Using Surge as an effect and vocoder - surge-synthesizer/surge-synthesizer.github.io GitHub Wiki

OUTLINE

Surge can be used as an effect to process incoming audio!

This works fully in several DAWs at this time.
For those that support it, there is a variety of interesting uses.
For those that don't, there are a few workarounds!

For DAWs that do not work correctly with Surge as an effect, the standalone Surge Effects plugin can be used in its place for many scenarios. Surge Effects does not have Surge's modulation capabilities, but it includes all the effects from its effects rack, including the vocoder!

This page will outline various use cases for the standalone Surge Effects and for Surge as an audio effect, it will also explain current incompatibilities, and workarounds.

CONTENTS

Overview of known compatible software
Sending audio to Surge
Basics of using Surge in compatible software
Using Surge as an effect with Metaplugin
Surge Effects VST3 and AU plugin
Using Surge as a vocoder in compatible host
Using the vocoder in Surge Effects
The Surge_fx.dll renaming trick
Example sessions
List of Known Issues

1. Overview of known compatible and incompatible software

DAWs with known support:

Ableton Live
Logic X
Ardour / Harrison Mixbus
REAPER (with VST3)
Cubase Pro (with VST3) since version 4.1, Cubase Artist and Elements since version 11
Any DAW which supports "Metaplugin" by DDMF

Not-tested/unknown:

Cubase/Nuendo

Tested and not working properly:

FL Studio
Studio One
Cakewalk
Renoise
Cubase Elements

DAWs with partial support using "6. The Surge_fx.dll renaming trick":

Any DAW which supports VST2 on Windows (reminder: partial support only!)

2. Sending audio to Surge

Surge is most often supported as an effect by sending audio from an "audio track" to an "instrument/MIDI" track hosting Surge using the DAW's built in sidechain support. Here are instructions on how to set this up in various DAWs.

Ableton Live 10.0 and below:

Load Surge on a MIDI track
In the "IO" section set the output of the track you wish to send from to the MIDI track that hosts Surge.

Ableton Live 10.1 and above:

Load Surge on to a MIDI track.
Select the track from which you want to process audio using the VST sidechain input on the left.

Logic X:

Load Surge onto a MIDI track.
In the "Side Chain" drop down (upper right corner), select the track from which you'd like to process audio.

Ardour / Harrison Mixbus:
Surge LV2 and VST both work as an audio effect in Ardour/Mixbus. LV2 is currenty only available for Linux

Load Surge on MIDI track.
Select the "Pinout" button
Enable Sidechain by clicking "side chain" button in top right of the pin configuration windows.
Click "Add Sidechain Input -> Audio" in the bottom right hand corner, and choose the track from which you want to receive.
Make sure a connection has been made from the new "sidechain" inputs by clicking and dragging from the blue sidechain pins to the green plugin input pins (see image below, Surge is represented by the block labelled "Instance #1").
It may be necessary to replace the connections Ardour has already created with the new sidechain connections.

NOTE: Ardour / Mixbus supports loading Surge as an "inline/insert" effect directly on an "audio" track. If you wish, you can use Surge in latch mode (described in the next section) directly on an audio track. You may also route an external MIDI sidechain using "Add Sidechain Input-> Midi" in the Pin Configuration windows.

REAPER:
As of Reaper 6.02 and Surge 1.6.5, the VST3 version of Surge can be used properly as an audio effect

To use Surge as an insert effect, simply drop the VST3 version on the track you'd like to process and follow along with the next section of the guide!

*Note: There is an unresolved bug with REAPER and Surge where ONLY ONE format of Surge can be loaded into a project at once. Pick a format (AU, VST or VST3) and only use that version. If you'd like to use Surge as an audio effect in REAPER, make sure to only load VST3 versions of Surge in your projects.

If the VST3 version of Surge loads as a white empty window, You may need to remove VST or AU versions from your project and restart REAPER.

3. Basics of using Surge in compatible software

Once we have routed some audio to Surge we can go about processing it. If you'd like to use Surge as a Vocoder see #6 below, the process is a little different.

If you want to use Surge to process audio as an effect, you can select one of the "Audio In" presets from the "Templates" presets folder:

Let's go through how to get to that from scratch, in case you want a better understanding...
Once audio is routed to Surge, you'll need to use the "Audio In" oscillator type. You can choose to take input from the left input, right input or both (stereo).

If you'd like to process a stereo signal, make sure you also set Surge to one of its stereo operating modes. (L-R or <->, see blue circle in image below)

Audio passes through Surge the same way one of its oscillators would. "Filter Configuration" gives you a visual representation of where the audio is going (see image below).

You can process audio with both filters, the waveshaper, highpass filter, the FX section and also FM routings!

There is one more setting you need to be aware of, and that is the "Play Mode" setting. If Surge is set to "Latch", it will act as if it is always receiving a held MIDI note. "Latch" is the mode used in the various "Audio In" template presets.

This is useful, but there are interesting opportunities to explore with other modes...

In Poly or Mono modes, Surge will still need to receive a MIDI note to pass the audio from the "Audio Input" oscillator. You can use this to create all sorts of rhythmic effects. Try it out!!

4. Using Surge as an effect with DDMF Metaplugin

Using Surge with DDMF Metaplugin works essentially the same as using Surge in supported DAWs. A few additional steps are needed.

If processing audio on the same track:

Load DDMF Metaplugin, and load Surge inside.
Connect Audio inputs 1-2 from Metaplugin to Surge. Connect its outputs to the outputs of Metaplugin.
Connect MIDI from Metaplugin to Surge MIDI input if sending MIDI from another track.
From here on, reference "3. Basics of using Surge in compatible software" above.
This is actually more flexible than most setups, since you can use Surge "inline" as an insert!

If sending audio to Surge from another track (such as using a vocoder):

Load DDMF SendIt on the track you'd like to use to send audio to Surge.
Choose any channel on SendIt and make sure it's set to "send" (passthru should probably be disabled).
Load DDMF "MetapluginSynth", and load up SendIt inside set to "receive" from the same channel you just chose above.
Load Surge and connect outputs of SendIt to inputs of Surge.
Connect the outputs of Surge to the outputs of Metaplugin.
Make sure to also connect Surges MIDI pin to Metaplugin's MIDI Input.
From here on, reference ""3. Basics of using Surge in compatible software"" above.

5. Surge Effects VST3 and AU plugin

Surge Effects is VST3 (32 & 64 bit) and AU (64 bit) only. As of now, it installs with both the Windows and macOS Surge installer. If you have need for individual installer, it can be found here:
[https://github.com/surge-synthesizer/surge Effects/releases](https://github.com/surge-synthesizer/surge Effects/releases)

There isn't a whole lot more to say! It has no modulation or filter section at this time, but all the Surge effects are included and work great. Try using the Frequency Shifter as a delay, it's awesome! 😎

Surge Effects supports the Vocoder, using channels 1-2 as Carrier, channels 3-4 (sidechain) as Modulator. More in depth description below. This means you can use Surge's Vocoder with other synths, or in hosts that don't support sending audio to Surge when loaded as an instrument.

6. Using Surge as a Vocoder in compatible host

Using Surge as a Vocoder is simple in hosts that support it. The synth engine of Surge will act as the "carrier" and audio from another track will act as the "modulator".

Basic instructions:

load Surge as an instrument and insert or record some MIDI notes.
take a vocal sample and route it to the audio inputs of Surge (this will depend on your DAW).
select "Vocoder" as an inline effect on your Surge scene or in one of the master slots.

Here is a demo GIF, going through the above steps (albeit in a slightly different order):

7. Using the Vocoder in Surge Effects

This section will not be exhaustive, but the use of Surge Effects is very simple for DAWs that support it. Basic instructions:

Surge Effects should be inserted on the track you are using as Carrier (probably your synth sound)
Surge Effects should be set to "Vocoder"
You should have another track that is your Modulator (most commonly a vocal recording or microphone input)
Use whatever method supported in your DAW to send a sidechain from the Modulator track to Surge Effects
Disable the send of the Modulator track to the master, so you don't hear it on its own. (not required but certainly preferred for most vocoder setups)
Make sure a MIDI signal and audio signal are both being passed through their respective channels, and everything should be good to go!

Some more specific instructions can be found below. Also, check the example section for some project files in a number of DAWs.

Using Surge Effects as a Vocoder in REAPER:

Insert Virtual intrument on new track, Load Surge. This will be the "Carrier".
Load Surge Effects on the same track. This will do the vocoding. Make sure to set up a track with a vocal sample or input from a microphone to use as a modulator. I have a sample already.
Drag and drop from the "route" button on your modulator track to the interface of Surge Effects. This will automatically create a sidechain routing from that track to channels 3-4 on the Surge track.
You will probably want to disable the send to master from the modulator track, so you don't hear that track on it's own. "alt+click" the routing button, or turn off "Master Send" in the top left of the track routing windows(as scene in below gif)
Hit play and play some MIDI notes, you should be good to go! Check the example section below for a copy of the project referenced here.

8. The Surge_fx.dll renaming trick

From the Surge manual:

DISCLAIMER: This trick is Windows and VST2 only! (Which means it is also unsupported, please read about plugin formats!)

Some problematic VST host applications will refuse to feed instrument plug-ins with audio input, unless they are configured as a regular effect. Making a copy of the Surge.dll file named Surge_fx.dll in the same directory will cause that copy of Surge to identify itself as an effect instead of an instrument, which will make it work in such hosts.

This is a relic from the days before Surge was open-source. This will "sort of" work and you will be able to load Surge as an effect, but it will not be be able to receive MIDI. Therefore it is only useful if Surge is set to "Latch" mode.

If you are on Windows, using VST2, and want to use Surge's FX or filters without having any MIDI control, this could be useful!

9.Example sessions

The are example session/project files for various DAWs:

Surge VST2 as a Vocoder in Ardour

Surge LV2 as a Vocoder in Ardour

Surge Effects as Vocoder in Logic X

Surge Effects as Vocoder in REAPER

10. List of Known Issues:

REAPER:
REAPER has no track types, it supports loading MIDI or audio onto any track, so Surge should work great. Unfortunately it doesn't receive audio input correctly. REAPER doesn't realize it's an effect and unaffected audio will always pass through. You can "process" audio with Surge but the unprocessed audio will also always be heard.

FL STUDIO: Can't send audio sidechain's into instruments, can't load instruments as effects. FL Studio has a modular environment called Patcher. Routing both audio and midi to Surge doesn't work as expected, audio is ignored.

Studio One: No way to send audio to an instrument, and cannot load instruments on audio tracks.

RENOISE: Renoise can not load instruments into effect slots, and it can't send a external sidechain to instrument inputs.

CUBASE AI AND LE: No support for sidechains.