SPL 500 Series TDX Transient Designer

With the SPL Transient Designer TDx, the level-independent processing of signal paths is making headway into the world of 500 series rack modules. Working with the Transient Designer is very simple: Attacks can be amplified or attenuated and sustain may be prolonged or shortened. However, the possibilities for studio and live application are seemingly endless. Technical foundation is SPL‘s Differential Envelope Technology (DET) which allows level-independent dynamic processing by calculating differences in generated envelopes. These envelopes are always tracking the curve of the original signal to provide optimal results in every moment of the music. So only two controls per channel are required to allow the user to completely reshape the attack and sustain characteristics of a sound. Thanks to the new TDx feature MIX (parallel mix) you can continuously blend between the processed and the unprocessed signal. Thus, the range of functions is extended even further and with the three parameters ATTACK, SUSTAIN and MIX, which offer an intuitive operation, the options of designing transients reach a new dimension of great variety.

Applications:

The Transient Designer is ideally suited for use in professional recording, project or home studios and in sound reinforcement applications. Applied to single instruments or loops the Transient Designer allows you to create entirely new sounds and/or effects. The following examples are given as suggestions and examples. You will find more examples in the manual. The described procedures with specific instruments can of course be transferred to others which are not mentioned here.

Drums and Percussion:

Processing drum and percussion sounds is probably the Transient Designer’s most typical range of application, both from samples to live drum sets: Emphasize the attack of a kick drum or a loop to increase the power and presence in the mix by increasing ATTACK.

Drums Ambience:

If your drums happen to sound as if the room mics have been placed in a shoe closet, the Transient Designer can immediately turn that sound into the ambience of an empty warehouse. Just send the room mic through the Transient Designer module and crank the ATTACK control to emphasize the first wave.Now slowly increase SUSTAIN values to bring up an “all-buttons-in- 1176-sound“ room tone—but without pumping cymbals.

Bass: Staccato vs. Legato:

Speaking of bass: Imagine a too sluggishly played bass track ... you may not have to re-record it: Reduce the SUSTAIN until you can hear clear gaps between the downbeats—the legato will turn into a nice staccato, driving the rhythm-section forward.