Advert characteristic with Cause Studios/LANDR
Cause has all the time felt like one thing of an outlier within the manufacturing world, largely because of its digital {hardware} Rack. Hit the flip button, and also you’ll uncover patch factors, CV connections, and a tangled spaghetti of animated cables, all able to be rerouted as you please. This distinctive strategy to music-making has earned Cause a devoted following since its launch in 2000.
Earlier this 12 months, LANDR acquired Cause Studios, marking a brand new chapter for certainly one of music manufacturing’s extra idiosyncratic names.
For these but to expertise mentioned idiosyncrasy, the just lately launched Cause Free makes for an attractive introduction. The bundle places 15 totally purposeful Cause units – 4 devices, 5 results, and 6 utilities – contained in the DAW you already use at zero price, with no trials, expirations, watermarks, or strings connected.
As soon as put in, Cause Rack hundreds as a VST3, AU, or AAX plugin in a DAW, which means there’s no have to abandon the workflow you already know. However Cause Free also can run as a slimmed-down 16-track model of the Cause DAW, full with its hardware-inspired mixer that features per-channel EQ, filtering, compression, and gating.
The Rack plugin is available in instrument and impact variations, relying if you wish to generate sound or course of incoming audio. I load the instrument model onto a MIDI observe in my important DAW, and Cause’s acquainted skeuomorphic rack cupboard seems, able to be crammed with units.
Cause Free consists of 4 devices, however the flagship Europa Shapeshifting Synthesizer appears like the apparent place to start. Highly effective but accessible, its three unbiased engines provide a singular mixture of synthesis methods together with digital analogue, wavetable, spectral, bodily modelling, and FM.
I familiarise myself by touring the collection of 600 various presets. Whereas wavetable synthesis typically veers in the direction of onerous, glassy, or digital tones, I’m instantly struck by Europa’s natural character, particularly evident in its tender, textural pad patches.
As I begin to pull the patches aside, Europa’s depth turns into clear. There’s an enormous vary of wavetables, a number of methods to morph and manipulate them, plus a versatile modulation system plus semi-modular results part. It’s a sound designer’s dream, and Europa alone makes Cause Free value a obtain.
I start to discover the consequences bundled with Cause Free, beginning with the Scream 4 Distortion. Initially aggressive and unwieldy, it may be tamed, however I’m extra taken with its much less standard algorithms – Suggestions, Warp, and Modulate – that make my patch far much less predictable. By now I’m firmly within the Cause mindset, so I flip the rack and begin connecting cables.
Cause Free consists of the Pulsar Twin LFO utility for deeper modulation duties, however Europa also can route its personal inside mod sources to 4 CV outputs. I ship two of its LFOs and the Key supply into Scream 4’s parameters, creating rhythmic distortion that responds to the notes I play.
Not each connection produces one thing you’ll wish to hold, however after some time it’s straightforward to unearth one thing characterful sufficient to construct a complete observe round.
Perhaps because of this Cause endures. Its workflow encourages me to drop a number of issues in and consider an attention-grabbing technique to make them work together. I’m nudged in a extra playful route; the Rack’s immediacy compels me to design sounds with extra depth and motion than regular, however doing so feels immediate, thrilling, and remarkably addictive.
There are three different devices to discover in Cause Free. The ID8 Songwriter’s Toolbox supplies ready-to-go sounds akin to a ROMpler, whereas the Monotone Bass Synthesizer handles low finish and leads. Lastly, Kong Drum Designer covers the rhythm part, with varied sample- and synth-based approaches to creating kits.
Once more, Cause’s patching makes these units immensely compelling. I plug a Pulsar Twin LFO module into Kong’s gate inputs, creating meditative, off-kilter drum loops devoid of quantisation and predictability. Pulsar may even output its oscillators as audio, opening the door to extra experimental patches constructed from the essential elements of synthesis.
One other impact inside Cause Free is the Audiomatic Retro Transformer, with one-knob management that immediately locations your sound inside a brand new period or area. There are 16 fashions to select from; extra refined choices like Tape, VHS, or Hello-Fi are good for including the ending touches to a patch, whereas settings like mp3, Gadget, and Cracked can totally degrade your sign into mulch when pushed. Customers additionally get lush convolution-powered reverb by way of the RV7000 mkII, The Echo for traditional, dubby tape delay paying homage to the fabled RE-201, and the MClass Maximizer for enhancing dynamics.
In any case, Cause Free has captured my creativeness. There’s an incredible quantity of risk inside this modest assortment of units, and I may sink hours exploring the various 1000’s of how to patch them collectively.
Cause Free will undoubtedly give some customers a style for extra. That’s the place Cause’s paid choices are available.
A Cause 14 perpetual licence is at present £299 and consists of the DAW and plugin, or you should buy the plugin just for £199. With each, customers get 68 Cause Rack Gadgets and over 50,000 samples, loops, and patches.
Subscription plans can be found too, which embody all 93 Cause Rack Gadgets plus new sound packs added weekly. The plugin-only model prices £8.25/month, whereas Cause+ for £10.14/month consists of the DAW, Rack plugin, and quite a lot of LANDR instruments together with limitless AI stem separation, AI mastering, and distribution.
Obtain Cause Free at present to get 15 legendary units in your DAW, without end.
James is a contract author for MusicTech. You may typically discover him pushing plugins to their limits, skimming by means of the newest pattern packs, or obsessively watching Rig Rundowns. With a background in stay music, he additionally loves discovering elegant options to complicated issues — particularly in terms of gear.
