iZotope Trash is a plug-in designed for adding
distortion to audio tracks. Distortion covers a wide range of possibilities, from typical "guitar overdrive"
sounds to lo-fi digital characteristics to simply warming or brightening a track.
While the guitar is the instrument that typically comes to mind when thinking about distortion, Trash can be effectively used on all types of tracks. You can add tape saturation to a vocal or acoustic guitar part, fuzz to a bass, overdriven compression to a drum beat -- with Trash we went beyond a typical "guitar amp simulator" design in order to provide you with something that had the flexibility to be used on just about anything.
When applying distortion to a track, several factors are involved in getting a "good bad" sound. Controlling dynamics is important for smoothing out distortion, adding sustain, or simply gating out unwanted noise. Filters are a key ingredient for shaping the tone of the distortion, as well as for filtering out unwanted distortion and harmonics. And for realistic overdriven sounds, speakers and cabinets play an important part in naturally smoothing the frequency and transient responses. In short, distortion by itself is only part of the puzzle -- filtering, dynamics and speakers are the additional pieces for getting a beautifully bad sound.
With that in mind, Trash is a collection of modules that comprise a complete distortion system. This allows you to work with the components you need at 64-bit precision, create presets that encompass entire Trash setups, and compare settings across different modules through history lists and undo features.
Whether you just use a couple modules to overdrive a guitar, or all modules in multiband mode to create entirely new sounds, we hope you enjoy using Trash as much as we enjoyed making it.
Note: This help file is a quick reference for basic Trash functions and controls. We have separate "how to" guides that provide tips and techniques for getting the most out of Trash. You can download these guides from http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/trash/guides.html