Isochronic Modulator Plug-in

This plug-in is based on the same code as the Variable Tremolo plug-in and was written in response to a request for a plug-in for making Isochronic Tones (Isochronic Beats).

For anyone unfamiliar with the term (as I was), Isochronic beats are related to binaural and monaural beats and the idea of brainwave entrainment.
At this point I’ll state my ‘disclaimer’: This plug-in is for audio processing and was created in response to a request. The author does not endorse and makes no claims in relation to the ideas, theories or practices of brainwave entertainment.

  • The modulation speed/depth transforms gradually from the initial settings to the final settings.
  • Pulse Width’ controls the length of each pulse.
  • ‘Fade Time’ adjusts the fade in/out speed of the pulses.

The core of this effect is a low-frequency oscillator that computes at the *control-srate* using a sound to specify a time-varying frequency in Hz. This waveform (derived from a piece-wise linear envelope) is then multiplied by the selected audio and thus modulates the amplitude of the audio.

Right click to save IsoMod.ny
(For Internet Explorer “Save Target As”)

23 thoughts on “Isochronic Modulator Plug-in”

  1. This article gives the light in which we can observe the reality. this is very nice one and gives indepth information. kudos for this great post! My best regards, My.

  2. This is one of the most valuable contribution to the plugin repository. Kudos to developers and testers. I have this working in less than 15 minutes and its flawless.

    This is a life saver for Brainwave enthusiasts as we do not need to invest in packages like Neuroprogrammer and BWGen anymore. All we need is right here and more.

    Thanks a million,

    Regards,

    A

    1. Thanks for the comment.
      Glad you find it useful. There may well be updates to develop this plug-in further (at some point when I get time ๐Ÿ™‚ )

  3. Great Plug- in, so helpful if you are an enthusiast of Isochronic tones, everyone can have a go.
    Excellent!

  4. Thanks for the plug-in.

    Would it possible to modify the preset, or provide an alternate one, where the pulse width can be defined in milliseconds, and it would remain constant between the initial modulation frequency and final modulation frequency?

    1. Not really.

      The plug-in works by frequency modulating a “square” waveform. (depending on the settings it can be a narrow or wide pulse and the rise/fall of this waveform need not be vertical). When the frequency is modulated, it changes the duration of each waveform cycle, but the waveform essentially remains the same shape.

      In order to maintain a constant pulse width while the frequency changes would require a completely different approach. Also such a plug-in would be quite prone to user error because you would need to work out the maximum frequency possible for your defined pulse width. Exceeding the maximum possible frequency would cause the gap length to become negative, and “negative length” is a conceptual problem.

      Rewriting the plug-in from scratch seems like rather a lot of work for something that is likely to be quite a “fringe case” option.

      1. Having given this some thought, I don’t think that it would be particularly difficult to make a fixed pulse width version.

        Can you persuade me that it’s worth the effort?

        1. This article gives the light in which we can obsvree the reality. this is very nice one and gives indepth information. kudos for this great post! My best regards, My.

      2. I have very basic knowledge about waveforms.I was hence not aware of the complexities in developing such a plug-in.

        I find the quality of entrainment to be better when the beats are “crisp”. Currently, I am using the “click track” plug-in to generate the beats where the width is specified in milliseconds. The main purpose of that plug-in is not to generate beats for entrainment and as such there are limitations to the maximum beat frequency. Also there is no sweep option.

        It may appear to be a “fringe case”, but I would be grateful if you could consider developing such a plug-in in future.

        As for the user error, The maximum frequency you allow is 20 Hz. So you could set 25ms (50% of the possible pulse width for 20Hz) as the minimum allowed pulse-width. This way if one were to start with the initial modulation frequency of 1 hz and the final modulation frquency as 20 Hz, the beat would sound the same throughout the track.

        With the present system, if I were to start with 25% for 1Hz, I would have a 250ms pulse (which sound more like a tone than a beat) which eventually sounds like a beat as the track progresses.

        On the other hand If I were to start with a 25ms (2.5%) for 1Hz by the time I reach 20 Hz I end up with a pulse width of only 1.25ms, which sounds awful.

        Sorry for the long post. I am that desperate to have such a plug-in. ๐Ÿ™‚

        Thank you very much for your time.

        1. Sorry, didn’t read your second post till I finished replying to your first one.

          Shamans use drums to achieve altered-states of mind. They vary the frequency of the beating of the drum from slow (1hz) to fast (5Hz). The frequency of the beats varies, yet the beat (pulse-width) remains the same.

          Metronome beats, which work on the same lines, are used by many experts in the field (Stuart Wilde is one that I know of) to achieve various brainwave states, with greater success than any other form of entrainment.

          I am yet to come across a software which is capable of generating, in such a manner, isochronic or any other beats for entrainment purposes.

          If you develop the plug-in, it would be the first one.

          Keeping my fingers crossed. ๐Ÿ™‚

          1. OK, you’ve convinced me ๐Ÿ™‚
            I’ll look into it and hopefully have a new version with this feature soon.

        2. Hey there this is kind of of off topic but I was wondering if blogs useWYSIWYG edirots or if you have to manually code withHTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding knowledge so I wanted to get advice from someone with experience. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

          1. Yes it’s definitely off-topic ๐Ÿ˜‰
            This blog uses WordPress (https://wordpress.org/) software, which provides WYSIWYG editing, but you may need to use some CSS / HTML if you want to customise the appearance (“theme”).

  5. Guys it’s just me or with the mac I just downloaded five version of the txt, and it didn’t recognize me the ny?
    There is a solution? I maybe missed some steps?

      1. Hi Steve! ๐Ÿ™‚ I put the file inside the plug in folder and I open audacity, but nothing happen. Maybe I have to restart the pc? Or the mac convert your .ny in a .txt? Cause now I’ve got like five .ny.txt…sorry I’m new on Audacity…

          1. Steve,
            Let me offer an old school Thanks in Advance.

            I use a Mac and 10.10.5 Audacity is 2.1.2
            I downloaded the IsoMod.ny
            which because it is a text file gets saved as IsoMod.ny.txt
            I removed the .txt and told Mac yes do that and use .ny as the program designator
            this went into User>Library>Applicationsupport>audacity>plugins

            I closed aduacity reopened and tried to Add/manage but no effect listed
            restarted the computer
            opened audacity
            add/manage effects and is neither in the effects list nor in the add/manage window.
            Double clicking on the plugin causes it to open in texteditor. I saw that you said it was originally written as a text file.
            Is there something that needs to be done to that file?
            BTW in my Lib>appsup.aud>plugin there are none of the other plugins.
            Please remember for a Mac

            RThanks again for making this.

            Doc

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