Minimal Audio has expanded its plugin library with a new free offering, Formant – an “effortless” vocal tone shaper “built for modern vocals”.

Available to download at no cost at all, Formant is, as you might guess, a formant shifter plugin. But what is formant shifting?

• READ MORE: Spotify Lossless audio is finally here – and no, we’re not kidding

As Minimal explains, a formant shifter “moves the resonant peaks of a sound (its formants) up or down in frequency while leaving the fundamental pitch unchanged”. This results in a change in a vocal’s tone or identity, meaning it can sound higher or lower in character without changing its pitch.

Technologically, this works in a similar way to how a singer could sing the same part differently while retaining the same key.

Additionally, Formant is able to adjust the overall spectral balance and darken or brighten a vocal line, opening up “another dimension of tonal shaping”.

Minimal Audio says Formant – while a formidable tool in its own right – could serve as a “gateway” to its upcoming flagship vocal resynthesis plugin, Evoke. There’s little detail on that as it stands, but we’ll keep you updated as we know more.

Minimal also touts Formant’s “extremely simple interface”, which features an XY pad for the exploration of different tonal configurations. It’s also lightweight, with low CPU usage.

Aside from the obvious use case of transforming a lead vocal, for example, Formant can be used to create backing vocals with a separate, distinct character, or you could stack multiple instances to build layered and contrasting vocals.

And the best part? Formant is totally free. If you’re working with vocals in any capacity, it’s probably worth having in your arsenal.

For more info, and to download yours, head to Minimal Audio.

The post Formant is Minimal Audio’s new formant shifting plugin for “modern vocals” – and it’s totally free appeared first on MusicTech.