Lyon-based Parallel Minds has just dropped the Atavism spectral effect plugin which can be used to turn any track or complete project into its own pad, evolving as the underlying audio changes.
Pretty simple to use, you just add the VST3 or AU audio effect plugin to any track, bus or master, and turn the knob to dial in the effect.
Attacks are softened, notes lengthen and blur into one another, and harmonies blend and create new textures. Even using it on existing pad-like audio creates additional effects.
A trio of other settings help to shape the sound — pulsation adds a slow, irregular swell; shimmer grows the octave above the pad; mix dials in how much of the original audio comes through versus the effected audio.
Additionally, low cut and high cut alter the pad only, can be altered by frequency or switched off completely. Atavism comes with eight presets (new ones can be saved), nine parameters which can be automated, MIDI Learn on every knob, and Short mode for playing it live through a send.
To give an idea of what it does, the manual shows what percentages might do to your music:
| KNOB | SPREAD | MASK | WHAT YOU HEAR |
| 0 % | o? | o? | Transparent: the dry signal, delayed. |
| 5 % | 0.35 s, renews fast | gentle | The loop blurs behind itself. The drums are softer and the timing is still there. |
| 25 % | 1.4 s | gentle | The attacks are gone and the groove is a memory. The chord starts to hold. |
| 50 % | 2.8 s, asymmetric rise | medium | A pad with the phrase’s harmony, still breathing with the song. |
| 75 % | 5.6 s, slow renewal | medium | The harmony of the last few seconds, hovering. This is the Pad preset. |
| 100 % | 5.6 s, twice (second stage) | hard | Only the persistent lines remain, spread over up to twenty seconds. The Wings preset puts this under the mix. |
One important factor to consider is latency. There’s a lot of processing going on, so by default latency is around 300ms (at 48kHz) which is almost certainly far too high for playing anything live.
A “shorter” mode uses higher CPU, coarser masks, and about 170ms of latency. It’s likely that this is best used as an effect (which of course it is) on existing tracks. This takes way some of the performance element but also does away with the challenges of playing behind.
Available now, launch price is $29, regular $39. A demo is available, essentially unrestricted except it mutes output for two seconds each minute.
Video review coming soon.
