SERPENT w/ Nasko (plugdata)

SERPENT is a versatile all-in-one sidechain ducker, combining sample-accurate volume & sub ducking with intuitive bipolar ringmod sidechaining.

This plugdata patch is the result of me and Nasko combining our efforts to make the ideal sidechaining tool, which comes as a Patch in PLUGDATA, available as VST3, LV2, CLAP or AU.

Released in tandem with Nasko, this patch is available for free both on this page, as well as Nasko's Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/Naskomusic/posts/serpent-174590971

A special shoutout goes to the team behind plugdata and the maintainer Timothy Schoen. Both plugdata and Serpent are free, but we encourage supporting Timothy over at Github

FEATURES 

• 3 ducking methods: volume, sub, ring mod.
• Real-time visual updates even without playback.
• Audio triggering via a custom transient detection algorithm.
• MIDI triggering option, disabling and overriding transient detection.
• Adjustable lookahead pre-fade curve up to 10ms including latency compensation.
• Bipolar ring mod sidechaining including waveshaping and symmetrical smoothing.
• Easy to use MSEGs for volume & low shelf ducking, custom-made by Nasko
• gate mode for parallel sidechain ducking, preventing serial latency build-up.

Our low-shelf ducker uses a linear phase filter powered by a custom lowend FIR kernel generator, designed to efficiently isolate lowend & achieving -infdB sub ducking! This avoids any constant phase shift from band splitting found in classic crossover filters.

With the dedicated sub envelope, you get more control over the ducking shape than any conventional dynamic EQ.

The ring mod sidechain section is equipped with extra control for shaping & taming the effect:

• Controls for adjusting RM sidechaining happening above & below the volume envelope.
• a custom smoothing algorithm by Nasko.
• shaping the RM signal with an inflator/deflator (waveshaper) for a
  stronger & fuller or more subtle & tighter effect.
• an envelope that scales the amount of RM sidechain across time.

Read more from the official manual over at Nasko's Patreon page!

The process started from continuing off of where Borrasca Sidechainer left off, but with Nasko bringing his ideas and DSP & UI expertise aboard. Nasko really drove this thing home and was able to work on this full time thanks to his Patreon supporters. Serpent was in the works for over a year before the first beta, partly because I took months of time off due to work-related stress; Nasko was patient and returned to work on this as soon as I felt ready to continue too.