About
SoundMagic Spectral is a freeware suite of 23 Audio Unit plug-ins for MacOS that implement real-time spectral processing of sound. This set of effects give you unprecedented control and creativity in the processing of audio, whether from static audio files or live audio streams.
Most of the plugins use a hardware-optimized ‘Fast Fourier Transform’ (FFT) algorithm to convert your audio into the frequency domain, where your sound can be smeared, blurred, granulated or frozen. Setting large FFT sizes can create super-smooth, ethereal dronescapes, perfect for ambient music, experimental sound art or atmospheric sound design.
How to use
Read a detailed guide to the concepts behind spectral processing, and a list of each effect’s parameters
Complete Effects List
Included in Soundmagic Spectral are the following plug-ins:
- Spectral Averaging
- Spectral Bin Shift
- Spectral Blurring
- Spectral DroneMaker
- Spectral Emergence
- Spectral Filterbank
- Spectral Freezing
- Spectral Gate and Hold
- Spectral Gliding Filters
- Spectral Granulation
- Spectral Harmonizer
- Spectral Partial Glide
- Spectral Pitch Shift
- Spectral Pulsing
- Spectral Shimmer
- Spectral Shuffle
- Spectral Stretch
- Spectral Tracing
- Spectral Weave
- Chorus
- Grain Streamer
- Idee Fixer
- Super Filterbank
Download & installation
Installation
To install Audio Unit (AU) plugins on a Mac, download the plugin (often a .component file), close your DAW (e.g., Logic Pro, GarageBand), and move the file to ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components or /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components. Restart your DAW, which will scan for the new component.
Donate
I am currently porting SoundMagic Spectral to the JUCE framework, which will allow for SoundMagic to run as a VST, AAX and for both Macs and PCs as well. I have already got Spectral Blurring working, so now I just need time to do the other 22 plugs! Your donation to ongoing development will make this faster, and encourage further development. Click the button to donate via PayPal — thanks!
Audio examples
ORIGINAL SOUNDFILES
| Badinerie from Bach’s Suite in B Minor |
Women’s Song from the Solomon Islands |
SOUNDFILES PROCESSED WITH SOUNDMAGIC SPECTRAL
| Badinerie with Spectral Bin Shift |
Women’s Song with Spectral Bin Shift |
| Badinerie with Spectral Blurring |
Women’s Song with Spectral Blurring |
| Badinerie with Spectral Dronemaker |
Women’s Song with Spectral DroneMaker |
| Badinerie with Spectral Emergence |
Women’s Song with Spectral Emergence |
| Badinerie with Spectral Filterbank |
Women’s Song with Spectral Filterbank |
| Badinerie with Spectral Freezing |
Women’s Song with Spectral Freezing |
| Badinerie with Spectral Gate & Hold |
Women’s Song with Spectral Gate & Hold |
| Badinerie with Spectral Gliding Filter |
Women’s Song with Spectral Gliding Filters |
| Badinerie with Spectral Granulation |
Women’s Song with Spectral Granulation |
| Badinerie with Grain Streamer |
Women’s Song with Grain Streamer |
| Badinerie with Spectral Harmonizer |
Women’s Song with Spectral Harmonizer |
| Badinerie with Spectral Partial Glide |
Women’s Song with Spectral Partial Glide |
| Badinerie with Spectral Shimmer |
Women’s Song with Spectral Shimmer |
| Badinerie with Spectral Shuffle |
|
| Badinerie with Spectral Stretch |
Women’s Song with Spectral Stretch |
| Badinerie with Spectral Tracing |
Women’s Song with Spectral Tracing |
| Badinerie with Spectral Weave |
Women’s Song with Spectral Weave |
| Women’s Song with Spectral Pitch Shift |
|
| Women’s Song with Spectral Pulsing |
Version History
Version 1.5: recompiled as Universal Binaries
Version 1.4: fixed problems with AudioUnits not validating in Logic Pro; notarized all plug-ins to work in stricter security measures; recompiled with XCode 14
Beta 9: fixed a problem with Spectral Partial Glide occasionally crashing; fixed some problems with the installer; recompiled with XCode 7.3.1
Beta 8: fixed a problem with Spectral Weave not showing in 64-bit mode • code-signed installer to avoid GateKeeper issues
Beta 7: fixed a problem with previous versions not being Universal • changed Mr Filterbank to Super Filterbank, with new options
Beta 6: updated all effects to 64-bit/32-bit • fixed potential crashes in Spectral Filterbank & Granulation • added Spectral Weave effect • added “Gate Type” parameters to Spectral Gate & Hold • added a silence stage to Spectral Gate & Hold • fixed a crash in Spectral Bin Shift • added some new options to Spectral Bin Shift • fixed some incorrect operation in Spectral Freezing
Beta 5: fixed a crash in Spectral Stretching • fixed a crash in Spectral Pulsing • added some nice pulsing effects and delay vs. freq parameter to Spectral Gate & Hold • added some new options to Spectral Tracing for retaining/removing at different ends of the loudness spectrum • added a new “variance quantization” parameter to Spectral Stretching, allowing for interesting pitch variation effects • Idee Fixer now passes auval • made the default “Randomize Phases” settings more appropriate to each effect
Beta 4: Fixed some serious bugs with Spectral Dronemaker and Spectral Emergence. Added bin shift to Spectral Gate & Hold
Beta 3: Some new envelope possibilities in Spectral Gate & Hold, new plug-in “Idee Fixer”
Beta 2: Now validates correctly with auval, which means it can run in Logic; some code optimization across the board
Beta 1 UB: Now compiled as Universal Binaries
Beta 1: First beta release
System Requirements
Mac OS X 10.6 or later
Software Requirements
An Audio Unit host (one of):
- Ableton Live (4.0 or higher)
- Amadeus
- Apple GarageBand
- Apple Logic Pro (or Emagic Logic 5.5.1 or higher)
- Apple Logic Express
- Apple Soundtrack (version 1.10 or later)
- Apple Soundtrack Pro
- Arizona AudioXplorer
- Audiofile Engineering Wave Editor
- BIAS Peak, Peak LE, and Peak DV 4.0 or higher, and Peak Pro
- Celemony Melodyne 2.0 or higher
- DSP-quattro 1.2 or higher
- Freeverse Sound Studio 3.0 or higher
- Illposed Ouroboros (free beta)
- Intuem (2.0.1 or higher)
- Max/MSP
- Metro (6.0 or higher)
- MOTU Digital Performer (version 4.1 or higher; best with 4.52 or higher)
- Numerology (version 1.2 or higher?)
- Plogue Bidule
- Rax (free beta)
- Rogue Amoeba Audio Hijack Pro
- Freeverse SoundStudio3
- SynthTest
- TC|Works Spark XL and Spark LE (2.8 or higher)
- WaveBurner