Auburn Sounds released Inner Pitch, a pitch shifter plugin for Windows and macOS, available as a Free Edition (with limited features) and Full Edition. Enter our giveaway to win the Full Edition (three FREE copies available).
Let’s take a look at the Free Edition first.
Inner Pitch Free Edition
Inner Pitch is a pitch-shifting delay plugin. In our email exchange, the Auburn Sounds developer explained that they were striving for the highest possible pitch-shifting quality with this release.
That’s no surprise, as Auburn Sounds’ impressive Graillon 2 is still our favorite free autotune plugin.
Inner Pitch follows the same path, delivering some of the best-sounding pitch shifting I’ve heard in a plugin. Of course, things get more grainy as you push its pitch-shifting algorithms to the extremes, but the output remains impressively natural if you don’t strive too far from the original pitch.
I tested Inner Pitch on some of my vocal recordings and loved how the combination of pitch and format shifting transforms the voice while still sounding human.
It was super easy to recreate this vocal trick showcased by Jamie Lidell using Soundtoys Little Alterboy:

Of course, my vocals are absolutely nowhere near Jamie’s, but Inner Pitch did a fantastic job with pitch and formant shifting.
And using Inner Pitch on vocals is just scratching the surface.
Pitch shifting is essentially a sound designer’s magic wand, as it lets you completely transform and reshape sounds. I often use it to get unusual textures from instruments like guitars and strings.
A high-quality pitch shifter like Inner Pitch is also essential while mixing a song, as you want all recordings to be perfectly tuned to get the highest quality mix.

The feature set is quite straightforward. You can adjust the intensity of pitch shifting, formant shifting, tonal boost, and color. The plugin also features a 3-band spectral EQ for fine-tuning the tone.
What’s impressive is that all of these features are available in the Free Edition.
Inner Pitch Full Edition
The Full Edition unlocks the quality fine-tuning features, allowing you to get the highest possible pitch-shifting quality for a cost of $38.67 ($29 intro sale) and some additional CPU cycles.
Is it worth the upgrade?
If you want the highest quality of pitch processing, then yes, absolutely. It’s also a nice way to show appreciation to the developer if you’re using the Free Edition extensively in your work.
Auburn Sounds provides some of the highest-quality audio plugins on the market, and all of their products come with a powerful Free Edition.
The Giveaway
Auburn Sounds kindly provided three free copies of Inner Pitch Full Edition to three lucky BPB readers.
To enter the giveaway, answer the following question in the comments section below: What are your favorite secret (or not-so-secret) techniques for sound design?
We will randomly select and announce the lucky winner on this page on Monday, October 15th.
Good luck, everyone, and thank you for reading BPB!
The lucky winners are (drumroll, please!):
1) Sotos
2) James
3) Kahlil Smith
Congratulations! You will soon receive an email with information about your prize.
Everyone else, better luck next time and thank you for reading BPB!
Free download: Inner Pitch
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329 Comments
gf
onCopy the audio track, change the pitch a little and mix it with the main sound
Christian
onResampling and then refining in a synth
Steve
onReversing a sample, add fx, use as an ambience to add texture to dull parts.
Acho Beats
onTransient shaping before and after multiband dynamics !
gabriel garcia
onDivision de tono spectral, y eah
River
onDouble tracking with different EQs is my favourite. Not so secret but when done well it makes for a huge sound.
Paulo Gusmão Guedes
onModulated pitch shifting.
Rich Rath
onPut your mix or a single track on a 511 mb flash drive (size matters!), Bury in back yard 13 inches deep, cover it back up, pee on it and dig it back up in six months and a day, brush off excess but don’t try to clean it with anything, transfer back to the original project for perfect scratch perry sound sure to strike down Babylon.
Michael
onDownsampling
Cesar
onHere are some of my favourites:
Blending actual recorded sounds / field recordings with electronic sounds.
Freesound.org is a great resource for free samples to mangle and transform. Sometimes just to get inspiration from.
Feedback loops…
Granular processing.
Physical modelled instruments and resonators.
Jiri aka Rivermint
onSaturation is the way
Florin
onIt is a secret! So it remains a secret! Dooh!
jamie
onrunning samples through granular fx
Eric Norman
onSplit the audio to a channel > (direct) shimmer reverb > filter sweep modulation; but keep this channel level down (like a low setting of an insert effect). Alternately, insert a trance gate between the reverb and the filter sweep!
Robert Saunders
onI’m niot sure how I would use this plugin being so new to music production but I just like to enter contests.
Frank
onI do the same.
bo
onLayering with nature sounds
Enzo Robilatte
onNon ho segreti.
Robert Natiello
onMake two channels out of one then increase the mids on channel 1 and increase the bass on channel 2 then blend them together whala! Blendino!
Mr.pablo
onsaturation is the key
RonWC
onTried to install this on my MacBook Pro (intel 2020). Validated fine in Plugin Manager but doesn’t show in track fx list. Tried rebooting to no avail. According to Auburn Sounds customer support the plugin only works with Rosetta installed. So, presumably, can’t be used on intel machines.
alex
onConvolution, lately. And I love Convology XT for that – it will load about anything you throw at it :)
alex
onBTW, October 15th is Sunday :)
Samuel
onTaking a sound and modifying it with time streching, granular fx, comb filter, distortion, delay etc. Then render it and do it again :)
CGrrr
onUsing various wavetables.
TG
onPut Rift on everything!
Piotr
onMy secret is to combine distortion or even guitar amp plugin with moving filter to create hard great bass.
Steven
onUnfiltered Audio Specops, and M Granular can shave decades off your lifetime:))
Using them on choirs and single voices can get you right in the spirit of Halloween:)
David
onBuilding my own instruments and put on ir samples and pitch shifting to make sounds that feels organic but still very alien
emily
onlayer polyrhythmic arpeggiators playing the same notes for a much more interesting sequence!
you can even pitch some arp layers up/down by fifths/octaves or use different patches per-layer for extra variation, or balance the volume to go for a background texture instead
Docent Novak
onMy secret is cannabis
El°HYM
onInsert a Pitch Shifter into the Feedback Loop of my Delay.
Jean jacques
onUsing various layers from samples and synths
John B.
ontake any sound source and run it through paulstretch, taking multiple passes at different octave shifts and noise vs tonal balance amounts. mix thoroughly and season to taste!
Kin_G
onPaulstretch is crazy
Gunnar Schuettler
onResample Sounds several times. Every step with heavy processing
Kin_G
onI love this too. You like industrial by any chance? ;P
Woendiexp
onFor me its just simply sidechain compressor
Vladislav
onParallel distortion and compression (or comp+dist) channels!
Oper-8
onA very simple technique I like is to load up a preset and tweak it…
GiGi
onA not-so-secret is not being stuck only in digital, with cheap microphone, pedals and phones you can achieve original material before enter the world, then you start tweaking even more.
Jay K
onLayering, resampling and parallel processing.
Qui
onPitch shift automation
Nik
onRift + BYOME
dan
onMostly I create a midi track and add Little Alter Boy and send it to the vocal audio track so that I can control the pitch and add choruses.
Prodluck
onUsing blur and convolution on a second layer to create background atmosphere and tension
yzcoruhT
onSome liquor
Hell'ektrix
onMy secret, try totally anything, also the worst and the weirdest, and after, try to make something not bad with that :)
praveen
onLofi+ freaking filters
Vuong Pham
onRemove the fundamental tone of a reese bass to make super clean.
neil
onmy fav sound design trick would be saving older fx chain and applying it on random stuff then rendering that random stuff and play more with it or just keep the important and useful parts of it… i really like to work with vocals cause they are very natural sounding obviously plus they are very unique too!
Ellen
onHigh Filters…
Success Ajayi
onWhatever it is, a synth track or direct instrument track or vocals: I can eq to get my desired sound space, shift pitch as necessary and add some reverbs and delays to make it interesting
Shane G
onMy favourite Is definitely spending an hour or two online looking for new vst toys to procure (free or $$).. umm’ing and ahh’ing for a while (if it is pricey)and then downloading and spending another hour with it making some kind of weird track .. then moving on to the next bright shiny thing .. 😅
jeyz1176
onChecking the phase with the oscilloscope and adjusting it either by phase shift or by phase rotation
Max
onGranular synth
Kin_G
onMay I ask what your favorite granny synth is?
Someone needs to make a nice multi-layer based granny sampler with proper features…
Like pfff we can throw wavetables in that if we want a synth…
Corti.Son
onHi, my secret weapon is to feed my male cat, kiss my girlfriend goodnight and lock myself in the study until morning. Let’s see what comes of it.
Audiolust
onContrasting elements.
Matthew
on“Secret” for sound design?… Reverb! :D Reverb everywhere, even just a little.
Yi
onFeedback loop
Irion Da Ronin
onI watch a movie, mute it, and try to get inspired from what i watch and try to make new sounds for it. Also with music sometimes.
RR
onRouting audio from DAW at more or less insane levels through an old tape deck with a cassette adapter and then back to DAW.
Kitusai
onI can’t answer because if I do my secret tip will not be secret anymore. Send a mp to know.
Kin_G
onLife is like… a Fourway street.
Michael
onThe secret for me is pitching (and spmetimes pitch shifting) a material and swap the channels. Normally I apply an octave to enrich the original content.
Lars
onUse plugins used for something else en look what sound it makes on your sound (like a guiyar amp on a synth)
t.
onHuge reverb on a synth sample, resample it, and use it in a sampler as a pad.
Kin_G
onSmoof, ever try a short and then long reverb? It’s quite nice.
Synthie Lauper
ontake little snippets from the vocal-track, load it in your sampler of choice and then put fx on it (delay, reverb, chorus, diostortion, pitchshifting, arpeggiator, filter etc.)
Kin_G
onEver decided like, eh, finding a sound is gonna take too long and then like, made a noise with your vocals and processed it/sampled it? Maybe process it again after? (just cause base/raw recording wasn’t worth the extra processing)
Carl Benson
onSynth sounds through amp model -> cab model -> close mic -> across the room mic THEN mix levels at each point to taste.
Kin_G
onHard synth? Aaand do you perhaps make samples?
Scherbenfabrik
onI use more group channels than i should and tame the layers i send into with dynamic eq.
Łukasz
onI love to make super dynamic atmo space from lead source – modulate signal of 1/4 – 1/4dot delay taken from vocals / leads, by using first – distortions -> harmonizers -> another delay 1/4dot or 1.4 depends on which i’ve used before and then tremolo or sequencer like plugin.
Works perfect when it comes to make trancing moments or even full tracks.
AB
onI love filters with a life. The Arturia MS20 often comes on my tracks. You got to know your plugins as if they are spices.
June
onI love using convolution to morph sounds into something completely different.
Kin_G
onI need to do this more not gonna lie. It is literally almost always rad.
Kidsonic
onSo for sound design, I made a little techy bit this morning, where i used Antares’ AVox Mutator to turn the classic “Jungle Techno” vocal into a weird bass layer by using the Mutate function along with the pitch shifting and even layering Avox Articulator to subtly mix one of the drum layers to add a bit more rhythm. Needless to say it sounds wicked.
Kin_G
onNiiice. Have you tried some Vox’ on drums? ;)
Venkatesh
onUsing loops for inspiration
Ralf H
onUsing the sound design features of Melodyne Studio. Especially the big version gives you a lot of nice features to create extraordinary effects.
jay jay
onsmoke weed everday
Kin_G
onThat’s… Not…
I mean…
Weed be lettin you know.
TorbenE
onUse presets and then tweak them like crazy
Adriano
onVocal stacks lately. I’ll usually record at least 2 or 3 harmonies to the main vocal and create these choir / wall of sound effect. Whole lotta fun.
Gabriele Conti
onDrum loop in a granular synth, take a portion of audio and find some interesting glitch
Kin_G
onI love granny drumming too!
Kin_G
onPitch sliding, mostly just using FL piano roll.
There’s a free FL plugin for 3rd party vsts called BENDY, that helps a lot.
https://superjoebob.wordpress.com/2021/12/03/bendy-an-fl-studio-plugin-for-using-piano-roll-bends-panning-etc-in-third-party-vst-plugins/
It’s a lot less of a secret now. Sharing is caring though. ;)
Kin_G
onBut Reaper is just… Yeah, it’s its own secret weapon, legit.
What is super on top.
Is using FL as a plugin in certain situations.
FL, Reaper, amazing stuff.
Artex
onI enjoy unnatural sounds when I’m using time-stretching plugins.
SBTT
onI love distorting drums like amen, think… And my favorite sound design for this drums, is obviously, time stretch, compression / limiter distortion, and i play around with noise and envelope shapers
Don
onMy “not so secret” secret is using lots of distortion.
Justin
onMy secret is getting new plugins from Bedroom Producers Blog
Genius617
onMy favorite technique is layering techniques. i.e parrallel compression and sidechaining and saturation chains. I guess the real answer is creating effect chains and unique ways to use the tools together.
myron
onUnfiltered Audio plugins…
Sir Otter
onUnconventional parallel distortion. Like distorting after modulation/delay/reverb.
Will Clay
onBe open minded when making music, try things out before you decide…effects to utterly transform a sound…tape emulation for warmth…and get advice from fellow music makers. They are some of my tips!
Marko
onResampling audio going through fx stacks to create new and unworldly sounds.
Gary Thompson
onHehe, I use guitar effects on synths
ADNILSON
one ser o mais natural possível, na hora de editar, o menos é mais.
Chris
onLuck is my not-so-secret technique. I go about my mix, and if it sounds great, I’ve succeeded! I can’t be the only one with a graveyard of lousy tracks!
unfortunate
onRecently started using parallel processing to send a synth or an instrument into another one and it creates interesting options of blending two sounds together and getting something really unique. Throw in a bit of reverb and saturation and you are good to go.
Un Herisson
onShimmer on everything. Solaris is great for this
Mark
onMore cowbell
Frank
onUsing various layers from samples and synths
sam
onmy workflow is very sampler-based, so lots of resampling, repitching, resequencing, FX, resampling again, rechopping, etc (in no order of course)
bill edwards
onusing noise
Anderson Azevedo
onMuita inspiração e dedicação!
Dub'n'Roll
onHeroic doses of psychedelics.
Todd
onClose my eyes and mix with my ears.
Thomas
onConvology XT on everything!!
Joseph
onDistorted Reverbs, always works
Sino
onIf I tell you, I’ll have to kill you…
WinTP
onPut Shaperbox on every sound
fabbd
onMy secret is, the inspiration that comes from the novelty of creating new sounds. yep, sounds redundant.
Ajaunte
onA technique I use all the time is using Discord 3, which is a delay plugin with pitch fx. I believe BPB is where I found it actually! I always run a Rhodes patch through it and play some chords and notes. It delays the sound, but in the pitch interval of my choice. I usually make the pitch -5 semitones or -7. It’s so musical and beautiful, I’ve used it for sound effects, and on synths and keys in my tracks, Definitely a hidden gem.
RomHer
onMy favorite plug for that is vari-fi from Avid.Tape stop like fx.
Felipe Forato
onMy favorite “technique” is using a reference, for almost everything.
Bogdan Shoshyn
onSecret is use plugins and quick change presets and record this mess at the same time, for glitch sound effects LOL
aguzttyn
onmagic mind!
Aca Naumovski
onUsing Console emulation 😀
PHOO3Y
onMy favorite secret (not-so-secret) technique for sound design is layering. My first synth had some some pretty uninspiring presets and after I discovered I could layer a few sounds together, I was blown away. Random experiments can lead too, omg, that’s that sound from that song.
aClub soul
onCreate the sound I want
Alex
onI like to get several layers of sounds that have similar/complimentary timbres and record loops, and something about the interaction of the overtones and harmonics combined with the textural similarities produce new, almost “phantom” melodies and sounds that wouldn’t be there without the interaction of the tracks. The symbiosis of the sounds can create new amalgamations that sound more unique and unfamiliar than their component parts
Also, find old weird synth and effect plugins that look extremely obsolete but do very strange unconventional things like the old Jack Dark VSTs. Don’t fear the jank
Mateo
onMy favorite trick for sound design is a plugin called “Puncher 2” by Waves Audio. I add it on the kick or bass on every project I make, and it always makes stuff sound incredible.
TM
onMixing in some natural sound into the background (water, birds, wind etc) to fill out the frequencies wth something the human ear is accustomed to
Ihor
onUse good plugins, such as Auburn’s
v394
onHarmonizers!
Santiago M.
onSaturation + Reverb
Yifan
onUsing multi-effect plugins and their presets 😂
Francesco LM
onA good eq, sat, and ambience
sadam
onEnough distortion and aggressive EQ make the thing
Igor
onSubtle saturation and/or distortion in everything.
Numanoid
onPitch shifting is crucial for most electronic music, which just pumps in the same key all the way through. So that is my secret weapon.
Leo
onMy favorite trick: just go with presets to stay in the creative flow. Only finetune the sound design after the song is well in scaffolds.
foxAsteria
onLove Auburn Sounds!
Michael
onPitch shift
ER
onGetting a loop (royalty-free) to apply a pitch, adding a preset to it, and then (to both) applying reverb (if it is neccessary) and delay effects; finally, slice them many times according the project requirements.
Jim Siderius
onCopy vocal track and auto tune the second one and blend it back in
Davias
onputting a lot of mangling fxes on monosynths
JoMusic
onsaturation, eq and subtle reverb!
Jeff
on« Playing » plugins and immediately bouncing.
Juuso
onDefinitely a really known technique but I like to keep my low end clean by high passing the main bass and using a simple, slightly saturated sine wave as the sub bass.
Denys
onMy favorite secret – everything sounds better pitched down :-)
Dee
onThe classic reverse reverb into a vocal but with a twist… Take the first syllable of a vocal or the attack part of a sound, reverse it and apply a shimmer reverb/delay/pitch shifter. Bounce it, then reverse it back. Trim it up and insert it as a lead into the original sound.
Sigbjørn
onFour kicks together and reverse them with automation on volume and low-end. Or just recording a good ol’ “yeow” as a riser
Woendiexp
onFor me its just simply sidechain compressor
Mash
onbeefing up anemic signals by running them through my crappy 80s boss mixer. too much and it distorts horribly, just enough and it adds all these great harmonics and heft.
myha
ontaking a send from a synth and putting it through an amp sim with effects in a room reverb.. pan the amp and dry opposite each other.
Adam Zero
onPan different instruments to give them their own space in the stereo field.
Robert
onMy favourite secret sound design tecnique is to make the sound more present with a MBC
jzt15j
onfeedback
Febbie Ivaaden (Febbs!)
onNot So Secret? Just go crazy and have fun. That’s all it takes to make a cool sound design.
Oh and a ton of OTT and Filters.
Soni2Music
onUse creative accessories but I’m not going to say brands.
Konstantin K
onAdd in some proportions: Emergence, Deelay, PaulXStretch or RrrEeeAaa, maybe something in reverse and band split… and automation… Oh no, it’s not a secret, it is “sound design procrastination” ! :)
Prank
onKind of a DADA-inspired technique: I like to record a bunch of MIDI tracks using different synths and sample instruments then swap them around at random to see what unexpected things happen.
Satyabrata
onUsing distortion and then pitch shifting 🙂
Marcel
onPut Zynaptiq Pitchmap on all kind of weird stuff, instant s*** to gold alchemy.
Lee Morgan
onGranular synth
Duke O'Nine
onCut samples completely apart, add effects, pitch something down or up and make something completely new out of it
Larreche
onJust add a little detune
Wing Yee
onIf I tell people how I do it…it doesn’t mean they can do like me because I’m the only one who is me.
Jerebear
onA fun trick is to to eq boost (or an inverse cut) on every note in the diatonic scale. It’s a unique harmonic enhancement that can create a nice sound.
Mike B
onSaturation and hpf’s.
GARMEN
onLayers over layers of sounds, with reverb.
JEP1929
onUse the sample reverse or resample it,
Use Specops or other glitch based plugins and feed it to reverb with zero space for metallic effect
Brenny C
onMy secret (well, it’s not a secret any more…) is working in my DAW and with my analog Korg Volca synths, recording the track to tape cassette, then recording it back into my DAW.
Amazing results every time!
Morten Fjeld
onOn a copy of a track, abuse noise reduction plugins to garble up the sound, then use distortion to get the warbly bubbly sounds some edge. Then blend it in.
Dan
onSA TU RA TION
Patrik Roncolato
onUsing always Vital ;)
AuburnSounds
on– master reverb after limiter
– increase transient before clip
– distort as first treatment
Boro Logan
onFrequency pan, frequency sidechain and mid / side mixing.
frozenjaZz
onSaturation and Wobble !!
Dirk
onEffects: Reverb, Chorus, 4 and 2‑band EQ, 3D sound positioning. I and some friens had all of this on the Terratec Audiosystem EWS64 XXL in the 90’s!!
Harold
onplaying with samples by pitching down and adding saturation to make it sound old and dirty… in a good way.
Haliax
onHPF, Parallel Processing
Jukka
onA lot of automation with Panagement 2 on the tracks. Especially the gain and pan knobs in sync with the tempo of the song.
Js kim
onSaturation and Tube amp modeling.
Marc
onI love sending sounds through Infiltrator or ShaperBox3 to create brand new textures and ambiences – it’s such a great way of changing up some of your sounds in a track, but keeping a slight recognition of the original. Great for layering as well as there’s so many options to create unique sounds.
I also enjoy creating textures using Valhalla SuperMassive – you can create huge sounding reverbs and delays which sit beautifully in tracks, as well as being able to automate things like the reverb size to create interesting pitch shifting atmospheres.
Jon
onBounce my instruments out to audio, reverse the bounced out audio, then stretch out the reversed audio for a half-time effect.
celty
onmy favorite is in ableton
use the lfo to modulate the gain of ott, makes a wonderfully stuttery lead that evolves as you twiddle the knob
also use 2 delays .5 beat from each other, full feedback, soundcapes
ZHEN
onMy secret is cannabis
Buckine
onSat and automating panning
Lucas
onInitially using saturation in place of conventional compression, which I find usually tames things down to a consist level in a much gentler and natural sounding way. This also allows you to then use compressors more for shaping or adding movement to a sound, rather than any utilitarian purpose.
Dmitry
onMorphing sounds!
Artur
ongood panning is the way for great final sound shape
PureFire
onThanks T BPB & Auburn Sounds
My Favourite is parallel compression on all kinds of audio
West
onRather than using notes or chords i mash the keyboard with my face
kawn
onblending and morphing different instruments together
Michael T
onSidechaining everything to the kick
yn
ongranular processing, repitching
Jay
onTrackspacer. Not really a secret
Kyle Cean
onsimple tweaks, like reversing some of the elements
Bob8
onFor layering, use foleys, or record some myself.
MultipliedCow
onI love splitting tracks into 5 tracks (low, low-mid, mid, high-mid, and high), adding effects to appropriate frequencies and mixing those back down to one enormous sounding track. With a band full of tracks like this, everything just sounds larger, even with minimal tracking or instrumentation.
Nicolas Mariano Gaglio
onA veces cuando quiero un sonido ya sea un bajo una guitarra o cualquier instrumento que tenga que grabar de aire, y necesito que suene con poca calidad, para darle un estilo un ambiente distinto ala canción, simplemente uso mi celular y un micrófono Irig, y gravo la misma pista en diferentes ángulos y distancias, una vez que las transfiero a mi DAW, elijo las mejores tomas, las que mejor interactue entre si, que por mas que sean lo mismo, suenen distinto al estar en otra ubicación, asi que, 3 cosas, grabo de aire en calidad media baja, distancias y ángulos, selección de pistas, y por ultimo, experimento con diferentes efectos, si es necesario, dependiendo de estilo que estoy grabando.
Por lo general utilizo mucho eso, cuando grabo estilos como John Frusciante, Gorillaz, O simples lineas o Jams.
Michael J
onI like to take the demo version of a song, stretch it out reeeeeeeeally loooooong using Paulxstretch or similar, and use it as ambience in the final version!
Ambientnauts
onPlay a sound I love add chorus and verb, use paulstretch and chop away 90-95% of main source sound. The stretched tail has magic in it.
Pier Francesco
onthe use of fantasy accompanied to not too much technology.
Willy
onRecord vocals an octave higher or a decent higher harmony and then granular fx freakshow stuff or shaperbox and use them in the background or as adlip
Sergey
onTrancegate
Revers Melody
markus
onGreat One…Thanks
BoogieNaught
onUse Inner Pitch On Delay Feedback Signal !
ElDJabh
onConvolution & time stretching are my keys.
ELZURIX
onWavetable manipulation
Roberto Avila
onI actually really enjoy guitar pedals as outboard fx, so re-amping hardware is my happy place. Much like it’s fun to send vocals or drums through Amplitube, which is re-amping in the digital domain, there is a plethora of pedals, that let me get very hands on, with the signal saturation, and rely on musicians’ feel on controls, over the usual automation after the fact. Since 2016, I’ve been championing the fun & sometimes unconventional process, as I’ve grown stompbox-pedal collection. For instance: filters are your friend, and clever ‘wah’ sweeping-action is great for sustained note manipulation.
Pacapaca
onMy favorite way to process audio is to slightly distort one side (mainly the right) to create a stereo effect.
It is also possible to use separate reverbs for left and right send reverbs. This is also great for creating stereo effects.
Fabio
onCombining filtering with distortion and modulation effects for some neuro madness!
Astrone
onResampling with glich plugin
Ulloo Drone
onSmall doses of movement on (almost) everything (e.g. pan, volume pitch, filter) + Cymatics Origin (Free!)
gabriel ram
onUsar Filter primero luego su Delay, Gate y Reverb
Gillam
onwiggle the knobs til they sound good?
Ron
onRecord my dishwasher – sounds like edm as is but bring that into the daw and have some fun with it.
ER
onLA-2A Tube Compressor by Universal Audio at Plugin Boutique – FREE.
ER
onTry if it is still active or if the offer is already expired:
https://www.sonicacademy.com/products/808-day-kick-2-presets-2023
Add the pack to your basket, then, at the checkout enter the discount code ‘808day’ to get the price reduced to zero!
Fernando
onMezclar creatividad con originalidad, que la mezcla tenga algo único, algo diferente.
Saludos desde Argentina. Dios los bendiga.
Gregory Grant
onLayer,resample add fx and distortion
MJ
onVocoding layers to add some space
Side note: UAD is giving away their LA-2A plugin for free at plugin boutique until the end of the month
https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/2-Effects/8-Compressor/11372-LA-2A-Tube-Compressor
Mr. Crowley
onReverse delay and panning
Attaman
onI have a template just for this purpose with reverbs, delays, pitch shift, saturators, phasers, chorus almost like a modular synth to make alot of crazy sounds out of it!
Woendiexp
onFree LA – 2A tube compressor by Universal Audio on Plugin Boutique
Yaz
onRunning samples through my MPC2500 stock effects. Wish I had more outboard gear but that’s the only thing I have so…
Luke I.
onConvolution with ‘non-standard’ sources for audio.
sergey
onreverse
Alex
onLayering fx + pitch shift
Angie
onI’m sorry, but that’s a secret…
Kiramohs
onSaturation and Portal
Joe
onModulated wavetable sweeps, sidechain distortion, a pinch of FM for bite, and some lo-if processing for character.
Ryan Evans
onParallel compression. Always… parallel compression. It just makes everything jump
JT
onUse a gate on a double track and blend in a touch of reverb.
Juan Salvador
onMy secret? Reverse engineering samples/sounds as accurate as possible, and adding my own flavor to the sound
Al
onDucking reverb with the soundsource going through it. Sounds so clean!
Andrew
onUse melodic tones as percussion, and percussive tones as melody.
Bassah
onI’m very amateur, to add spice to a particular sound I usually use the free Emergence plugin for granular things or the Deelay plugin, as it creates very unique vibes
E.
onusing the ears
Ignacio
onI use often pitch tools to make some sound more bassy to add some lows to the sound I’m using
Gaëtan
onMy secret weapon for sound design is the “pifomètre”… only the French will be able to understand sorry 😅
Semyon
onRecently, I rediscovered resonators. Now I’m adding them to every instrument! I recommend trying it!
SuperSatan
onIf you bring resonance anywhere near my snares I will likely assault you.
Frank S.
onXfer Serum FX
Aleks MZ
onVery rigid parallel processing, with little mixing.
I use a clipper a lot, where it’s possible and where it’s not.
And the Glitchmachines plugins do their job…
Joe2fresh
onPitching a sample and reversing it and adding some movement
Xaither
onFrequency shifting is def one of my go to along with vocoding
SuperSatan
onManifesting sonic demons to claim your soul.
BM 030
onMaking Pitchshifting automations and using Halftime before or after in the chain with some Reverb/Delay at the end.
Sotos
onFilters and pitching with formants.
Hagen
onLike this Company!!
Hagen
onSamples, destroyed by granular or distortion
Oliver
onConvolving with non-IR samples…
Dave Luxmore
onCreate a parallel track and High pass (or low pass depending on the effect) and saturate the heck out of the remaining frequencies!
Alex K
onBackmask on everything
Luis
onLayering and random automation of some parameters.
Steve
onFor nice pads I like to send them to a return track that has an auto-filter on it. I might add a little chorus.
Mixing hats with a little noise seems to be really nice too.
Lesego
onI recreate most of my sound based on popular hit songs through synthesis
Jorge
onmy “secret” is use the time streching, some of distortion, delay and echo.
Rafael Oliveira
onAdjust the levels individualy, compress all and insert a good tape simulation.
chimpage
onWavetable editor in Serum. It can do more than you think it can.
Seancy
onResampling automated long notes or basic sounds and using them in Ableton sampler for complex and supreme sounds!
Dazza
onAlways think in advance how you would like it to sound ideally with a reference sound or track
TL
onReversing a sample, stretching it, bitcrushing it, & then reversing again…makes the sample unidentifiable & unique.
Mori Frik
onGuitar layering with different amps
Karl
onI put sidechain compression on my sends 🤣
eno
onUsing an extreme compressor like AberrantDSP ShapeShifter to hard-compress an instrumental solo which has little breaks in it. So when there is nothing playing, the background noise is pushing to the front, giving the solo some weird attenuation.
Frank Reitz
onMake a melody with effects, even whole track. Render to audio without drums. Put in sampler and slice. Make a new melody. Then Halftime and OTT
Conor Duey
onFind the perfect plugins, samples, etc. that flow well with your music. Keep on browsing through the stuff that you have until your song sounds right.
Louis
onPitch Shifting, Detune, Reverse, Reverb, Delay, Distort/Saturation or adding a vintage vibe is what I do most when I’m sound designing.
Torres
onMaking a perfect Tape Stop is the clue 😉
James
onDisable all fx.
Johnny Yesno
onReaper
boombapdame
onDownsampling
Claus Petersen
onSampling, reversing the track, and use a lot of Fx Plugins is some of the things i do. But i also use my own recorded sounds, and then add some effects to them. But it all depends on what sound design im trying to archive
Robert
onsaturation compression saturation compression saturation compression
Alex
onAdd a Reverse white noise before important moments!
Jorge Sebastian Alvarez Herrera
onmy secret weapon is layers a lot of layers and reverbs
SF
onI don’t have any secrets for sound design, but a few things I find helpful are, making sure it sounds good on a variety of devices, and limit the post processing so it still sounds natural
Francisco J
onEq goes a long way. Understanding Fletcher and Munson Curves!
Fotis
onLayering two sounds and then flipping the phase of one of them in order to subtract it from the other one.
DMN
onSomething I started messing about with in the 1970s involving a length of plastic drain pipe, a sheet of aluminium, contact mics, an antique piano harp, and a toffee hammer.
Nuge
onI usually run a sample or synth sequence thru a chorus and then a slap back delay. work from there
Osanan
onAdding Decapitator to change the drum and percussion tones. It always work!
Jon
onSubtly vocoding a channel with something non-tonal
Derrick
onUsar unos presets que me llamen la atencion y empezar a jugar con los parametros, luego empiezo a crear ciertas capas y dependiendo lo que busque agrego plugins bitcrusher, pitch etc…
Devin Wright
onSlap delay always makes great sense of space. Format shifting and pitch shifting always inspires me when I am strapped for ideas.
Alexey
onTime resampling (slowing) audio inside After Effects, haha. Idk why, but AE makes such stretching sound very pleasant.
Valeri
onFAST Bundle and fine touches after
Simon
onA bit of a long answer coming,haha. In reference to synth sound design, my favourite techniques involve experimenting with waveform blending and modulation to create rich and evolving sounds. Combining various oscillators and applying modulation sources like LFOs and envelopes can yield complex and dynamic synthesizer tones.
Gabriele
onShapeshifter…
Greg
onDon’t try to control outcome. You might be surprised
Thomas
onReversing a sound to give an interesting build up and texture to the original audio file.
In general use the philosophy off “Less is more”.
creed3
onReversing a sample, slow it down, add a bit of reverb or delay.
Tim
onUsing only Formant from the Inner Pitch on a Hardstyle kick.
Kahlil Smith
onSound Design wise, I enjoy simply sample chopping & I also enjoy create new sounds from pre existing samples through heavy time-stretching, granular synthesis, loop x-fading and effects chains.
Jason Brown
onpitch shifting works wonders for me, grain delay does miracles and warping is out of this world. And not to mention filtering, if that counts
Matt
onI always like the trick where you mono the overheads in the verses and stereo them in the choruses, background vocals as well. Boost them in volume about 3db. Makes a great improvement. Thanks!
Muzz
onSplitting a vocal in to three L/R/Both and adding different delays and pitch change to the L/R panned files.
Isaac
onAdd unique and underground sound effects in the way they are not intended to use.
Al Felton
onI love to layer drums with other drums samples. I just like to experiment mostly
Michael Curry
onI like to record guitar, add reverse delay, then play over it with a crybaby wah-wah pedal. I also use use a wah in reverse direction from normal to get some interesting rhythm sounds.
Alex Vitkovsky
onWorking with the stereo signal. Mid-side technology…
Peter
onVertigo-VSM3
Brock
onMixing vocals an making beats
Stefan
onTaking some Pad sounds (probably sprinkled with some soft piano or similar) and run it through PaulXStretch. Add (Valhalla) supermassive reverb as you like.
Julen
onrun the vocal chops into glitchy kinda fx
eric
onUsing synth with a random option, click on it as long as I can to get a sound I like !
Lucien
onNot really a secret, but layering
L
onAdd more cowbell
Rodger Reed
onCombining and layering sounds and samples to create new and complex, imaginative sounds that create the vibe I want.
Carl
onTake part of vocal phrase, reverse and add reverb or delay onto it.
Nuno Melo
onLayering, Saturation and Compresion
Mr.pablo
onSaturation is the Key
Marcus
onLayering slightly modulated pitch shifted version with a real-time granulated version.
Lyke Paws
onBookmarked this for inspiration – definitely some interesting replies here!
My answer would be: I try to learn and really understand the tools I’m using. That should give me the greatest sound design power.
Darin Paterson
onLoad as possible
winston
onTo have insight into sound design and to experiment!! To know the “rules of sound design” and then to “break the rules” all in the name of experimentation!
Daz
onSample roland Juno 6 into roland MKS 100 sampler then use the arpeggio of the sampler to create interesting sounds
Cedric
onMy favorite technique for sound design is extreme repitching.
Burak Urgay
onresampling and going on a journey
PureFire
onWhat an awesome plug-in, thank you Auburn Sounds, Tomislav BPB
Don’t forget that holding the shift key allows you to fine tune the pitch 👍
Michael N
onCreating instruments by layering sampled sounds with synthetic sounds e.g sampled piano with a synth piano sound, and then tweaking pitch, sustain, etc on the idividual layers to taste
TSureal
onRun a sample through the modular, depending on desired effect, process, mangle, modulate to taste. Make sure it sounds nothing like original audio, then re-record through a mixer with cool saturation. Use it on a track as is fitting for instrument, atmos, fix, or melodic or percussive element.
Tamer
onRun a sample through the modular, depending on desired effect, process, mangle, modulate to taste. Make sure it sounds nothing like original audio, then re-record through a mixer with cool saturation. Use it on a track as is fitting for instrument, atmos, fix, or melodic or percussive element.
Eons
onM/S Side-chain
Michael Svedberg
onDefinetely, less is more! When for an example trying to achieve a more punchy bassline, don´t add a lot of basses, instead try to remove a couple of them and you will get a better clarity and punch.
Tristan G.
onDouble the guitar track to make it more dope !
Nicolas
onDouble a mono sound, pan one left and the other one right, and pitch just one. Instant stereo :) Eventually you can automate this pitch so it evolves with time.
That, and of course saturation everywhere!
Philipp
onUse a lofi recording done with a really cheap mic and twaek it using plugins in extreme settings
Miguel
onI pay a lot of attention to Dan Worral.
Parallel process multiple streams whilst tucking in heavily edited and slightly lower-volumed (and processed) secondary and parallel tracks. This technique is rather spurious, but it opens up avenues for further exploration.
When I have some money, I want to buy Andrew Huang’s new plugin. It does everything I know but much quicker and simpler. Plus, I like the dude without worshipping him too much…
stbn
onCongratulations to the three winners!