Klotoid Audio Effects has introduced Twin Reeler beta, a freeware modulation effect in VST3 plugin format for 64-bit host applications on Windows.
Twin Reeler is a vibrato plugin with a twist. Unlike traditional vibrato effects, this one adds the (optional) random factor to the modulation, resulting in more or less unpredictable results. You can, of course, use fixed modulation if you so prefer, however adding a bit of randomness to the modulation depth and width parameters results in a much more organic sounding vibrato. The settings can be taken to the extremes as well, which is something that I found sounds absolutely brilliant on non-melodic parts such as percussive loops, spoken word and background sound effects.
The user interface is as simple as they get, so it’s safe to say that anyone will be able to start using the plugin in no time. Twin Reeler can separate the right and left stereo channels by a user-adjustable offset value, and also provides min/max parameters for modulation depth and width, along with the aforementioned randomness on/off switch. It would be great to see a dry/wet mix knob added in one of the future versions of the plugin.
Even though it looks rather simple, Twin Reeler can actually be put to good use in a variety of scenarios. You can use it as a rather basic vibrato effect, as well as a simple yet effective tool for converting mono signals to stereo. It can also use be used to emulate double tracking on vocals and guitars, a technique that can occasionally work surprisingly well, depending on the source material (you will need to set up multiple mixer channels in your DAW in order to achieve this effect with Twin Reeler, though). Of course, thanks to its ability to apply random modulation to the processed audio signal, Twin Reeler can also be used for a variety of more experimental sound design purposes, especially if you want to completely transform the audio signal on the output.
Twin Reeler is Klotoid’s first release – their website was officially launched today. Although still in development, the beta version of Twin Reeler performed without any issues in Studio One 2.5 on my test machine. Please note that this is a VST3 plugin and that you will need a compatible host application in order to use it. The 1.0 version of Twin Reeler is expected for release this summer, followed by the next Klotoid plugin (called liveOtron) later this year.
Download
Twin Reeler beta is available for free download via Klotoid Audio Effects (8.8 MB download size, VST3 file, 64-bit VST3 plugin format for Windows).
Last Updated on April 15, 2016 by Tomislav Zlatic.
