Phase Modulator vs Recursion by folina

PHASE MODULATOR Phase modulation perturbs the running phase of a carrier oscillator with a modulating signal. Sweeping the phase back and forth generates a series of sidebands above and below the carrier, spaced by the modulator frequency, whose number and strength grow with the Index. This is the same technique behind classic FM synthesis: small index values add a little harmonic shimmer; large values produce dense, clangorous, often inharmonic spectra. The carrier you hear is always an internal oscillator. What changes between modes is where its phase modulation comes from. ------ CONTROLS: CAR FREQ Frequency of the carrier oscillator, 20 Hz to 20 kHz. This is the audible tone in both modes. CAR AMP Level of the carrier oscillator before the Output gain. MOD FREQ Frequency of the internal modulator oscillator, 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Active in Osc + Osc only. The carrier-to-modulator frequency ratio sets the harmonic character: integer ratios give harmonic, pitched tones; non-integer ratios give bells and metallic, inharmonic results. In Input + Osc the modulator comes from your audio instead, so this control is inactive. MOD AMP Level of the modulation source before it reaches the phase. Together with Index it sets how far the carrier phase is pushed; think of it as a trim ahead of the Index multiplier. INDEX Modulation index, 0 to 10. The headline control: peak phase deviation in radians equals Index times the modulation signal. At 0 the carrier passes clean; raising it brings in progressively more sidebands and brightness. OUTPUT Makeup gain after the effect, -24 dB to +36 dB. No limiter follows this stage, so watch your meters when boosting. WAVEFORM Carrier oscillator shape: Sine, Saw, Triangle, or Square. Sine is the classic FM voice. The richer shapes already contain harmonics, so phase modulating them produces denser spectra and reacts more aggressively to Index. MOD WAVE Modulator oscillator shape (Osc + Osc mode only): Sine, Saw, Triangle, or Square. Changes the harmonic character of the modulation itself. In Input + Osc mode the modulation comes from your audio, so this picker is inactive. FOLLOW Input + Osc only. With Follow On (the default) the carrier tracks the amplitude of your incoming audio: it speaks only while signal is present and falls silent when the input does, so the plugin behaves like an effect rather than a constant tone. With Follow Off the carrier runs continuously at its set level regardless of input, which suits drones and sustained textures. In Osc + Osc there is no input to follow, so this control is inactive. ----- MODES: OSC + OSC Both carrier and modulator are internal oscillators, set by Car Freq and Mod Freq. Classic two-operator FM with no input required, good for bells, electric pianos, and metallic drones. INPUT + OSC Your track's audio becomes the modulation source, perturbing the phase of the internal carrier oscillator. Note that what you hear is the carrier shaped by your audio, not the audio itself passed through; the input controls the timbre rather than being processed in place. Mod Freq does not apply in this mode. This is the default mode. ------ A NOTE ON ALIASING Phase modulation can scatter energy well above Nyquist, so the effect runs internally at four times the host sample rate and filters on the way back down. At extreme Index settings with the saw or square carrier some residual aliasing can remain; lower the Index or the carrier frequency if you hear gritty, detuned overtones.

Recursion is a delay and feedback effect built around inherited mutation. In a conventional delay, a sound repeats. In Recursion, it evolves. Each generation passes through a changing recursive system before becoming the source for the next. Timing drifts. Memories smear together. Sudden tears disturb the signal. Those disturbances are then inherited by everything that follows. The result can move from subtle animated echoes and strange doubling to deteriorating rhythmic patterns, unstable ambient spaces, and dense halls of increasingly distant memories. Seven controls keep the process immediate. Memory determines the spacing between generations. Recursion determines how deep the family tree grows. Decay determines how long those generations survive. Smear, Drift, and Tear determine how faithfully—or badly—the signal remembers its past. Recursion isn't designed to be a perfectly behaved delay. It's designed to remember. Incorrectly. Features: Self-mutating recursive delay and feedback processing Each generation inherits changes from the generation before it Independent control over recursive depth, memory spacing, and decay time Continuous bounded drift and instability Smearing that transforms distinct echoes into evolving washes Tear events introduce abrupt mutations into the recursive history From subtle animated echoes to deeply unstable feedback structures Designed for drums, synths, guitars, vocals, sound design, and ambient processing. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Behavior Note: Recursion is intentionally less predictable than a conventional delay. At high Mix settings, more of the immediate dry attack is replaced by the delayed recursive signal. Short sounds may therefore seem quieter as Mix approaches fully wet. Around 50% Mix is recommended when you want to preserve the original attack. Recursive processing can also produce occasional abrupt transient or crackle-like textures as generations mutate and interact, particularly with sustained material, aggressive settings, or parameter movement. These behaviors are part of Recursion's unstable character.