Top 8 Riser, Drop & Sweep Plugins For Transitions 2024

Top 8 Sweep, Riser & Impact Plugins 2022 For Transitions | integraudio.com

This article will examine the top 8 Sweep, Rise, and transition plugins money can buy in 2024.

This list will cover a wide range of plugins, from simple plugins that just create cinematic style transitions and time manipulation effects plugins that come with hundreds of pre-made sounds, instruments, and many other effects for all your production needs.

Also, check out our bonus plugin towards the end of the article. Finally, in the summary of this article, I will talk about my favorite plugins and what I’d recommend you use them for.

Top 8 Riser, Drop/Impact & Sweep Plugins For Transitions 2024

1. ujam Finisher BOOST (Transitions, Sweeps & Impacts)

More Info & Price (Trial Available)

Top 8 Riser, Drop & Sweep Plugins For Transitions 2024 - 2024 Update

Finisher BOOST by ujam is a plugin for creating transitions, risers, impacts, and adding more tension & hype between your sections.

For example, you’re moving from a verse to a chorus and need more spice to your song. You can add the plugin to the mix bus or any instrument to create a buildup from the chorus. It will manipulate your sound to create an interesting rhythm and add excitement and drama to your song.

Similarly, you can use the plugin to create interesting impact sounds, so a drop or a particular phrase in the song has more impact.

Key Features:

  • Comprehensive effects suite

You get a comprehensive effects suite, allowing you to access various creative options to enhance your audio. These versatile modes include delays, reverbs, modulation effects, pitch shifting, and more.

With 60 distinct modes, you can experiment with combinations and find the perfect sound for their mix, making the plugin suitable for various genres and production styles.

  • Presets

BOOST has over 200 carefully designed presets catering to various styles and applications. These preset provide an excellent starting point for you who want to find a suitable effect setting for your project quickly.

They can also serve as inspiration for creating custom presets. The presets can be easily browsed and selected, making it simple to find the right sound without spending too much time tweaking the parameters.

  • Various Modes

Various modes like Loop Control, Intuitive Flip Button, and Vari Controls offer high customization and creative control. Loop Control enables the creation of rhythmic patterns and textures by manipulating the loop length, while the Intuitive Flip Button inverts specific parameters for instant sound variations.

Custom-tailored Vari Controls provide a deeper level of customization for each effect mode, ranging from modulation intensity adjustments to altering reverb depth or delay feedback, thus enhancing users’ creative freedom.

  • Seamless DAW Integration and Customizable Automation

The plugin offers a seamless connection with your digital audio workstation (DAW), allowing you to synchronize it with your DAW’s grid. You can choose from various phrase lengths, such as 2, 4, or 8 measures, and decide which beat achieves the highest intensity.

This feature simplifies the process, allowing you to manually adjust the Finisher knob position within your DAW for further customization and control over your sound.

Compatibility:

The plugin is highly compatible with various platforms and digital audio workstations (DAWs) due to its native support for Apple Silicon and availability in multiple formats. These formats include VST3, VST2, AAX, and AU, ensuring that the plugin can be used with a wide range of DAWs such as Ableton Live, Pro Tools, Logic Pro, FL Studio, and many others.

Summary:

Finisher BOOST by UJAM is a versatile plugin that creates transitions, risers, and impacts, enhancing tension and excitement in music productions. It offers a comprehensive suite of 60 effects modes, including delays, reverbs, modulation effects, and pitch shifting, catering to various genres and styles.

With over 200 presets, users can quickly find the right sound and gain inspiration for custom settings. The plugin features Loop Control, an Intuitive Flip Button, and Vari Controls, providing users with high customization and creative control.

Seamless DAW integration and flexible automation make it easy to synchronize the plugin with your DAW’s grid and manually adjust the Finisher knob for further sound customization.

2. Output REV (Kontakt Library)

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REV by Output is a Kontakt library and is the world’s first virtual instrument made with only reverse sounds.

REV isn’t an effect tool. Instead, it’s a huge collection of instruments, loops, risers, and pads. All the sounds within are reversed, making it the first plugin of its kind. It has four different engines, over 1,000 patches, and a larger library of 14GB of uncompressed audio samples.

Output REV - Top 8 Sweep, Riser & Impact Plugins For Transitions | integraudio.com

Key Features:

  • Four different engines

Within REV, there are four different engines s, each with its own uniquely styled interface and purpose. I Could talk about each different patch in-depth, but that’s another article. The four engines are – Instruments; this engine contains real instruments recorded in a state-of-the-art LA studio.

Timed Instruments, this engine is an expansion of the instruments patch but allows you to set note length, causing everything to be on time. Rises, this engine contains many rises, perfect for EDM tracks.

Loops, This engine contains hundreds of pre-made loops with multiple octaves, speeds, stutters, and fx, perfect for making drum groves and melodies alike.

  • The Design

This may not be as important to some as it is to others, buts it is a key feature to mention. REV is a very visually pleasing plugin; the interface is clean and sleek, with each engine having its style, helping you differentiate which engine is which.

Also, all the controls are well labeled; Output hasn’t given the controls’ cool’ names (Like using ‘sauce’ for the delay control or ‘waves’ for the reverb), which makes editing so confusing in a lot of newer plugins.

  • Over 1,000 presets/patches

REV has a Huge preset Library. With over 14GB of uncompressed audio files, you will never get bored or be lost for inspiration. In addition, each engine has its own presets, making it easier for you to find the perfect sounds you’re looking for.

  • Sound quality

The sound quality within REV is on a whole new level. With all its instruments being recorded live in a state-of-the-art recording studio in LA, it’s easy to understand why the quality is so good.

As well as the instruments sound good, the effects within REV are also extremely good, sure, you may get better sounds from external plugins designed for specific effects, but as built-in effects, the quality is better than you’d think.

Compatibility:

This plugin requires Kontakt 5.8.1 or higher and is compatible with both the Full and Free versions of Kontakt. This plugin is available for macOS 10.11 or Higher and Windows 7 or Higher.

Summary:

Overall, REV has a lot to offer. You’ll never be bored using it, from its instrument library to its loop collection. The sheer size of its preset library means you could use it for years, and you’d still be finding new sounds and patches.

Related Reading:

6 Best OUTPUT VST Plugins For Music Production 

3. NI Cinematic: Rise & Hit (Kontakt Library)

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Rise and Hit is a massive collection of cinematic sounds created by Native Instruments.

This Kontakt instrument is perfect for adding tension to your tracks. It has over 650 Risers and over 1000 Hits, all created from a wide range of sources within the over 8GB library.

NI Cinematic: Rise & Hit- Top 8 Sweep, Riser & Impact Plugins For Transitions | integraudio.com

Key Features:

  • Built-in Effects

Within Rising and Hit, many built-in effects help you shape your sounds. There are fine-tuning controls, compression, saturation, multiple EQs, 26 different filters, dynamic controls, distortion controls, and classic reverbs and delays. All these effects can be used on each layer for even more control over the sounds you create.

  • Multiple sample lengths

Each built-in sound within Rising & Hit has multiple sample lengths. This means that once you’ve found a sound you like, you can use it in multiple ways. So whether you want a quick Woosh-type riser or a slowly built-up riser, then Rise & Hit has you covered, and the quality of the sounds will not be affected, no matter how long or short.

  • The Interface/Design

Rise & Hit is a very visually pleasing plugin. All the controls are labeled appropriately, so you don’t need to guess what the control does. The visual feedback when shaping your sounds is also super useful when you start, as it gives you a better understanding of how the controls affect the audio.

The overall design of the plugin is nice and simplistic, Native instruments have chosen not to go for the black background with color accents style designs that are becoming more and more frequent, and it’s nice to see an original color scheme for a plugin of this caliber.

Compatibility:

This plugin requires Kontakt 5.8.1 or higher and is compatible with both the Full and Free versions of Kontakt. This plugin is available for macOS 10.11 or Higher and Windows 7 or Higher.

Summary:

This is a good plugin for all your Risers and Hit needs. The sheer number of sounds means you won’t run out of new sounds and ideas. In addition, all the built-in effects mean you don’t need to load up additional plugins saving you time and processing power.

4. Vir2 Phoenix – Rise, Hit & Woosh Builder (Kontakt Library)

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Phoenix by Vir2 is a powerful tool for building the perfect dramatic moments within your tracks.

This Kontakt instrument is based around Risers, Hits, and other cinematic style transitions. It comes with 322 different Hits, 293 different Risers, 84 Wooshes, over 150 pre-sets, eight different engines, and many built-in effects.

Vir2 Phoenix - Rise, Hit & Woosh Builder - Top 8 Sweep, Riser & Impact Plugins For Transitions | integraudio.com

Key Features:

  • Large Sound Library

With over 322 Hits, 293 Risers, and 84 Wooshes, you’ll never run out of sounds to play with. All these sounds are high quality and have been selected from various sources such as strings, synths, guitars, vocals, percussion, pianos, and many others.

In addition, these sounds have been manipulated in unique ways to create a large sound library.

  • Over 150 pre-sets

Phoenix has a huge pre-set Library, so you will never get bored or be lost for inspiration. In addition, each engine has its pre-sets menus, making it easier to find the perfect sounds you’re looking for.

  • Use your own sounds

Within phoenix, you can drag and drop any of your sounds to use within one of the plugin’s eight engines. Once you’ve loaded a sound into the plugin, you can manipulate it and layer it with more of your sounds or the built-in sounds that come included to create your perfect sounds.

  • Layering

You can layer up to eight different sounds in phoenix. You can use this feature to craft the perfect sound you are looking for, and you can also use some of the many built-in effects, like the time sync feature, to get your sounds to line up perfectly together.

Compatibility:

This plugin requires Kontakt 5.8.1 or higher and is compatible with both the Full and Free versions of Kontakt. This plugin is available for macOS 10.11 or Higher and Windows 7 or Higher.

Summary:

Phoenix is a useful plugin, especially for cinematic-style productions. With a large number of sounds and the layering option, you have the potential to create fresh new sounds with endless possibilities.

Related Reading:

Top 7 Trailer Scoring Plugins & Kontakt Libraries 

5. Air Music Tech – The Riser (Synth Plugin)

More Info & Price (Trial Available)

The Riser by Air Music Tech is a virtual instrument for designing musical transitions.

This plugin is a powerful synth-based instrument with all of the tools to create your powerful transitions. This plugin can be used with many genres, but it’s especially useful for EDM tracks and Composing for Film/TV. In addition, the Riser has a Sci-Fi styled Interface.

Air Music Tech - The Riser - Top 8 Sweep, Riser & Impact Plugins For Transitions | integraudio.com

Key Features:

  • Three Variable Oscillators

Within The Riser, there are three different oscillators for you to use to shape your sound, Sweep, Noise, and Chord. Sweep, this oscillator creates rises, falls, stops, and swells with visual and audible feedback. Noise.

This oscillator adds grit, bite, hiss, punch, and more to your sound. Chord, this oscillator allows you to shape the sound to match the rack’s key, contrast it, or blend it to your taste; it’s essentially the musical element.

In addition, each oscillator features dedicated Filters allowing for greater shaping of the sounds produced.

  • A large number of Effects

There are many effects built-in to The Riser that allows you to customize further the sound produced outside of the three oscillators. For example, Tempo-Sync’d Delay, Four Reverb types (all fully customizable), Panning and Width controls, and over 20 Filters from Low-Pass to Phase Shift.

If this isn’t enough, you can use all these effects within the different oscillators to create truly unique sounds.

  • Intuitive Randomizers

The Riser features a randomizer that will select different values for the main parameters within the plugin. This allows you to quickly create your unique sounds with the press of a button, and if this wasn’t enough to help you get inspired, there is also an invert mode.

This mode inverts all your selected settings, meaning risers become falls, swells become fades, and so on. This feature gives you endless amounts of inspiration for your tracks.

  • A large amount of presets

With over 300 presets, you’ll never run out of inspiration for your tracks. Whether you don’t want to spend time creating your sounds and want to select one from the library or want some quick ideas, then the preset library is for you.

When you combine the preset library with the invert mode, you get over 600 presets, meaning you won’t run out of inspiration for a long time.

Compatibility:

This plugin is available for macOS 10.8 or higher (M1 Not Supported) and Windows 7 or higher. It is VST, AAX, and AU compatible.

Summary:

The versatility of this plugin is a huge selling point. The Riser can do everything from making risers for the drop in your EDM track or creating a slow build-up of tension when composing for TV/Film. I recommend checking this plugin out for all your riser-related needs.

Related Reading:

29 Best Sound Design VST Plugins (Creative Tools)

6. Boom Library LiftFX (Plugin FX)

More Info & Price (Trial Available)

LiftFX is a rise and fall generator by Boom Library.

This plugin allows you to create high-quality effects for your tracks instantly. It’s designed to work with genres like EDM, Trap, House, Experimental, Cinematic, and everything in between. In addition, LiftFX comes with a simple and sleek interface.

Boom Library LiftFX  - Top 8 Sweep, Riser & Impact Plugins For Transitions | integraudio.com

Key Features:

  • Instant Effects

There’s no time wasting when you’re using this plugin. Load it up, and you’ve instantly got the effects you’re looking for.

Unlike when making rises and falls yourself, there’s no need to open a bunch of plugins, bounce down the audio file, decide you want to change something, and so on.  Instead, this plugin gives you the sounds you’re looking for in a matter of seconds, and you can change the sounds in real time, allowing you to get creative.

  • Loads of useful presets

LiftFX Comes with over 270 presets for you to check out. You’ll never be lost for inspiration when using this plugin; all the parameters within each preset can be altered, allowing endless possibilities.

The preset library has it all; from Risers and Downlifters to bass drops, there’s a lot for you to play around with.

  • Built-in Effects

Within LiftFX, there are several built-in effects at your disposal. High cut filters, Low cut filters, Delays, and reverbs are all built into the plugin itself, meaning there’s no need to open external plugins.

You can also use automation to control these effects or, for more hands-on control, link these effects with the modwheel on your midi controllers.

There are also options for Timelock, and this option means you can affect the sounds produced by the plugin but also keep the length of the previous sound, so if you’ve got a riser that starts at a specific time and ends at a specific time then changing the effects will not change this.

  • Playable in Real-Time

This feature gives LiftFX an advantage over other plugins on this list with its Real-Time feature. The ability to control all the parameters in real-time means this plugin has great potential for live performance. You can also use this feature when testing sounds for a more hands-on experience.

Compatibility:

This plugin is available for macOS 10.8 or higher (64-Bit Only) and Windows 7 or higher (64-Bit Only). It is VST, AAX, and AU compatible.

Summary:

LiftFX has a large number of useful features. Adding rises and falls in real time is super useful for live performance. The preset library is a nice touch and gives you the ability to add new flavor to your tracks quickly. If you hate the tedious process of creating rises and falls yourself, then definitely check this plugin out.

Related Reading:

Top 12 Orchestral VST Plugins & Kontakt Libraries (+ FREE Plugins)

7. UVI Whoosh & Motion Designer (UVI Workstation Library)

More Info & Price 

Woosh & Motion Designer is powerful for generating movement, wind, and woosh-type sounds.

This plugin is by far the most intuitive with the way you control all the parameters and built-in effects, and with all the sounds and presets included, you’ll never run out of fresh ideas.

UVI Whoosh & Motion Designer - Top 8 Sweep, Riser & Impact Plugins For Transitions | integraudio.com

Key Features:

  • Intuitive controls

This plugin features unique controls, and you can draw your desired envelope shape, a feature not seen on many plugins like this. This feature allows you quickly adjust the settings in real-time and very quickly.

Woosh and Motion designer controls are also super easy and fun to control; each layer is labeled appropriately and positioned next to one another for easy access. When viewing the overall shape you’ve created, each layer has been color-coded so you can see how the layers work together to create your sound.

  • The Design

A key feature is how visually pleasing this plugin is. The interface is clean and sleek, with each layer having its style, helping you differentiate between them. The color scheme is also very nice, this plugin has used the common style of dark background with pops of color, but it has added its twist to it.

  • Built-in Effects

There a many useful built-in effects within the plugin. There are built-in LFOs, Duration controls, Movement effects, Filters, EQs, Delays, Reverbs, and a Limiter. A standout feature is the time and motion effects, and you can set these effects so they work in seconds or tempo-synced to your DAW.

These effects allow for a quick and easy shaping of your sounds and mean you don’t need any third-party plugins and extra stress on your CPU when creating your tracks.

  • Loads of useful presets

This plugin comes with over 400 presets for you to check out. You’ll never be lost for inspiration when using this plugin; all the parameters within each preset can be altered, allowing endless possibilities. In addition, the preset library is organized by type allowing for a quick and easy experience.

Compatibility:

This plugin is available for macOS 10.14 or higher (64-Bit Only) and Windows 10 – 11 (64-Bit Only). It runs in UVI Workstation version 3.0.5 or higher and Falcon version 1.6.6 or higher. iLok account needed (Dongle not required)

Summary:

Woosh & motion is a super useful plugin for creating cinematic style effects for Adverts, TV, Films, Video games, And other musical genres. Its intuitive controls and stylistic design create a very visually pleasing experience. Moreover, you’ll never run out of inspiration with all the built-in effects and presets.

8. UVI Meteor – Swell & Impact Designer (UVI Workstation Library)

More Info & Price 

Meteor is a UVI workstation Instrument designed to create cinematic sound effects for film, TV, Video Games, and Music.

Meteor has a unique design and is designed to create swells, crescendos, and impacts. In addition, it has a massive collection of sounds and many built-in effects to help you create your perfect sound.

UVI Meteor - Swell & Impact Designer - Top 8 Sweep, Riser & Impact Plugins For Transitions | integraudio.com

Key Features:

Multiple Layers

Within Meteor, you can stack up to 7 different layers. These layers can be affected separately or together to help you craft those perfect sounds.

In addition, each sound within the layers can be changed almost instantly with no load times, and the sound menu is simple and easy to navigate, speeding up your workflow.

Built-in Effects

Meteor has a huge number of built-in effects at your disposal. Multiple LFOs for each layer, Reverbs, delays, Compressors, EQs, Low, High, and Tilt filters, Pitch effects with time controls, Granular modulation, Motion filters, and Motion Panning controls, Stereo effects, and many others.

All these plugins are labeled properly and positioned in convenient places, meaning you don’t have to navigate to many menus to get full control of your sounds.

Pre-set Library

The plugin has 699 pre-sets consisting of over 3850 induvial samples. All these pre-sets are sorted into different categories: Field Rec Metal, Field Rec Misc, Fx, Guitars, Machine Drums, Orchestral Brass, Orchestral Misc, Orchestral Percussion, Orchestral Stings, Sub, Synth, Tails, World drums, and World Metal.

Each category’s sounds are also labeled with useful keywords to help give you a basic idea of what the sounds will sound like.

Compatibility:

This plugin is available for macOS 10.14 or higher (64-Bit Only) and Windows 10 – 11 (64-Bit Only). It runs in UVI Workstation version 3.0.5 or higher and Falcon version 1.6.6 or higher. iLok account needed (Dongle not required)

Summary:

Overall, Meteor is a good plugin for all your cinematic needs. The layering system works well and allows for some unique sound design; with all the built-in effects, the sound design only gets better.

The design is visually pleasing, and with over 699 pre-sets and 3891 samples, you’ll never run out of sounds.

Bonuses:

denise The Sweeper (Resonant Filter plugin)

More Info & Price (Trial Available)

The sweeper by Denise is a more natural alternative for side-chain compression and gating.

This plugin is a simple yet powerful tool to allow you to reshape your sounds and get a nice clean mix in your tracks.

denise The Sweeper - Top 8 Sweep, Riser & Impact Plugins For Transitions | integraudio.com

Key Features:

Built-in effects

This plugin has many built-in effects, like the adaptive filter (Which sets its frequency based on the loudness of the source or side-chain signal), resonance (Go from subtle to powerful resonance for a wide range of uses), side-chain (The main feature), ADSR (Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release).

All these effects are easy to use yet powerful.

Interactive visuals/ Design

Within the sweeper, an interactive graph shows how the filter responds to the source signal and said chain.

Compatibility:

This plugin is available for macOS 10.7 or higher (Big Sur/ M1 Supported) and Windows 7 or higher (32-Bit or 64-Bit). VST, VST3, AU, AAX supported (64-Bit Only).

Summary:

This is a great plugin for a new refreshing take on chain compression and gating. All the controls are simple and powerful, and the plugin is very effective.

2. Sound Yeti Collision FX (Kontakt Library)

More Info & Price 

Collision FX is a Kontakt instrument by Sound Yeti based around cinematic sounds.

This plugin has a visually pleasing design and a massive sound library with over 14GB of uncompressed samples. Collision FX can be used with many genres, but it’s especially useful for Composing for Film/TV.

Sound Yeti Collision FX - Top 8 Sweep, Riser & Impact Plugins For Transitions | integraudio.com

Key Features:

Large Sound Library

This plugin has over 14GB of uncompressed samples, including Hits, Risers, Drops, Impacts, Flybys, Textures, Sweeps, Environments, Ambiences, Instruments, and many others.

The sheer size of this library means you could use this plugin regularly for years, and you’d still be finding new sounds every time you load it up.

Built-in Effects

Collision FX comes with many useful effects built-in to the plugin.

For example, there are 190 reverb pre-sets, multiple four-band Premix EQs, Sidechain options, Pitch effects, speed controls, ADSR controls, Destruction effects, Shimmer effects, Depth effects, High and low pass filters, Compressors, Multiple envelopes, Drive, Warmth, modulation, and step sequencing controls.

All these built-in effects are super useful and easy to control. In addition, when using these effects, you get visual feedback to help you understand how you’re affecting the sound.

The Design

A standout feature of this plugin is the design. Collision FX is based all around space, and with stars, views of earth, and many other spaces style themes, the whole plugin has a Sc-fi feel. These designs aren’t just visually pleasing but are also useful. The visuals will change when changing the parameters within the plugin, creating a fun and informative experience.

Compatibility:

This plugin requires Kontakt 5.8.1 or higher and is compatible with both the Full and Free versions of Kontakt. This plugin is available for macOS 10.11 or Higher and Windows 7 or Higher.

Summary:

Collision FX has the most visually pleasing design on this list, and it’s refreshing to see a plugin based on a theme do it so well. All the built-in effects are appropriately labeled and very useful. In addition, the size of the sample library is a huge bonus. With over 14GB of uncompressed samples, you’ll never need to use another plugin.

Conclusion

Overall, there are so many great plugins on this list. However, each plugin does many different things, so it’s down to personal preference when making your choice.
 
These are my personal choices from this list.
 
  • Best Value for Money

If you want the most bang for your buck, I’d recommend The Riser by Air Music Tech, and it’s easily the most versatile plugin.

  • Best plugin for creating Risers and Swells

If you’re looking for a plugin to make risers and swells, Phoenix by Vir2 is the one for you.

  • Best plugin for Instruments and Loops
REV by Output is the easy choice for any instruments and loop needs, but you need to download Kontakt for it to work.
 
  • The best-designed plugin

Woosh & Motion Designer By UVI, Collison FX by Sound Yeti, and Swell & Impact Designer by UVI take the top spots for design, but if I had to pick one, it would be Collision FX by Sound Yeti. 

  • The simplest plugin

Lastly, if you don’t want to mess around with any extra effects, then LiftFX by Boom library is a good choice.

Be sure to check out our other articles for all your musical needs. In addition, some plugins on this list have specific articles that go more in-depth about the key features and information about the plugins, so keep that in mind if you’re looking for more information.
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