August 28, 2002

   Welcome to version 1.04 of the PalancarWare Brick Wall VST plug-in
   for BeOS. Installation and usage notes are below.

History

   v1.04 - 03Nov2001 - some optimizations that should reduce CPU usage
   slightly.  Parameter changes are now smoothed.

   v1.03 - 17Oct2000 - fixed a specific problem Cubase had with VST
   the plugins initial program name not being 'default'.

   v1.02 - 17Oct2000 - corrected problems with plugins not being
   recognized by many VST hosts, including Cubase VST24 and n-Track
   Studio v2.2.

   v1.00 - 13Oct2000 - first release.


The Palancar CD-Ware License

   This product is copyright (c) 2000-2001 by Darrell Burgan, with all
   rights reserved world-wide.

   This product is not public domain. I developed all content in this
   product, with any exceptions noted below, and am the sole owner of
   the copyright.  I'm granting you, however, an almost-free license to
   use it on as many devices as needed, for any legal purpose, subject
   to these terms:

      This product is licensed as-is, without warranty of any kind. I
      disclaim all legal liability.  If you use it, you do so at your
      own risk and are responsible for ensuring it works to your
      satisfaction.  Why do I not warrant it?  I'm just an individual
      struggling musician like everybody else, and I simply don't have
      the resources to provide an adequate warranty.  My warranty
      wouldn't be of much use to you anyway.

      This license is granted as "CD-ware".  What this means is that you
      have 30 days to use this product and evaluate whether it works to
      your satisfaction, and whether you like it and intend to use it.
      If you decide to continue to use it beyond 30 days, or if you use
      it in a project from which you will derive profit before 30 days
      have elapsed, I ask you to please go to my music web site (see
      below) and purchase one (or more) of my CDs as compensation. The
      CDs are very low priced, and can be purchased from anywhere in the
      world.  How do I know whether you've done this or not?  I don't.
      This is on the honor system, folks. If you like the results of my
      hard work, I don't think a measly CD is too much to ask. If you
      use multiple products, then purchasing multiple CDs is suggested.
      Use your best judgment as to how many you ought to purchase.  But
      I do request you purchase at least one.

      If you honestly cannot afford to purchase a CD but still want to
      use this product, then please contact me and we'll figure
      something out.

      The license does not imply nor suggest ownership of this product.
      I'm licensing the product's use, not selling ownership of the
      product. The license is subject to alteration or revocation at any
      time, at my discretion, with 30 days notice given here.  I can
      foresee no reasonable scenario where this could occur, but I want
      to make clear who owns the intellectual property.

      Note also that you are licensed only to use this product for the
      purpose it is designed, not to distribute it in any way, alter it
      in any way, or use it in any other way. If you want to distribute
      it, you need to link to "http://www.palancar.net/palancarware" in
      its entirety, and should not distribute the files nor point
      directly to them from any web site.

      If you disagree with any of the terms of this license, then you
      should not use this product.  If you use the product, you have
      implicitly agreed to these licensing terms.  If you are the least
      bit uncertain about these terms or would like to explore
      alternatives, please contact me and we'll figure something out.

   Other folks' copyrights:

      Portions copyright (c) Steinberg GMBh

   Palancar music CDs can be purchased at:

      http://www.ampcast.com/palancar

   Whew!  Sorry for all the lawyer stuff, but you know how it is in
   these days of Napster and Gnutella.  I hope you enjoy this product,
   and I hope you understand that I've put far more time into it than I
   would ever hope to receive back financially under this license.  In
   other words, I'm not doing this for the money, folks...


Installation

   Simply copy the file to the VST plugins directory of the VST media wrapper.
   I've not included an installer because this installation is so simple, to
   minimize download time.


The Plugin

   The plugin has two controls:

   Input Gain - this controls the amount of amplification (or gain cut)
   that occurs on the input signal, before the limiting takes place.  If
   you set this to 0dB, no change in signal occurs before the limiter
   stage.  You can add or subtract as much as 24dB using this control.

   Limit - this controls the limit, in dB, that no signal will exceed.
   The limit is achieved using a right-angled elbow, meaning there is no
   change in signal unless the limit is triggered.  So for example, if
   your limit is -5dB, the following table applies:

                Input Level      Output Level
                  -20dB            -20dB
                  -10dB            -10dB
                  -6dB             -6dB
                  -5.1dB           -5.1dB
                  -5.0dB           -5.0dB
                  -4.9dB           -5.0dB
                  -4.0dB           -5.0dB
                  -2.0dB           -5.0dB
                  0.0dB            -5.0dB
                  +3.0dB           -5.0dB

   If you want to try something freaky, set your input gain to +24dB and
   the limit to -3dB, then play your audio.  You'll hear something that
   sounds incredibly loud, but never exceeds -3dB in volume.  Of course,
   it's distorted as heck...


Using the Plugin

   This plugin cannot be used as a compressor or as an expander.  The
   classic use would be as the last effect in your plugin chain when
   mastering a recording, right after the final compressor.

   For example, let's say you have a raw mixdown that you want to
   master. You might set up a chain of fx as follows:

      Final EQ
      Signal colorization (e.g. tape saturation or tube emulation)
      Band 1 compressor
      Band 2 compressor
      Final overall mix compressor
      Brick Wall (Input gain: 0.0dB, Limit: -0.3dB)

   In this example, the brick wall simply serves as a final check to
   ensure absolutely nothing exceeds the -0.3dB mark.  Hopefully your
   compressors have done their job and the limiter has nothing to do,
   but it's there just in case.

   Given that the plugin does not alter the signal at all until the
   limit is reached, it makes the perfect final effect in your mastering
   chain.

   Adventurous souls might attempt to add some volume using the input
   gain, in order to use this as a poor man's loudness maximizer.  This
   plugin will certainly amplify the signal to your heart's content,
   just be wary of distortion...don't say I didn't warn you.


Support

   Due to the number of VST hosts and operating systems in the world,
   there is no way I can possibly test it with all possible software
   products.  If you run into any snags, please contact me at:

      Darrell Burgan
      PalancarWare
      darrell@palancar.net
      http://palancarware.palancar.net/
      
   For BeoS specific support, contact Xentronix at info@xentronix.com,
   http://www.xentronix.com

