MIXING & EFFECTS

Transporter

Transporter is a realtime relooping effect that triggers Loops based on transients detected in the incoming audio. By analyzing the audio signal, it identifies transient peaks and uses them to trigger Loops based on that audio, allowing for dynamic and responsive playback. Parameters like Sensitivity, Spread, and Bouncing rate help fine-tune how the transients are detected and how the Loops are spread in the stereo space, ensuring precise and automated variations on the incoming audio.

Visual display shows the input waveform (a fixed 960000 samples ~ 20-22 seconds at 48 kHz or 44.1 kHz respectively). The thick markers show the read position for the Loops. The thin markers indicate the minimum Loop length. You can click the display to instantly update the Loops. Top - Loop A, Middle - Loops A & B and Bottom - Loop B.

Video

Options & Controls

• Options menu - From the upper right on the display, select ...
  • Theme - Choose a theme for the user interface.
  • Flush on pause/stop - Clears the audio buffer on start and stop to prevent unwanted audio.
  • Lookahead - Prevents clicks when looping due to level discontinuities. Try deselecting Lookahead when there are extremely fast transients that may be smeared due to the lookahead mechanism that applies fast volume ramping at the start and end of the loops. With drums or noisy loops, the discontinuities may not be noticeable so deselecting it can result in a crisper sound.
  • Mono/Stereo architecture:
    • Mono-to-stereo - Stereo is summed to mono and processed through the plugin.
    • Stereo-to-stereo (Default) - Stereo audio is processed through the plugin.
  • Transient source - Choose the stereo channel/s used to detect transients. Left, Right or Left+Right. Normally Left+Right is best, although if there are large differences between the Left and Right audio Channels, choose the one best suited to Transient detection.
• LEVELS - Transporter includes three audio channels. The stereo input signal (Dry) and two input-summed-to-mono Loops (A & B). The interactions between these channels provide an almost unlimited opportunity to create unique and evolving Loops.
  • Dry - Input signal level (dB) without effects.
  • Loop A & B - Level (dB) for the A dn B looping processes.
    • Sidechain Input (Upper Mixer Track Selector) - Choose any Input sent as a sidechain to Transporters Mixer track. Use this to send a click-track or more predictable percussion track as a trigger signal for the loop process. When a Sidechain Input is selected, the audio on Transporters own track is ignored as a Trigger source.
    • Send Track (Lower Mixer Track Selector) - Any track to which Transporters own Mixer Track is sent can be selected here as an exclusive send.
  • LOOP - Control the minimum length and minimum time between loop triggers, sensitivity to transients, panning effects, and adaptive adjustments to the minimum loop lengths for creating dynamic behaviours.
    • Min Length A This parameter determines the minimum time before a loop trigger can be effective, which in turn determines the minimum loop lengths. For the modes Auto, Bouncing, and Adaptive, the minuimum time is expressed in second; for the mode Tempo, the value is expressed as a unit of the project BPM. When in Bouncing mode, the value determines the loop starting position, which will then exponentially increase or decrease depending on the bouncing rate. Note that manual triggers via the UI by clicking on the waveform will override the minum time requirements.
    • Tempo Trigger Tempo triggers are available for the modes Bouncing and Tempo. They are regular, automatic loop triggers whose interval is given as a rhythmic subvision.
    • Sensitivity - How responsive the system is to transients. Extreme sensitivity values increase the likelihood of false positives (unwanted detections). NOTE: When a transient is detected, the control will flash. Use the visual indication to get a better idea if the detections are in sync with the beat.
    • A/B Ratio - The Min Length of Loop B as a ratio to Loop A. For example; if Loop A is 1 second and the ratio is 2, then Min Length for Loop B is 0.5 seconds. Ratios affect the rhythm or groove of the Loop. Try odd vs even ratios.
    • Spread - Spread pans the two voices Left and Right. To statically pan left and right move the slider Right of center. For dynamic panning move the slider Left of center, a sine wave LFO adds an auto pan effect from 0-10 Hz.
    • Bouncing Rate - When in Bouncing Mode, Rate sets an accelerating rate for positive values and decelerating rate for negative values of the Loop length at each cycle. Starting from a given Loop length for Loops A and B, based on the Min Length A parameter and the A/B Ratio, when a Loop is triggered, on each new cycle the new Loop length is modified to be longer or shorter based on the current value.
  • BIAS - Settings for the Loop characteristics allow you to decide if the Loops repeat with a predictable rhythm or evolve and change over time.
    • Probabilistic Mode - Loop characteristics change randomly on each Loop. This mode is great for generating constantly varying Loop sounds.
    • Deterministic Mode - Loop characteristics are related to the playback head's position in the audio buffer. This mode works well with automated Flush button resets and syncing to audio events, like Looped input sample wrap-around for more predictable repeating patterns.
  • Reverse - Probability a segment to be played in reverse.
  • Shift - Probability a segment to be played at the original speed or shifted by one octave. Whether the octave is up or down is determined by the Shift bias. See below.
  • Down/Up - Probability the octave shift will be higher or lower. Setting to 1 results in all octave shifts being up, 0 for all lower, and 0.5 for equal chances of both. If Shift bias is zero (no octave shifts), this parameter has no effect.
  • Ignore - Set the probability that the loop update will be ignored. The control aplies to all three loop update trigger types: Transient, Manual (from the UI), and Tempo-synced. Unlike the Ignore Transients knob, that bypasses transient detection triggers, the Ignore Bias knob acts on all three types of loop event triggers; for example, it can be used with Tempo-synced triggers to maintain a strict grip for the events while creating variations by making the triggers irregular.
• MODE - Settings for triggering and adjusting Loop events based on transient detection, synchronization, and manual control methods to achieve dynamic and varied audio effects.
  • Auto - Loop events are triggered by transients detected in the input signal, following the minimum Loop length requirements set with the Min Length A parameter and the A/B Ratio.
  • Ignore Transients - Bypasses the transient detection mechanism. Loop events will maintain the same characteristics until the switch is turned back on and a new transient is detected, or when a transient is manually triggered by clicking on the Waveform Display.
  • Bypass - Bypass the effect. Input = Output.
  • Bouncing - For looped events with lengths that are adjusted automatically at each cycle. Loop length variations follow accelerating or decelerating behaviors, simulating real-life events like bouncing balls or the rate at which drops fall from a container after being emptied.
  • Adaptive - Automatically adjusts the minimum Loop lengths based on a transient rate analysis of the input signal. When Min Length A is set to small values, the final Loop lengths follow the input trend: higher transient density results in smaller Loop lengths, and vice versa. For large Min Length A values, the behavior is reversed: Higher transient rate in the input leads to larger minimum Loop lengths, resulting in a low transient rate in the output.
  • Tempo - Loop events are triggered upon transient detection, similar to Bouncing Mode. However, Loop lengths are fixed according to Project BPM and the Min Length A sets the minimum length as a ratio related to the BPM of the project.
  • Flush - Clears the audio buffer and resets the writing head to the start.

Plugin Credits

Algorithm design and DSP programming: Dario Sanfilippo.

User Interface: Miroslav Krajcovic.