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Sublustris Versio · ambient, dub techno and dark ambient settings

Starting points

Here are eight settings to start from, with what to play into them and what to move next. From there, move by ear. The Versio has no preset memory, so you’ll set the knobs by hand. In the plugin you can save them as presets in your DAW.

Reading the panels. Each starting point shows the panel with its knobs and switches set, and the exact values underneath. Knob values run from 0 (fully left, 7 o’clock) to 1 (fully right, 5 o’clock). Noon is 0.5, and each hour is about 0.1.

MOTION is bipolar. At noon it only has a faint movement, to the left it’s tape, and to the right it’s an old radio. DECAY turns endless past about 3 o’clock (0.8), fully from about 3:30 (0.85).

Endless pad

Endless pad: panel settingsSPACE CANYON, ONSET NATURAL, BLEND 0.8, DECAY 1, TONE 0.4, WEAR 0, SIZE 0.7, MOTION 0.5, DEPTH 0.2

Sounds like: each chord joining the last in a slow, warm wash that never ends.

Play into it: slow pad chords, a bar or two each, with gaps.

Move next: SIZE fully up for a boundless wash. TONE further left to sink it. Switch ONSET to BLOOM for chords that swell in.

SPACE
CANYON
ONSET
NATURAL
BLEND
03:000.8
DECAY
05:001
TONE
11:000.4
WEAR
07:000
SIZE
02:000.7
MOTION
12:000.5
DEPTH
09:000.2

Dub techno hall

Dub techno hall: panel settingsSPACE HALL, ONSET NATURAL, BLEND 0.4, DECAY 0.9, TONE 0.45, WEAR 0.2, SIZE 0.6, MOTION 0.4, DEPTH 0.3

Sounds like: a big room behind offbeat chord stabs. The tail fills the gaps between the stabs and holds when they stop.

Play into it: chord stabs, as an insert. On a send, turn BLEND fully right on the return.

Move next: MOTION a little further left for tape wow. WEAR up for grit. Pull DECAY just under 3 o’clock for a long tail that fades.

SPACE
HALL
ONSET
NATURAL
BLEND
11:000.4
DECAY
04:000.9
TONE
11:300.45
WEAR
09:000.2
SIZE
01:000.6
MOTION
11:000.4
DEPTH
10:000.3

Drum plate

Drum plate: panel settingsSPACE PLATE, ONSET NATURAL, BLEND 0.3, DECAY 0.3, TONE 0.55, WEAR 0, SIZE 0.4, MOTION 0.5, DEPTH 0.1

Sounds like: a short, dense plate that thickens a drum loop without washing it out.

Play into it: a drum loop or a mix bus.

Move next: DEPTH up for predelay, so the hits stay clear of the plate. SIZE up for a bigger plate. TONE right for a brighter splash.

SPACE
PLATE
ONSET
NATURAL
BLEND
10:000.3
DECAY
10:000.3
TONE
12:300.55
WEAR
07:000
SIZE
11:000.4
MOTION
12:000.5
DEPTH
08:000.1

Freeze bed

Freeze bed: panel settingsSPACE HALL, ONSET NATURAL, BLEND 0.6, DECAY 0.75, TONE 0.5, WEAR 0.1, SIZE 0.5, MOTION 0.5, DEPTH 0.2

Sounds like: a held chord, still as glass, with a quieter room over it for whatever you play.

Play into it: a chord, then tap the button. Play a melody over the pad. Hold the button through the phrase you want to keep.

Move next: SIZE sets the room you play over the pad. DECAY sets how long it rings. MOTION left puts tape wow on the pad itself.

SPACE
HALL
ONSET
NATURAL
BLEND
01:000.6
DECAY
02:300.75
TONE
12:000.5
WEAR
08:000.1
SIZE
12:000.5
MOTION
12:000.5
DEPTH
09:000.2

Bloom swell

Bloom swell: panel settingsSPACE CANYON, ONSET BLOOM, BLEND 0.6, DECAY 0.7, TONE 0.45, WEAR 0, SIZE 0.5, MOTION 0.5, DEPTH 0.7

Sounds like: each note swelling in behind itself over a second or two, then hanging.

Play into it: single piano notes, plucks or a guitar, with space between them.

Move next: DEPTH sets the swell time: shorter for faster harmony, longer for slow pieces.

SPACE
CANYON
ONSET
BLOOM
BLEND
01:000.6
DECAY
02:000.7
TONE
11:300.45
WEAR
07:000
SIZE
12:000.5
MOTION
12:000.5
DEPTH
02:000.7

Shimmer bed

Shimmer bed: panel settingsSPACE HALL, ONSET SHIMMER, BLEND 0.6, DECAY 0.75, TONE 0.5, WEAR 0, SIZE 0.7, MOTION 0.5, DEPTH 0.5

Sounds like: a slow melody with a soft octave above it, sinking into a long hall.

Play into it: a slow synth lead or a high piano line.

Move next: DEPTH for more or less octave. MOTION a little right for an old radio’s haze over the octave. DECAY past 3:30 to hold it.

SPACE
HALL
ONSET
SHIMMER
BLEND
01:000.6
DECAY
02:300.75
TONE
12:000.5
WEAR
07:000
SIZE
02:000.7
MOTION
12:000.5
DEPTH
12:000.5

Worn tape room

Worn tape room: panel settingsSPACE HALL, ONSET NATURAL, BLEND 0.5, DECAY 0.6, TONE 0.3, WEAR 0.7, SIZE 0.4, MOTION 0.15, DEPTH 0.2

Sounds like: an old tape of a big room: warm, grainy, with wow, crinkle and the odd dropout.

Play into it: electric piano, guitar or a vocal.

Move next: WEAR toward 5 o’clock for more grit. MOTION fully left for more, deeper dropouts, or past noon to the right to trade the tape for an old radio’s narrow, phasing band.

SPACE
HALL
ONSET
NATURAL
BLEND
12:000.5
DECAY
01:000.6
TONE
10:000.3
WEAR
02:000.7
SIZE
11:000.4
MOTION
08:300.15
DEPTH
09:000.2

Dark drone

Dark drone: panel settingsSPACE CANYON, ONSET NATURAL, BLEND 0.9, DECAY 0.95, TONE 0.2, WEAR 0.4, SIZE 1, MOTION 0.3, DEPTH 0.4

Sounds like: a low, slow wash that hangs and slowly darkens, grainy at the edges.

Play into it: a low drone, a bass note or a field recording.

Move next: patch a slow LFO into SIZE. Tap a freeze and play over the drone.

SPACE
CANYON
ONSET
NATURAL
BLEND
04:000.9
DECAY
04:300.95
TONE
09:000.2
WEAR
11:000.4
SIZE
05:001
MOTION
10:000.3
DEPTH
11:000.4