Octaves by AudioThing is a creative filter plugin modeled on the Brüel & Kjaer 1613 octave bandpass filter, designed for spectral sound design with pinging, resonance, and filter bank capabilities.
Purpose and Concept
Octaves is a filter plugin developed by AudioThing in collaboration with Berlin-based composer Hainbach. It emulates the Brüel & Kjaer 1613, a portable octave bandpass filter historically used for acoustic measurements. The plugin allows you to split the audio spectrum into octave bands, encouraging a retro-scientific approach to sound reminiscent of early electronic music studios.
Unlike typical synthesizer filters, the 1613’s passive design used massive coils to filter each band, producing a distinctive sonic character. Octaves captures that unique tone while adding modern controls. It serves as a creative tool for spectral manipulation, enabling effects like tearing sounds apart or creating percussive pings, with a nod to the avant-garde productions of the past.
Key Capabilities and Controls
Octaves faithfully models the original hardware but extends it with input, output, mix, and soft saturation controls for overdriving the filter. An ‘artifacts’ parameter recreates the popping sounds of an unserviced unit, useful for pinging. The back panel offers ‘impedance’ for resonance control and ‘dials’ to adjust individual band volumes, transforming the plugin into a full filter bank.
Oversampling control lets you reduce artifacts when working at lower sample rates (like 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz). Setting it to 2x or 4x is recommended for cleaner results, though turning it off can impart a rougher tone. These controls encourage experimentation, as they interact dynamically with each other to shape the sound.
Workflow and Creative Techniques
For creative filtering, feed Octaves rich material like saw waves, distorted guitar, noise, piano, or cymbals to craft complex timbres. The pinging technique involves sending short pulses (e.g., from Hainbach’s B00GA generator) and raising the impedance to turn it into a drum machine. Automating frequency switching with high artifacts adds percussive hits.
Sound design applications include creating radio voices, hissing textures, or dark drones by isolating specific bands. In mixing, a tight band can carve space while preserving the sound’s core. For feedback patching, insert Octaves on an aux bus and feed it back into itself (with a limiter for safety) to generate evolving tones. These workflows highlight its versatility beyond standard filtering.
Applications and Integration
Octaves suits musicians, sound designers, and producers exploring spectral effects. Its design echoes the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and WDR Studio traditions, making it ideal for avant-garde or experimental music. It can also function in mixing as a precise band-pass filter, though for finer control, AudioThing recommends ‘Dials’.
The plugin’s modest size (modeled after the 2kg portable 1613) belies its heavyweight sound. While it pairs well with pulse generators for rhythmic pinging, it also shines on sustained material for drones and textures. Its controls—like impedance and band dials—encourage hands-on tweaking, making it a playful, exploratory tool for studio sessions.
Key features
- Faithful model of the Brüel & Kjaer 1613 octave bandpass filter
- Input, output, mix, and soft saturation controls
- Artifacts control for recreating band-switching pops and pinging
- Impedance control for resonance, adjustable via back panel
- Dial controls for individual band volume, enabling filter bank use
- Oversampling control to reduce sample-rate-related artifacts
- Designed for creative filtering, pinging, sound design, and feedback patching
Best for
Octaves is best for producers and sound designers seeking a unique spectral filter for creative effects like pinging, drones, and radio voices. It excels on rich sources such as saws, distorted guitars, or noise, and offers a retro-scientific character ideal for experimental and avant-garde music production.