Plugins & VSTs Reference

EQ

FabFilter Pro-Q 4 — surgical EQ, spectrum analyzer, mid/side, dynamic bands
Ableton Channel EQ — stock, quick 3-band for simple shaping

Compression

Ableton Glue Compressor — bus glue, SSL-style, great on groups
FabFilter Pro-C 2 — transparent, versatile, visual feedback

Saturation / Distortion

FabFilter Saturn 2 — multiband saturation, multiple algorithms
Ableton Saturator — stock, Soft Clip mode for gentle warmth
Soundtoys Decapitator — analog-modeled saturation (if available)

Transient Shaping

Ableton Drum Buss — drive + transient + low-end boom (all-in-one for drums)
Boz Digital Transgressor 2 — precise transient/sustain per-band
Waves Smack Attack — simple attack/sustain shaping

Clipping / Limiting

StandardCLIP — clean soft clipper
GClip (free) — simple clipper
Ableton Limiter — stock, clip mode

Mastering (MASTER BUS ONLY)

bx_masterdesk — all-in-one mastering (DO NOT put on groups/tracks)
Ozone — mastering suite (master bus only)

Synths

Serum — wavetable synth, main sound design tool
- Current preset: "Rapture" (used for trance arp on 02 RELEASE)

Sidechain Tools

Ableton Compressor — stock sidechain
Xfer LFOTool — shaped sidechain curves
Nicky Romero Kickstart — one-knob sidechain

Reverb

Ableton Hybrid Reverb — convolution + algorithmic
- ⚠ HP the return at 200-300Hz when using on drums/bass

Delay

Ableton stock delays — simple, echo, filter delay

Chain Templates

Kick Group

Pro-Q 4 → Compressor (Glue/Pro-C) → Saturn 2 → Utility (mono <120Hz)

Bass Group

EQ (HP 25-30Hz) → Compressor (4:1) → Saturation → Multiband Comp (sub) → Sidechain

Per-Kick Layer

EQ (surgical HP/LP per role) → Transient Shaper → Compressor

ERA-2 Waveform Color Spectrum

Reference spec for all frequency-based visualizations in ERA-2 plugins and Erato dashboards. Any time a waveform, EQ curve, spectrum analyzer, or frequency band is rendered visually, it MUST use this color mapping.

Frequency → Color Map

Band	Range	Color Name	Hex	RGB	Use
SUB	20–60 Hz	Crimson	`#E03030`	224, 48, 48	Sub bass, kick fundamentals
BASS	60–200 Hz	Ember	`#E87830`	232, 120, 48	Bass body, warmth
LOW MID	200–500 Hz	Amber	`#E8B830`	232, 184, 48	Muddiness zone, body
MID	500 Hz–2 kHz	Chlor	`#48D848`	72, 216, 72	Presence, vocal body
UPPER MID	2–5 kHz	Cyan	`#30C8D8`	48, 200, 216	Clarity, bite, attack
PRESENCE	5–10 kHz	Azure	`#3078E8`	48, 120, 232	Brilliance, detail
AIR	10–20 kHz	Violet	`#9030E8`	144, 48, 232	Shimmer, air, sparkle

Gradient Rules

Bands blend smoothly at boundaries (no hard edges)
Use CSS/SVG linear gradients across the frequency axis
The spectrum reads left-to-right: low (warm) → high (cool)
This mirrors the visible light spectrum: red → violet

Opacity Rules

Active/selected bands: 100% opacity
Inactive/background bands: 20–30% opacity
Analyzer fill: 15% opacity with full-opacity stroke
Overlapping bands: multiply blend mode

Glow

Active EQ nodes get a soft glow in their band color (8px blur, 40% opacity)
Clipping/hot signals pulse the node glow at 50% opacity

Dark Background

All waveform renders sit on VOID (#0C0C0C) or near-black
Grid lines: white at 5% opacity
Frequency labels: white at 30% opacity, Space Mono
dB labels: white at 20% opacity, Space Mono

Application

This spectrum applies to:

ERA-2 parametric EQ visualizer
Spectrum analyzer displays
Waveform frequency coloring (when showing frequency content)
Filter sweep animations
Any Erato dashboard showing frequency data
Harmonia VST frequency displays

CSS Custom Properties

--era2-sub: #E03030;
--era2-bass: #E87830;
--era2-low-mid: #E8B830;
--era2-mid: #48D848;
--era2-upper-mid: #30C8D8;
--era2-presence: #3078E8;
--era2-air: #9030E8;

Tailwind Classes (for dashboard use)

text-era2-sub / bg-era2-sub
text-era2-bass / bg-era2-bass
text-era2-low-mid / bg-era2-low-mid
text-era2-mid / bg-era2-mid
text-era2-upper-mid / bg-era2-upper-mid
text-era2-presence / bg-era2-presence
text-era2-air / bg-era2-air

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