10+ of the Best Modulation Plugins For Adding Movement to Your Mixes
Modulation effects mutate one or more aspects of a signal using a low frequency oscillator. This week, Michael Hahn nominates some of the best in his roundup on LANDR’s blog.
Michael Hahn rounds up 14 of the best modulation plugins for adding movement to your mix this week on LANDR’s blog.
He outlines the main types of modulation—tremolo, ring mod, chorus, phaser, and flanger—and explains how the effects “modulate an aspect of the signal with an LFO” or low-frequency oscillator. Each style of modulation acts on a different aspect of the signal, whether pitch, timing or volume.
Tremolo, for instance, affects the amplitude of an audio signal. By selecting different LFO shapes, and modulation rates, you’re capable of shaping the amplitude of your audio signal over time. Hahn explains that “A softer, rounded sine wave shape will create a gentle bobbing tremolo, while a steep square wave will create a machine gun stutter.”
Ring mod plugins are based upon the same amplitude modulation principles as tremolo but rely on sidebands that are new tones introduced to the signal as you increase the frequency of the LFO into the audible range. According to Hahn, “The sidebands can be quite dissonant since they’re not evenly related to each other or the original sound.”
Chorus effects create a duplicate of the original signal and modulate the pitch and time of the copy. Similar to how there are pitch and time variations between members of a choir, chorus plugins aim to mimic this effect. Hahn mentions that “By using 100% of the modulated signal instead of blending it with the dry, you’ll get a vibrato effect.”
Phaser plugins affect the phase of a signal using an LFO. Hahn describes how “The phaser effect is created by splitting the signal and sending it through a series of “all-pass” filter that alter the phase. When the dry and phase-shifted signals are combined, any frequencies that are inverted 180 degrees cancel out, resulting in the characteristic notches.”
Flangers create a comb filtering effect that’s a result of two identical signals playing slightly out of time with one another. Hahn describes this sound like a “jet engine taking off,” which I think is a perfect analogy. Flangers are capable of providing a stereo widening effect, so on top of being a creative tool, it’s a particularly useful mixing tool.
In the full post, Hahn provides some excellent background information regarding each effect, and he also recommends a free, cheap, and pro plugin for each category.
The free plugins that made the list include Adam Monroe’s Tremolo, Melda’s MRingModulator, Tal’s Chorus-LX, Blue Cat’s Phaser, and Blue Cat’s Flanger.
The cheap plugins include Goodhertz’s Term Control, Melda’s MRingModulatorMB, D16’s Syntorus, D16’s Fazortan2, and Tonebooster’s Reel Bus 4.
Finally, the pro plugins include Soundtoy’s Tremolator, UAD’s Brigade Chorus, Soundtoy’s PhaseMistress, and Softube’s Fix Flanger and Doubler.
Read Hahn’s full post on LANDR’s blog for a full run-down of each plugin and his top picks among them.
Charles Hoffman is a Mixing and Mastering Engineer at Black Ghost Audio. After graduating from the University of Manitoba with an English degree, Charles completed his education at Icon Collective in Los Angeles, CA.
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