In Summary

With a nod to three classic time-based effects in a box, the announcement of Waves Space Rider brings a trio of treatments to your DAW. With chorus, delay, reverb, and more besides, see and hear it for yourself as we take our first look.

All Time Classics

Recorded music has for decades enjoyed numerous time-based effects for sweetening, with artificial reverb being the first. Soon after engineers started putting transducers in dedicated rooms and on metal plates, the race was on to get other time-based effects onto record in controllable and repeatable ways. Delay was next, followed by its exotic modulated relative: chorus. By the 1970s, several boxes had become available that combined some of these effects such as those from Roland, MXR, and Eventide. Since then, having an assortment of time based effects in one place has become attractive for studios who need simple hands-on effects. When it comes to creativity on-the-fly, these can beat dedicated devices that need some know-how to programme.

Waves Space Rider

In the DAW era, the one-stop effects device lives on in audio plugin form for engineering creatives who don’t need detailed control.

With time-based effects that will be familiar to many, Waves Space Rider is a simple chorus/delay/reverb tool for producer-writers and musicians. Effects can either happen in parallel before being summed together, cascaded into each other following the layout from left to right, or a combination. For example, this could allow chorused delay trails to be reverbed without the need for any elaborate routing in the DAW.

A unique feature is its Rider section, that allows users to morph between two states of Space Rider. These are designated as α (alpha) or β (beta); the Rider’s crossfader can be moved freely in real time or with DAW automation. Uniquely, it also has its own envelope-following Auto function with adjustment for sensitivity and time responses.

In the video we take Space Rider out for a spin on electric piano. Adding chorus, delay, and a splash of reverb, we show how its flexible routing can allow different blocks to be cascaded into others. We also go through some of its modes and modulators found in each block to perfect our composite effect. We then show how Space Rider can morph between two states in a number of ways including using its Rider’s innovative envelope follower.

Taking in the one-box-for-them-all form factor of classic time-based boxes, Waves Space Rider delivers the Big Three of chorus, delay, and reverb in one window. With simple controls, and a little extra tweakage for those who like to experiment, it might be a welcome addition for engineering creators who don’t want a huge learning curve.

Waves Space Key Features

• Chorus with Width and two selectable Types for modern and vintage effects.

• Delay with tempo sync, ping-pong, and left/right offsets for delay as well as phase modulation.

• Reverb with Space (hall-like) and Plate modes, plus LF/HF filtering and adjustable Width and HF damping.

• Rider crossfader for continuous movements between programmable α (alpha) and β (beta) states. Manual or Auto envelope-following function available.