The Oxymoronic Audio Plug-in

Related link: http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/trash/

First, we had digital emulations of acoustic instruments—way back in 1961, Max Mathews taught a computer to sing. Next, programmers used physical modeling and mathematical transforms to recreate beloved old analog synthesizers and effects in software (see below). Watching vacuum tubes on cathode-ray tubes (i.e., computer screens) was ironic, but resurrecting physical gear in software made sense. The virtual versions offered stability, repeatability, and significant savings in cost and space. And the sound was pretty good.

The groundbreaking Propellerhead ReBirth emulated two Roland TB-303 bass synthesizers, Roland TR-808 and -909 drum machines, and some effects to create a software techno studio. You can now downoad the program for free at the ReBirth Museum.

A more recent trend is digital emulations of digital gear. Korg, for example, makes a software version of its M1 synthesizer, which shook the world in 1988 but sounds harsh and rough today. (I remember thinking in ’88, “Wow. This is the future. I just wish it didn’t sound so bad now.”) I’m not sure why anyone would want an M1 today, except for nostalgia. Korg cites the instrument’s distinctive “character,” which is a valid point in some cases. Several synths, such as the 303, became classics because they tried so hard to emulate real-world instruments but failed in interesting ways. To me, though, the M1 came close enough to reality that today it’s more annoying than expressive.

But that’s the great thing about the explosion of software synthesizers: Somewhere out there is a musician who just loves the sound of any given program. Several years ago at the Project Bar-B-Q computer music conference, ace sound designer Jennifer Hruska was demonstrating the difference between a $4,000 synthesizer and the puny one in a cell phone. In her hands, both instruments were amazing, but the inherent sonic difference was dramatic. One guy in the audience carped, “What kills me is that somewhere, there’s some kid who thinks that cell phone sounds good.” Next to me, a talented 23-year-old techno musician was grinning widely. “I’m that kid!” he laughed.

I thought again about the ironic quest for audio fidelity when, leafing through a music gear catalog recently, I came across this plug-in:

Izotope Trash: hi-fi lo-fi.

The catalog blurb read, “Izotope Trash is an all-purpose distortion processor plug-in that uses high fidelity, 64-bit internal processing to selectively add subtle or extreme distortion to your tracks.” I love the oxymoronic concept of high-fidelity distortion. But I’ve gotta admit, it sounds pretty good....

What would you like to emulate?