Phlegetron

VST Effects plugin

Phlegetron is a multi-distortion effect that works across dual bands, with the bands either separated by a crossover filter or split into separate harmonic "bins". By adjusting the frequency of the split, you can emphasize different harmonic frequencies and carefully tune the effect to target a deliciously nasty zone inside your mix.

All of Phlegetrons parameters can be automated for maximum control and flexibility.

Controls

There are quite some elements within the UI and while they will be explained here, it is encouraged to tweak through experimentation to discover some happy accidents. Depending on the character of the input signal and the parameters of the distortion, you can get highly different results.

Phlegetron works best on harmonically rich content (though it happily turns everything into a hard clipped square wave should you like it).

Split frequency and mode

Where frequency is represented by the large center dial and the mode switch by the slider directly below. When the mode is set to cross, the bands are split by crossover frequency, allowing you to distort the low and high bands differently. When the mode is set to harm, the signal is split into harmonics "bins" with one containing all harmonic overtones of the selected frequency, where the other contains the rest.

Depending on the used distortions and their particular parameter configurations, the sound can drastically change between these modes where the behaviour is affected by the sound sources.

Distortion modes

The dials on either side of the large frequency dial control the distortion mode of the lower and upper bands. There are five modes:

  • off bypasses the distortion (for instance to keep the low end clean)
  • shape a wave shaper providing a harmonic distortion
  • fold a wave folder creating complex harmonics by folding peaks back instead of clipping them
  • fuzz a hard clipping, saturated distortion tuned to create spluttering sounds on dying notes
  • crush loud digital distortion with quantization artifacts

Distortion controls

The three sliders available to both distortion bands are:

  • input level controls the volume going into the distortion effect, which can affect the distortion character or overall output level
  • drive controls the amount of distortion applied to the signal
  • modifier controls different properties depending on the selected distortion mode

Distortion mode-specific modifiers

The modifier controls the following properties per distortion mode:

  • shape controls the shape of the curve applied to the signal
  • fold controls the threshold at which the waveform folds back onto itself
  • fuzz controls the cutoff threshold at which the signal is gated
  • crush controls the amount of bit reduction applied to the down sampled signal

Link and mix

  • link makes the upper distortion parameters mirror the lower distortions params for unified control. The frequency splitting is still operational allowing harmonic sculpting of the distortion.
  • dry / wet mix allows you to balance a blend of the input (dry) signal with the distorted (wet) signal.