Outobugi released Refire, a free drum effect plugin for digital audio workstations on Windows.
I love a one-stop shop when it comes to effects processors. I use channel strips quite a bit when mixing, with the recent release of Prestige Racks by NoiseAsh being my go-to for the time being.
That said, drum processing is always a bit of a bugbear, especially when looking at the whole bus. Thankfully, I don’t have to spend a dime when looking at Refire by Outobugi.
So, what is Refire? It’s a drum processing chain contained in a single plugin, making for an easy go at getting the snap and slap you need out of a drum bus. To this end, you’ve got five major processors to contend with in shaping your drums.
Bang is a transient shaper, with the size corresponding to the envelope and the level corresponding directly to gain. It sounds great in motion, especially on kicks and snares.
Heat is the star of the show for me, and offers up three different flavours of waveshaping for your distorting needs. It may be second in the controls, but it is actually third in the signal flow.
Sub is a subharmonic oscillator. It really does add quite a bit of girth to a kick, which is well worth using. The controls range over two octaves from C1 to C2. The overall volume detects how noticeable the effect is.
Detail works as a set of filters, offering a high-shelf on Air and a tilt on Tone. This also comes with a white noise generator that can help add a little texture to your drums.
Refire’s final control is the Clamp, which acts as a soft or hard clipper. The ceiling works as you’d expect, and the rotary knob for type dictates how much of either you’re working with.
All said, Refire is made for DnB and house drum bus duties. If you’re looking to slam drums beyond reasonable doubt, this is the tool for you.
While you’re checking out Refire, you might as well check out Wave by the same developer. This is a tremolo and auto-panning effect that works quite well. Controls are kept equally simple to Refire, making for fast results.
Refire and Wave are Windows-only. You’ll need a 64-bit host, as you expect. The only supported plugin format is VST3, so Pro Tools users will need a wrapper to fully use them.
Download: Refire (FREE)
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Last Updated on February 2, 2024 by Tomislav Zlatic.
