colourcopy - Bucket Brigade Delay

Bucket Brigade Delay

69 €

Please be aware the Linux versions of our plug-ins are still considered beta. While the plug-ins are stable, we are not able to provide the same level of support for these products as we do for the macOS and Windows versions. Support is provided via the Linux and u-he communities on our forum.


Colour Copy: a bucketful of delay

A virtual analog effect inspired by classic bucket-brigade delays (BBD), but extended with modern features. We called our new baby "Colour Copy" because it can deliver the kind of colouration people still love in classic BBD units, but with a wider variety of colours. Colour Copy started life as the little delay unit called "Lyrebird" we built into Repro-1, but the sound was too good not to be developed further and become an FX plug-in.


Colour Copy in the spotlight…

Hover over the dots Dot to learn about Colour Copy’s features

Colour Copy UI
  • BBD-style analog delay, for the smoothest possible pitch effects
  • unique colour morphing, with saturation for non-linear effects such as distortion / resonance
  • 1ms to 1s or host-synched time base, scaled via rate control from 25% to 400%
  • dynamic ducking via envelope follower
  • LFO (with dynamic frequency and depth) can modulate rate, tap position or amplitude.
  • MIDI note tracking and Freeze button (infinite loop) for wildest experimental effects
  • powerful preset browser with tag and/or text search functions
  • independent input and feedback routing options allow all possible stereo or mono combinations
  • 100 factory presets, NKS-compatible
  • UI instantly resizable from 70% to 200%
  • custom remote control via MIDI CC, 14-bit resolution option
  • NEW in v1.0.1: Support for Oddsound MTS-ESP

At the time we released our current plugin versions, Avid could not provide an AAX SDK that would let us build Universal Binary AAX plugins. For this reason, we currently cannot support Pro Tools for Mac. Pro Tools for Windows is still supported.

For the time being, macOS Pro Tools users who are not running the native Silicon version should use the previous versions of our plugins, available from the Release Archive.

We hope to start work on native Silicon AAX support this year, as soon as our tight schedule allows. No ETA can be quoted yet.

Sights and sounds

In most digital delays the delay time alters the size of the buffer. If you quickly modulate or sweep the delay time on a typical digital unit, unmusical glitches propagate through the feedback as the buffer is shortened or lengthened. Like a real BBD, Colour Copy changes the internal samplerate instead (i.e. how fast the "buckets" pass on their content), and this is why Colour Copy is smooth with a capital SMOO!



Features

Colours

During development we soon realized that we could capture the essence of the entire range of classic bucket brigade delays – from the low-range rumbling, slowly evolving delays to the highly resonant, screaming characters. A single knob lets you continuously blend between the five finely-tuned "colour" macros. The differences may be subtle, but each one is rich in detail. In addition to obvious differences in frequency bandwidth, each comes with its own noise and dynamic characteristics, frequency loss over time, and several other qualities. The Saturation knob controls how prominent or subtle those characteristics should be, in case you want to dial back the colouration to better fit in the mix. Finally, a Brightness knob lets you adjust the bandwidth.

Colour Copy Feedback Colouration

Colouration section

Flexibility

Colour Copy is capable of a huge variety of different delay-based effects. With delay times ranging from under a millisecond to several seconds, you can create anything from comb-filter and flange/chorus effects to regular ping-pong delays and longer "looper" effects. The routing options let you mix or swap the input and feedback signals independently or even invert the feedback phase for various phase cancellation effects when delay times are set very short. Additionally, unlike hardware BBD units, Colour Copy's left and right output "taps" can be placed anywhere along the delay lines. This feature lets you move echos independently "forward in time" for e.g. ping-pong or "rushing" delays as well as various stereo chorus or flanger effects. You never knew you'd want three different ways to create a ping-pong effect!

Colour Copy Display Taps

Left/Right taps

Colour Copy Display Routing

Routing options

Animation

Colour Copy comes with a stereo LFO that can be used to modulate either the delay rate, the tap positions or the delay amplitude. With a range of 0.05Hz to 20Hz (as times: 20s to 50ms) the LFO can create chorus, vibrato and tremolo effects. Crank up the modulation depth for deep pitch-shifting. An envelope follow signal derived from the input signal can be used to modulate the LFO frequency and depth, adding realtime dynamics to the effects.

Colour Copy Modulation

Modulation section

Colour Copy comes with the obligatory ducking compressor, but with a unique twist: You can select whether to duck the entire delay output or just the feedback signal. This latter option leaves the very first delay unaffected, preserving the overall stereo "space" while preventing the sonic mayhem that high regeneration often causes.

Colour Copy Ducking

Ducking section

Performance Control

Some people like to perform on their BBD hardware, pitching the regeneration up and down by twisting the rate knob. We took Colour Copy a step further in this direction by adding a pair of creative features: Firstly, a freeze button that loops the contents of the delay buffer for as long as you like. Secondly, MIDI key control so that you can play Colour Copy like a mono synth – each octave up doubles the delay rate.

 

Configuration

  • Resizable GUI from 70% to 200%
  • MIDI learn page with editable list
  • Global preferences page

Colours

  • unique colour morphing
  • saturation for non-linear effects such as distortion / resonance

Delay Time

  • 1ms to 1s or host-synched time base, scaled via RATE control from 25% to 400%
  • MIDI note tracking and Freeze (infinite loop) buttons for wild experimental effects

Modulation

  • stereo LFO can modulate rate, tap position or amplitude
  • sine or triangle LFO waveform
  • DYN: dynamic LFO frequency and depth

Flexible Routing

  • independent input and feedback routing
  • optional feedback phase invert
  • output taps can move left and right delays "forward in time"

Ducking

  • dynamic ducking via envelope follower
  • feedback (FB) option preserves the initial delay

69 €

Download the demo and enter your serial number to unlock the full version. The demo version emits crackling sound at irregular intervals.

Colour Copy 1.0.1 (revision 12092)
Released August 10, 2021
Release notes

* About Linux: Before purchasing, please be aware the Linux versions of our plug-ins are still considered beta. While the plug-ins are stable, we are not able to provide the same level of support for these products as we do for the macOS and Windows versions. Support is provided via the Linux and u-he communities on our forum Link.  

Requirements

Apple logo Mac OS X 10.10 or newer
or
Windows logo Windows 7 or newer
or
Linux logo Linux


  • Host software / DAW
  • 1GB RAM, more recommended
  • 1000 × 600 or larger display
  • 30-90 MB free disk space
  • Modern CPU required:
    Windows/Linux: Intel Nehalem or newer, AMD Bulldozer or newer
    Mac: Intel Nehalem or newer, Apple M1
  • Linux: glibc version 2.28 or newer

Formats

Colour Copy is not a standalone product, it requires host software. Colour Copy is compatible with nearly all DAWs.

macOS:
AUv2, VST2, VST3, 64-bit only
temporarily no AAX (read more)

Windows:
VST2, VST3, AAX*
32-/64-bit

* AAX requires Pro Tools 10.3.7 or later

NKS-ready
This product is Native Instruments NKS-ready and compatible with Maschine and Komplete Kontrol hardware.

VST compatible
VST is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH, registered in Europe and other countries.

User Guides


Colour Copy user guide

Downloads for Colour Copy

Try the latest builds of Colour Copy, which include improvements and bug fixes. Note: these are stable, but still beta versions.

Older Colour Copy installers are in our release archive (for legacy systems).

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