NATIVE INSTRUMENTS

By Chris Gill | Thu, 13 Oct 2011

An innovative effects processor for 21st-century sounddesigners.

Software programs that emulate beloved pieces of audio hardwareseem to come out every day. We've seen our fair share of softsynths that faithfully duplicate vintage analog instruments, andeffects plug-ins that provide the sounds of high-end processors forless than the cost of a replacement knob for an original unit. Butonly a few audio software developers have created programs thattake advantage of a computer's vast power and unique processingcapabilities to provide musicians and producers with excitingeffects unlike anything we've ever heard before.

Native Instruments' Spektral Delay is one such product.No ordinary delay program, Spektral Delay allows you tosplit each channel of a stereo signal into 160 to 1,024 frequencybands that you can process separately to create a wide variety ofunusual delay, modulation, and filter effects. With the software'slarge visual interface and mouse-controlled tools, you can easilycontrol parameters and functions or program new effects. Able torun as a standalone or plug-in processor, Spektral Delayoffers sound designers and producers many unique effects andpowerful applications.

Spektral Delay is compatible with both Windows PCs(minimum Pentium II/400, 64 MB of RAM, Windows 98, Windows98-compatible sound card) and Macs (minimum 604e/300, 128 MB ofRAM, Mac OS 8.6, Sound Manager-compatible audio interface, OpcodeOMS). We tested the software on a 400 MHz iMac DV with 128 MB ofRAM and Mac OS 9.0.4, and also on a 350 MHz Power Mac 9600 with 320MB of RAM and Mac OS 8.6. As a standalone processor on the Mac,Spektral Delay uses 38.4 MB of RAM. Performance on bothsystems was nearly identical, and we encountered no perceptiblelatency or audio glitches throughout our testing process. Thesoftware also supports ASIO, offering audio-card usersexceptionally low latency and the ability to use SpektralDelay on multiple audio channels.

GENERATION EFX

Although Spektral Delay itself opens quickly, the audiofiles and presets in a program bank can take two or more minutes toload. However, each program bank can hold a huge variety of soundsand presets — enough for an entire set should you plan onusing Spektral Delay for live performance. The presetsincluded with the software are stunning, and many rival the effectsfound in an Eventide Ultra-Harmonizer in terms of complexity andsound quality. Users should spend some time going through all ofthe presets first to get an idea of the processor's creativecapabilities. Spektral Delay is no ordinary delayprocessor: 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 readdirectly from the computer's hard disk, and you can record all theprocessed output and real-time manipulation of SpektralDelay as a new audio file on hard disk.

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

ENTER THE MATRIX

Between the two sonograms lie the software's main creativetools. To the right of the input sonogram is the Input ModulationStage, featuring a variety of modulation algorithms with unusualnames like JelloMold, TimeSponge, LimeTwist, and PhaseBlaster. Eachalgorithm is like a separate effect in itself, providing a widerange of pitch and phase shifts, ring modulation, distortion, combfilters, and tremolo sounds. Next in the signal chain is theAttenuation Matrix Editor — a filter bank that lets you cutthe attenuation for individual frequency bands from 0 dB to -49 dBor “kill” the frequency by setting attenuation to-• dB (see Fig. 2). This feature makes it easy tocut or isolate very specific frequencies, allowing you to removehigh-frequency static or zero in on a bass drum's thud.

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

The final stage in Spektral Delay's signal chain is theFeedback Matrix Editor, which lets you apply separate feedbacksettings to each frequency. By setting various delayed frequenciesto long feedback settings, you can create sophisticatedpolyrhythmic patterns that differ dramatically from the originalaudio source.

Each matrix includes a Bypass switch, a Link button that makesidentical modifications to both the left and right channelssimultaneously, a Copy Down button that duplicates the contents ofthe left channel to the right channel, and a Copy Up button thatcopies the contents of the right channel to the left channel. TheEditor Panel lets you make further modifications to each matrixwindow, such as quantizing delays to fit a tempo grid, smoothingthe settings within a window, calculating the average between twoneighboring matrix points, and flipping matrix settings along ahorizontal or vertical axis.

From the LFO control panel you can select six differentoscillation waveforms and assign LFO modulation to three differentparameters (see Fig. 3). Adventurous sonic experimenterswill love the Settings panel, from which you can selectfrequency-band resolution (from 64 to 1,024), amount of overlap (0,1, or 2 times), and windowing options that color the frequenciesand add harmonic distortion to create unusual textures. Best ofall, you can control most of Spektral Delay's functionswith a MIDI sequencer to automate effects settings, or use a MIDIcontroller to operate the software's functions in liveperformance.

EXCESSIVE DELAYS

Spektral Delay is like having 160 to 1,024 separatedelay units per stereo channel, each controlling its own frequencyband independently. The features and applications described in thisreview only scratch the surface of Spektral Delay'scapabilities. After spending a few hours exploring the program, youwill probably come up with dozens of stunning new sounds.Considering that this software costs only a fraction of the priceof a budget hardware-effects processor and provides infinitely morecreative options, it is an incredible bargain for anyone seekingnew ways to manipulate sound.