Full Tilt

Reverb decay, size and character variances between the Rear and Front arrays can be achieved using the vertical Tilt sliders associated with the Gravity, Size and Feedback controls—controls which, in different ways, all affect the decay time and shape of the tails. Moving Tilt up or down weights the value to the front and rear, respectively, while simultaneously scaling down the value for the opposite side. As a logical scenario, an example might be a shorter reverb in the front channels and a longer, more characterful reverb in the rear.

More variance can be achieved by creating different frequency responses for the Front, Top and Rear arrays using the simple but effective 3-band EQ.

There’s a lot more you will want to check out, like Freeze, Kill Dry, a terrific Morph function and tempo-synced Delay, all originally found on the stereo version of the plugin. New to both plugins are Kill Wet and a Loop Delay.

Micro-dosing

Since the original H910, Eventide-generated micro-pitched detuning effects have been used to add depth and richness to vocals, guitar, percussion and more on countless recordings.

The immersive implementation of MicroPitch is similar to that of Blackhole. The automatic up-mix, Crossfeed, Mixer, EQ and
Delay functions are identical. However, where Crossfeed is an additive parameter in Blackhole Immersive, independent of Feedback, Crossfeed scales off of the Feedback setting in MicroPitch Immersive.

You can dial up different detune amounts for the Left/Right, Front/Rear and Top/Main portions of the virtual space and associated speaker groups. On these controls, settings to the left of center shift values down for the left and up for the right, and shifts to the right do the opposite. You can offset the initiation of detuning with a Pre-delay that can be synced to the session tempo. All three detune controls have Tilt sliders that weigh the detune in one direction or the other of their orientation by scaling down the opposite sides.

A Feedback control progressively folds back more of the signal back into the effect. The Delay control setting determines the timing of the feedback. As with Pre-delay, it can be synced to the session tempo. In Pattern mode, Delay can be set to rotate left or right around the listener as it feeds back for ear-catching results.

You can also add modulation to the pitch shifters with controls for depth and rate, and six different LFO shapes: Triangle, Square, Sine, SawDown, SawUp and Random.

Immersed in Magic

These effects are well known for the broad range of gorgeous and/or edgy textures they can bring to a production. This is no surprise, as Eventide has excelled at digital pitch and time domain effects for decades—they all but invented the paradigm.

Though capable of realistic room, hall and plate-type reverbs, the strength of Blackhole is big, abstract spaces—the kind of spaces that shine in the immersive sound design milieu where they can subtly (or dramatically) unfold, lighting up the ambient corners of a surround soundscape. They are equally adept at enhancing modern music production of all kinds thanks to the size and distance cues in the various speaker arrays that open up a mix both sonically and emotionally.

The micro-pitch effect is what drew me to the Eventide Harmonizer family in the first place. The lovely chorusing and thickening it provides for vocals and acoustic guitars is like honey to my ears, and what it does to a synth bass is transformative. MicroPitch has become a true production mainstay, and its immersive implementation opens up many new sonic possibilities, effecting sources in the immersive space both subtly or to extremes as an obvious effect.

Both plugins come loaded with a generous supply of well-organized presets. Cycling through them will keep you occupied for days and help guide you through the ins and outs of creating effects tailored to your surround mixes.

Wrap Up

If you have made the move to immersive mixing, Eventide Blackhole and MicroPitch Immersive will unleash a ton of creativity as you imagine new immersive worlds in which your productions may live. The big thing to remember here is that both offerings accomplish their immersive task as singular unified plugins that integrate seamlessly into the immersive/Atmos environment, unlike trying to load, blend and balance multiple instances of a stereo plugin.

It’s gratifying to have a company like Eventide take the reins and bring its effects expertise to the forefront of the new immersive world.

Price: $299 each; 25% savings when purchased as a bundle

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