Rob Jackson has released ARGate, available for $1.99.
ARGate is an audio gate utility with a few twists, with the addition of attack and hold times, plus support for hysteresis.
At its core, ARGate uses an AHR (attack- hold-release) envelope to control gain adjustment of an incoming audio signal, with support for different threshold values to open and close the aate (hysteresis). ARGate can function as a noise gate for instrument or vocal audio tracks, but can also be used as an “auto-swell” effect on instruments suck as electric quitar so you can leave that bulky volume pedal at home! ARGate can even be used to “tighten- up” drum and percussion loops by gating out the quieter elements.
A G R Indicators
Above the view selector are 3 indicators to show what state the gate is in: Attack, Gate (open) and Release, Each indicator will light when in that particular state Please note these are not interactive buttons that you click on, even though they share the same fabulous color scheme
Note – if vou see the R indicator flickering a lot olease consider increasing the Hold time slightly, as described below.
Controls
Active – Toggles the effect On or Off
Threshold – Sets the dB level of the signal required to open the gate. At its lowest setting, the gate will let pretty much everything through, and at the highest setting, none shall pass! For background noise reduction. set the Threshold to minimum, then slowly increase it until you see that the G indicator is not opening when there is only background noise in the input.
Hysteresis – This sets the difference between the open aate and close aate threshold which is useful when vou want to hear more of the decay sound once the gate has been triggered. The default of -6dB is a good place to start – this means that the close threshold will be 6dB less than the threshold to open the gate. This feature tends to avoid the “fluttering” effect you sometimes get with more basic noise gates.
Reduction – Sets the amount of gain reduction applied when the gate is closed. At its lowest setting this is effectivelv silence and is probably the setting you want to use in most applications. Alternatively you might just want to attenuate background noise by a certain amount so the result doesn’t sound obviously gated.
Attack – Choose between a linear or exponential attack curve, then set an attack time. At zero, the gate will open as soon as the Threshold is hit. For auto-swell type effects, a long attack time around 1000ms and an exponential curve can work well.
Hold – Sets a variable hold time which can also be useful for avoiding gate “fluttering” and works in tandem with the Hysteresis control. This time is essentially how lona the input level has to remair below the close threshold (open threshold + hysteresis) before going into release mode. If the input level goes above the close threshold, then the hold timer is reset. This feature is especially useful for vocal and instrument gating, but can also be used to achieve some interesting rhythmic effects on drum loops and the like.
Release – Chose between linear or exponential release curve. then set a release time. An exponential release curve miaht work better on percussive sounds if you need the gate to really “snap” shut. The minimum release time of 10ms is there to avoid pops or clicks when the gate closes,
Watch the demo video HERE.
For more information on ARGate, click here:
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