“Eventide Delay. Digital Delay.” – Jon Anderson, Olympia
Musicians, engineers, and producers looking for a unique effects plug-in for their toolbox need to check out Eventide Fission. This effect splits an incoming signal into its transient and tonal components; separately effects each one, and then recombines the two separate streams into one. The variety of aesthetic and utilitarian uses of Fission is nearly limitless.
Eventide Fission Features
- Structural Split Technology separating Transient and Tonal Content
- Six Transient Effects (Delay, Tap Delay, Dynamics, Phaser, Reverb, Gate + EQ)
- Seven Tonal Effects (Delay, Compressor, Pitch, Chorus, Reverb, Tremolo, EQ)
- Real-time Split Waveform Viewer
- Artist-designed Presets by Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Suzanne Ciani, Richard Devine, and more
- Supports AAX, AU, and VST Plug-in Formats
- Street Price around $100
Fission’s structural split functionality is an innovation not typically available in an effects plug-in. It rewards experimentation in more esoteric scenarios, but also works nicely for repairing audio. It is worth downloading to become part of your plug-in collection.
The Fission Interface is Clean and Intuitive
Fission’s user interface is split into three major sections. Control of the transient processing happens at the top of the screen, while the tonal section lurks at the bottom. Management of the structural split happens in the middle, as well as a useful real-time waveform viewer clearly detailing the transient (blue) or tonal (green) content within the overall signal.
Fission in action in the studio. Photo by author.
A menu bar at the top allows for the loading and saving of Fission patches. Additionally, the global mix level and gain settings are at the right of this section. A compare toggle, info button, and the ability to lock the structural split type round out the menu bar controls.
Eventide Fission in the Studio
The intuitive Fission interface warrants a combination of experimentation with empirical analysis. I loaded an “in-progress” drum and bass beat in 5/4 and added the Fission effect on the FL Studio master bus. The structural split section includes a source type setting, and one type – “Electronic Beat” – seemed appropriate for a drum and bass signal. I used the Smoothing and Trans Decay controls to fine-tune the split, while keeping an eye on the waveform display.
I quickly added a delay effect to the transient section and a pitch shifter to the tonal content. This beat now seemed to come straight from some seedy drinking establishment in a distant galaxy. Very cool! Each effect – whether transient or tonal – includes its own set of parameters which should be familiar to any audio engineer or musician. Nearly all of Fission’s controls are automatable as well.
In addition to its more esoteric sound design and effects functionality, Fission also works well in a variety of audio repair scenarios. One obvious example is tuning a drum beat or even removing the ringing from a snare drum without impacting the transient content. Eventide provides video tutorials detailing how to accomplish a variety of these tasks using Fission.
Eventide Fission is a unique entry to the audio effect plug-in world that simply does many things no other effect attempts. In a creative sense, its intuitive interface inspires and rewards experimentation. A whole host of practical functionality is also possible with nary a hassle. At a street price below $100, this plug-in belongs in your studio.
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