![]() The other cool parts of Tantra are the excellent routing and randomisation features. One aspect that makes Tantra stand out is the sheer sonic quality of the processing - it sounds modern and crisp but retains depth too, it’s not “plastic” or toy-like, and has a level of complexity and detail in the presets that is inspiring and easy to adapt to suit your own material once you get your head around how everything is set up and interacts. Tantra is a powerful rhythmic multi-effects processor, based around a set of 8 multi-stage envelope generators (MSEGs) and 6 main effects modules – Filter, Distortion, Delay, Lofi, Flanger, Glitch (plus additional EQ and Reverb sections at the bottom, and a Tremolo at the top for rhythmic volume modulation). If you can’t find something here that piques your interest, well, there’s little hope for you! In any case, whether your budget is $0.00 or $200+, and whether you’re more interested in the musicality of vintage hardware-inspired effects, more purely futuristic and “digital” glitch factories, or cutting-edge modular sound design solutions that cover every conceivable use case and style, there’s something for everyone here. For these reasons, the list is not in rank order, since “best” will always depend on your specific wants and needs. Others I selected because they do something genuinely unique, or perhaps they do something familiar but they do it more elegantly or just sound better than their competitors. ![]() To keep this inherent complexity manageable, the best multi-effects plugin designs have very well thought out interfaces, routing capabilities and other features which provide access to that massive flexibility while still being contained in an ultimately closed and consistent work environment, which encourages a fairly consistent and efficient approach to achieving unique or favourite sounds and processing treatments without having to spend a lot of time managing the unwieldiness of chains or racks of individual plugins in your DAW.įor the purposes of our list, “best” does not always necessarily mean the most complex, the most features or the largest preset library several of our plugin choices are relatively streamlined or only include a specific and limited effects combination, but they still combine sonic quality with versatility, speed and ease of use. It’s legendary sound and range make it a cult favourite amongst artists and producers today, and the distinctive effects algorithms and presets that it helped popularise like MicroPitchShift, Crystals and Shimmer continue to directly inspire many of this generations most popular plugins, including many of the entries on our list below. ![]() The original Eventide H3000 Ultra-Harmonizer rack unit, released in 1986, was the first commercially available “multi-effects” unit. Some of the multi-effects plugins on our list below are so open-ended that they are very much like a modular synth system, with almost infinite patching possibilities. With multiple effects incorporated, you literally multiply both the creative possibilities and the operational complexity, which can make the initial learning curve a little steeper but also make the rewards of mastering the idiosyncrasies of the plugin and finding it’s sweet spots and unique character that much greater. Enter: multi-effect plugins.Ī great multi-effect plugin is almost more like an instrument than a purely technical “signal processing” tool. But while an individual effect plugin like a distortion or a resonant filter or a delay can sometimes be all that is required to enhance a sound and make it work in a project, there are certainly creative situations and alternate workflows where using tools that combine multiple effects into a single powerhouse plugin can work wonders, providing huge injections of inspiration and quickly delivering results that you just wouldn’t have thought of were you manually chaining separate plugins. So it’s never been more important to have some great creative effects plugins in your production toolset. How we musicians, producers and sound designers creatively combine and chain together different processing tools and plugins is a fundamental aspect of getting a modern, professional and engaging sound.Īnd particularly in most electronic-based genres, the production processes and effects are not just an afterthought or sprinkled on at the mix stage, but are often a large part of the initial idea-generating, songwriting and arrangement processes too, with clever use of unique effects contributing to the freshness or character of melodic and rhythmic hooks, or making a transition or riser leading up to a big drop sound completely different from anything else out there and instantly more attention-grabbing. Effects processing is in many ways at the heart of modern music production.
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