Thank you for downloading Drift. We hope you enjoy using this plugin and that it inspires new ideas.

Introduction

Drift is a live audio effect that applies tape effects modelled from multiple tape formats and their machines. The result is a unique effect that takes the best (or worst, depending how you look at it!) from multiple tape mediums and blends them together to insert wonderfully aged tape artefacts into your audio stream.

Installation

Once you've downloaded the file, extract the ZIP and run the installer. By default, the plugin is installed into:

Once installed, open your preferred DAW. Drift is a VST3 and AU plugin, so you'll need to ensure your DAW is set-up correctly to find and load the plugin. The above directories are where most DAWs expect these files to be — otherwise some hosts can't find a plugin on the machine. E.g. this is the case for FL Studio or Cubase with VST3 files.

On Mac, Drift installs both VST3 and AU formats of the plugin by default. If you want to install only one of these, please select the format by clicking "Customise" in the Installation Type tab.

If you use any other folder for your plugins on Windows, please select it by clicking "Browse" in the Destination Location Panel during the installation.

Using Drift

Drift is an audio effect, so to get started, load Drift onto a track — whether it be an audio track, instrument track, master track — anything that plays audio.

Tape Start/Stop

The tape player can be clicked to activate the start/stop effect, that simulates tape feeding through a tape machines playhead when the reel starts (or stops) to spin. On a tape machine, playback doesn't start or stop instantly, and we've recreated that here.

The slider below the tape player controls the speed in which the tape should reach the fully stopped state, and the speed at which the audio will resume normal playback. When the tape player is fully stopped, no audio will pass through the plugin.

Saturate

Adds tape saturation, driving the input signal. The higher the control, the more saturated your audio will become. Great for adding a crunchy flavour to drums and distorting melodic elements. Make sure to gain-stage this with the input/output levels at the top of the plugin, as at higher levels it can result in louder audio as more harmonics are introduced to the source material.

WOW

Adds WOW pitch fluctuations. The higher the control, the deeper the amount of modulation. WOW is a classic form of pitch variation introduced by aged and low quality tape.

Fail

Adds imperfections unique to tape that's seen better days. Introduces volume drops caused by loose tape and small, intermittent glitches, caused by tape getting stuck in the machine or dust on the tape. The higher the control, the more frequent the errors become.

Flutter

Adds Flutter pitch variation. Flutter is much faster than WOW and is more textural as a result. Sometimes caused by worn tape-machines, such as friction on the tape roller.

Tape

Adds an EQ model analysed from real world sources to the input signal. At the ‘off’ state, the effect is bypassed and no EQ is applied. Please note that the effect will vary depending on the input source. Sources include:

Width

Controls stereo width, with the default being 100% stereo. Decrease the control to narrow the stereo field, with 0% being fully mono.

Noise

Adds tape deck noise.

Tip: Lower quality machines and tapes are more likely to have noise issues. So if you're going for that old school lo-fi sound, be sure to add plenty of noise!

Mix

Dry/Wet mix amount. You'll also find In and Out volume controls either side of the tape player for gain staging the plugin.

Uninstalling

If you wish to uninstall the plugin and/or the demo version of the plugin, on Mac you need to delete the files from the following locations:

On Windows, find ‘Add or remove programs’ in your system settings. Find the plugin and click Uninstall.

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