If you often work with percussive elements and want to improve the attack and overall dynamics of your drums, check out Audec’s new release, Transient Shaper. While the plugin has been around for a while, Apple Silicon support has just been released.
As a percussion player myself, I love these kinds of plugins that play with the dynamics of the grooves. They offer the transient shaping effect to fine-tune the dynamics of the percussive sound, allowing me to create punchy or soft attacks or fat or tight releases. Transient is a straightforward plugin that does exactly what you’d expect it to do.
So, as always, I will start with the user interface. It is a small design with a few controls on the deck. On top, we have waveform graphs, which show the adjustments in real-time. On the bottom part, we have Input Gain and Output Volume, Attack Time and Gain, Release Time and Gain, and Soft Clipper controls. You can turn the Clipper on or off as you like.
Another detail I appreciated was that the value is reset when you double-click any control. It is not a big deal, but it saves a bit of time.
I tested the plugin mainly with percussion and drums, which provided me with pretty good dynamic changes. One thing I recommend is to use gain-staging carefully to give room for the dynamic adjustments you want. You can adjust it in the input section of the plugin.
I really enjoyed the pump sound I could get by decreasing the Release time and Attack Gain and increasing the Release Gain slightly.
I also found the plugin working well with percussive bass sounds. You can use it to automate different sections and or layers. Creating different layers with various attack-release levels can give you pretty good nuances to emphasize different layers whenever you want.
Overall, it is my favorite Audec plugin. It is easy to use and really allows you to play with your dynamics without messing with the sound.
A little tip I can give you is to use these kinds of plugins before Reverb plugins in the signal chain. If you have sounds that get soft slowly, plugins that make dynamic enhancements can mess around with the Reverb tail. So, use the Transient first in the signal chain and add the Reverb afterward.
Audec Transient Shaper is not totally new in the production scene, but it was almost forgotten as it did not have Apple Silicon support. This week, the update was released, and it is getting hyped again.
All you need to do is enter your email on the official website, and you can download the plugin for free. The plugin has a pay-what-you-want style process, so if you want to donate, you are also welcome to do so.
Audec Transient Shaper comes in AU and VST3 formats for Mac and VST3 for Windows.
Download Audec Transient Shaper here.
Check out the manual of Audec Transient Shaper here.
Berk is a multi-instrumentalist musician from Istanbul, Turkey. He has been playing guitar, handpan, and percussion for over ten years, developing a sound that blends melodic sensitivity with rhythmic depth.
He began his musical journey as a teenager, learning guitar and performing in several bands. In 2016, he discovered the handpan, an instrument that immediately resonated with him on a deeper level and gradually became central to his artistic identity.
Since then, he has performed in streets, festivals, bars, and concert venues across different countries, connecting with diverse audiences through both intimate and large-scale performances.
Alongside his live work, Berk is deeply involved in studio production. He works from his home studio, where he composes, records, and produces his own music. His studio serves as a creative space for layering handpan, guitar, and percussion with modern production techniques, allowing him to shape fully realized, atmospheric compositions from start to finish.
His music explores a wide range of genres and textures, combining organic acoustic instruments with detailed studio production to create immersive and expressive soundscapes.