TugSpect is a new freeware spectral filtering effect plugin by Tugrulakyuz.
Tugrulakyuz, the developer who brought us some great freebies in the past, such as TugMultiEffect and 2RuleSynth, has just released a new free experimental FX plugin called TugSpect.
This amazing plugin delves into spectral processing with an approach similar to plugins like iZotope Iris 2 and relies on images or drawable shapes to generate a variety of quirky effects.
Once the audio is routed into it, TugSpect employs real-time Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) filtering to analyze the incoming audio and then apply spectral processing effects that mirror the pixel values in the image.
It may seem convoluted at first, but it’s pretty fun when you get used to it!
For example, a descending diagonal line from top-left to bottom-right inside the drawing area of the plugin’s interface creates a sweeping filter effect.
You can imagine the thickness of this line as the sharpness of the band-pass filter: the more subtle it is, the more sharp the filter slope. If you draw more lines you are effectively bringing in additional filtering movements.
Furthermore, if you want an area of the spectrum to be consistently present and static, then fill it out with a rectangular shape. This way, you are isolating a group of frequencies as you would do with a standard static filter.
Remember that the y-axis of the graph inside TugSpect relates to the frequency domain, and as you go up, you’re addressing higher frequencies.
I think this way of working with sound is very unique and can bring fascinating results. There are already several similar software available for image-to-sound processing, such as the free Coagula synth or the premium Photosounder editor.
Anyway, TugSpect offers a bunch of cool features and can perfectly suit modern productions.
The plugin gives you a wide range of controls for both the image file and the spectral process. You can rotate your image, zoom in/out, turn left to right, or even change the image contrast much like inside a photo editor.
The Play section is probably the most interesting one. You can control the direction of the playback and a couple of controls called Attack and Decay, which work similarly to those we are used to in a classic ADSR envelope to shape the overall sound.
TugSpect also offers some DAW-syncable parameters to create musical effects that can blend rhythmically with other elements in your track.
It is available as a VST3 plugin for macOS (Intel + native Apple Silicon) and Windows.
Download: TugSpect (FREE)
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Last Updated on October 30, 2023 by Tomislav Zlatic.
