boz-n DIGITAL LABS ReCoil Spring Reverb Plugin User Guide
- October 30, 2023
- boz-n DIGITAL LABS
Table of Contents
ReCoil Spring Reverb Plugin
Usage Instructions
- Install ReCoil by downloading and running the installer.
- Register ReCoil by providing your username and serial number or use the plugin in trial mode.
- Select the desired format for ReCoil during installation.
- Use ReCoil’s preset menu to save and organize presets. Presets can be shared across formats, computers, and operating systems.
- Customize ReCoil’s default settings by right-clicking the Save Preset icon.
- Undo or redo changes made to the plugin by selecting the appropriate buttons.
- Access information about ReCoil and this user manual by selecting About.
- Add notes to ReCoil using the Notepad function to keep track of changes made to your projects.
- Enable or bypass the entire plugin using the Plugin Enable switch.
Background
Thank you for purchasing ReCoil. This plugin is the result of way too many
hours deep diving into why spring reverbs sound the way they do.
Spring reverbs have a very distinct sound, unlike any other reverb, and they
have sort of solidified a place in our music as distinctly “vintage” sounding
reverbs. But like most vintage gear, springs home with some pretty hefty
limitations. Other than blend and EQ, spring reverb units don’t give any
control to the user. You have your springs and you don’t get to adjust the
decay or tension. Whatever they built in the factory is what you get.
This is where ReCoil comes in. ReCoil gives you the best of the digital and
analog worlds. You get clean, noise free spring reverb and you get to control
the nitty gritties of the springs.
– Boz Millar
System Requirements
- Mac: 10.13 or higher
- Windows: 7 or higher
- RAM: 2GB
- Hard Drive Space: 150mb
Available Formats
This plugin is available in 64 bit versions of each format. It is available in the following formats:
| Mac | VST2, VST3, AU, AAX Native |
|---|---|
| Windows | VST2, VST3, AAX Native |
Installation
Download and run the installer. During the installation, you can choose which formats you would like to install.
Registration
The first time you run ReCoil, it will ask you for your username and serial
number. You can find this information in your downloads page. If you do not
have a serial number and you would like to demo the plugin you can press
“Continue Trial” to use the plugin in trial mode.
Downloads page URL: https://www.bozdigitallabs.com/my-account/downloads/
Trial Mode
When ReCoil is in trial mode, you can use all of the plugin’s functionality.
The only difference is that it will not save its settings when you close and
reopen the plugin. The preset save function is also disabled, but the default
presets will still load.
Top Bar
Presets
- ReCoil comes equipped with its own preset menu. To save a preset, just hit the `Save’ icon next to the preset menu, type the name of the preset and hit enter. If you enter a name of an existing preset, the old preset will be overwritten.
- Presets can be organized into sub menus by sorting them into folders in your finder/explorer window. Note that the preset menu only supports one layer of sub folders, so if you put presets inside a folder that is inside a folder, the preset scanner will not find them.
- Presets are shareable across formats, computers and operating systems. This means that if you save a preset in your DAW in OSX, you can send that preset file to a friend who uses a different DAW on Windows and it will work exactly the same.
- For convenience, you can scroll through the presets by hitting the next/previous buttons.
Default Settings
You can customize the default settings of the plugin. If you want to change
the default settings of the plugin, right-click the “Save Preset” icon.
Undo/Redo
You can click the undo/redo buttons to step through the changes you have made
to the plugin.
About
Open up the About page where you can access this user manual and other
information about the plugin.
Notepad
This is a simple text box that lets you put notes for your plugin. In a
complex mix, it’s easy to forget why you added an effect. This lets you write
a short description to keep your project organized.
Extended Notepad
Click the “down” arrow in the notepad header to expand a larger notepad where
you can write more detailed notes if necessary. Click the “up” arrow to close
this window.
Plugin Enable
This switch enables/bypasses the entire plugin.
The Controls
For quick reference, ReCoil provides a short description of each control when you hover your mouse over any knob or button. This manual will give you a more in depth understanding of what these controls do.
- Wet: This controls the level of the reverb. Click on the light to enable/disable the wet sound.
- Dry: This controls the level of the dry signal. Click on the light to enable/disable the dry sound.
- Pre-Delay: This adds a delay to the reverb. A little bit of pre-delay can help separate the dry sound from the wet sound without sounding “delayed.” Once the pre-delay value goes above about 100ms, it will start to sound like a delay.
- Width: This adjusts the width of the reverb. Rather than using pseudo-widening algorithms to add width, ReCoil pans the separate springs in different directions. When the number of springs is set to “1” the width will have no effect on the sound because a single spring cannot have width. When the number of springs is set to 2 or greater, the width knob will control how wide those springs are panned. This provides a much more natural width sound, while maintaining the same character of the spring reverb model when summed to mono.
EQ Section
The EQ section lets you shape the tone of the reverb sound. The EQ is designed
to be more of a tone shaping EQ to give quick character shaping adjustments
rather than a precision eq. This makes it quick to adjust the broad tonal
characteristics of the reverb.
-
HPF
Use this to cut down on the low frequencies. Our models kept the original low frequency content of the spring units we measured. This low frequency content can easily build up, making the reverb sound cluttered and dense. Do not be afraid to use the high pass filter liberally. It’s meant to be used in most situations. -
LPF
Use this to cut out the high frequencies. Spring reverb can be a bit metallic (literally) and sometimes you just need to tone down the high frequencies to keep it from being too harsh. -
Bright
This is a tilt filter that lets you adjust the brightness of the reverb. Turning to the left thickens the sound, turning to the right brightens it. -
Mids
This band is designed to cut the “voice” sections out of the reverb. Sometimes you want the reverb loud, but don’t want it to crowd the dry sound too much. Use this to carve some space so you can blast your reverb without hiding the dry sound.
Spring Selection
The springs in ReCoil come in 2 varieties: Algorithmic and Impulse. Each method has its pros and cons, so we included both to let you decide what works best for your music.
-
Springs
This lets you select the number of springs in your reverb. The more springs, the more diffuse the reverb will be. -
Algorithmic
These springs are best if you want full control over the details of your spring reverb. These use a combination of filters, delays and all sorts of other behind the scenes tricks to create a spring reverb sound. We studied a huge array of springs to figure out what was going on that gave them their sound and created an algorithm that does just that. It doesn’t sound exactly like the spring that it models, but it’s pretty darn close, and you can adjust it to your heart’s content. -
Length
This controls how long it takes the sound to travel up and down the spring. Increasing the length increases the time between each wave reflection on the spring. -
Tension
This adjusts how tight the spring is pulled. As it’s pulled tighter, it gets a bit brighter and and less boingy. -
Decay
This adjusts how quickly the reverb decays. -
Boing
This adjusts how boingy or diffuse the reverb is. -
Impulse
These springs are like taking a snapshot of a real spring and applying it to your sound. They sound just like having the same physical spring reverbs we have here, but they are more limited in what adjustments can be made. If ultra-hyper-realistic spring reverb is what you are going for, then these are the springs you want to choose. -
Quality
Choose between Low, Medium and High quality impulse. In High Quality mode, you get the entire reverb tail, but it will be harder on your CPU and you may experience crackling sounds, especially at low latency. As you decrease the quality, the reverb tail will be cut shorter, but it will be lighter on your CPU. -
Length
This adjusts the speed of the impulse. Shortening the length will result in a shorter, brighter sounding reverb. Bringing it up will result in a darker longer reverb.
Credits
Plugin concept and design: Boz Millar Graphic design: Boz Millar
Contact
If you ever run into issues or have any questions, you can send an email to support@bozdigitallabs.com.