News Archive

A new beta of MidiShaper is online, bringing more info texts, as well as two bugfixes for its beat-synced modes and its EGs.

If you are using the full version of Curve it is possible that your preset ratings were overwritten by ratings made by others. We are very sorry for this. It is fixed now (in the server code; you do not have to download a new version of Curve).

Powered by Curve's unique modulations engine, MidiShaper brings Curve's flexible yet powerful LFOs and envelopes to all your favorite synthesizers and effects.

MidiShaper is now available for public beta testing (PC+Mac, VST, 32+64-bit).

MidiShaper will be EUR 20/USD 30, but you can get it for as low as EUR 10/USD 15 within a short period after release. Join our newsletter on the right-hand side if you want to get an e-mail as soon as we release MidiShaper.

We improved CPU usage for all plugins a bit and fixed a crash bug in Curve that could happen when renaming a preset.

64-bit versions of our full product line are now also available for the Mac.

In some cases, Curve 1.3 was crashing your host. We have fixed that now, and we highly recommend that you update to the latest version of Curve.

Also, as a result of user feedback (thanks David!) we have improved the behavior of Curve's new One-Shot-LFO.

Everything's updated. Now all our plugins have 40 wavepoints for drawing waveforms. More weirdness, more control for wobbles, for arpeggios in Curve, etc.

On top of that, Curve has now an additional feature: One-shot LFOs, particularly good for drums. In case you are using a one-shot LFO, you can draw in the precise envelope you prefer (we must admit this ranked low in Curve's public wish list, but we got it done in almost no time by reusing the code from our upcoming plugin MidiShaper).

Furthermore, Curve's LFO 1+2 can now be optionally synced to the host position, instead of being retriggered.

Curve 1.3 is just out. Curve 1.4 is in the making. Still some work to do, but legato — top-rated in Curve's public wish list — will be introduced with Curve 1.4.

Curve got covered in magazines such as Computer Music, SoundOnSound, Sound & Recording, Beats and KEYS, in blogs such as rekkerd, OhDrat and PlugINdex.

Read some quotes by print magazines or read full articles by rekkerd, OhDrat or PlugINdex.

We just updated our free panning effect PanCake to 1.1.2. Since version 1.1.1 loading of custom edits was not possible any more. This is fixed now.

Curve has undergone major improvements. Version 1.2 is now available, adding all three top user wishes and still just as easy to use:

- Modulation of individual OSC parameters: We knew this would help make Curve better, but we are actually quite impressed with the impact it has on Curve's sound capabilities. This is huge! We hope you'll love it too.
- Save presets without community upload: You can decide if a preset that you add to Curve's preset library should only be available to you or if you want to share it with the community.
- Modulation of LFO rates: Not just for the wobble addicts out there, but also for FX sounds and more.



Curve 1.2 additional updates:

- 64-bit support for PC.
- An improved polyphony algorithm.
- Better sound for fast-running LFOs.

And here are the lucky winners of the preset competition:

TOP 1: ennoK - AutoBass
TOP 10: Presets by jfo, lyann, janderson, ennoK, Roman Prokofev

We added 64-bit support for PC to our effects, included in the latest downloads.

64-bit support for Curve will come soon with Curve 1.2.

Curve 1.2 is now available for public beta testing, adding all three top user wishes and still just as easy to use.

Modulation of individual OSC parameters, saving of presets without community upload and modulation of LFO rates: All done. Curve 1.2 also brings 64-bit support for PC, an improved polyphony algorithm and better sound for fast-running LFOs. All free for existing users.

Help us make Curve rock solid: share your ideas for improvement and report as many bugs as you can. You can reach us via contact@cableguys.de. And please also let us know if you particularly like something!

The beta has the same restrictions as a demo version. Its preset library is independent from Curve 1.1.1, and you can run both Curve versions simultaneously. This first beta comes without presets—click "sync presets" in Curve's GUI to get started. Note that features may still change while Curve 1.2 is in beta.

Lots of great kick drums have been uploaded in the last days, and we are impressed at what you could get out of Curve!

It was difficult to decide upon a winner preset, but we ended up picking a winner: congrats to Roman Prokofev for designing both "Piercing Kick" and "Wobble Kick" and winning a free copy of Curve. We love "Piercing Kick" for its defined, precise and punchy bass, and "Wobble Kick" for its...ehm...wobbling. Something for the wobbling addicts out there. Thanks a lot to everyone who participated in our contest!

Now, with all effects updated, we feel it's time for a Cableguys Bundle, containing the latest versions of Curve, FilterShaper and VolumeShaper.

Until March 1st, you can get the Cableguys Bundle for a special introductory price of EUR 129/USD 174!

If you already own one of our products, you have the option of upgrading to the Cableguys bundle, which gives you an even bigger discount. Please log in to see your personal upgrade offer.

All effects are now fully AU compatible.

Undo/redo for waveform drawing has been one of the Curve's most requested features, and we now also added this feature to our full product line. Also, we tweaked lots of things under the hood.

We just did a demo song that only uses Curve. But it misses a nice bass drum. So we had this idea: Help us kick it.

Download the latest Curve demo, create one or more good kicks, and submit your creation from within the demo version to Curve's online preset library until Sunday (February 6th).

We will then choose our favorite kick. Its creator wins a license of Curve.

Of course kick drums are not what we had in mind when designing Curve, but that might make it even more interesting.

Now demo version users of Curve can also add their presets to the preset library. Besides this, the release is all about fixing bugs and flaws. Read the changelog.

The new year brings a first free update of Curve. We added two of the most requested features: Undo/redo for waveform drawing and aftertouch.

Help us identify the most important features for the following free updates. Add your vote or feature wishes to our feedback page.

Curve, our unique software synthesizer, is available now.

You can try before you buy—just download the demo. The demo is fully-functional and has no time limit, but you can only use one instance per song and you can't save or upload presets.

Watch an informative Curve movie and get all the details here.

Once you've tried Curve, send us your thoughts. Or your feature requests, or your complaints. User-driven development is a big part of Curve, so our bug reports and feature request list will stay completely public at all times. We're excited about where you're going to take us, so please smother us with feedback.

Sign up for our newsletter to keep up with Curve.

We'd also like to say a special thank you to all the beta testers. Hats off to you—your help has been very important to us. And here are the lucky winners of the preset competition:

TOP 1: Moreno - TeeBee on Steroids

TOP 104: Presets by AbstractCats, arbee, bogdi47, BSamaritain, David F, djgroovy, DocFloyd, EdT, Guanokalong, jasonswe, Konrad, Limkork, Liquid Proj3ct, luisi, moocher, Moreno, MrWobble, Nielzie, Osztap Bender, PhinkTink, Rics, rsmus7, Vlad, voodooinsomnia, Xenos Soundworks and Zee

Great news! Curve, our unique new software synthesizer, is now available for public beta testing (PC+Mac, VST+AU).

We feel we've created something truly new here. Creating sounds with Curve is intuitive and immediate. The waveform editor is irresistible, and provides completely new possibilities for experimentation and detailed tweaking. Three powerful oscillators, three envelope generators, two filters and four LFOs work together in a sophisticated modulations matrix, all set out in a clear, uncomplicated user interface.

The other half of Curve exists outside the synthesizer. Curve's preset library is a shared online database, populated with your presets and those from other Curve users. This ever-growing, community-driven sound library provides a constant source of inspirational sound, and gives you the opportunity to share, tag and rate sounds quickly and easily across the web.

We also invite the Curve community to steer the future development of the synthesizer. Our bug reports and feature request list will be completely public at all times. We believe this is an essential aspect of Curve, and we're excited about where you're going to take us.

So download the public beta, try Curve, share your sounds and report as many bugs as you can.

WusikSoundMagazine tested FilterShaper 2, and allowed us to upload the full pdf article for you.

"FilterShaper2's vast modulation capabilities and user-friendly workflow make it a great tool for adding movement to static sounds, but it can also be used as a glitch effect, capable of completely mangling the audio on the input."
Wusiksoundmagazine.com, March 2010

Our free pan modulation VST plugin PanCake got 6 of 6 points in German Beat magazine. They had been very kind and provided the full article.

"Man merkt, dass bei der Entwicklung von PanCake ein enormes Know-how eingeflossen ist: So überzeugt das Plug-in mit einer durchdachten, intuitiv bedienbaren Oberfläche, einer sehr guten Klangqualität sowie einer beeindruckenden Flexibilität."
Beat, 02/2010

We fixed two bugs and addressed some complaints that Computer Music had in their recent review of FilterShaper 2.

Fixes: On Sonar (PC) the waveform area was sometimes not shown correctly, and on Nuendo (Mac) our plugins could not be closed (.. but really, you should anyway never ever close our plugins).

Improvements: For all plugins, we added a new button to change the displayed grid of the waveform, and we labeled FilterShaper's LFOs numerically (hurray!).

Current issues: Our plugins do not work in all 64 bit hosts. In Nuendo (Mac) the mouse pointer is sometimes offset within the waveform area. We are currently looking into both issues.

"So it seems that Cableguys' FilterShaper 2 has arrived right on time." — Computer Music did a detailed article with great sound examples. There is some critics in there, so we are just right now improving grid lines and, ehm, we are labelling the LFOs numerically (dumb, we just had forgotten this). So watch out for the upcoming 2.0.3 release.
FilterShaper 2 review on MusicRadar

Two users have sent us some presets they did for Curve 0.5b. Get some basic, but powerful sounds by Vlad and some very different, detuned sounds by Nay-Seven with our Windows VST Package.

Have a listen to Vlad's presets:

We've added a free-running option to VolumeShaper's LFO and refined the user interface. And it is available for Mac too. Customers of version 1 get the upgrade for free. Read more...

"... In fact, it appears every criticism levelled at v1 has been addressed and resolved."
SoundOnSound

PanCake allows you to create flexible pan modulations, similarly to how you would modulate your signal in FilterShaper or VolumeShaper. Read more...

Yet another update—FilterShaper 2.0.2 fixes a bug on Mac OS X. It could happen that FilterShaper's controls had been disabled when certain other VST plugins had been opened at the same time.

We just updated FilterShaper to version 2.0.1, fixing issues with drawing in Cockos Reaper and in various hosts on Mac OS X.

We added parallel filter routing, pan modulation, free-running LFOs and several tweaks. And it is available for Mac too. Read more...

VolumeShaper 2 is in the works and will be released sometime in 2009.

Curve is now a step closer to its 1.0 release, but a lot of work is still needed. You've been waiting a long time now, but we are confident that Curve 1.0's features will compensate for that.

We just updated our products FilterShaper and VolumeShaper. This brings a bugfix for users of Ableton Live 8. In this host, editing points in the waveform could behave buggy.

FilterShaper has been included in a tutorial on envelope followers. Here is an excerpt: "..., but software processors can give us so much more. A case in point is Cableguys' fabulous FilterShaper, a filter that actually enables you to draw complex modulation shapes. ..."
Computer Music Special 35: Guitar Studio, April 2009

VolumeShaper got 6 of 6 points in German Beat magazine. You can read the full article in this pdf.

"Auch wenn die Optik des plugins den spröden Charme eines wissenschaftlichen Werkzeugs besitzt, verbirgt sich hinter dem VolumeShaper ein wahres Modulationsmonster. ... Insbesondere Produzenten tanzbarer elektronischer Musik ist das flexible plugin wärmstens zu empfehlen."
Beat, 02/2009

"... FilterShaper from German developers Cableguys has some unique tricks up its sleeve. ... the extra care Cableguys have taken with their envelope generator makes it unusually easy to get clean, smooth sweeps going on even at fast LFO speeds. FilterShaper also makes an excellent tremolo unit. ... FilterShaper is a neat effect with plenty to offer, at a bargain price."
SoundOnSound, November 2008

One of our users, Wadowad, proves that VolumeShaper can be used to archive the common effect which is typically done by sidechaining the kick drum to some of your audio tracks. Only that VolumeShaper gives you a much more flexible and precise control. Read Wadowad's article on that, in Russian, on his page. And get his presets, included in the updated VolumeShaper download.

I never know, is it FAQ or FAQs? Anyway, we just added them.

We just updated our products FilterShaper and VolumeShaper.


To achieve precise adjustments, you can now SHIFT-click on one of the buttons which allow scaling and moving the wave.

"... Schluss mit dem langweiligen und stupiden Filter auf- und zudrehen. Das FilterShaper-Plug-in hebt Parameteränderungen auf ein neues Bedienungs-Level und realisiert auch komplizierteste Filterverläufe im Handumdrehen. Der Brüller allerdings ist der Preis. ... Im Praxistest weiß das Plug-in mit quirliger Lebendigkeit aufzutrumpfen und sein gesamtes Potenzial eindrucksvoll auszuspielen. ..."
Professional audio Magazin, August 2008

"... Die Möglichkeiten von FilterShaper gehen über klassische French-House-Sweeps weit hinaus. Mit den Wellenform-Werkzeugen können Sie punktgenau arbeiten und z.B. hervorragend einzelne Events eines Loops betonen, ausblenden, isolieren oder entfernen. ... Dieses unkomplizierte und praktische Tool ist sowas wie das Schweizer Messer bei sample- und loopbasierten Produktionsmethoden. Die Bedienung ist intuitiv und einfach, die Filter klingen super. ..."
Sound & Recording, August 2008

"... Cableguys deserve a round of applause for side-stepping the well-trodden path of emulative synthesis. The interface eschews shiny pseudo-chrome plated knobs, simulated wood grain and other trapping of the analogue era in favour of a stark, to-the-point GUI, even as the instrument itself attempts to exploit all that the digital world has to offer. Yep, you can do analogue with Curve, but you can also draft detailed digital timbres entirely your own. It's killer for sequenced bass sounds, deep rising pads and steely leads. ..."
CM Special vol. 30: The Best Free Plug-ins Ever!, June 2008

Go to this page that we just added and request your unlock key.

FilterShaper has finally reached release quality and version 1.0 is now available for download. We tweaked presets, did some sound examples and added an online video, so find out more here...

We just updated VolumeShaper to 1.0.2. This fixes a bug that VolumeShaper could not be opened on some computers. Also, VolumeShaper has inherited lots of wave editing features from FilterShaper.

Our next VST effect is now in Public Beta. FilterShaper enables you to bring life to your sounds and loops. You can draw any curve, assign it to its 4 LFOs and use them to modulate filter cutoff and resonance of its great sounding filters. Or just modulate the volume.

It is free to use one instance of FilterShaper at a time. To use more instances, a license costs EUR 29/USD 44. Read more...

A user has sent us some presets he did for Curve. You can find sakkann's presets in the VST downloads package.

Some more tweaks done and it looks good and stable. So VolumeShaper is now grown up and has left public Beta. Read more about VolumeShaper here, or download a free demo. The demo gives you full functionality, but only one instance of the plugin can be used at the same time.

We just launched our shop, so go get VolumeShaper.

Besides our flagship Curve, we have been also working on VolumeShaper, a unique gate effect that makes intensive use of the technology we developed for Curve. A public Beta and more info is available on VolumeShaper's product page.

As soon as the shop is up, you can buy VolumeShaper for a discounted price of EUR 10/USD 15 until the Beta is over. Thereafter it will be EUR 15/USD 20.

It's been almost one year since the last update of Curve was released. Since then lots of feature-rich ideas crossed our minds, but the underlying software architecture of Curve wasn't ready for that. So we spent our time in research and development and have finally set up a powerful framework that gives us the freedom to concentrate on the creative part again. A first Beta of Curve 1.0, with a massive overhaul, will be released in the next few months, so watch out for upcoming news.

We have been quite busy these days, and also worked a bit on the layout and structure of the web site. We hope you like it.

A new song is online: "Cableguys - Versus". Find it in our music section.

Curve 0.5b is online. Older versions could produce strange noises when running on multicore CPUs. This is fixed now.

A new song is online: "Cableguys - Raum und Zeit". Find it in our music section. Vocals are from a friend of mine, Nathalie.

Curve 0.4b is online. This version fixes a bug that saving of edited waves did not work correctly under some circumstances.

We did it again. It took way too long for you to wait for the next songs, but here they are: Cableguys - Upchucking Robots and Cableguys - Advanced. Find them in our music section.

The main synth in "Upchucking Robots" and the bass sound are from our synth Curve. The main synth uses features that are not implemented in the version you can find on our site, as these features are not fine-tuned yet. Hope to release the update soon.

The deep bass in "Advanced" is from Curve. I really begin to love this baby for its powerfull sound.

Curve 0.3b is online.

The first Beta of Curve is online. It's a VST synthesizer that allows you to draw your own waves. You can find it here.

Cableguys - Der Wurm. Find it in our music section.

Impulse45 did a remix for Credance, that has been released as 12'' on 2001/ZYX:

Credance - In memory of time
A UK club mix
B1 Imoulse45 club mix
B2 Cold blue rmx

w.+p.: David Riedel, Vocals by TELLeen.
(Note: We are wrongly written as "Imoulse45".)

The vinyl can be bought for ~6 EUR here (search for Credance):
Cuepoint.info | Web-Records.com | DeeJay.de | DJShop.de | WOM.de

Impulse45.de and BruderJakob.de moved to Cableguys.de.