In this week's Free Plug-in, we are featuring Freq Echo from Valhalla, which is a frequency-shifting delay and is great for sound design work.

Freq Echo was the first Valhalla plugin, and we love it! Julian says…

“Having tried this out, I have to say this isn't a case of "good considering it’s free". This delay is unlike anything else I have, free or paid-for. The frequency shifter is fascinating, the delay suitably analogue-sounding, and it doesn't create zipper noise when changing the delay time, making it perfect for dubby silliness. I lost an hour to this plug-in with just a signal generator and a Freq Echo - try it!”

It combines low and high pass filters with a bode style pitch shifter in the feedback path for everything from subtle chorusing and double tracking to barberpole phasing and flanging to endless glissandos and runaway echos. See what it can do to the sound of a drop of water in the video below!

If you still need convincing then check out this video from IDDQD Sound. They say…

“ I wanna show you a cool sound design trick today which we’ll call the Infinite Delay technique. When you hear it you’ll undoubtedly recognize it from songs & films so it’s not something I invented, but nevertheless I really enjoy using it. You need an Echo/Tape type of Delay Plugin for this work, ie one that has a variable buffer that is able to self-oscillate. Lots of different plugins work for this but Valhalla FreqEcho is a free one with some extra features that makes it a good choice & it’s free!”

Chapters:

• 0:00 Setting Up the Infinite Delay

• 2:21 Tackling Aliasing (& whether you should do it)

• 2:43 Controlling the Self-Oscillation Pitch

• 3:25 Creating Unique Infinite Delay Loops

• 4:10 Embracing the Random!

• 4:30 Shifting the Frequency with Valhalla FreqEcho

• 5:30 Assigning the Controls to your MIDI Controller

• 6:03 Why record onto a second track?

• 6:22 Modulating the Parameters

• 7:48 What do we do with the recordings?

• 8:24 Creating seamless loops

• 8:50 Getting different flavours of sounds

• 9:00 One-Shot samples

• 9:25 Demonstration in a Project

• 10:25 Other uses

• 11:03 Final Thoughts

How To Get Freq Echo From Valhalla

• Click on the button above

• Click on the ‘Go To Downloads’ button

• Scroll down to the Freq Echo section and select the macOS or Windows installer. No need to enter any personal details.

Freq Echo is available for Mac and Windows in VST, Audio Units, and AAX formats. Compatible for Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Studio One, Cubase and any DAW that supports AU, VST or AAX. No iLok account is required.

V1.2.8 for macOS supports Intel and Apple Silicon and up to macOS Sonoma.