NorthPole™ is a free effects plug in for Steinberg's Cubase VST on Mac. It will add a fully programmable virtual analog synthesizer filter with resonance, envelope follower and an integrated post-filter digital delay to your Cubase VST environment.
This plug in was written by Frederic Schelling and me, Stephan Sprenger. We both are software developers at PROSONIQ and did this during our free time and for the pure fun of it.
Please: as this is not a commercial software product but rather a free piece of software we thought you might find useful, please understand that neither PROSONIQ nor Steinberg will provide any customer support for it, so please don't deluge them with bug reports and do not pose any questions to the support division at PROSONIQ or Steinberg. If you experience any problems, you can send a bug report to <morph@prosoniq.com> and we will try to help you out. You may also turn to the relevant newsgroup <alt.steinberg.cubase> and post your problems there. We visit this newsgroup every now and then and will answer your questions there if we can. Make sure you visit our companie's web site at <http://www.prosoniq.com> every now and then to get the latest info on our commercial plug ins (end of paid advertisement ;-) ).
Features
This free plug in equips your VST environment with a fully programmable resonant filter. In short, you can send any of your VST tracks through this 'virtual analog' effects device to either create special effects or to simulate the behaviour of an analog 4-pole synthesizer filter.
It has the following specifications:
• 24dB/Octave (4 pole)
• variable Cutoff + Resonance
• Lowpass/Bandpass switchable
• Envelope Follower with adjustable sensitivity
• Envelope attack/release times
• Adjustable analog distortion
• Adjustable digital delay after filter with time, mix and feedback parameters
This plug in is completely free and works without limitation.
IMPORTANT: This plug in is FreeWare so please don't expect our distributor to provide any kind of support for it. However, feel free to send your comments via email to <morph@prosoniq.com> and tell us how you like it.
Installation
All you need to do in order to use this plug in is to copy it to the 'VstPlugIns' folder on your harddisk containing your VST application. After restarting Cubase VST, the '• NorthPole' plug in will show up in the list of modules in the VST effects rack. Please make sure you copy the NorthPole plug in to the directory 'VstPlugIns', otherwise VST will fail to load the plug in and you cannot use it from within the VST environment.
Effect routing setup
As you will most probably be interested in sending a complete track through the NorthPole filter plug in rather than having both the original and processed version appear in the output, you should set up your VST routing in the following manner. Since VST as of version 3.5 does not support insert effects, you have the following two options:
Master Effect: NorthPole needs to replace your audio data and is not really intended as an add-on effect (like a reverb for example) - although this can also sound cool in some cases. It can therefore work as a master effect. To use it as such, simply proceed as described in your VST manual.
Using the send/return path: To use the plug in for a single channel, you have to switch the channel mode to 'pre' and turn down the volume of that channel by setting the channel slider to its minimum.
Otherwise you will get a mixture of the original and processed version. Set the effects send knob to fully maximum and turn on the effect in the effects rack. In order to make it work, you also have to set the effect's input volume in the effects rack to any value greater 0. You will now hear the effects signal only, as required.
Please spread the word about NorthPole™ and upload it to any relevant on-line services and bulletin board systems that do not already have it.
You expressly acknowledge and agree that use of NorthPole™ is at your exclusive risk. NorthPole™, any related files and documentation are provided “AS IS” and without any warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.
System Requirements
NorthPole™ requires a pre-installed Cubase VST version 3.02 or higher on an Apple PowerMacintosh or 100% compatible system. System version and other prerequisites as required by Cubase VST. Although the NorthPole™ plug in is not (yet) particularly optimized, it requires very little processing power and should therefore work on any machine that is able to run VST. This plug in will not work on a PC. A PC compatible version will require explicit porting to that platform, see my web page at <http://www.prosoniq.com/sms/sprenger.html> for details on this.
We make no warranty, express or implied, concerning the reliability of this product, and accept no responsibility for any damages caused by use or misuse of this program. All trademarks and registered trademarks are property of their respective holders.
IN NO EVENT WILL PROSONIQ PRODUCTS SOFTWARE GmbH BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES RESULTING FROM ANY DEFECT IN THE PRODUCT, INCLUDING LOST PROFITS, DAMAGE TO PROPERTY AND, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, DAMAGE FOR PERSONAL INJURY, EVEN IF PROSONIQ HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
All features and specifications subject to change without notice.
