BUILT FOR THE GUITAR PLAYERS, THE CREATORS, AND THE AUDIOPHILES.
Audio plugins, multimedia software and web applications made where music, technology and code meet. Everything here started as a tool I could not find in the quality I needed, so I built it myself, and I use it every day.
Three CC0 recordings (a distorted riff, a clean part and a solo) rendered offline through DropShift's own engine, for every mode and drop: what you hear is the plugin. Drop, Mode and the footswitch work here; the greyed-out controls work in the plugin. The modes differ most at big drops on chords: try RIFF or CLEAN at −4 or lower.
SPECS & FAQ
DropShift trades latency for how clean low chords stay. Pick the engine for the job: Studio and HQ report their latency to your DAW, so the shifted guitar stays on the grid.
Switching modes mutes the output for 10 ms and changes the latency reported to the host. Click an engine to try it in the preview above: the difference is clearest at big drops on chords, much smaller at −1 or −2.
No. The demo never expires and every control works. While the pedal is engaged, the last 3 seconds of every 20 are replaced by soft noise (about −24 dBFS), and the plugin window shows DEMO MODE while it plays. A license key removes the noise.
There is nothing to reinstall: the demo and the full version are the same download. Click ACTIVATE at the bottom of the plugin window, paste your license key and click AUTHORIZE. Every open instance unlocks at once, and the key is remembered for every DAW on that computer. If typing in the key field does nothing, your DAW keeps the keyboard for itself: paste the key instead, or in Reaper enable “Send all keyboard input to plugin”.
It depends on the mode. Live is made for playing through: pick attacks come after about 2 ms, the rest about 6 to 9 ms. Classic, the default, sounds the most natural at about 20 ms. Studio plays every attack at exactly 12.5 ms and reports it to your DAW, which compensates it. HQ, a phase vocoder for the cleanest low chords, reports about 171 ms at 48 kHz: it is meant for mixing and reamping, not for playing through.
Windows (64-bit): VST3 and CLAP. macOS 10.15 or newer: VST3, CLAP and Audio Unit, native on Apple Silicon and Intel. Mono and stereo tracks. Every mode is tested at 44.1, 48, 88.2 and 96 kHz. The macOS build is not notarized yet: the INSTALL-macOS.txt in the download has the one Terminal line that lets macOS load it.
Any host that loads VST3, CLAP or Audio Units, for example Ableton Live, Cubase, FL Studio, Reaper, Studio One, Bitwig Studio and Logic Pro (AU). Every release passes pluginval at its strictest level and clap-validator.
No iLok and no account. DropShift processes audio entirely on your computer. When its window opens, it checks at most once a day whether a newer version is out, and shows UPDATE in its footer if there is one.
Write to [email protected]. Tell me your system, your DAW and the DropShift version (shown at the bottom right of the plugin window), and what happens. Questions about work and projects go to [email protected].
SOFTWARE & PROJECTS
Audio plugins, web applications and developer tools. Commercial releases are sold through Gumroad and come with free updates.
ABOUT ME & ENGINEERING FOCUS
GET IN TOUCH
Looking for a developer for your team, need custom software, or have a question about a release? Drop me a message.