the first wave.
Now slowly increase SUSTAIN values to bring up an "all-buttons-in-1176-sound" room tone — but without pumping cymbals. For a solid and driving rhythm track just fine-tune the SUSTAIN control to make sure that the room mic envelope ends more or less exactly on the desired upbeat or downbeat.
Guitars
Use the Transient Designer on guitars to soften the sound by lowering the ATTACK. Increase ATTACK for in-the-face sounds, which is very useful and works particularly well for picking guitars. Or blow life and juice into quietly played guitar parts.
Distorted guitars usually are very compressed, thus not very dynamic. Simply increase the ATTACK to get a clearer sound with more precision and better intonation despite any distortion.
Heavy distortion also leads to very long sustain. The sound tends to become mushy; simply reduce SUSTAIN to change that. If you, how- ever, want to create soaring guitar solos that would make even David Gilmour blush, just crank up the SUSTAIN control to the max and there you go.
With miced acoustic guitars you can emphasize the room sound by turning up SUSTAIN. If you want the guitars to sound more intimate and with less ambience, simply reduce SUSTAIN.
Bass: Staccato vs. Legato
Speaking of bass: Imagine a too sluggishly played bass track… you may not have to re-record it: Reduce the SUSTAIN until you can hear clear gaps between the downbeats — the legato will turn into a nice staccato, driving the rhythm-section forward.
The Re-Invention Of Reverb
Always and everywhere the same reverb presets - boring, aren't they? Try sending the output of your reverb through the Transient Designer. Now crank the ATTACK control to the max and reduce SUSTAIN to a bare minimum. The intensity of the reverb is now much higher in the beginning while the reverb time is reduced.
The opposite can be just as intriguing: manipulate a reverb pattern so that it takes on a pyramidal slope. Turn the ATTACK all the way to the left and SUSTAIN all the way to the right. Now the beginning of the reverb is strongly reduced whereas the sustain blossoms and seems almost endless (obviously that will only happen if the decay of the reverb in the actual reverb device has been set to a sufficient value — a signal must always be present as long as the sustain time lasts.
You can also create a reverb effect that moves from one channel to the other. Reverb presets with a long decay or a long pre-delay and especially those that have flamboyant reflections set to appear after the beginning of the diffuse reverberation tail are predestined for that. Insert the left and the right channels of the reverb return through two separate Transient Designer instances. Turn the ATTACK fully right on one instance and reduce SUSTAIN slightly (about -1.5 dB). On the other instance turn the ATTACK fully left and the SUSTAIN to the 3-o`clock position (about +12 dB).
These settings preserve the original complexity of the reflections in the reverb but the maximum intensity of the effect will move from the left to the right in the mix while the reverb will maintain it`s presence in both channels. You can make this effect even more dramatic by setting all controls to their most extreme positions, but you run the danger of ending up with a lopsided effect that appears out of balance.
Backing tracks
A common problem especially with tracks that are recorded and mixed in different studios: Backings lack of ambience, and finding a reverb that "matches" takes time… so simply emphasize the original ambience by turning up the Transient Designer's SUSTAIN control.
And the opposite problem, too much ambience, is similarly simply solved with the opposite processing — just reduce SUSTAIN.
Keyboards & Samplers
Sounds in keyboards and samples are usually highly compressed and maintain only little of natural dynamics. Increase the ATTACK values to re-gain a more natural response characteristic. The sounds occupy less space in the mix and appear more identifiable even at lower volumes.
Post Production
When dealing with overdubs in movies you can easily add more punch and definition to effect sounds from any sample library.
The same applies to outdoor recordings that suffer from poor microphone positioning — simply optimize them afterwards.
Mastering
Like with any good thing, you also have to know where not to use it. For example, using a Transient Designer in mastering is not recommended, as it is rarely a good idea to treat a whole mix at once. Instead, treat individual elements within the mix.
Technology
Of course you don't have to know how the Transient Designer works in order to use it. However, since it offers a completely novel signal processing, nothing shall be concealed from the more curious users.
Differential Envelope Technology (DET)
SPL's DET is capable of level-independent envelope processing and thus makes any threshold settings unnecessary. Two envelopes are generated and then compared. From the difference of both envelopes the VCA control voltage is derived. The DET ensures that both low and loud signals (pianissimo to fortissimo) are treated the same way.
Both ATTACK and SUSTAIN control circuitries operate simultaneously and don't affect each other.
The ATTACK Control Circuitry
The ATTACK control circuitry uses two envelope generators. The first one generates a voltage (Env 1) that follows the original waveform. The second envelope generator creates the envelope Env 2 with a slower attack envelope.
The diagram below illustrates the original curve and the two created envelopes that control the ATTACK processing. Envelope generator Env 1 follows the original waveform. Env 2 is generated with reduced attack.
The diagram below shows the difference between Env 1 and Env 2 that defines the control voltage of the VCA. The shaded area marks the difference between Env 1 and Env 2 that controls the control voltage of the VCA. The amplitude of the attack is increased if positive ATTACK values are set. Negative ATTACK values reduce the level of the attack transient.
The diagram below displays the processed waveforms with maximum and minimal ATTACK to compare against the original waveform in diagram 1.
The SUSTAIN Control Circuitry
The SUSTAIN control circuitry also plays host to two envelope generators. The envelope tracker Env 3 again follows the original waveform. The envelope generator Env 4 maintains the level of the sustain on the peak-level over a longer period of time. The control voltage of the VCA is again derived from the difference between the two voltages. Sustain amplitude is increased for positive SUSTAIN settings and reduced for negative settings.
The diagram below illustrates the original waveform and the envelope creation to control the SUSTAIN processing. Envelope generator Env 1 follows the original waveform, Env 2 is generated with prolonged sustain.
The diagram below shows the difference between Env 4 and Env 3 that defines the control voltage of the VCA.
The diagram below displays the processed waveforms with maximum and minimal sustain to compare against the original waveform in diagram 4.
SPL Sound Performance Lab® and Transient Designer® are registered trademarks of SPL Electronics, GmbH Germany and are used under license. Portions of this SPL Transient Designer manual section is ©copyright SPL Electronics GmbH Germany and are used under license with kind permission from SPL.