one knob, twenty seconds

vine killer tape dropout · wam-50

Vine Killer's drop-outs sound real when they follow the playing.

the knob

Rate sets how often they fire. Keep it low, so each one counts.

in the rack

Patch the gate output into the rack, and other modules can duck every time the tape fails.

the takeaway

A few drop-outs per phrase is plenty.

bicycles multipath phaser · wam-121

Bicycles' shortwave fading works best on sounds that hold still.

the knob

Spread sets the pace. Low is a slow swell, high is a ripple.

in the rack

Patch the sig jack out, and the rest of the rack can follow the fading.

the takeaway

Try calm mode on pads before you reach for flutter.

talk to me goose shortwave radio · wam-12

Talk To Me Goose needs a station before the noise.

the knob

Sweep tune slowly. The whistle follows, and the voices come and go.

in the rack

Keep drift low so the station holds, then bring chaos in for the moments it should break up.

the takeaway

Automate tune, and it sounds like someone at the dial.

bridge builder tape print-through · wam-48

Bridge Builder works best when you can barely hear it.

the knob

Tone brightens the ghosts. Keep it low, and they hide behind the piano.

in the rack

Put it before your reverb, so the ghosts sit in the same room as the note.

the takeaway

Dark, quiet ghosts are what make it sound like tape.

monster energy video-tube lo-fi · wam-46

Two scan rates set whether Monster Energy chops or whistles.

the knob

Low vertical scan gives a slow chop. Bring it up for buzz.

in the rack

Put it after a delay, and every repeat gets scanned a little differently.

the takeaway

Try it on pads first, where the chop has room.

saucerer telephone distortion · wam-15

With Saucerer, how loud you play matters most.

the knob

Limit sets where it cracks. Lower means it breaks on quieter words.

in the rack

Turn wear up on a long take. The more you push it, the sooner the cone gives out.

the takeaway

Push it hard, then rest it, and it heals.

audrey's architect nonlinear plate reverb · wam-114

Audrey's Architect changes with how hard you hit it.

the knob

Size up is a big, dark gong. Down is a small splash.

in the rack

Splash sets how much energy climbs into the shimmer after a hit. Bloom makes that climb stronger at the top.

the takeaway

It's built for drums, so start with a snare.

perennial plucked string resonator · wam-85

Perennial turns hi-hats into plucked strings with a pitch.

the knob

Tune sets the note. Pick one from the song's chord.

in the rack

Damp sets how fast the bright partials die. Sympath changes the input from a striker into a bow.

the takeaway

Short, noisy hits pluck the cleanest notes.

dox mug sitar resonator · wam-115

Dox Mug puts a sitar's buzzing bridge on anything.

the knob

Tune the string to the song's root, so the buzz drones in key.

in the rack

Curve reshapes the bridge. Gentle is a one-sided sitar twang, further is a two-sided snare rattle.

the takeaway

Clean input works best. Distortion hides the buzz.

furious wind granular scatter · wam-20

Furious Wind scatters a vocal and keeps its tone.

the knob

Short grains sparkle. Longer grains smear into a cloud.

in the rack

Pitch spreads each grain up to six semitones. A little gives shimmer, a lot gives a detuned crowd.

the takeaway

It holds the last half second, so it keeps up.

civsax granular texture · wam-90

Read CivSax's grains further back, and they trail behind you.

the knob

Position sets how far behind the playing the grains read.

in the rack

Size runs from stutter to smear. Turn feed up, and new grains get cut from the reverb of old ones.

the takeaway

Push feed on a swell, and it breaks into texture.

twitch soundie stutter glitch · wam-17

Twitch Soundie stutters on your hits, with no clock.

the knob

Trigger up catches quieter hits. Down, only the big ones.

in the rack

Length sets the slice. Short gives a buzz roll, long repeats a whole beat. Speed can run it backwards.

the takeaway

Wear makes each repeat a copy of a copy.

the librarian granular tape scrub · wam-54

The Librarian scrubs what you just played, forwards or backwards.

the knob

Fully down plays backwards. The middle stalls, then it runs forwards.

in the rack

Gene sets the grain size. Small grains sound gritty, big ones smear like slowed tape.

the takeaway

Park vari near the middle for a frozen buzz.

lagrangian bowtie transient remover · wam-124

Lagrangian Bowtie cuts the fronts off drum hits.

the knob

Threshold sets which hits get blanked. Lower catches more of them.

in the rack

Width sets the size of the hole, from a click to fifteen milliseconds. Splice smooths the edges until the cut disappears.

the takeaway

Flip polarity to keep only the bits it cut.

ping pong pool drifting auto-gain · wam-55

Use Ping Pong Pool where a compressor is too polite.

the knob

Drift sets how fast the duck sinks while the loud part lasts.

in the rack

It recovers three times slower than it sags, so whatever follows a loud section comes in squashed for a while.

the takeaway

Attack sets how fast it grabs a loud onset.

pewpew broken noise reduction · wam-52

Pewpew's mismatched noise reduction breathes. Two knobs set how much.

the knob

Encode sets the squeeze. Higher ratios make the breathing heavier.

in the rack

Decode sets the expansion error. Every dip on the line comes back as a deeper hole that hangs open.

the takeaway

Old cassette dubs are the natural place to start.