Live glitch-processing instrument

COLLAGE

A multi-effect engine of five reorderable stations: two multipolar saturators — MANGLE, a waveshaper, and PLEAT, a wavefolder — alongside spectral, granular and time-shaping engines. A dedicated modulation plane of input followers, LFOs, envelope followers, scenes and a vector path moves their controls over time.

  • AU
  • VST3
  • Standalone
  • v0.1.0
Watch the film Try the demo Read the docs
The COLLAGE interface: the head band, the signal corridor showing SPECTRAL's input and output spectra, the morph pad, the five station cards, the selected station's controls with SPLIT and the four macros, and the four modulator lanes

Overview

What COLLAGE does

COLLAGE processes incoming audio through each of its five stations in turn, while its modulation sources reshape their controls over time. Every station is powered, ordered and blended independently, and the rack can divide into two parallel lanes.

Five effect modules

SPECTRAL, GRANULAR, MANGLE, TIME and PLEAT run in the order the cards show. Reordering crossfades seamlessly, with no gap in the audio.

Two parallel lanes

With SPLIT engaged, each station is assigned to lane A or lane B, and CROSS blends the two. Reported latency is identical to the serial rack.

Continuous modulation

Four input followers, two LFOs and two envelope followers route to almost any control, with up to 128 routes per patch.

Scenes, morph and vector

Four scenes each hold a complete patch. The morph pad blends between them, and a vector path of up to 16 points travels through them over time.

Four macros

THROTTLE, COLOR, GRAIN and DRIFT. Every factory preset assigns all four, and each macro can itself be a modulation destination.

Repeatable renders

Synced modulation and random events are keyed to musical position, so a bounce matches playback at any block size from 32 to 2048 samples.

Web demo

Try the stations

A browser version of the five stations with their principal controls, a reorderable chain and the four macros, applied to an E8 track. Select a station to reveal its controls.

Web approximation — not the full plug-in DSP

COLLAGE.CORRIDOR SIGNAL CORRIDOR · 5 STATIONS · REORDERABLE WEB APPROXIMATION — NOT THE FULL PLUGIN DSP
COLLAGE
SIGNAL CORRIDOR · IDLE CLICK A STATION TO SELECT · EVERYTHING ELSE HERE DISPLAYS
S SPECTRAL ON

 

S SPECTRAL

Takes the spectrum apart and moves the pieces.

MOVE
MACROS

Signal path: the audio passes through the five stations in the order the cards show, then through the MIX · HP · LP master section. The display shows the selected station’s processing; the other stations show their activity beside it.

Press Play, then click a station to show its controls. PWR turns a station on or off, ‹ › moves it in the order, and the four macros change several controls at once. SPECTRAL and GRANULAR start switched on.

Interface

Interface tour

Select a number to explore each region of the window. COLLAGE opens at 1300 × 878 and scales from 1120 × 700 to 2600 × 1756.

The COLLAGE interface with numbered markers over its regions

  1. Preset browser and the master strip: IN, MIX, HP, LP and OUT. On the right, the LOAD dial, the reported latency, the sample rate and the number of active routes.

  2. Draws the selected station from live analysis: SPECTRAL’s input and output spectra, GRANULAR’s grain field, MANGLE’s and PLEAT’s transfer curves, TIME’s slice ladder.

  3. MORPH blends scenes A to D by position on the pad, scaled by MORPH DEPTH. VECTOR draws a path of up to 16 points that plays LOOP, PING, ONCE or SCAT. ROUTES opens the routing inspector.

  4. The five stations in rack order, with power, input and output level and WET. Drag a card to reorder; with SPLIT on, each card chooses lane A or B.

  5. The selected station’s controls: WET and LVL, then its named groups. Here SPECTRAL shows PARTS, FOCUS and DIVERGE (REGION) and SHIFT, SCATTER and TRANS (MOVE).

  6. SPLIT runs the stations as two parallel lanes and CROSS blends lane A and lane B. The four macros are THROTTLE, COLOR, GRAIN and DRIFT. RANDOM and INIT on the right.

  7. LFO 1, LFO 2, ENV 1 and ENV 2. Drag a slot’s header onto a knob to route it. LFOs are tempo-synced or free with nine waveforms; the envelope followers run in GATE, TRIG or FOLLOW mode.

Technical breakdown

The five stations

The processing behind each station: its algorithm, key figures and the controls in the groups the plug-in presents. Every station also carries PWR, WET and a wet output level, LVL, from −24 to +12 dB.

SPECTRAL

Short-time Fourier processing

Divides the spectrum into regions and moves them: SHIFT transposes, SCATTER displaces regions by different amounts, and TILT leans the result. DIVERGE moves the right channel differently from the left while keeping the low end mono. HOLD keeps the spectrum that was sounding as a bed beneath the live signal, and at neutral settings the station is transparent.

Latency (FAST)
819 samples · 17.1 ms
SHIFT
±24 st
TILT
±6 dB/oct
SMEAR
Up to 2 s
Controls
  • PWR
  • WET
  • LVL
REGION
  • PARTS
  • FOCUS
  • DIVERGE
MOVE
  • SHIFT
  • SCATTER
  • TRANS
TONE
  • TILT
  • BLUR
  • SMEAR
HOLD
  • TRACK
  • RATE
  • RUN / HOLD
Tiers
  • LIVE
  • FAST
  • MID
  • FINE

GRANULAR

Grain cloud

A grain cloud drawn from the station’s recent input, with up to 64 grains sounding at once and the cloud level-matched as density rises. PITCH can follow a scale, SYNC GRID places grain starts on the DIV division, and RANDOM LOCK keys the random draws to musical position so a bounce matches playback.

Grains
Up to 64
SIZE
5–500 ms
DENSITY
0.25–32
PITCH
±24 st
Latency
None
Controls
  • PWR
  • WET
  • LVL
CLOUD
  • SIZE
  • DENSITY
  • POSITION
PITCH
  • PITCH
  • SCATTER
  • SCALE
FIELD
  • SPRAY
  • SPREAD
  • JITTER
WINDOW
  • SHAPE
  • TILT
  • TRANS
MOTION
  • REVERSE
  • HOLD
  • DIV
Scales
  • OCTAVES
  • FIFTHS
  • MAJOR
  • NAT. MINOR
  • HARM. MINOR
  • CHROMATIC

MANGLE

Multipolar waveshaper

A multipolar saturator: the wave is split at a movable line, and the positive and negative arms each run their own algorithm and shape, meeting at a hard seam. The result is anti-aliased and level-matched. QUANT widens into a gate above about 85% SHAPE.

Aliasing
Oversampled and anti-aliased
DRIVE
1×–8×
STAGES
1–4, continuous
SPLIT
±100%
Latency
24 samples
Controls
  • PWR
  • WET
  • LVL
DRIVE
  • DRIVE
  • STAGES
  • SPLIT
ARM +
  • SHAPE
  • ALG +
ARM −
  • SHAPE −
  • ALG −
Algorithms
  • THRU
  • SOFT
  • CLIP
  • DIODE
  • CHEBY
  • RECT
  • QUANT

TIME

Read head, transient shaper, slicer

A read head over the station’s recent input, a transient shaper and a slice re-sequencer behind one WET. RATE stops at the centre, reaches 2× at the ends and reverses on the left half. SHAPE punches transients to the right and smears onsets to the left, and WEAVE drives the slicer from gating through reordering, reversal and stutter.

RATE
±2×, reverse on the left
RATIO sync
10 ratios, 1/8 to 2
WINDOW
FREE or 1/4–4 beats
SHAPE GUARD
2× transient gain cap
Latency
None
Controls
  • PWR
  • WET
  • LVL
  • SHAPE GUARD
READ
  • RATE
  • POS
  • SCRUB
SPLICE
  • SHAPE
  • WEAVE
  • WINDOW
PITCH
  • PITCH
  • TIMBRE
  • TRACK
GRID
  • SYNC
  • DIV
  • SWING
REPEAT
  • REPEAT
  • REP DIV

PLEAT

Multipolar wavefolder

The second multipolar saturator: MANGLE’s split architecture with a bank of wavefolders and a smooth seam, for a smoother, warmer character. WIDE opens a mirrored right-channel arm, so asymmetry in the fold makes the station stereo while the mono sum keeps its body. WIDE is disabled on mono tracks.

Aliasing
Oversampled and anti-aliased
Seam
Smooth
Defaults
ARM + MIRROR · ARM − SINE
Latency
27 samples
Controls
  • PWR
  • WET
  • LVL
DRIVE
  • DRIVE
  • STAGES
  • SPLIT
ARM +
  • FOLD
  • ALG +
ARM −
  • FOLD −
  • ALG −
  • WIDE
Folds
  • THRU
  • MIRROR
  • SINE
  • CREASE
  • WRAP
  • LEDGE
  • STEP

Signal path

Signal path and control plane

Audio passes through the stations once, in rack order. The control plane listens to the signal and moves the controls; it never processes the audio itself.

Control plane · up to 128 routes

Input followers
in.level · in.transient · in.tone · in.noise
LFO 1 · LFO 2
8 bars – 1/128 synced, or 0.02–20 Hz free · 9 waveforms
ENV 1 · ENV 2
GATE · TRIG · FOLLOW · taps IN, SC, WET, OUT
Scenes
A–D, each a whole patch · morph pad, 25 ms glide
Vector
Up to 16 points · LOOP · PING · ONCE · SCAT
Macros
THROTTLE · COLOR · GRAIN · DRIFT
  1. IN±24 dB
  2. SPECTRAL
  3. GRANULAR
  4. MANGLE
  5. TIME
  6. PLEAT
  7. MIXdry latency-aligned
  8. HP · LP12 dB/oct
  9. OUT±24 dB
  10. CEILING−0.3 dBFS

Latency

SPECTRAL's resolution tier sets the latency; most presets use FAST. MANGLE adds 24 samples and PLEAT 27. The reported latency is constant through bypass, reordering and SPLIT.

TierSamples at 44.1/48 kHzms at 48 kHz
LIVE 435 9.1
FAST 819 17.1
MID 1587 33.1
FINE 3123 65.1
Oversampling
MANGLE and PLEAT are oversampled and anti-aliased; SPECTRAL, GRANULAR and TIME need none.
Filters
HP 20 Hz – 2 kHz and LP 800 Hz – 20 kHz, both 12 dB/oct.
Ceiling
Zero-latency soft limiter holding sample peaks under −0.3 dBFS by default. It is not a true-peak limiter.
Repeatable renders
Renders are bit-identical at any block size from 32 to 2048.
I/O
Mono and stereo tracks, 44.1–192 kHz, an optional sidechain for the envelope followers, no MIDI.

Factory library

336 factory presets

INIT and sixteen themed banks, every preset voiced with all four macros assigned.

  1. 01 Sub Terrain 22
  2. 02 Reese Foundry 22
  3. 03 Grid Faults 25
  4. 04 Cloud Chamber 22
  5. 05 Spectral Drift 22
  6. 06 Terminal Damage 22
  7. 07 Vector Fields 20
  8. 08 Modulator Machines 20
  9. 09 Reactive Matter 20
  10. 10 Spectral Cartography 20
  11. 11 Cloud Logic 20
  12. 12 Polarity Forge 20
  13. 13 Time Fractures 20
  14. 14 Cross Currents 20
  15. 15 Living Atmospheres 20
  16. 16 Performance Systems 20

Updates

Changes by version

The changes in recent COLLAGE builds, newest first. Builds marked “In testing” are with testers and are not yet the download.

  1. 0.1.2 In testing
    • SPECTRAL’s SHIFT is more precisely in tune.
    • TIME’s stutters no longer carry DC offset, and WEAVE no longer starts on silence.
    • GRANULAR’s grains always read current audio, and its level trim follows what the grains play.
    • MANGLE and PLEAT makeup gain lets go after a loud passage and never lifts quiet input.
    • Renders are identical at every host block size, and a host tempo change is treated as a continuation rather than a jump.
    • Lower CPU and memory use per instance, and the CPU meter reads correctly at every block size.
    • The factory library is re-tuned: every macro is audible and preset loudness is matched.
  2. 0.1.0 Current download
    • Every station has a wet output level, LVL, from −24 to +12 dB.
    • TIME gains SHAPE GUARD, on by default, which limits positive SHAPE to 2× transient gain.
    • GRANULAR, MANGLE and TIME analysis lanes follow the stereo energy, so wide material never reads as silence.
    • The factory macros are retuned so all four have usable travel in every preset.
    • The MORPH panel is open by default; on the morph pad a click selects a vector point and a double-click deselects it.

Specifications

COLLAGE 0.1.0

macOS
Audio Unit, VST3, standalone app · macOS 11 or later, Apple Silicon or Intel (universal)
Windows
VST3, standalone app · 64-bit Windows 10 or 11
Type
Audio effect · five reorderable stations · continuous modulation · no MIDI
Modulation
4 input followers · 2 LFOs · 2 envelope followers · 4 scenes, morph pad and vector path · 4 macros · up to 128 routes
Factory library
336 factory presets: INIT and sixteen themed banks; every preset routes all four macros
Interface
Opens at 1300 × 878 · resizable from 1120 × 700 to 2600 × 1756
Licensing
Per E8 account, two computers at a time
Documentation
Getting started · Tutorials · Technical guide · Glossary
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