SoundToys PhaseMistress Analog Phaser Plug-In

SoundToys PhaseMistress Plug-In is an Analog Phase Shifter delivering rich phase sweeps, deep analog vibe, and tempo-locked modulation.

SoundToys PhaseMistress was designed to offer you an all-encompassing set of phase-shifting tools, expertly modeled from the most sought-after hardware units. An extensive amount of research and development went into creating the wealth of features and modes that make PhaseMistress the most complete phase-shifting effects plug-in available. PhaseMistress sounds and responds in the same manner as a physical analog phaser would, but also includes powerful new tools for creating endlessly customizable effects. To help illustrate just how capable PhaseMistress is, let's take a look at the history of phasing and highlight some of the legendary sounds available to you inside of this plug-in.

The original phase-shifting effects were an attempt at electronically recreating analog tape flanging (an effect created by mixing the output of two analog tape machines playing the same track, only slightly out of sync) using integrated circuits. Early effects designers attempted to model the ‘out of sync' part of the flanging effect by using something called an analog phase shift circuit. The result wasn't exactly tape flanging in the classic sense (as an actual flanging effect also requires a short modulated delay), but sounded very cool in and of itself and would begin to be utilized in unintended ways by some pioneering musicians (we'll get to this part of the story in just a bit).

A phaser or phase shift effect is created by altering the phase of the audio, (similar to a delay, but with frequency variation) and mixing this phase-shifted sound back in with the original signal. The resulting phase cancellation produces a wonderfully musical sounding set of “notches” at musically related frequencies in the original sound. By sweeping, or modulating the phase-shifted signal, the notch frequencies are moved up and down the frequency spectrum thus creating that classic swooshy and swirly phase-shift sound.

In 1968, a Japanese company by the name of Shin-ei created a footpedal operated phase-shifter called the Uni-Vibe. The Uni-Vibe was designed to recreate the Doppler-effect sound of a Leslie rotating speaker. Remember the pioneering musicians I referenced in the last paragraph? Well, a young ex-pat American guitarist found the lush, swirling sound of the Uni-Vibe to sound a little better on guitar than the organ. That lad's name: Jimi Hendrix. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Phasers became very popular with guitarists during the Psychedelic ‘60s, and by the 1970s phase-shifting effects were being used on drums, keyboards, and in motion picture and television production. Analog phasers work on the principle of having a series of phase shift all-pass filters (or ‘stages') in their design that produce phase shift through the circuit. As you add stages to the phase shift “circuit” (resulting in more notches), the overall “strength” of the phase shift effect increases and becomes more prominent. In addition, the number of stages significantly affects the overall tonal character of the phased sound. A two-stage phaser will be very “washy” and wet (think of “Machine Gun” by our friend Jimi, Robin Trower's “Bridge of Sighs”, or the opening guitar on Dark Side of the Moon's “Breath”). The totally cool phased drum sound on Led Zeppelin's “Kashmir” from Physical Graffiti was created with a 4 stage phaser that provided a much more pronounced effect. So it kind of stands to reason that 6, 8, 10 and 12 stage phasers each sound progressively more pronounced.

You may have noticed that all of these examples are even number combinations. Virtually all analog phaser designs stuck to even-numbered patterns. Odd numbers result in a totally different sound, more stuttered and effect-laden, and for whatever reason the vast majority of manufacturers did not incorporate odd-numbered stages in their designs. PhaseMistress, on the other hand, allows you to pick any number of stages between 2 and 24 including all odd numbers. This expands the tonal palate exponentially allowing you to make an even number of even or odd sounds, an odd number of odd or even sounds as well as making really odd sounding even phasers - and so on and so forth.

The properties and designs of a wide range of classic units were studied in-depth while SoundToys was creating PhaseMistress. SoundToys' designers needed to make sure that their signature rich, warm, and silky analog sound was reflected in the software just as it exists in the physical world. Many of the presets designed for PhaseMistress are faithful recreations of sounds generated from hardware such as the Shin-Ei Uni-Vibe, the MXR Phase 90, Maestro PS-1A, Electro-Harmonix Small-Stone, Eventide Instant Phaser, and the Mutron Bi-Phase (among many others). These phasers and the phasing effect in general have been used by literally hundreds of artists and on thousands of albums. It remains one of the most used studio effects to this day. PhaseMistress takes this legacy to a new pinnacle of flexibility and ease of use, offering an unprecedented amount of phasing effects of the highest possible quality in one plug-in.

SoundToys PhaseMistress Plug-In Features

• Recreate the silky, funky sounds of a huge range of hardware phasers
• Get authentic analog sounds with 69 different built-in phasing styles
• Tweak circuit-level options to design your own phasing styles
• Choose from 6 different operation modes: LFO, Rhythm, Step, Random and more
• Create envelope follower and trigger effects that respond to the music
• Draw your own LFO waveshapes and unique rhythmic patterns

SoundToys PhaseMistress Plug-In Specifications

• All version 5.0.4 Soundtoys products come with 32-bit and 64-bit VST, AU, and AAX Native plug-in formats.
• Here is a list of all of the DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations) that are officially supported:
  • Pro Tools
  • Live
  • Cubase / Nuendo
  • Sonar
  • Logic
  • Digital Performer
  • *If your DAW is not on this list, it doesn't necessarily mean that SoundToys plug-ins won't work... It just means that it has not been tested. If something goes wrong with an unsupported DAW, SoundToys welcomes to write into support, but they cannot guarantee a solution.
• Supported sample rates:
  • Minimum: 44.1 kHz, Maximum: 192 kHz
• System requirements:
  • Operating system:
    • Mac OS X 10.8 or later
    • Windows 7 or later
  • An internet connection is required at the time of activation.
• Other requirements:
  • iLok.com account (An iLok USB dongle is not required)