Sound design tools

GRM Tools Classic is an unescapable bundle of eight audio plug-ins that offers powerful audio processing and creative sound design features.

From subtle audio corrections to the most creative sound effects, GRM Tools classic have been used by renowned artists and sound designers around the world.

The new CLASSIC version 3 has been re-written from scratch providing total compatibility and control with actual DAWS and computer OS features.

Conceived and crafted by the Groupe de Recherches Musicales (Musical Research Group) of the National Audiovisual Institute, Paris, France, GRM Tools is the result of numerous years of research and development by composers and sound designers in sound transformation software.

As all new GRM Tools (third generation), Classic is available in RTAS, VST and Audio Unit formats and can also be used in Stand-Alone mode.

GRM Tools Classic contains:
 

Comb Filters : five high-Q in-parallel comb filters
Delays : Up to 128 delays with modulation
Doppler : Move sounds with changes in pitch that correspond to their movement
Band Pass : Band pass or band reject filter with exceptionally steep slopes
Freeze : temporal freeze made of loops
Shuffling : Temporal shuffling of sound fragments
Pitch Accum : two independant transposers, with delays and modulation
Reson : up to 128 resonanting high-pass, low-pass or band-pass filters

What's new in version 3 ?

Agitation feature: Adds random variations to the processing parameters.
Window resizing: The plug-in window can be resized by clicking and dragging
Multi-format: VST, Audio Unit, RTAS plug-ins and Standalone application
MIDI control for all parameters
Multichannel output for Delays, Doppler, Reson and Shuffling
up to 24 seconds looping and 128 simultaneous loops for Freeze

Band Pass

This plug-in gives you a dynamically controllable electronic chisel to carve your way through the highs and lows of a sound. Create dramatic effects as you focus on the high or low frequencies in a sound, simulate analog subtractive synthesis techniques ... 

The 2DController, which is the ball in the center of the control window, functions like a handle to let you control lowpass and highpass filters together as a variable bandpass or bandreject filter. Left to right movement changes the center fequency. Top to bottom movement changes bandwidth. The bandwidth control is particularly effective because the filters have exceptionally steep slopes, creating sharp cutoffs and dramatic effects.

This plug-in will appear in a mono or stereo configuration depending upon whether the track is a mono or stereo track. In the stereo version, the two channels can be controlled independently or together.

Comb Filters

This plug-in lets you add power and resonance to a sound, transform a sound's timbre, smooth rhythmic sounds into long continuous sounds ...

A comb filter, in general, is a filter that resonates a selected frequency and all of the harmonics of that frequency. This plug-in gives you five high-Q in-parallel comb filters, controllable independently or in ensemble, plus five low-pass filters to control the highfrequency content of the output.

The freq sliders let you control the frequencies of each of the filters. The res sliders let you control the amount of resonance of each of the filters. The lp sliders let you control the cutoff frequencies of the lowpass filters, allowing you to control high- frequency content. The FREQ, RES, and LP sliders are the master sliders for the filters.

Delays

This plug-in lets you create and control any type of delay line from echo to reverberation to phase shift, soften instrumental attacks, create a wide variety of special effects ...

Delays consist of a set of delays which are variable from 0 to 6 seconds. Depending on the power of the processor, it is possible to have up to 128 simultaneous delays, whose amplitude and position are controlled. In the stereo version, the delays are assigned alternately to the left hand and right hand channels.

Doppler

This plug-in lets you move sounds through an audio space with changes in pitch that correspond to their movement. You can also transform sounds through loudspeaker modulation, create unusual vibrato effects ...

Doppler simulates the effect obtained by moving sound through a two-dimensional space. A sound moving closer to the hearer (placed in the centre of the two- dimensional slider) will be transposed upwards, while a sound moving away from the hearer will be transposed downwards. Movements follow the displacement of the two- dimensional cursor, to which may be added an automatic circular movement. Based on a physical propagation model, this processing also enables the obtaining of non- realistic results by the decoupling of variations in amplitude and in the Doppler effect.

Freeze

This plug-in lets you freeze a fragment of a sound and scrub through the fragment with loops of different sizes at different pitches ... Freeze is an algorithm for time freezing by looping into a 24-second zone. The read point, the time, the number of simultaneous loops (up to 128) and their synchronization are variable, as are read speeds. Freeze can be used to create rhythmic motifs, phasing effects, temporary time lags, and many other effects.

Pitch Accum

This plug-in lets you create two distinct shadows of a sound at different transposition levels and at different delay intervals.

Two independent and simultaneous transposers are used to transpose the pitch of an input sound. A pitch follower detects the pitch of the input sound and optimizes the transposition. The transposed sounds are then transformed with delays and modulations.

In the mono version, the same input signal is sent to both transposers. In the stereo version, the left channel of the input signal is sent to one transposer and the right channel is sent to the other.

Reson

This plug-in lets you create new sounds from current sounds by rebalancing and redistributing the sound's resonant frequencies.

Reson consists of a set of second order resonating filters. This type of filter amplifies a single frequency, giving very gentle resonances. Depending on processor power, it is possible to have up to 128 simultaneous filters, whose frequency, amplitude and resonance are controlled.

Shuffling

This plug-in lets you create an unusual resonance or reverberation, fill an audio space with overlapping fragments of a sound, turn a single voice into a crowd ...

The processing proposed here is based on a traditional practice of musique concr�te, which consisted of cutting up fragments of magnetic tape and sticking them back together in a different order, so as to introduce local disruptions into the signal, while preserving its global continuity.

Shuffling randomly samples fragments of variable dimensions in the last three seconds of the sound processed. It is possible to modulate the density of restitution of the fragments and their pitch. Depending on the size and density chosen, Shuffling enables a wide range of sound transformations : from the most conventional (chorus, flanger, harmonizer) to the most unexpected.

New features in version 3.5

AAX and 64 bit support

System Requirements

Starting with the 3.5 version an iLok is no longer required, an iLok dongle is no required for authorization. Those of you who prefer iLok can still use them for authorisation, the choice is up to you.

A VST, Audio Unit, RTAS or AAX host application for plug-in use.
Mac OS X 10.5 and 10.6 on Intel processor (32-bit) and (64-bit)
Windows XP SP2 and higher (32-bit) and (64-bit)