Here are this weekend’s selection of price drops from 4Pockets, ending October 21st.
- Helium MIDI Editor – $14.99 to $7.99
- HeadStack – $12.99 to $6.99
- Kaleidoscope Echo – $12.99 to $6.99
- Shredder – $9.99 to $4.99
- Drum Surgeon – $9.99 to $5.99
Helium MIDI Editor
Helium is a lightweight AUv3 MIDI sequencer plugin designed specifically for AUM. It supports up to 16 tracks of unlimited length with the ability to direct output to 16 channels on up to 16 MIDI output ports.
One of the great features is the ability to import and maintain libraries of MIDI clips using Helium’s ‘Media Bay’. These clips are freely available all over the internet and may contain individual chord sets, chord progressions or drum tracks. You can quickly build a song by dragging and dropping your MIDI clips from the media bay onto your timeline. You can also save your own clips directly to the media bay to create your own personal MIDI clips libraries. Long press on a clip to preview its contents using the currently selected MIDI device.
Helium now ships with a library of over 7000 MIDI clips, consisting of every chord and chord progression you could ever need.
Helium allows many different ways to import additional MIDI clip libraries. Simply drag and drop your ZIP collections directly to your PC/MAC web browser and they are automatically unpacked into the clips library folder. You can also drag and drop files between the Media Bay and the iOS Files app.
Helium supports a sync mode called ‘Remote Looping’. This was something we recently introduced into our MultiTrack Recorder plugin and is very useful for breaking down the timeline into sections. You can define up to 12 loops which can be used to specify the locations of say the intro, verse, chorus, and outro within your song, then trigger these loops seemlessly in sync with the host tempo. Once captured, these loops can then be triggered by incoming MIDI notes.
A new addition to Helium is the ability to piece together loops into songs, so you just concentrate on creating a single verse, chorus, bridge etc. and piece everything together without the headache of having to re-arrange your timeline.
HeadStack
HeadStack is a multi-head tape delay inspired by the character, movement and musicality of classic magnetic echo machines, reimagined for modern production.
At its heart is a virtual tape loop with 8 independently configurable playback heads. Each head can be positioned, levelled and panned to create everything from vintage slap-back echoes and rhythmic repeats to vast stereo soundscapes and evolving ambient textures.
While HeadStack captures the warmth and unpredictability of classic tape systems, it is not limited by their mechanical constraints. Individual heads can be modulated, filtered, diffused, pitch-shifted and transformed into granular playback engines, opening up a palette that ranges from authentic analogue echoes to shimmering harmonies and cinematic atmospheres.
The tape itself becomes an instrument. Rotate the head wheel to continuously reposition playback points, stretch the spacing between heads, introduce head loss, or create cascading feedback networks that evolve with every repeat. Independent filtering, stereo placement and modulation allow each head to develop its own character within the delay line. You can even play sequences Into HeadStack and freeze it using your hold pedal and continue to play over the top.
Whether you’re searching for vintage tape ambience, rhythmic multi-tap delays, lush granular harmonies or experimental feedback textures, HeadStack combines the soul of a classic tape echo with the flexibility of a modern creative effects processor.
Welcome to a new generation of tape delay
Kaleidoscope Echo
Kaleidoscope is an AUv3 MIDI processor designed specifically to simulate audio delay lines, but instead of processing audio data, it generates a series of delayed MIDI messages to achieve the same thing sonically, but with some added advantages.
You can have Kaleidoscope emulate multi-tap delays and gating effects, as well as being able to manipulate the pitch and velocity of each repeat, something that is not normally done using a typical audio echo or delay effect. By default, all repeated notes are processed using the chromatic scale mode, but you are free to impose any key and scale to ensure any pitched notes are incremented or decremented in accordance with the chosen scale.
Any MIDI notes that are presented to the Input MIDI port are processed by Kaleidoscope, and the modified output is then passed on to other instrument plugins. You can chain multiple instances of Kaleidoscope to create even more complex harmonies. For example, the first instance could turn one note into a simple 3-note chord, and the second instance could add octave offsets to create a lush, multi-octave outputs – all from a single note!
It is also possible to perform simple, real-time harmonies using Kaleidoscope by setting the number of repeats to zero. In this mode, you can customize the pitch and velocity settings and add up to 17 additional harmonies.
You can also switch to user definable mode to specify per step velocity and pitch settings to create complex sequences, complete with ties, note skip and loop mode.
Shredder
This is a AUv3 compatible audio effect which can be used as plugin with your favourite DAW such as Cubasis, Meteor, Auria or GarageBand. It supports a modern graphical interface and presets with stereo meters for monitoring signal levels.
This audio shredder does just what is says, it shreds incoming audio (usually strings or lengthy sustained chords) into bite size pieces, adds an envelope and passes through a filter of choice. The result is a gated staccato effect which you can shape into patterns or runs of quarter notes. These kinds of patterns can be heard in Trance / Dubstep / Hip Hop or other modern electronic music genres. You can control both left and right stereo channels independently, with control over pulse width, attack and release.
There are 4 difference filter types (Low Pass, High Pass, Band Pass and Notch) which can be enabled, with independent control over cutoff frequency and resonance. You can even randomise new settings each step for some incredibly complex and pleasing textures.
Each quarter note can be independently triggered or you can join them together to create longer runs.
This plugin allows complete parameter automation and auto sync to master tempo.
Drum Surgeon
DrumSurgeon is an AUv3 plugin designed for use in your favourite DAW such as AUM, Cubasis or GarageBand etc.
Drum surgeon is a dynamics / transient processor specifically designed for fine tuning your drums. So your drum sounds are lacking punch and lost in the mix? This is where Drum Doctor can really help by allowing you to literally shape and boost your kit to break through the mix safetly and without clipping.
The attack or onset of a sound is known as its transient. By controlling the level, shape and duration of these sounds, you change the dynamics of a drum track to achieve that perfect tightness, while boosting them to give your kick the right punch and snare the right amount of bite.
Use the saturation to overdrive your mix prior to shaping. This can drastically change the character of some drum sounds at the filtering stage. The single LP/HP filtering knob lets you quickly find the tone that suits combined with the 8 band EQ to define your sound.
Finally the intensity knob allows you to control the level of dynamics applied to your mix. Automate this in real time when you want to relax or accentuate your drum track during your song.
For more information on these and other 4Pockets apps, click here:
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