Eventide

There’s no shortage of excellent and
innovative delay plugins on the market, but a
new one from Eventide – one of the most
respected developers of high-end hardware
efects in the world – is always big news. The
New Jersey-based company have ported a fair
few of their sought-after processors to software
now, and the latest, UltraTap (VST/AU/AAX), is an
emulation of the algorithm of the same name
originally found in the classic SP2016 rack
mount multi-efect’s Factory Program Suite,
then their various Ultra-Harmonizers, and most
recently the H9 Harmonizer stompbox. In fact,
UltraTap is the irst in a new range of H9
algorithm plugins from Eventide – the H9 Plug-In
Series, no less.
Spread ’em
UltraTap can, of course, be synced to host, set to
the tempo of your choice (by dragging the
tempo ield or repeatedly clicking the Tap
Tempo button), or run free with timings
expressed in milliseconds, seconds and Hz,
rather than BPM and note values.
The Taps knob sets the number of delay
repeats from 164, while Pre-Delay holds of their
onset by up to 1s. Length sets the duration over
which the taps are spaced, from 0ms to 10s, and
Spread tilts the spacing bias of the taps towards
E v e n t i d e
UltraTap $79
The doyens of DSP have converted one of their oldest and best-known
hardware efects algorithms to a software plugin. Lucky us!
“In fact, UltraTap is the
irst in a new range of
H9 algorithm plugins
from Eventide – the H9
Plug-in Series, no less”
TAP TEMPO
Click in time with
the music (or not!)
to set the tempo
CHOP
Apply LFO and
envelope modulation,
and gating
PRESETS
Access the factory library
and your own creations
RIBBON
Interpolate smoothly between
two parameter states
TAPS
Set the number of delay taps
in the series, from 1 to 64
MIX LOCK
Render the Mix control
immune to preset changes
TONE AND SLURM
Sculpt, smear and
modulate the taps
HOTSWITCH
Jump instantly between
two parameter states
WIDTH
Auto-pan the taps
starting on the left
or right
SPREAD & TAPER
Tilt the distribution of taps
in terms of time and volume
the start or end of the delay line. With Spread at
0, the taps are evenly distributed, each following
the preceding one by the same amount of time.
As the Spread parameter is positively increased,
the taps being to bunch up at the end of the
series, creating a sort of speeding up efect as
they progress. Turn Spread anticlockwise and
the taps start to group at the beginning,
resulting in a slowing down efect. The distance
the knob is turned afects the shape of the
grouping, too. From 0 to +/-50 the spacing
increase/decrease is linear, and beyond that –
+/-51 to +/-100 – the progression of spacing
becomes exponential, ramping up more steeply
the further the parameter is pushed.
The Taper control applies the same operation
to volume. At the 0 centre point, all taps output
at the same level. Turning Taper clockwise dials
in an increasingly deep fade-out through the
taps, while turning it anticlockwise causes them
to fade in. As with the Spread knob, the shape of
96 / COMPUTER MUSIC / November 2017
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