mk2 UPDATE Free Triple Track FX Combinator

Need some fresh sounds? Want to show off your sound design skills? Here's the place!
chaosroyale
Posts: 728
Joined: 05 Sep 2017

18 Dec 2020

UPDATE - see my post below for an explanation, also I have updated the link in this post to be the mk2 version.
UPDATE2 - 50 downloads so far! I am gonna make an FX combinator collection so keep an eye on this thread.

UPDATE 3 - this turned into a whole project! get the FX combinator pack here!
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=7521040


For all us broke cats - happy Saturnalia.

I saw the Auto Double Track RE in the shop and thought why not make a free one. Here it is - Auto Triple Track FX combi.

This is not intended to be a copy or replacement of that RE, it's just a very quick take on a classic old studio effect.

Works as a really old-school "flanger" using shortest delay setting, then a "tape chorus" but mostly shines as a "bigger-wider-thickener" especially on vocals but try in on everything.

Should be really obvious how to use it. Programmer is also very simple if you wanna customize it.

Uses the following native devices: Pulsar LFO, the Echo, Mixer 14:2, Half-rack DDL, Mixer 6:2, and Stereo Width Mclass.
Pulsar came with Reason 9 I think, so you probably need R9 or up.
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Auto Triple Track mkII.zip
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Last edited by chaosroyale on 29 Dec 2020, edited 5 times in total.

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EdwardKiy
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18 Dec 2020

Cheers, will give it a spin

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moneykube
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18 Dec 2020

:thumbs_up: thanks
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Ottostrom
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18 Dec 2020

Yo, this one sounds really good! :thumbs_up:
Although I also want to support the RE devs I really can't be putting down 43€ for this type of effect, so I appreciate that you shared your own version.
Like the custom combi skin as well :)

chaosroyale
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Joined: 05 Sep 2017

18 Dec 2020

Cheers, glad you think so. I'm a professional recording/mixing engineer so this is a really basic bread-and-butter effect for me, whether done with hardware or plugins.

As for the saving ppl money thing...well, normally I wouldn't make a "competitor" for an RE, partly because I don't wanna be a dick to the developers. However, in this case there are already a ton of free VSTs that will do the job, and of course Tape Echo (albeit a rather rudimentary one) is already included in Reason - and that was literally how the original effect was done at Abbey road! So I didn't feel like I was doing anything that people couldn't get for free anyway. The good point is this Combinator uses only native devices and will hardly use any DSP.
Ottostrom wrote:
18 Dec 2020
Yo, this one sounds really good! :thumbs_up:
Although I also want to support the RE devs I really can't be putting down 43€ for this type of effect, so I appreciate that you shared your own version.
Like the custom combi skin as well :)

chaosroyale
Posts: 728
Joined: 05 Sep 2017

19 Dec 2020

OK, the first version literally took me only 5 minutes and was intended more as a way to demonstrate how to make this kind of effect, but a few more ppl have downloaded it than I expected, so I felt like I should do the job properly.

Here is the mk ii version with a more hi-fi basic sound and increased flexibility for lo-fi options.
Attachments
Auto Triple Track mkII.zip
(41.72 KiB) Downloaded 93 times

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EdwardKiy
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Joined: 02 Oct 2019

19 Dec 2020

ahahah i feel like this is my go-to effect rack now. Thanks again!

chaosroyale
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Joined: 05 Sep 2017

19 Dec 2020

That's very kind of you.

Here's a hint - although this effect will work fine with a stereo source, it's really best on very "centered" and quite simple sources. On ultra-wide unison synth sounds it doesn't really shine. On a mono vocal it will be quite dramatic. But it can also be very useful on acoustic tracks with panned elements if each sound is quite clearly located in the stereo field. Try it on percussion loops on the Octorex, for example.

It will leave your main source wherever you panned it - I recommend somewhere in the center - and then it will make a mono mix of that source, and send it to the 2 tape echoes. The "width" control simply moves the 2 mono echoes further apart.

You can get a lot of different vibes simply by controlling the width and delay, but I also recommend trying the deeper LFO/old tape settings with overdrive for some really grimy vaporwave/lo-fi hip hop type sounds.

Put a modulated 80's lexicon type reverb after this effect for maximum lushness. But you can also try mono reverb on the source before the effect if you want to get that vintage tape warble on the reverbs too, and don't want a "realistic" reverb sound.

EdwardKiy wrote:
19 Dec 2020
ahahah i feel like this is my go-to effect rack now. Thanks again!

rokiracune
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Joined: 11 Apr 2019

20 Dec 2020

I love this!

chaosroyale
Posts: 728
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20 Dec 2020

I'm glad people like this effect.

uh, question - if I made a collection of characterful and usable effects combinators (of at least this quality).. would anyone buy it?

for example: how many fx combinators would you want, for how much?

i have tons of good fx combi's. they would probably help "fill in" a lot of FX niches to a decent quality, on a budget, that would otherwise require buying a lot of RE devices.

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MrFigg
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20 Dec 2020

chaosroyale wrote:
20 Dec 2020
I'm glad people like this effect.

uh, question - if I made a collection of characterful and usable effects combinators (of at least this quality).. would anyone buy it?

for example: how many fx combinators would you want, for how much?

i have tons of good fx combi's. they would probably help "fill in" a lot of FX niches to a decent quality, on a budget, that would otherwise require buying a lot of RE devices.
You could make a pack with 15 combis but tell people there’s over 3000 and then not give them a refund when they count them and call you on it. Wait...didn’t somebody already do something similar. 😂
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krancek
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21 Dec 2020

MrFigg wrote:
20 Dec 2020
chaosroyale wrote:
20 Dec 2020
I'm glad people like this effect.

uh, question - if I made a collection of characterful and usable effects combinators (of at least this quality).. would anyone buy it?

Why not, if they are good? I bought all Marco Raaphorst"s refills, they are all exellent ..... and some time ago, when I actually needed ADT refill, also Marco and Selig very kindly made one for me. So if you make some good and usable effects combinators, go ahead, name the price and this can be great for everyone.

chaosroyale
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Joined: 05 Sep 2017

21 Dec 2020

Of course I would publish an accurate list of all the patches so people could see what they were getting.

I'm not going to comment on any "drama" - let's just hope whoever you are talking about learned a lesson and tries to be better in future.
MrFigg wrote:
20 Dec 2020
You could make a pack with 15 combis but tell people there’s over 3000 and then not give them a refund when they count them and call you on it. Wait...didn’t somebody already do something similar. 😂

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MrFigg
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21 Dec 2020

chaosroyale wrote:
21 Dec 2020
let's just hope whoever you are talking about learned a lesson and tries to be better in future.
Haha...you think? :)
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chaosroyale
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22 Dec 2020

I don't know what you are referring to exactly, so I have no opinion, other that that I hope ppl stop scamming each other.

I just stay away from dodgy-looking devs, and I stick to reputable VST devs anyway, so it's not a big problem for me. The last time I remember actually paying attention to that kind of drama was that dude who got caught using samples from commercial sample packs and lazily re-packing them as refills. I remembered I actually had one of his refills way back in the day, because I was too lazy and foolish to demo it, and just bought it on a whim from the title.

Holy shit it was such a lazy piece of garbage. Completely unusable crap that had obviously been thrown together in an afternoon. Naturally, I never bought anything from him again, and was not surprised to discover he was a scammer.
MrFigg wrote:
21 Dec 2020
chaosroyale wrote:
21 Dec 2020
let's just hope whoever you are talking about learned a lesson and tries to be better in future.
Haha...you think? :)

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Ottostrom
Posts: 845
Joined: 13 May 2016

22 Dec 2020

chaosroyale wrote:
20 Dec 2020
I'm glad people like this effect.

uh, question - if I made a collection of characterful and usable effects combinators (of at least this quality).. would anyone buy it?

for example: how many fx combinators would you want, for how much?

i have tons of good fx combi's. they would probably help "fill in" a lot of FX niches to a decent quality, on a budget, that would otherwise require buying a lot of RE devices.
It would of course depend on what kind of effect combis we're talking about and the price but I'm definitely interested!
I really like this one, both in how it performs and what macros you've chosen, so if the rest are somewhat on the same level of usefulness then I'd pay for it.
Personally I could imagine something like 15 combis for about 6€. Don't know if that is high or low but it sorta sounded alright

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teddymcw
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Joined: 13 May 2016

22 Dec 2020

I'd certainly be into being a patron of more of this. I need mixing advice / practice and having the extra info as you've written above along with familiar devices is absolutely invaluable for someone like myself. I'll subscribe to this topic and cross my fingers that it all plays out well, cheers!

chaosroyale
Posts: 728
Joined: 05 Sep 2017

24 Dec 2020

Quick update - I have 5 FX combinators ready so far. I am testing them carefully to make sure the combinator GUI is as friendly as possible on each one, checking the parameters are usable, and of course making sure the sound quality is as good as possible.

They sound really nice, if I do say so myself. There are a couple of very special reverbs that will almost certainly find their way onto professional releases I mix and a couple of FX which, despite only using native Rack devices, are very close to VST-based combinators I made and used for commercial clients previously.

There is also an update mk.III of the auto tracker. With some new magic sauce. Still working on another 5 or 10 to make the whole set.

I guess everyone uses paypal, so when the they are ready I will figure out a way to distribute them.

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Ottostrom
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Joined: 13 May 2016

25 Dec 2020

Glad to hear you've already made good progress!
Honestly I kinda expected this project to just be a nice thought but not actually get completed, so I guess I underestimated your determination :)
Thanks for the update, I'm really looking forward to start implementing these into my own production.

chaosroyale
Posts: 728
Joined: 05 Sep 2017

25 Dec 2020

Thanks to covid clusterfuckery a mixing job scheduled for late December got cancelled, so I have some free time to work on this combinator pack idea.

Don't want to give too much away yet because I am still only halfway, but here is a tiny hint of some of the devices. The concept is "boutique fx" with a focus on making them all characterful, intuitive, and highly usable. Even though some of them can sound pretty intense on high settings, they are all very adjustable and generally useful for a wide variety of genres. Maybe not "straight" pop so much, but anything with a bit of mojo. No joke, I think they sound better than some of the RE's I have tried.
chaos fx  mini.jpg
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MrFigg
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25 Dec 2020

Looks excellent. Exciting times.
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Ottostrom
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27 Dec 2020

Personally I'm not a huge fan of combinator skins that are very "busy" or have very saturated colors as they give me the impression of a cheap toy, but the looks doesn't matter that much as long as it sounds good. I think one of the best examples of a coherent and clean style is the Rockmen refill by Melodiefabriek:

Image

chaosroyale
Posts: 728
Joined: 05 Sep 2017

27 Dec 2020

I know everyone has their own aesthetic. Most of my designs are actually very simple and straightforward, and easy to read. The only part where I went a little crazy was the right hand side where the combinator has dead space. Not on all of them, but in a couple of cases the psychedelic art was part of the inspiration of the FX. A lot of the real pedals and FX I use are boutique stuff with psychedelic or punk designs, which I find fits with the sound, and that's the overall vibe I was going for here.

I think they actually look pretty nice stacked up in the rack together, almost like a bunch of custom FX pedals, which is exactly what I was going for.

However, you are right the sound is the important thing, and I hope, and believe, that people will find them very useful and really juicy-sounding.

So here's the current line-up. 9 FX so far. Would be nice to have one more for balance. Looking at the "rockmen" you linked, they had 9 combis for 9 bucks, so I think I will make 10, for 10.

So far we have Autotrack (now with extra lo-fi!), a flexible new take on a famous Chorus, 2 very unique delays, 3 gorgeous reverbs going from "is that a real room!?" to "outer space", a crazy distortion, and a craaaaazy compressor/filter/saturation/fatness creator.

If anyone has a request for the last one, I can't promise anything but it might inspire me to go in a particular direction.

EDIT..hmm... maybe a more gentle overdrive would complement the pack? ..because that hyper metal is f***ing nuts.
chaos fx  mini.jpg
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Ottostrom wrote:
27 Dec 2020
Personally I'm not a huge fan of combinator skins that are very "busy" or have very saturated colors as they give me the impression of a cheap toy, but the looks doesn't matter that much as long as it sounds good. I think one of the best examples of a coherent and clean style is the Rockmen refill by Melodiefabriek:

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MrFigg
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27 Dec 2020

chaosroyale wrote:
27 Dec 2020

So here's the current line-up. 9 FX so far. Would be nice to have one more for balance.
There's only 9 Uhbiks :). Just saying :).
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Ottostrom
Posts: 845
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27 Dec 2020

A gentle/more subtle overdrive sounds like a good addition to the pack!
Regarding the price, I'll of course get the pack but I would suggest maybe lowering it slightly if you want more customers. The thing with the Rockmen refill is that there are 9 AMP combis but then 71 effects, which range from just simple device presets to big combis with a lot going on. My point is just that there is a lot more content than just 9 combis, and I'm not sure everyone is willing to pay 1 for 1. But its your pack so do whatever feels fair

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