Transient Designer ?

mjbphotos

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I never heard of this plug in before, but it seems it might do some interesting tricks. I've seen a couple of free ones online, wondering if there's one in the standard Reaper plug ins I dont' know about because it has a different name, or I've just been passing it by.
Anyone use a TD regularly?
 
Based on Jimmy's recommendation, I got a free one and a UAD one. But honestly, I never could figure out how to incorporate the processor into my mix without making things worse. :(

Hopefully someone else can jump in with actual useful information, rather than my drivel.
 
In my experience you have to be fairly subtle in your processing when using transient shapers.

I found the best application is for taming the decay on ringing toms. If you have a lot of tom work in your project it can really open the mix up
 
I use it as a creative tool to mangle stuff sometimes. I use bark of dog a lot as a focusing tool instead of full eq/compressor. they seem to work well on percussive tracks
 
I have all the SPL plugs...Transient Designer being one of them.
They make top-notch hardware, and their plugs are modeled on the hardware.

Anyway...it's not a "must use on everything all the time" kind of a plug...but when you need to tweak the attack or sustain of a source, it works perfectly, and it's very simple to use.

Here's a video demo from Plugin Alliance, which handles all the SPL plugin sales, among other brands:


 
Do you not have JS Transient Controller?

Eventide has this new thing they're calling Structural Split. They have a plugin or two that implements it. It's supposed to let you add different effects to the attack or sustain of a sound. Like, it splits out the transients from the meat and actually lets you manipulate them separately. I've never tried it, but I'm pretty sure it would be easy to hack the JS to do something similar.
 
So last night I ended up using the SPL TD on a Snare track.
I wanted to give the hits a bit more "TWACK"...some extension on that, to give it a more wetter feel instead of the harder/drier hits.

TD took care of it in about 10 seconds. I tried first just adding more of the sustain, and while that certainly makes it wetter, it also took out the crack of the hits.
So added pushed up the attack a bit too, and then using the parallel/mix control, dialed in about 2/3 to the wet side.

Perfect. :)

Prior to used TD...I was trying to get there with just some EQ and a touch of verb...but it wasn't doing what I wanted...that nice warm crack of the Snare hits, but with some extension to the release.
 
Do you not have JS Transient Controller?

Eventide has this new thing they're calling Structural Split. They have a plugin or two that implements it. It's supposed to let you add different effects to the attack or sustain of a sound. Like, it splits out the transients from the meat and actually lets you manipulate them separately. I've never tried it, but I'm pretty sure it would be easy to hack the JS to do something similar.
I have this and the SPL also. I use the Eventide more than the SPL. Mostly use it for really changing a sound a lot. And as miro says it's a lot faster on percussion than the standard compressing, eq to get some more or less attack. Usually more:)
 
Based on Jimmy's recommendation, I got a free one and a UAD one. But honestly, I never could figure out how to incorporate the processor into my mix without making things worse. :(

Hopefully someone else can jump in with actual useful information, rather than my drivel.

I'll go. :>) The UAD SPL here. First off my favorite I guess. is how it can control 'edges similar to a fast compressor -but being level independent- is way cool.
I don't use it nearly as often as compression, but wouln't want to not have this as an option now in the kit.

Then there is the other direction of generally increasing sustain. Hmm. Come to think of it there's a 'compressor comparison to be had here too. 'Sustainer' Typically a compressor. But again different, plus level independent.

So here's this thing' that can change envelope, but not be tied 'amount..? 'depends on how loud?'.
Love it :>)

Drums, of course. But how about guitars? 'Clean, dam sure, in either direction for example. Edge control on the front, tighten on the back end, or thicken..
 
...but I'm pretty sure it would be easy to hack the JS to do something similar.
Well it wasn't actually all that easy to make it work well, but I'm pretty happy with where I ended up. You need Reaper, and a working understanding of its multi-channel routing, but if you're not afraid of the plugin pins, it's pretty damn powerful.

Edit -
DERP! Here's the link.
 
I never heard of this plug in before, but it seems it might do some interesting tricks....
Anyone use a TD regularly?

Hi mjb. The TD's are insanely powerful tone shaping tools. A common trick is to run them after a compressor to restore lost energy. I use them after reverbs, doublers and other time based effects like lo-fi delays if I want them to stand out a little more. Thats a trick I learned from Warren Huart. Another I learned from Yoad Nevo is to place them after de-essers to control restore top end to bright sibilant pop-vocals and Dave Pensado uses them on quick percussive instruments like a hi-hat, shaker, and tambourine. I use them heavily and generously as an alternative to over-compressing.

The Waves Trans X is a nice plugin. Some people don't know this, but the Slate Bomber is also a transient designer. Drive knob left, and you're manipulating transient, drive knob right, and you're manipulating sustain. I have both the SPL and the UAD Transient designers, I'm told by UAD they scrapped completely rebuilt the code for the UAD version. I have the MTransient which is nice because its multi band. My favorite right now is the Waves SmackAttack because of the extreme versatility. You may also want to look at the BozLabs Big Clipper while you're at it.
 
I love transient designers, to be honest I would love the actual hardware unit.

But since I don't have hardware I have the fallowing, they are all good in thier own way and oddly don't sound the same at all even though they all pretty much do the same thing:

1. Transient Monster: Stillwell audio
2. Transient Master: Native Instruments
3. Transify: JST plugins
4. Attacker: SPL

I'm mostly using them on drums for various things.
 
I love transient designers, to be honest I would love the actual hardware unit.

But since I don't have hardware I have the fallowing, they are all good in thier own way and oddly don't sound the same at all even though they all pretty much do the same thing:

1. Transient Monster: Stillwell audio
2. Transient Master: Native Instruments
3. Transify: JST plugins
4. Attacker: SPL

I'm mostly using them on drums for various things.

No. They're not doing the same thing anymore than an 1176, an LA2, and a Manley Vari Mu are all 'doing the same thing'. The attack, decay, slew rate, knee, response thresholds, and clip algorithms are drastically different. In a nutshell, the differences are determined by drastic differences in the envelope generators running under the hood. But I do agree that many of them are all good in their own way.
 
lol no Compressors all essentially do the same thing as each other as well. Of course they each have thier own color and sound but a compressor is a compressor and an eq is an eq and a td is a td no matter who made the thing.
 
lol no Compressors all essentially do the same thing as each other as well. Of course they each have thier own color and sound but a compressor is a compressor and an eq is an eq and a td is a td no matter who made the thing.

That level of oversimplification has some pretty obvious faults. A car, an airplane, a bike, and a train all get you from one location to another, but the method by which this is accomplished differs to the point where one can not be interchanged or subsisted for another once you consider context and purpose. This is true of compressors and TD's as well. You may be somewhat correct in stating that it doesn't matter who made it. In that the company that has manufactured it is less important than the design of the tool itself.

But to state that a FET compressor can be substituted interchangeably with a Vari-Mu compressor is flat out incorrect. To state that a stock avid Pro Comp or waves C1 is capable of mimicking the highly irregular release times of the LA2 is flat out incorrect. They merely belong to the compressor family the same way a garbage truck, a motocycle, and a bulldozer all all considered motor vehicles.
 
lol no Compressors all essentially do the same thing as each other as well. Of course they each have thier own color and sound but a compressor is a compressor and an eq is an eq and a td is a td no matter who made the thing.

If you take 3-4 steps back...yeah, in overall function, you can say that...but in your previous post you were surprised that the TDs didn't all sound the same because they're all supposed to be doing the same thing.

So when you say, "do the same thing"...you have to be a little more specific, considering that they DO NOT all sound the same, therefore they are NOT all doing the same thing. ;)

This is one are where a lot of recording newbs get lost...because they make assumptions that one comp or EQ is as good as another...
...so don't muddy the waters for them. :)
 
Can't do any comparisons but iZotope's Neutron 2 has a "Transient Shaper" that is pretty flexible, and doesn't intentionally add color if it's the only thing you've got going. I like it's ability to control sustain, especially on a bus where maybe I've got individual tracks where I like them, but together I lose some dynamics in the overall mix. Very subtle, but it has its place.
 
SPL basically invented transient shaping with their hardware unit...so for me, their Transient Designer Plus plugin version is still the easiest and least damaging to use with its very basic layout and control design...but there are others.
What's great about TD Plus is the simplicity of function design, but always great results.
Also, don't think of Attack and Sustain as two opposing, either/or choices. In a "Pultec-ish" way, you can add both attack and sustain or reduce both or use just one at a time. I like to "turn the knobs" and tryout a variety of settings rather than make assumption about what I want to do with the attack and sustain knobs.

Here's a transient designer plugin roundup article.

https://sonicscoop.com/2017/02/02/ultimate-transient-shaping-plugin-roundup/
 
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