Featuring Manipulator & Gatekeeper
Polyverse artist GLASYS recently teamed up with The Secret Sea to create a beautiful original piece titled “Petals”. The virtuosic live arrangement makes great use of Polyverse/Infected Mushroom’s Manipulator and Gatekeeper plugins to achieve uniquely-textured vocal harmonies and precisely-timed rhythmic effects.
When sharing “Petals” with us, GLASYS kindly gave generous insight into his artistic process as well as the story behind how he came to use Polyverse’s plugins in his work. Read on to get the full details.
A Brief Interview with GLASYS
How did you first discover Polyverse and our products?
I first heard about Manipulator through Israeli musician Eyal Amir. He had posted several demos of the software and I remember thinking that it sounded really cool and unique. A few months later, I made a video named Finger Twisters that went viral on Facebook. I think Assaf saw the video and liked it, because shortly after I posted it he reached out to me and asked me if I’d be interested in checking out Manipulator. I was very excited to try it out, and as soon as I opened it for the first time and played a few notes I felt inspired to write a tune! The tune I wrote, We Can Change (which I will be performing at NAMM 2018), got a great response and actually caught the attention of hiphop artist T-Pain. In fact, he loved the sound so much that he invited me to collaborate with him – we spent two days in the studio together and recorded, it was really fun. He even purchased Manipulator himself and he told me that it’s all over his latest album!
How did you use Polyverse’s plugins in your arrangement of Petals? Were there any specific features of the plugins that helped guide your choices?
The melody and main chord changes were written by my friend and collaborator Amit Erez (The Secret Sea). He had just installed Manipulator himself and sent me a quick demo of the tune using the plugin. I thought it had potential to be a great song and we decided to flesh it out. At first, we kept the vocal sound pretty basic and focused more on the composition / arrangement. Once we ran Amit’s guitar through Gatekeeper it instantly transformed into a really groovy tune. I absolutely love how tight the software sounds, and it’s so intuitive! Creating an effect like that without Gatekeeper would have taken HOURS, yet we got a great sounding loop within minutes. Once we had a full track (and used Gatekeeper on some other sounds as well, including a more subtle tremolo on the guitar solo at the end), we realized that it would be more interesting if Amit’s vocals were a little more animated / modulated in the heavier part of the song. I started experimenting with different parameters in Manipulator and automating them, I think the results are really cool! The options are endless.
What’s been your favorite use of Manipulator so far?
It’s hard to pick a favorite, because it’s so versatile. From smooth, thick sounding harmonies, to crazy modulated effects, to a beautiful choir sound, to subtle thickening / widening – it can do it all. I’m really loving the results we’ve achieved in a song called Sky Mover (which we’ll also be playing at NAMM). We’ve been running Amit’s acoustic guitar through Manipulator while I play a melody on top using his guitar sound. Modulating the “smear” and “formant” parameters leads to some beautiful, organic tones that I’ve never heard before. Manipulator is such an expressive instrument, you guys have created some real magic. I look forward to using it much more in my future compositions!
GLASYS & The Secret Sea at NAMM 2018
We are excited and proud to announce that GLASYS and The Secret Sea will perform daily at the Polyverse Music booth at NAMM 2018! If you’re attending the show, make sure to include plans to see these amazing artists showcase their skills.
Set times will be posted at the booth. POLYVERSE – HALL B #9906
More Info
GLASYS – http://glasysmusic.com
The Secret Sea – http://secretseamusic.com “Petals” Videography by John Thompson (Ballooga Media) – http://www.vimeo.com/balloogamedia
