August 28, 2002

   Welcome to version 1.02 of the PalancarWare Sputnik VST plug-in
   for BeOS. Installation and usage notes are below.


History

   v1.02 - 03Nov2001 - first, the input gain can now be set to
   -infinity, allowing user to simulate using it as a send effect, even
   when the host is using it as an insert.  Also, a few significant bugs
   have been fixed, which should improve the sound quality
   significantly.  Applied a few optimizations.  Smoothed all
   parameters.

   v1.01 - 29Oct2000 - BPM is now in whole integers, allowing precise
   BPM.  Sorry, it should have been this way to start with.

   v1.00 - 27Oct2000 - 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://palancarware.palancar.net/" 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

      Credit is given to the Music-DSP Archive for certain algorithms
      used in this product.  The archive can be found at:
      http://www.smartelectronix.com/musicdsp/.

   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

   Sputnik is a combination of a clean high-pass filter and a delay
   engine similar to that used in Refero.  It is one of the first
   PalancarWare plugins designed to be foremost a send effect, rather
   than an insert effect.

   What Sputnik does is first apply any input gain, then filter the
   signal to smoothly remove frequencies *below* the cutoff.  Please
   note this is a filter with a smooth rolloff, not a hard wall, so
   please don't write me and tell me that you set your cutoff to 1000 Hz
   but some 980 Hz signal got through.  This is to be expected -- the
   further below the cutoff you get, the more signal rolloff you see.

   Once the signal has been filtered, it's sent to a BPM-synced delay
   engine, where the delay time is exactly one beat, as indicated by the
   BPM rate.  This is the same way that Refero works, except that in
   Sputnik a specific stereo spread and delay depth is used that is
   optimized for higher-frequency signals.  Or at least it sounds
   optimal to me!

   Though Sputnik can be used as an insert effect just fine, you'll note
   that the high-pass filter removes all the low frequencies, which can
   make your signal sound like it's coming out of a telephone.  If this
   is what you want, go for it.

   But where Sputnik shines is as a send effect, where the processed
   signal gets mixed back in with the original by the VST host.  This
   can give you an almost reverb-like effect, but with BPM-synced delay
   rather than just ringing ambience.  Anyway, I like it and I think you
   will too.

   Sputnik has four controls:

      Input Gain - this controls the amount of amplification (or gain
      cut) that occurs on the input signal before any processing is
      performed.

      Tempo - the speed in BPM of the signal you want to process.
      Sputnik uses this to figure how long the delay should be.

      Cutoff - the filter cutoff frequency (in Hz), below which signal
      will be removed.  Again, this isn't a hard cutoff, but a smooth
      rolloff which starts at the cutoff frequency.

      Feedback - percentage of the signal gets routed back into the
      delay line.  Higher values mean longer delays, and lower values
      mean shorter delays.


Using the Plugin

   This is a great plugin to use on rhythmic synth arpeggios or chord
   hits, e.g. the arpeggio line in a trance tune.  If you use it as a
   send effect, it can do a good job of keeping the "real" signal
   distinct from the "delayed" signal in the listener's ear.

   This can also be used as an interesting vocal effect.  For example, I
   have a tune called "White Horse" in which there's a voiceover saying
   mysterious things using this effect.

   A couple of tips on using the plugin:

     There are a preset number of cutoff frequencies, rather than a
     smooth spectrum.  Sorry, but this was a design tradeoff I had to
     make internally.  I've tried to concentrate the most options in the
     area of the spectrum you're most likely to need them.

     If you want a longer delay than 1 beat, you can halve or quarter
     the BPM to make it wait longer.  Or you can double the BPM to get
     a half-beat delay, etc.

     If you just want to use Sputnik as a delay effect, you can set your
     cutoff to zero Hz.

     Be careful with higher feedback values.  It's possible to set up
     a vicious cycle where the delayed signals get continually louder
     and louder until distortion sets in and it starts sounding really
     bad.


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
