The Stomp King SK-1 begins a new line of VST effect plug-ins offering a simple, easy to use stomp box format for those who don’t want masses of parameters to faff with. I’m aiming to launch a number of these new Stomp King effects exclusively on Planet Botch in the near future. I’m really excited about some of the ideas, and can’t wait to use the finished articles myself. Rather than spend ages tweaking the effects, I’ll post them as soon as I feel they fulfil my original intentions. If any glaring problems should arise, I’ll update the effects, or rework/replace them as necessary. For the above reasons, the Stomp King effects could be highly subject to change, replacement or whatever – so if you like the look of an effect as it stands, please don’t delay in downloading it. All the effects will be free – as regular visitors would expect.
THE SK-1
So, the first of the bunch… This is a vibrato unit which can be used with VST organs, electric pianos, clean electric guitar sounds, etc. Whilst at first it may appear that the SK-1 would be largely redundant with VST organs (most of which, afterall, have their own built-in vibratos), the fully variable nature of this outboard effect allows much greater scope for tailoring the sound to your exact needs. It’s quite surprising how much effect adjusting the vibrato rate and depth can have on the instrument’s character.
DOWNLOAD, INSTALLATION AND USE
Place the .dll file in your VST Plugins folder, and when you start your VST host it should detect the new software. If you normally have to add your VST instruments and effects manually, you’ll need to use the same process here.
Please be aware that the Stomp King effects are home-made products, released as freeware, with no guarantees of any kind. Every effort is made to ensure that the effects work well and enhance your recordings. However, they cannot be tested on a wide range of systems, and therefore there exists the potential for problems. In downloading, you agree to absolve Planet Botch of all responsibility should a problem of any kind arise as a result of you downloading, installing and/or using the .dll file.
Once the effect is installed, simply switch on the SK-1 by clicking its On/Off stomp component, then use the three parameter knobs to adjust the effect to taste. The SK-1 has digital readouts under its parameter knobs, allowing you to note your settings (and perhaps pass them on) when you dial in a combination you really like.
Here are some of the ways in which the SK-1 can be effectively used…
SETTINGS
Set Depth to 20, and Rate to 21 for a subtle movement which works well with electric piano sounds. You can tailor this further by setting the Dry/Wet balance in your VST host to around half and half. This mixes the original signal with the slow vibrato for a very pleasant and mild chorusing.
Set Depth to 40 and Rate to 50 for a classic electronic organ vibrato.
Set Depth to 46 and Rate to 75 for a fast electronic organ vibrato.
Set Depth to 60 and Rate to 22 for a slow vibrato which works well with clean guitar sounds. Again, adjusting the Dry/Wet balance in your VST host will add variety.
Set Depth to 25 and Rate to 0 for a very subtle ‘drift’ which can add retro personality to any instrument without the listener really gathering that a vibrato effect is being employed.
Set Depth to 10 and Rate to 42 for another interesting vibrato effect for electric pianos.
DOWNLOAD NOTICE
The software is no longer available from this, its original release venue. It was hotlinked here both via Google Sites hosting and via GitHub.
Google - "the cHaMpIoN oF aNtI-cEnSoRsHiP" - decided to censor everyone's files on Google Sites by deleting every last one of them. Except... when Google itself deletes shit, it's no longer called "censorship" - it's called "sunsetting". How cute.
Then Microsoft informed me it would lock me out of GitHub if I didn't cave to its bullshit "2FA" surveillance racket. So the GitHub has gone too. These were not the first hosting options I used for VST instruments on this blog, and there's a point beyond which one has to draw the line on repeatedly re-uploading and re-linking totally free contributions, on an unmonetised site.
