6 Bands-M & -S)

Bands-M and 6 Bands-S are “equalizers” made of 6 bands, with a phase inverter per band.

This device is based on the “5 bands” bandpass filter for synths, with changes to make it work like an equalizer or more exactly a “multiband filter” with gain per band. In a nutshell, what you have to know is the following:

• To change the frequencies, you first set the “Base” (lowest band”), then apply the “Gap” between each band. The Gap is a multiplier, and the displayed value does not reflect the exact multiplication. For example, to multiply by 2, you should use a value of 3.192 (or 3.200). However, I never use the Gap like this. I set it by sweeping it over the whole range of frequencies and stopping where I like it better. One good tip is that it is well set when the sound “does not resonate”, even though resonance could be exactly what you prefer.
• It uses single poles crossfade-filters, (6dB non-resonant LP/HP). This makes it easier to use the Phase Invert function of each band so it has an obvious effect.
• The overlapping frequencies between 2 bands will be cancelled by phase inverting one of them. It is a little bit like having a “band-reject” filter exactly between two bands.
• The Phase Invert (“Ph”) should be used “in the mix” because it will sound much better like that. If you solo the sound, it may sound harsh when it was “creamy” seconds ago. This is probably because the canceled portions of the sound are not “filled” with frequencies from other sounds from your mix.
• The 6-Bands-S is great to make a basic sound become sophisticated in the “3D plane”. It can also pan a single sound according to its frequencies.

An included insert allows adding a dynamic effect to Band 1 or 2 (basses). A good choice is the SC-C compressor.

The stereo version also includes a Pan per band.

Download it from the BB3 Download page