Hello, this is Jooyoung Kim, music producer and audio engineer.
Today, Heavyocity has released a new set of plugins called MicroFX.
(By purchasing through the links in this post, I receive a small commission that helps support the blog. Thanks to everyone who makes a purchase!)
Heavyocity is known for selling virtual instruments and effects plugins, especially well-suited for film and video music production. However, the new MicroFX plugins can be used for a variety of purposes beyond those genres.
There are three plugins in the series:
- Obscene (Distortion)
- Filter
- Shimmer
Let’s take a closer look at each of them.
Obscene
Obscene true to its name, this plugin delivers a powerful, in-your-face distortion effect.
There are three types of distortion to choose from: BLASTER, CRUSHER, and NUKE.
- BLASTER offers a guitar pedal-style distortion.
- CRUSHER adds bitcrushing to the distortion.
- NUKE provides a fuzz-like distortion.
On the graph, the X-axis controls the amount of distortion, while the Y-axis adjusts ring modulation and internal filtering.
You can activate the Mod function, and by double-clicking on the screen, you can place points, which are influenced by the speed settings on the right. You can place up to 15 points.
When you adjust Movement, the frequency response and harmonics change over time. The Tone control acts like a tilt EQ, while Feedback may seem subtle at first but becomes more noticeable as the distortion increases. The large knob at the bottom center is the Mix control.
Filter
Filter is a simple but versatile plugin.
In this case, the X-axis controls the cutoff frequency, and the Y-axis adjusts the resonance.
Through the buttons below the central knob, you can choose which filters to apply to the high and low frequencies.
By clicking the center of the interface, you can choose whether to link the filters in series, parallel, LR (left/right), or MS (mid/side) modes.
When you adjust Movement, the frequency response and harmonics change over time. The Tone control acts like a tilt EQ, while Feedback may seem subtle at first but becomes more noticeable as the distortion increases. The large knob at the bottom center is the Mix control.
Shimmer
Shimmer reverb will be covered in more detail in my upcoming blog post on the basics of mixing. It’s a reverb plugin that incorporates pitch modulation, producing a bright, extended effect.
This shimmering, elongated reverb is particularly popular in instrumental and cinematic music, especially on guitars.
Shimmer captures that classic sound well.
The X-axis controls the blend of the pitch-shifted delay, while the Y-axis adjusts various internal reverb parameters to shape the overall tone.
The buttons on the lower left let you shift the pitch an octave down, an octave up, or both.
The Size, Decay, and Mod knobs function like typical reverb controls, so I won’t explain those further.
Dynamic is a fader that adjusts the internal dynamics. Pulling it to the left applies an expander to the reverb’s input and output, while pushing it to the right activates a ducking compressor.
Summary
All three plugins are well-crafted and highly useful for sound design. If you’re interested, I recommend checking them out!
These plugins are priced at $42.9 each, or $108.9 for the bundle. Additionally, if you purchase from Plugin Boutique this month, you’ll receive either the Pyros distortion plugin or Bloom Vocal Aether Lite for free.
Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next post! 🙂
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