If you are looking to get experimental with your processing, here is the new Eventide Audio Crystals plugin to help you accomplish that. This plugin offers unique pitch, delay, and reverb processing to create dramatic ambient and spatial layers out of just about any sound you can imagine starting with. As such, sounds created from the Eventide Audio Crystals plugin can often digress entirely from their original sonic source, leading to more detached and phantasmic effects.
This particular plugin comes from a family of extremely powerful multi-purpose digital audio processing products, dating back to the 1970s. The plugin includes parameters that pay homage to the pitch and delay capabilities of the H3000 series. The few knobs and buttons on the interface work together flexibly and quickly to inspire ideas, which can quickly evolve into sonic landscapes.
Main Parameters of the new Eventide Audio Crystals Plugin
The new Crystals plugin is packaged very neatly, taking the complex circuitry underneath it and presenting it in a quick and flexible way with only 10 knobs, a few toggles, and some sliders.
Three main toggles lie at the bottom. The first is an on/off switch, the second, a “Flex” toggle, which when activated, instantly adds an octave to each voice. Finally, you can set the tempo with a “Tap” button.
For the pitch and delay settings, create harmonies of up to a four-octave range with a pair of twin pitch shift knobs, then process with granular reverse delays of up to four seconds. Add reverb on top of this with a simple dry/wet mix dial and a decay dial of up to four seconds. Finally, take the sound out of this realm with stereo feedback dials, for more atmospheric and pad-like settings.
Use the additional “Ribbon” slider, which stretches horizontally across the interface, as a programmable macro slider to modulate many parameters at once.
What can I expect from this Plugin?
With Eventide Audio Crystals plugin, you will have a unique tool – with sound effect possibilities that are out there, for sure. That is why I almost instantly envision this as a tool best suited for soundscape ambience. This is especially given its very nice effect on higher frequencies, which often gives them an additional sparkle or flair. I think this is why I am particularly fond of how this plugin handles vocals, guitar, and keys, giving them all a bright space to exist in, with its futuristic, other-worldly sound. Even on drums, it is helpful in providing a reverb and delay spatialization, for a very deliberate, wet sound.
What I think is best of all about this plugin is its versatility and ability to crank out very spontaneous sonic ideas quickly. Its ribbon feature too is a great option for creating gestural, evolving sound, in order to play your patch like an instrument. All in all, you can expect to fill up a lot of sonic space, as the effects one can make are often wide and strong, and I think it is a really effective tool for pitched sound design experimentation.
Pricing
The Eventide Audio Crystals plugin is now on sale for $39 (normally $99), with an option to request a free 30-day trial at Eventide’s official website. It is currently available for Mac and PC as a VST, AAX, and AU plugin, and for iOS. You can also check for the current deals of this plugin at Plugin Boutique.
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