Soundtoys FilterFreak - Manual (Page 21)

21
Mix
The Mix control is used to set the balance between the filtered sound created by
FilterFreak’s filters and Input / Output control settings, and the dry signal. Because
FilterFreak can mangle your sound in radical ways, it’s sometimes useful to be able to
mix in some of the original signal. A setting of 100 percent will give you pure filtered
sound, and a setting of 0 percent will give you only unfiltered sound. The Mix control
provides a convenient means of setting just the right balance between the effect and
dry signals right in FilterFreak.
If you’re using FilterFreak on an Aux Send / Return configuration, you may want to
leave the mix at 100 % and use the fader on the return to control the amount of the
effected sound. Please note that in this configuration you may get some phase can-
cellation due to the slight processing delay introduced by FilterFreak.
Tip: Because of the above it might be preferable to use FilterFreak as a channel
insert and use the Mix knob to determine the mix between the dry and filtered
sound.
Frequency
The frequency knob is probably THE most important control in FilterFreak. This knob
determines what area or region of the overall sound spectrum FilterFreak will affect.
What effect the Frequency knob has on the sound is greatly dependent on the
setting of the S Sh ha ap pe e knob.
When the Shape knob is set to “Lowpass” the filter becomes a “Lowpass Filter”
(Duh!) and the Frequency knob is used to set the “cutoff frequency” of the filter.
(Again, where along the audio spectrum the filtering affect will occur).
With Shape set to “Lowpass” any harmonics in the sound that are lower than the
Frequency knob setting are pretty much “passed” through the filter unaffected. Any
harmonics in the sound that are higher than the Frequency knob will be attenuated,
cutoff, lowered, turned down, shut out…well you get the picture. So setting the
Frequency knob to its maximum value (20 kHz) will pass the entire audio signal
mostly unaffected. Setting Frequency to its minimum value (20 Hz) will pretty much
make the signal go bye-bye.
Of course most of the really cool effects available with FilterFreak happen when the
Frequency is yanked around and moved across the sound spectrum. You can do this
manually (as manually as using a mouse can be) simply by clicking on the Frequency
knob and adjusting the knob and then recording the changes with Pro Tools automa-
tion. For even cooler effects you can also use the FilterFreak’s extensive built-in
modulation section (Discussed in the Modulation Section) to automatically change
the filter frequency in a multitude of different and bizarre ways.