AudioThing has introduced Filterjam, a freeware multi-band resonant filter effect in VST/AU/AAX plugin formats for PC and Mac based hosts.
The cool thing about Filterjam is that it’s definitely not just another boring multi-mode filter effect with a few standard filter types and not much else to offer. On the contrary, Audiothing’s latest release packs several added features that make it a rather interesting sound mangling tool for sound designers and music producers who like to experiment with slightly quirky effects. There’s a fair bit of modulation going on under the hood, resulting in ring mod-esque effects which sound particularly nice (or nasty, depending on how you look at it) when paired up with a bit of screaming resonance.
The control scheme is quite simple, consisting of a cutoff knob, a resonance knob, gain and mix controls and a 4-way mode switch. On the input, Filterjam splits the incoming audio signal into four frequency bands. The purpose of the mode switch is to choose the way in which these four frequency bands will be summed or multiplied together before reaching the filter input. Different modes result in completely different sounding effects, ranging from the fairly clean and subtle filtering in Mode 1 to the “acid spill all over your audio interface” style sonic destruction of Mode 4. The included mix control is a great way to make sure that Filterjam remains well-behaved at all times, especially considering that the more aggressive modes will definitely sound much better when applied in smaller amounts.
It’s worth mentioning that Filterjam also includes a patch manager, a bypass switch, as well as a patch randomizer (those are always nice to have, especially in sound design tools such as this one). The CPU is fairly low for a filter plugin, reaching around 2% on average on my test machine.
The plugin is offered as a completely free download from AudioThing’s website. To get the download link, all you need is a valid email address (the link will be delivered to your inbox). The plugin comes with an installer which extracts the required plugin files to the designated folder on your hard drive.
Filterjam is available for free download via Audiothing (15.7 MB download size, ZIP archive containing EXE installer, 32-bit & 64-bit VST/AU/AAX plugin format for Windows & Mac OS).
7 Comments
Esol
onCool! Love everything AudioThing makes. :)
Bryan Lake
onReally cool plugin! I love resonant filters! Try using Filter Jam on a send channel in front of a huge reverb and be sure to place a limiter on the output. Make sure everything is 100% wet. Link the mod wheel to the “Frequency Parameter” and have fun! You can produce some monstrous distortions in the reverb tail. :D :D :D
Esol
onThat, right there, i have to try. :)
Ndumiso
onThis is sweet. The random button will get a thorough workout
arseniy
onActually I haven’t seem multiband filter before. Thank you
arseniy
onOK. It’s not what I thought as like each band controlled separatelly. Also I don’t really understand how it works. And I hear nothing like ring modulator with it. Actually it does sound like a filter. I guess can work as adding a subtle movement or boost certain frequency. The problem there is no control over that. Put the noise and you will see the regions it boosts. The range of the frequncy move is like only 1/5 of the 20-20k range.
Each mode seem to work like sort of distortion?
arseniy
onAnd it does distortion. So it can be used as some sort of saturator as well. The last mode makes some intresting one. I wonder how this type of distortion is called. If you put a sine wave through it then it will make the sine wave octave higher in the positive half.