C O N T E N T S CONTENTS 2 THANKS! 4 INTRO About PhaseMistress What and Who is SoundToys? 5 5 5 GETTING STARTED System Requirements Installing PhaseMistress Registration 6 6 6 7 USING PHASEMISTRESS What’s a Phase Shifter 8 8 Basics Knobs Toggle Switches LED Displays 9 9 10 10 Accessing PhaseMistress Real-Time Processing (RTAS or HTDM) Non-Real Time Processing (AudioSuite) 11 11 12 Using PhaseMistress Within Pro Tools The PhaseMistress Preset Library Compare Button Bypass Using Parameter Autom
C O N T E N T S (continued) Modulation Controls Choosing a Modulation Mode LFO Mode Rhythm Mode Envelope Mode Random S/H Mode Random Step Mode ADSR Mode 32 32 33 35 38 39 40 41 Summary 43 FINAL PAGE Getting Help More SoundToys Products The UltraTools Product Line Trademark Info 44 44 45 46 46 3
T H A N K S ! First off we’d like to give you a loud THANK YOU for purchasing PhaseMistress! We know there are an awful lot of plug-ins for you to choose from and we are truly grateful that you have chosen to spend your hard earned scratch (old school for ”cash“) on our product. We take a lot of pride in our work and we sincerely hope that you find PhaseMistress inspirational and musically useful.
I N T R O (the one that comes before the sequel!) About PhaseMistress PhaseMistress is the second in a series of totally cool new plug-ins to come out of the SoundToys (formally Wave Mechanics) plug-in development lab.
G E T T I N G S T A R T E D System Requirements PhaseMistress is software plug-in for the Digidesign ProTools system. You’ll need to have at least one decent Macintosh computer (G3 or better. Fastest is bestest) running OS 9.2 or later and of course you’ll need a copy of Pro Tools version 5.0 or later.
Registration Please register your product by going to http://www.soundtoys.com/register If you choose not to register your product during the PhaseMistress installation, please take a moment to register PhaseMistress by going to http://www.soundtoys.com/register. We also strongly recommend that you go to http://www.iLok.com, set up an iLok.com account, and register your PhaseMistress authorization.
U S I N G P H A S E M I S T R E S S What’s a Phase Shifter? (For those in the know you can skip this section) The original Phase-Shifter effect was an attempt at electronically recreating analog tape flanging – (an effect created by mixing the output of two analog tape machines playing the same track, only slightly out of sync) using integrated circuits. Early effects designers attempted to model the ‘out of sync’ part of the flanging effect by using something called an analog phase shift circuit.
thousands of albums. It remains one of the most musically pleasing and cool effects available to this day. Of course, PhaseMistress takes this effect to a completely new level offering an unprecedented variety of phasing effects with the highest possible quality. Basics Note: Since you would probably not be reading this unless you own a Pro Tools system we kind of take it for granted that you have at LEAST a basic working knowledge of your computer and of Pro Tools.
Adjusting a Knob with Fine Control To get finer control over knob values, hold down the apple _ key while dragging the mouse. Toggle Switches In an effort to provide the feeling of real analog gear our toggle switches "switch" when clicked. To change the "state" of a toggle switch (like the analog/digital control), simply click on the switch – it will change from where it was to the "other" setting. Click again to change it back.
Pop-Up Menus & Changing Values: For most text-based readouts (meaning things that aren’t a number), like LFO WaveShape etc, clicking on the readout with the mouse will display a popup menu. To change a value in the popup, hold down the mouse button and drag to select the desired value and let go. The selected entry will show up in the filed, or a new pop-up window may appear depending on what you have selected.
You can insert as many versions of PhaseMistress as you’d like, just keep in mind that each one gobbles up certain amount of CPU cycles and can make your computer start to sweat in terms of what’s left over for other tasks. Non-Real Time Processing (AudioSuite) If you want to save computer power, PhaseMistress can also be used to process a specific region of audio destructively. This is done in ProTools using the AudioSuite version of PhaseMistress.
Using PhaseMistress Within ProTools PhaseMistress is designed to be very integrated with Pro Tools, supporting all of the ‘standard’ Pro Tools plug-in features and controls including parameter automation, MIDI control, etc. Access to these functions can be found in the gray bar that Pro Tools attaches to the top of PhaseMistress. The display below shows the real-time version of PhaseMistress.
sorry! And as you would expect, for more info on the Pro Tools ‘Settings Librarian’, please read the Pro Tools manual, etc. Saving a Preset Saving a preset is just as simple. Click on the small button to the left of the preset name and choose ‘Save’ to update the current preset, or ‘Save As’ to create a new preset. Compare Button The compare button (often called the compare ‘light’ by Pro Tools pros) is a great way to audition the effect of any changes you’ve made to one of the PhaseMistress presets.
To record automation data, you’ll first need to do a few things within ProTools. First, bring up the Pro Tools automation window (see Pro Tools Manual for enabling automation) and make sure ‘plug-in’ is enabled. Next, in the track you’re working on, select ‘auto-write’ to enable the real-time recording of automation data. Now, press play and fiddle with the PhaseMistress controls. Pro Tools should now record any control changes you make.
Now you’ll see the automation control superimposed on the audio waveform. From this you can click and drag to your hearts content, creating all sorts of wild and crazy effects! Locking PhaseMistress to Tempo and Down Beat (or How to Give PhaseMistress a Real Beating) One of the coolest features of PhaseMistress is its ability to synchronize its sweep to the tempo (BPM) and downbeat (the ‘1’ of 1, 2, 3, and 4) in your music.
How to Get PhaseMistress to Sync PhaseMistress uses MIDI clock to synchronize its LFO with your music. To sync PhaseMistress to your tune… 1. Select ‘MIDI Beat Clock’ from the ProTools MIDI menu. 2. From the dialog box, make sure ‘enable MIDI Beat Clock for…’ is checked and that PhaseMistress (and any other SoundToys plug-in) are also checked. You will need to repeat this step every time you insert a new PhaseMistress plug-in. 3. Select ‘OK’ to lock to the ProTools tempo and beat clock. 4.
the correct tempo based on this. If the tempo of your music varies (which it probably does if it wasn’t recorded to a click), then you may need to repeat this procedure at various points in your song to keep the beat locations lined up correctly. Hint: It is very, very useful to use a drum track along with the tab to transient feature within Pro Tools to help with this.
IMPORTANT: Digidesign has a special low-latency version of the “StreamManager” driver for ProTools. This can reduce the latency from 1024 audio samples to 256 audio samples – (from 21 milliseconds to 5 milliseconds at 48 kHz sample rate!) For the latest and greatest info on optimizing HTDM for your system and to download the low latency StreamManager, please visit the HTDM Q&A page on the Digidesign website. The link to it is: http://www.digidesign.com/support/faq/htdm.
P H A S E M I S T R E S S Frequency Knob Mix Knob Resonance Knob Mod Knob Style Menu Modulation Meter C O N T R O L P A N E L Input/Output Levels Analog Switch Modulation Mode Analog Flavor Button Button Analog Mode Switch (Distortion / Overload Characteristics) The analog mode toggle switch and flavor button allow you to choose how PhaseMistress will distort or "saturate" as the signal input increases, which is more noticeable at high signal levels.
Analog Flavor The analog flavor control is used to adjust how the input and output behaves (or doesn’t behave) when it is overdriven. To access this control, click on the small button to the left of the Analog switch to see the analog flavor pop-up menu.
It’s important to note that the input and output level only affects the phased signal and leaves the dry signal unchanged. This approach may be slightly different than that of some other plug-ins and we found this implementation to work best for PhaseMistress. Mix The Mix control is used to set the balance between the phased sound created by PhaseMistress (and Input / Output control settings)…and the dry signal.
lowest to highest setting. You will hear the standard "phaser" effect across the full frequency spectrum. However, it is pretty common to set the Frequency knob to a specific setting somewhere midway between the lowest and highest setting and then add modulation with an LFO or envelope to modulate the frequency.
Mod The "Mod" control determines the amount of modulation signal that will be used to sweep the phaser Frequency. Increasing the Mod will increase the amount of modulation and determine the mod (how far) the frequency will be swept either above and/or below the center frequency. The amount of Mod used will often be dependent on where the Frequency knob is set as well as the type of modulation signal being used.
Style Menu The "Style" menu gives you access to dozens of different virtual phasing ‘circuits’ with a click of the mouse. Each style setting has a completely different tonal shape and can be used to quickly change the overall sound and character of PhaseMistress, while still preserving the modulation, frequency, resonance, etc. (This is like switching between a Maestro Phaser, an MXR Phase 90, Mutron Phaser etc.
This Tweak screen is separated into two sections: "Style Tweak" and "Modulation Tweak". Style Tweak The Style Tweak parameters are used to create the basic character and "structure" of the virtual phasing circuit. These are also the parameters used to create the Style settings. Once you open the Tweak menu you can actually see how each of the Style settings were created by selecting one of the Style settings in the menu and looking at the settings of the knobs and switches in the Style Tweak section.
This Stage menu allows you to choose all odd and even numbered Stages, something not available on any other phaser anywhere. As a basic rule, odd number stages will impart some form of lowpass filtering into the signal and the character of odd stages sound very different from even stage settings. They don’t sound better or worse, they just sound "different" and often very cool.
bass in the effect where as a Negative setting will have less bass and sound thinner, but not in a bad way. The overall character of the phase effect will change rather drastically with a decent amount of resonance and significantly increases the types of sounds you can get with PhaseMistress. Notch Phase The Notch Phase switch provides the same function as the Res Phase switch but affects the polarity of the notches.
Resonance Offset at the same time, each with a definable depth and definable direction (polarity). Please Note: The Freq Mod parameter was set to a default setting of "8.00 Oct" when we created the various Style settings and should be set to this value if you wish to hear the Style settings "au natural". The Res Mod, Res Offset Mod and L/R Offset were all set to "0" (12 o’clock).
Freq Mod Polarity Switch The modulation polarity switch located directly under the Freq Mod knob can be used to quickly "flip" the direction of the Frequency modulation. The ""Normal" setting means that the direction of the modulation is in synch with the direction of the modulation signal; it will increase as the modulation signal is increasing. The "Reverse" setting switches (reverses) the direction of the modulation being applied at the amount set by the Freq Mod knob.
number will modulate and increase the Resonance Offset. Turning the Res Mod value counter clockwise will modulate the Resonance Offset in a negative direction. It is important to keep in mind that the setting of the Resonance Offset in the Mode Tweak defines the "default" starting point for the Resonance Offset modulation. Positive going modulation will increase the Res Offset from the value set on in this menu where as negative modulation will decrease from the Resonance Offset.
M O D U L A T I O N C O N T R O L S Choosing a Modulation Type and Source When is comes to modulation the more sources you have the greater the sonic possibilities. PhaseMistress includes a number of different modulation options selected under the small white button below the Rate knob.
LFO Mode The "LFO" mode stands for Low Frequency Oscillator. An LFO creates a repeating waveform (usually with a selection of various wave shapes) that oscillates at a rate between 0 and 20Hz. This is why it is referred to as a "Low" frequency oscillator as 20Hz is still considered pretty slow in comparison to an audio signal. However, the PhaseMistress LFO has a slightly wider range and can go as fast as 100 Hz. Rate The "Rate" knob controls the speed or rate of the LFO’s sweep and is displayed in Hertz.
Select the Custom LFO Shape Screen: To create a custom LFO shape, you first need to get to the LFO Edit screen. Click on the LFO shape LED display to display the shape pop-up menu. Select "Edit" at the top of the popup menu. This will launch a screen where you can create custom LFO shapes. Creating a New LFO Shape / Adding "Points" to the Waveform: Creating a new shape is really pretty easy.
ing the "Smoothing" control you can decrease the abrupt changes between the points and smooth out the transitions between points by varying amounts. When set to its maximum value the waveform will be completely smooth. Smoothing Mode: The Smoothing Mode determines the "shape" of the smoothing that will be used to connect the points. This further increases the variety of waveforms you can create within PhaseMistress’ Mod section.
Tempo You can use Tempo in one of two ways; "Lock to Midi Beat Clock" or "Tap Tempo". To lock PhaseMistress to Midi Beat Clock, follow the procedure on page 15. Locking the LFO to Midi Beat Clock insures that the sweeps will lock in march-step to your songs tempo and not waiver. If you’re not using MIDI beat clock to lock PhaseMistress’s tempo, you can simply tap in a tempo by clicking on the "Tap Tempo" button.
Changing Event Level and Duration: To change event level or duration, option-click and drag on any existing event. Dragging up/down will change the level, and dragging left/right will change the duration. Adjusting Grid Length and Spacing: You can further adjust the grid spacing and length of any new events using the Grid control. Pattern Length / Number of Beats per Bar: Increasing the length of a pattern is easy.
Envelope Mode The Envelope Mode employs an "envelope follower" that "follows" the volume level of the input signal and dynamically controls the amount of filter modulation based on volume changes in the input signal. The Envelope Mode works great on dynamic signals that dynamically change in volume in rhythmic ways like guitar or drums. PhaseMistress allows you to create envelope controlled phasing effects and a whole lot more using the envelope mode.
Attack The Attack knob controls the how fast the phase effect will react to an increase in signal level. A fast setting will cause the envelope follower to react very quickly to transients, and will produce a very dynamic, staccato-like phasing effect. Setting the Attack knob to a slower setting will smooth out and lengthen the attack response the envelope follower.
Rhythm The Rhythm pop-up allows you to set the speed or rate at which the sample and hold will jump to a new value. Smoothing The Smoothing knob works much the same as it does in the Rhythm Editor and can be used to smooth out transitions between the random values. A setting of zero equals no smoothing and the values will jump from one to the next. The maximum setting will give you a smooth, constantly changing random phase variation sometimes referred to as the "drunken walk" for obvious reasons.
Smoothing The Smoothing knob controls how fast the filter will move from the previous value to the new random value once the input has passed the Threshold. The minimum setting will cause abrupt transitions to the new random value and at higher settings the filter will smoothly "ramp" to the new value. ADSR Mode ADSR Mode is a recreation of the standard envelope generator found on most synthesizers.
Trigger Press and hold the Trigger button to trigger the ADSR envelope. As long as you hold the button the envelope will move through the Attack, Decay and Sustain portions of the envelope. The modulation envelope will increase the phase frequency and attack to its maximum value, then decay to the sustain value based on the settings of the individual Attack, Decay and Sustain knobs. When the trigger button is released, the envelope will decrease to zero (release) based on the setting of the Release knob.
S U M M A R Y Hopefully this manual has provided enough of the information you need to have a basic understanding of how PhaseMistress works. We could go on and on providing LOTS of picayune details but you probably would get bored, throw the manual down and start tweaking anyway. Which in all honesty is what you should do. PhaseMistress and the whole series of SoundToys plug-ins were MADE for tweaking. There’s nothing to break, no parts to rust or replace and you really can’t screw it up.
F I N A L P A G E Getting Help We offer free technical support for all registered users. We love to hear from you, but if you are having problems, first try to look in the manual or on the support page of our web site for an answer. If you are still stumped, please e-mail us with the following info: • The product version and serial number. • The version number of your Pro Tools system, and type of hardware (e.g. Mix, HD, Digi-001, etc.) • Your computer type and operating system version number (e.g.
M O R E S O U N D T O Y S P R O D U C T S The UltraFX Product Line SoundToys offers a complete line of great-sounding, easy to use plug-ins. When you need your sound to make a statement, use SoundToys! FilterFreak™ Serious analog-modeled filtering combined with tempo-locked rhythmic modulation options make FilterFreak the ultimate filter plug-in.. EchoBoy™ Great echo, plain and simple. Modeled after the warm sound of analog tape echos. FlangeThing™ A classic analog tape flanger with ultra smooth sound.
The UltraTools Product Line SoundToys continues to make its UltraTools line of plug-ins for ProTools TDM systems. UltraTools is the most complete package of advanced audio manipulation tools for ProTools, giving you complete power over time and pitch. PurePitch™ PurePitch is the tool of choice for vocal manipulation on Pro Tools. The first formantpreserving TDM pitch processor, PurePitch is a great tool for creating harmony vocals or altering vocal character.
