Recording - July 2014 - 46

elysia xfilter and nvelope

Which leads to the big question, "What
is impulse shaping?" In simple terms it is
similar to the envelope controls found on
many synthesizers, allowing you to sculpt
the attack and sustain/release of a sound
(the sudden attack of an acoustic sound is
called a transient; hence the original product's name). But impulse shaping can also
sound similar to a compressor's envelope
curve and it can even alter or enhance
equalization.
Yes, that's a lot of power, and with great
power comes great responsibility. This is
my dramatic way of saying that this
device is a complex beast that adds more
features and control to what the original
Transient Designer did. To get the most
enjoyment out of it, you'll have to master
it, and it does have a learning curve.

bite of the hi-hat and yet leaving everything else unaffected. It also works on a full
2-bus mix, allowing you to exaggerate
high end crispness and energy while taming and tightening the low end feel and
punch of the song... or vice versa!
The available frequency choices for
Attack are a broad 20 Hz all the way up
to 8 kHz while the Sustain frequencies
start at 50 Hz and go up to 15 kHz. I
should note that when in Full Range
Mode the Attack Frequency knob will
have an effect on the "feel" of the Attack,
while the Frequency knob in the Sustain
section does nothing.
As mentioned above, both channels
can be linked for stereo use as well as
hard-bypassed. Lastly when in Full Range
mode there is a button labeled Auto

The interface
The nvelope is a two-channel device,
but unlike the xfilter, the nvelope can be
run as two individual mono units, or it can
be linked for stereo use at the touch of a
button. In this mode, both the left and
right signals are controlled by the left
channel's settings.
Each matching channel has four controls and two modes of operation. In Full
Range mode the nvelope is most akin to
its Transient Designing ancestor; all sound
that travels through the device can have
its attack and its sustain increased or lessened with the corresponding knobs.
This is best used on individual sources,
most famously drums. For instance, you
can accentuate the attack of a drum hit
and dampen the booming sustain of the
same drum, or you can do the opposite.
An example would be taking a small 20"
kick drum and making it sound like a big
loose 24".
Different from its ancestor, the big
advancement in the nvelope is that when
taken out of Full Range mode and placed
in Dual Band Mode, both the Attack and
Sustain sections now offer a second knob
that allows you to zero in on and adjust the
attack and sustain at individual frequencies. This way you can, for instance, place
nvelope on a full drum mix and then adjust
the boom of the kick while also taming the

Gain. As you can guess, boosting the
attack or sustain of a sound may produce
increased energy and volume peaks.
Auto Gain levels those out and keeps
those boosts and bursts under control.
Like the xfilter, the nvelope also has an
extra trick up its sleeve-with the push of
one last button, it turns from an impulse
shaper into a shelving equalizer. In this
mode the Attack and Sustain knobs boost
or attenuate the frequencies chosen on
the Frequency knobs by up to ±15dB.
Unlike a typical shelving eq, these frequency choices are very broad with a
heavy amount of crossover, for a sort of
"Pultec" vibe.

46

RECORDING July 2014

In use
This is truly one of those boxes that I
did not know I wanted or needed until I
had it in my studio. As mentioned, it is a
natural on drums, and much of my use of
nvelope was on kick and snare, as well
as subtly tweaking the feel of a whole kit.
Like the xfilter, this is a finesse piece; I
found myself typically adding just a few
dB of attack to the snare as well as a little sustain, and then adding a bit more
click to the kick drum while tightening up
the boom, making it punchier in the mix.
On a whole drum mix in Dual Band
mode, I found the nvelope great for taming runaway hi-hats.
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Recording - July 2014

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