Sonnox Oxford Dynamics - Manual (Page 32)

7 GATE
7 Gate
The Gate controls of the plug-in
are presented similarly to the Expander
function, except that there is no Ratio
control. Programme gating has become
ever more popular in recent years, since
its inclusion in some professional console
systems. Originally intended as a technical
tool for tape noise suppression and
similar functions, many useful and often
fashion changing artistic effects have been
achieved using gates.
The Oxford plug-in Gate has many advanced design subtleties that are based on long
experience in the artistic use of gating.
The basic architecture of a gate is similar to an expander with infinite ratio, and therefore
acts much like a programme switch. Signals below the set threshold are cut and only
those above this are passed to the output. The gate also has level hysteresis, such that
once closed by signal below the threshold, a subsequent signal level increment of 4dBr is
required to open the gate again.
The residual signal level for programme below the threshold is set using the RANGE
control, as in the expander section. Since the gate effectively operates on signals before
gain control is affected, the ATTACK control can provide a significant range of attack
profiling without missing the peaks within the programme material. This provides the
capability to change the sonic character of the attack period of the gate
The HOLD function provides time hysteresis by effectively providing a delay after the
signal has gone below the threshold, and before gate closure can occur, which is very
useful for trimming gate activity to match programme event timing durations and nested
rhythms within the music.
The RELEASE control provides the ability to tailor the recovery period to match the
programme material, and provide artistic effects.
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