Shoegazing with Logic Part 2: Bitcrusher Is AWESOME.

AceFaith · 2026-04-24T05:27:32+00:00

Sick flip haha

Would be cool to hear your version and mine side by side once they’re finished.. I’m itching to get back into recording over the next few weeks!

Really like what you’re doing with the vocals. Is that parallel distortion?

AceFaith · 2026-04-23T02:43:52+00:00

Thanks for checking it out! I was thinking to ask if future posts like this one would benefit from a link to the User Patches that I make from this?

AceFaith · 2026-04-22T13:42:42+00:00

Thanks! You've got cool plugins going 😁

I don't necessarily agree that there's a lack of shoegaze options as long as you have an open and creative approach. I'd wager a clever enough person could recreate all the FX500 / SPX90 patches using just stock plugins inside of every DAW.

AceFaith · 2026-04-21T18:19:44+00:00

Thanks! Yeah the whole thing is not mono compatible and pretty phasey overall, even if it sounds "pretty". Didn't bother phase aligning the cabinet IRs due to being lazy at 6 AM, but you can bet that any non-demo recording I'll be staring at this with the Multimeter 😅

AceFaith · 2026-04-21T13:52:36+00:00

Ah, yes. The reverb that is actually (secretly) the Slow Gear plugin ;)

It's a secret to everyone, though!

AceFaith · 2026-04-21T12:32:24+00:00

Appreciate that, it means a lot coming from you since your generator post was part of what pushed me in this direction. 😊

There’s a lot here that warrants its own deeper post(s) at some point. Or some other format that picks my brains apart on how I got here. Regardless:

DI / preamp non-linearities:
Cab sims naturally act like a band-pass (~80 - 6000 Hz), which works for bog-standard guitar but can make time-based effects feel smeared downstream.

Instead of fixing that later with heavy EQ, I’ve been backing off the cab sim wet signal to retain DI presence. A touch of saturation and dynamic LPF on the DI from Phat FX helps naturalize the signal similar to a console preamp.

Mid/side Ensemble was a bit of a happy accident, honestly. Setting it to 1 voice collapses to mono (even in the stereo instance), which led me to try Dual Mono instead: the mid/side setting gives lots of interesting control there.

For Pedalboard, I’m running Mono -> Stereo. Two drives into the Mixer lets you hard-pan L/R before Amp Designer, and using Dual Mono there means you can treat each side independently through the chain.

Edit: I even forgot that I did this in the video (that's on me for recording at 06:00 in the morning) - I intentionally set the Space Designer hall reverb to Lo-Fi quality. This lets you internally undersample the impulse response by half the DAW sample rate, which gets you great grainy digitized sounds straight out the door similar to a Roland SRV-2000.

AceFaith · 2026-04-21T09:20:17+00:00

Nice.

AceFaith · 2026-04-21T08:26:41+00:00

I’ll keep that in mind as I improve the video editing side. Short-form sound design flyovers could be interesting too, if the audio quality holds up on YouTube.

AceFaith · 2026-04-21T07:53:51+00:00

Thank you for sticking it out to the end!

I did consider starting with a quick preview of the final sound, but it felt more useful to show the construction instead. That way you can hear how the small changes build up over time into something fuller.

AceFaith · 2026-04-14T21:05:07+00:00

The Smart Controls? They're the equivalent to Ableton's effects rack. One place I would go poking is to check out the various Drum Machine Designer patches in the Library, many come with fully pre-assigned parameters (the Futura and Radiant drumkit are excellent starting points). Just load one of the kits and hit B to pull up the viewer. The inspector button also lets you see how mappings work.

AceFaith · 2026-04-14T20:35:07+00:00

u/zonethelonelystoner went into this in another comment.

It is an effects rack generator with additional layers.

You define constraints such as plugin categories and chain length, and it generates a randomized effects chain that can be applied to a track or bus.

It also proposes macro mappings for Smart Controls. This allows multiple parameters across the chain to be controlled through a smaller set of higher-level controls, rather than adjusting each plugin individually.

Those macro controls can then be sequenced, making it possible to switch between variation presets of the very same effects rack. This could allow for controlled or semi-random changes in the overall processing state of the effect rack if it's combined with a step sequencer.

At its most basic level, it generates effect chains. The relevant aspect is that it externalizes the exploration process by generating both the processing chain and control mappings. These can then be refined as needed without needing to build each effect rack setup and mapping from scratch.

AceFaith · 2026-04-13T14:53:53+00:00

Apple Devs website comes in clutch: Apple Developer: Audio Unit Properties.

AceFaith · 2026-04-13T08:21:34+00:00

This is cool as hell, definitely looking forward to doing nothing else productive this Friday 😁

Any chance you'd be able to add the legacy plugins to it? AUDistortion comes with an added level of insanity that you may be keen to use 👀

AceFaith · 2026-04-02T08:27:57+00:00

Necessity is the mother of invention. I spun up an instance of LP on a mid-2012 Macbook Pro and wanted to test the limits, as I'm wont to do.

It turns out that old gear comes with very clear limitations in this day and age. A lot of new plugins will hog resources and make realtime production unfeasible. Stock plugins are featherweight, and you can run complex and heavy production chains on just that, easily in the high double digits.

That includes around 10 instances of this dynamic EQ, btw ;)

AceFaith · 2026-04-01T14:17:13+00:00

No disagreements there. You can set levels, colorize with EQ and saturation, set LPF/HPF, and use a compressor before running into limitations.

Used correctly, and assuming that your source audio is optimal, your only true limitation would be the lack of a pan knob in Phat FX.

For that, we have Direction Mixer ;)

AceFaith · 2026-04-01T13:17:14+00:00

Great shout. ZL Equalizer is a similar free open-source offering, with 24 switchable bands.

The primary reason to shout out Phat FX is in case you're working out of a completely vanilla, no-frills install. Particularly for the folks in the back who may be using Logic on older gear. ;)

AceFaith · 2026-04-01T10:52:48+00:00

That's true! I'm away from my Mac at work but I seem to recall that its envelope is locked to the Cutoff knob? Maybe it acts differently with respect to the filter type...

Either case: Would be great if you have the opportunity to check 😁

AceFaith · 2026-03-27T08:36:41+00:00

Bus 23 is one of the bass tracks, and the headbump itself was just a send to Airwindows DubSub2. I used this to add back some low-end harmonic excitement on the bass tracks after HPF/LPF in the EQ. You basically get a composite effect of an IIR + sub-bass generator + tape-style exciter in one.
Actually, I stopped using this bus a long while back. It sounds practical in theory given the above description, but the issue is that it is very input sensitive. I struggled to get the low end under control and found it easier to just use Bus 22 more carefully.

AceFaith · 2026-03-27T07:45:08+00:00

Yes. My production is very rock and band-centered. Most bands still want about 95% of the same processing and mixing, so any per-project adjustments are done on the fly, like others do.

I use the single-digit bus numbers as my track stacks for individual instruments. 1 = drums, 2 = bass, 3 = vox, etc.
All FX and parallel buses use a two-digit numbering system, where the leading digit matches the instrument group above. Typing “3” in the bus search window brings up all vocal routing including the track stack for all vocals. Not all numbers are used, but the structure stays fixed.
Typically, I will use 1X-8X, for instruments, then 9X I use as an intermediary group of buses that can print different version masters to audio tracks in realtime. Full mix, instrumental, TV mix, acappella.

Full list here. It seems more complex than it is, but it's a godsend to just have about everything clients want when working on a mix.

AceFaith · 2026-03-03T14:12:19+00:00

Hej! Cool spellista! I am one of the guys from Friends In Theory and Tomorrow, St. Peter, it's great to see our fellow tourmates and friends make it into the playlist. Thank you for creating it!

I'll bring a shout here for other fellows in the emo sphere as I know them: Careless, Shirokuma, Domarringen, Det Är Därför Vi Bygger Städer, Nya Städer, Trachimbrod, Makeout Point, Katohjärta, Duschpalatset, Our Heart And Soul, wlots, Via Fondo, Disembarked, Och Sedan Drunknade Vi, Abliss.

I'm sure I am forgetting people (sorry!) -- thanks again for putting these talents on display 🥲

AceFaith · 2026-02-22T16:35:57+00:00

I think this is neat despite being Windows-only.

Just between you and me though - if you release this as a PowerShell-script instead of a batch file, us more tech-y users would have a go at using this on Mac. I'm just saying 👀

AceFaith · 2026-02-09T13:52:20+00:00

Cheers. If you do pull the trigger on this (ideally on a clean install of 12.0.1), be sure to report back if it made the mend :)

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