> Step by step
Getting started with Puncher CM
1 To install Puncher CM, get the zip file for your operating system from the DVD or FileSilo, unzip it and run the installer. You can install the VST2 and/or VST3 versions on Windows and macOS, as well as Audio Units on Mac – make your selection in the Customise dialogue.
2 Load Puncher CM in your DAW as you would any other insert effect. The plugin comes with seven presets, which can be stepped through using the arrow buttons to the left and right of the preset name field. To access the presets more directly, click the ‘three dots’ button and browse through the Factory folder.
3 To store your own edited Puncher CM setup as a preset, click the floppy disk icon, give it a name, make sure it’s saving to the Puncher CM folder or any folder within it, and hit Enter. Your patch will now be available via the right/left step buttons and in the browser.
4 Puncher CM includes all three dynamics processing modules from the full Puncher, but only grants access to amount controls – not their ‘advanced’ parameters, which are configured specifically for each preset under the hood. Furthermore, the amount controls step between five fixed values – 0, 25, 50,
75 and 100% – rather than sweeping continuously through the full range.
5 From left to right, then, we have Transient Shaper, Multiband
Compressor and Parallel Compressor, each one switched on and off using its power button, and the whole plugin bypassed by clicking the Puncher logo. At the bottom right, the Gain knob controls the final output level, as visualised by the peak meters above.
6 Raising the Transient Shaper’s amount knob increasingly will boost the transients in the input signal, making drums and other attacking sounds seem more punchy. This added impact brings with it a significant increase in peak level, which can be compensated for if so needed by lowering the gain knob and/or by applying compression.
7 The Multiband Compressor splits the signal into four frequency bands using subtractive IIR filters in order to apply discrete compression to each band independently. Raising the amount glues our drum kit together nicely, and mixing it with the Transient Shaper makes the whole thing sound much more aggressive.
8 The Parallel Compressor applies broadband compression, with the amount knob mixing the dry and wet signals at the output – that’s the parallel bit. Use it to apply smooth dynamics levelling, or combine it with the Multiband Compressor module for a higher compression ratio and a more extreme effect.
9 Finally, you can see the effect of your processing on the amplitude of the signal in the scrolling waveform display. This shows the input signal in grey and the output signal in blue. Look out, too, for the clipping indicators above the peak meters – if these light up, you might need to turn the Gain down.