Softube revives the Mutronics Mutator as a plugin

Those of you who've been making music for a while may remember the Mutronics Mutator, a hardware analogue filter/envelope follower that was released in the '90s and is thought to have been used by the likes of Radiohead, Beck, Daft Punk, The Chemical Brothers, Nine Inch Nails and Massive Attack.

Sadly, due to a problem sourcing a vital component, production of the device was short-lived, so its return as a plugin is most welcome. Brought to you by Softube, this offers a voltage-controlled filter on each of its two channels, and these can be used to create synth-style filter sweeps from any sound source.

The filter can be controlled in a number of ways - by the envelope follower, a gate or with the LFOs, for example - while the sidechain input enables you to choose an external sound source to control the filter movements.

Check out the video to learn more. Mutronics Mutator is available now for PC and Mac in VST, AU, RTAS and AAX native formats priced at $219. You can buy it from the Softube website, where a demo can also be downloaded.

Ben Rogerson

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it.