More sounds from ValhallaShimmer

I was playing around with 8 instances of the new plugin, ValhallaShimmer, in series, processing the same harp loop used in the earlier example. Here’s what came out:

The sound hasn’t been edited – the fading in and out is a natural consequence of cascading multiple instances of this algorithm. This can be viewed as the Central Limit Theorem in action. In signal processing terms, this means that cascading a whole bunch of similar filters will result in an impulse response that approximates a Gaussian curve.

A single instance of the plugin as used to generate this effect sounds like this (with wet/dry mix set to 50%):

The plugin by itself can be set up to produce a Gaussian attack and decay, where the sound fades in over a few seconds:

However, cascading several instances produces a more dramatic version of the same effect. To me, it sounds very similar to the sounds obtained by extreme time stretching.

Progress continues on the plugin. It is in the hands of beta testers, and I am resolving the bugs that are coming up. I hope to make an official announcement in the next few days.

EDIT: I just made the first announcement of the new plugin, ValhallaShimmer. Check it out here.

Comments (18)

  • synthetic

    Wow, spacey. Is the last example using feedback? Perhaps you can add an additional pitch shift or chorus to the feedback loop.

    Reply
    • Yeah, this plugin does “spacey” pretty well. It is all about the big spaces. And “space” – not in the spatial sense, but the “final frontier” sense.

      No feedback being used. Well, the “diffusors” have feedback built in, but that is controlled by the Diffusion setting. The Feedback setting is at 0 for all of the above examples.

      The feedback can be pitch shifted, “dual” pitch shifted (i.e. up and down by the same amount), or passed through as a straight delay with no pitch shifting for super long reverbs. The algorithm produces enough chorusing on its own that you don’t need a separate chorus in the feedback loop.

  • rm

    Amazing, I want to buy it!

    Reply
    • I’m working on it!

      Just Googled your email (I keep a tight comment space here). Your music sounds great! Love the super languid vibratos on the Jazzmaster.

    • rm

      hihi. thanks! now, let us throw some money on you!

  • Valentina

    just found this site and am reading through it. great stuff! look forward to the new plugin..still need to play with your other one.

    Reply
  • Damn… I want this! Excellent work Sean.

    Reply
  • fran_ky

    This sounds highly addictive and I am very curious now!

    Reply
  • plgbmp

    Sounds good! Sounds nice & clean on the high end – I like the way the individual attacks get blurred together in the third example – better than the granulating stuff I’ve used for time stretching.

    Reply
    • Most granular timestretching algorithms are limited as to the number of simultaneous read taps (grains) they can use. I know that one of the popular MAX/MSP patches only used 8 grains. When I was working with sndwarp in Csound, I would use up to 100 simultaneous taps. This worked well, assuming that you didn’t mind waiting a few hours to render a minute of sound (mind you, this was on a 400 MHz PII in 1999).

      The upcoming plugin uses recursive delays, like most reverbs, and can get an enormous number of simultaneous delays at a time. I estimate several thousand per second in the third example – high enough that no discrete echos can be heard.

      Of course, it isn’t really time stretching – it just produces similar artifacts. The music still moves at the same tempo, but the temporal details in a window of several seconds are all blurred together.

  • Raffa

    Sean I defenetively want to use this in the next mixes, starting september the 6…
    so HURRY UP and release it!!!!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
    very nice job!
    😀

    Reply
    • Sure. Sounds like a hall reverb setting, with lots of delay modulation going on within it. I have a preset called Concert Hall that would be a good start.

  • Cold oscillation

    Very cool! I can’t wait to test teh plugin.
    Can you post an example like the concert hall in my demos?

    Reply
  • This sounds BEAUTIFUL. It reminds me of some of the textures I really love about Christian Fennesz’s work. I can’t wait for this to be available for purchase! Are you going to sell the plugin as one pack with Mac/PC versions? I’m on a PC now but I don’t know if I will be forever.

    Once again, super excited about this plug, and I love your blog. Thanks!

    Reply
    • I’m still working out the plugin delivery. When you buy the plugin, your name goes in the customer database, with the plugin purchased (ValhallaShimmer, in this case), and the preferred plugin type – but when you purchase the plugin, you purchase a license to all the formats (PC/Mac, VST/AU/RTAS).

  • Ver

    Stunning. Very creative application of an already very creative and beautiful plug-in. Any hope of a dedicated Valhalla time-stretching plug-in?

    Reply

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