Image-Line's Frequency Shifter is packed with a ton of gunpowder! Regular pitch shifting is a great way to bring the energy of a track up, but what if you wanted something a little stranger?
Say hello to frequency shifting! Unlike regular pitch shifting, which preserves the harmonic relationships in a sound, a frequency shifter shifts every frequency by the same amount in Hz. Those relationships start to break apart, resulting in some really interesting warbly, metallic and dissonant textures and sounds!
To put it simply, shifting a 200 Hz tone and its 400 Hz harmonic up by 100 Hz gives you 300 Hz and 500 Hz. The second tone is no longer twice the frequency of the first. That change is where a lot of the weirdness comes from.
Try putting it on a sustained synth or a percussion loop and slowly moving the frequency control. Small shifts can add an uneasy movement to the sound, while larger shifts can take it somewhere much more metallic. You do not need to turn it all the way up to hear something interesting.
For a bit more warble, try automating a small shift and blending the effect with the original using the Mix control. Listen to it with the rest of your track playing, too. Something that sounds wonderfully strange on its own might only need a little space in the background.
Throw it on a sound you already know well and see what happens. That familiar loop might have a completely different side to it.
