Softube Releases Mutronics Mutator Plug-In – Stereo Analog Filter & Envelope Follower
Softube has resurrected an outboard analog filter that was used by a number of iconic artists of the 1990s. The Mutronics Mutator’s unique sound became few and far between when production of a critical component came to a halt.
The Mutronics Mutator is visually modeled after the original outboard gear.
The voltage-controlled filter can be used on any source passing through. The filter can also be controlled by the onboard LFOs, or by the side-chain input.
The filter is available now for $219 MSRP ($199 at authorized dealers) in AU, RTAS, and VST plug-in formats. Here are more details from Softube:
What is the Mutator?
Mutator has an analog voltage controlled filter (VCF) for each of its two channels, which can create synth-like filter sweeps on any sound source that is fed into the unit. The filter can be controlled from a number of sources, for example the envelope follower, which sweeps the filter in proportion to the amplitude of the sound source. In Gate mode, the filter is either on or off, and the filter can also be controlled by the on-board LFOs. These have four waveforms, which create filter sweeps in our out of time with the music.
Another very cool option is to use the external sidechain input, to have an external sound source control the filter movements. For example, insert the Mutator on a pad track and have the filter move in sync with a drum loop. You can also link or unlink the two channels for trippy stereo effects, use the Width control to extend the stereo field and use the Mix knob to blend in the original sound source with the mutated sound.
In Short
- Mind boggling filter effects
- Control filter sweeps by the sound source’s amplitude, from the LFOs or from an external sound source
- Used on many seminal records from the 1990s
- Based on technology developed for analog synthesis from the 1960s
- Each and every component carefully modeled
- Extremely analog behavior of frequencies, phase, distortion, etc
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