What is a transient shaper?

Before we dive in, what does a transient shaper do?

A transient shaper is used to manipulate the attack and sustain characteristics of a sound. It focuses on the transient parts of a sound – the initial peaks or hits, like the crack of a drum or the pick of a guitar string – and allows precise control over how these transients are emphasized or deleted. This makes it easy to control how punchy, lively, or spacious a drum track sounds.

So, is a transient shaper just a compressor? No, they don’t: although they share similarities in that they allow you to control the dynamics of the input signal, the big difference is that transient shapers depend on a threshold level in the same way as compressors. Transient shapers will modify all audio inputs the same regardless of the input level, while compressors rely on the input level to determine how to affect the sound. So the way these effects are controlled and the way they affect the sound are different.

Multiband transient shaping may seem like an intimidating concept to the beginner, but it is a very simple technique to achieve with Neutron 5 Transient Shaper. Above all, it’s easy to hear how the effect affects the audio input signal, so you shouldn’t have any trouble mastering it.