New Music Gear Monday: Oeksound Soothe Audio Processor Plugin

Dynamic processors are all the rage these days as well they should be. It’s a new approach to an old problem with a lot more control. Most dynamic processors are quite flexible and can be used on just about any kind of track, but the new Oeksound Soothe has a primary purpose, and that’s to help out a vocal track.

What is Soothe? It’s a dynamic equalizer with self-adjusting frequency band that analyzes the signal on the fly and adjusts the frequency based on the input. It’s mainly useful because it saves you from having to manually notch out problematic mid and high frequencies that occurs because of either the inherent response of the microphone or reflections in the room. The reduction kicks in when needed and where needed, without affecting the nearby frequency areas which helps keep the signal seemingly transparent.

Soothe is limited to mid and high frequencies, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a lot of uses. You can use it to decrease fingerboard noises on acoustic guitar, or excessive resonance from cymbal close mics, or overly bright electric guitar and piano tracks. Anywhere where you would normally notch out a frequency, Soothe can do it a lot better.

The five bands each have frequency, bandwidth and sensitivity controls, as will as depth (threshold), and sharpness and selectivity (that control how the reduction is applied) to allow you to fine-tune how the plugin works. There’s also a dynamic display that basically shows the thresholds of the various frequencies that also allow you to zero in on the exact settings required for the track.

Oeksound Soothe costs 149 Euros, but there’s a 14 day trial period so you can check it out. It’s also available for both Windows and Mac. Check out the website or the video below for more details.