Finisher BOOST | User Guide

 

Table of Contents

Welcome to Finisher BOOST  What’s Special About Finisher BOOST?  Why Finisher?  Installing Finisher BOOST on Your System  Installing from the UJAM App  Finisher Boost in the UJAM App  Installing without the UJAM App Trying, Buying, Authorizing  User Interface Overview Main View Browser View Adding Finisher BOOST to Your Track Quick Start What’s Inside Finisher BOOST? Finisher BOOST Reference Loading Presets  Presets  Saving Presets Resizable Interface  Managing the Plug-In  Trial Period  Update  About Page  User Interface Concept  The MODE Section  Selecting Modes  Notes  Mode Notes  The Finisher Knob  Manual Mode  Loop Mode  Variation Knobs (VARI 01-04)  Variation Knob Types  Loop  Beat  Checking and Setting Levels  Using Input Level to Optimize Effects  Automating Controls  Automatable Parameters  DAW Automation  Assigning BOOST Knobs to MIDI Controllers  Effect Algorithms

Welcome to Finisher BOOST

Finisher BOOST

 

The Finisher series is UJAMs take on creating innovative effects that inspire and lead to results. They’re designed to deliver the power and flexibility of a full rack of audio processors and effects with the instant gratification of a single plug-in. Being a UJAM product, we’ve also applied our signature emphasis on spontaneity and ease of use. The Finisher series wants to be your companion in your music creation, always coming up with a fresh idea, never failing to inspire you and never leaving you with bland or boring tracks ever again.

A Finisher is not a Chorus, Reverb, nor Compressor or EQ – it is all of that and way more. It is built from a plethora of different effect types that get combined into entirely new and complex effect chains. There’s an endless world of Finisher effect combinations that are not available in any other product – plug-in or hardware.

Finisher BOOST offers you highly professional audio quality and sound design inspiration packed in one sleek, modern and easy-to-use design.

Go ahead - put Finisher BOOST on your tracks and start playing with it. We hope it’ll become a staple in your toolbox to provide you with joy and inspiration for years to come!

 

What’s Special About Finisher BOOST?

If you’re familiar with modern music, you might know how integral it is and how difficult it can be to properly build and release the right amount of tension in your productions in a way that is interesting to the listener. We felt that there still wasn’t a good solution for this yet, so we set out to make a plug-in devoted entirely to effortless transition FX!

Finisher BOOST is here to pump up your productions. The goal of BOOST is to literally ‘boost’ the level of interest that your track brings to a listener. Creating convincing transition FX usually requires one of two things: using the same samples from the same sample packs that every other producer has, or spending hours on detailed automations and effect modulations to dial in the perfect transition. Each of these solutions has their own unique problems. 

 

On the one hand, you could use transition FX samples and sometimes get decent results, but you run the risk of sounding like everybody else and the FX in those packs are totally overdone and stale by now. In addition, it’s also hard to get those FX samples to sit well in your mix, since they have absolutely nothing to do with the instruments in your arrangement. Alternatively, you could use your own genius to automate and build your transition FX on your own, but if that’s your choice, you can say goodbye to the next few hours of productive work! Let’s put an end to both of these ridiculous problems and crack open an instance of Finisher BOOST!

Unlike the other Finishers, BOOST actually offers 60 unique effect Modes, while other Finisher titles tend to have 50. We did this because we really wanted to create one single tool that will forever satisfy your transition effect needs. Ideally, owning Finisher BOOST is all you’ll ever need from now on - no more scraping through those same old transition sample packs! Boost will always give you a highly attractive and highly usable transition effect that is unique to your input sound.

 

Why Finisher?

We at UJAM are musicians, and Finisher was born out of our frustration with always tediously having to construct effect chains for every track – compressor, EQ, chorus, delay .. whatever it takes for a certain kind of instrument or vocal. 

You know that feeling when you got a great basic track laid down, but you just can’t get it to sound interesting? Sure you do, and we do too. That’s why we designed Finisher.

Finisher is a one-stop solution to that problem, designed to make this process fast and easy and keep the inspiration high while delivering professional audio quality. 

The Finisher series is designed to give you a companion that always comes up with a fresh idea, never fails to inspire you and never leaves you with bland or boring tracks ever again.

A Finisher functions like a complete mixer channel with insert effects, except you also get a dozen hands tweaking hundreds of controls in response to you tweaking just a few simple knobs. 

Until now, you’d open a bunch of plug-ins and often get lost in possibilities, while all you would want is a dash of inspiration – finding a great-sounding treatment for your instrument that inspires you, tweak it a little, maybe automate it, and move on happily. 

Now you have a Finisher!

Installing Finisher BOOST on Your System

Installing from the UJAM App

Finisher Boost in the UJAM App

 

We recommend installing Finisher BOOST from the UJAM App – it doesn’t matter if you’ve purchased it or are just starting the trial period.

 

The UJAM App will always display all available Finisher titles. You can choose one, a few or all titles from here. In the UJAM App settings you also have the option to select a custom location for the plugin content files, for example if you prefer keeping your files on an external drive:

Installing without the UJAM App

Installation without the Ujam app is very straightforward as well – double-click the installer file you got with the free trial email or purchase the product in our shop and download the installer from your account. Just follow these steps:

1. Log into your UJAM account
2. Navigate to your ‘Backstage’ account overview
3. Click ‘Head to Products’ to view all of your products:

4. Navigate to Finisher BOOST and click the download button according to your operating system.

 

• If you don’t have a license yet and just want to load the free trial:
  https://www.ujam.com/more/trials/ 
• When you start a trial, you may be asked for your email address or asked to create a new account if you’re new to UJAM – just follow the steps there as well.

Trying, Buying, Authorizing

We only want you to spend money if you’re absolutely happy with Finisher BOOST. Therefore, we grant you a trial period, during which the plug-in will run without any limitation. When opening Finisher BOOST during the trial period (or when clicking the Authorize button in the menu bar), you will see this overlay which shows:

• Information about your trial status
• A link to the product page where you can purchase a Finisher BOOST license after or during the trial period
• The fields to enter your credentials and authorize Finisher BOOST once you’ve purchased it (the license has to be linked to your UJAM account)

                                                       Trial Screen

User Interface Overview

Main View

Browser View

 

Adding Finisher BOOST to Your Track

After installing Finisher BOOST, it will appear in the effect plug-in menu of your VST-, AU- or AAX-compatible digital audio workstation (DAW). 

Here you can select it as an insert for any stereo audio track, instrument track or bus.

Finisher BOOST should also appear in the plug-in selection of mono tracks in your DAW.

 

Quick Start

Open Finisher BOOST in your favorite DAW. Pick a preset from the list - we recommend the ‘INTRODUCTION’ category for when you’re first starting.

Turn the Finisher Knob to get more of whatever effect is selected, and play with the smaller Vari 2 and Vari 3 knobs to finetune the effect to your liking. 

You’ll notice that the effect is looping in your DAW as your session plays. That’s where the Loop and Beat knobs come into play. Simply put, the Loop control adjusts the length of the repeating effect loop, while the Beat knob allows you to shift the effect and reposition the climax to any beat within the running loop.

Use the ‘Manual’ Loop setting if you want to draw in your own effect curve and escape the limitations of the loop engine!

That’s the easiest way to get started, read along if you want more information.

Note: Although the Modes are more visible on the UI, the Presets are really what you want to play with first! The difference? A preset changes all settings of BOOST -  the levels, Mode, Finisher Knob and Vari knobs. Changing the Mode itself just switches the effect configuration but leaves the knobs and levels untouched. 

What’s Inside Finisher BOOST?

You could think of Finisher BOOST as a huge effect rack with almost unlimited slots for effect processors, all of which can be activated and adjusted with a simple click on the Mode selector. 

Finisher BOOST features over 60 different effect types (called Modes). Get sounds moving with tools ranging from pitch shifters to dynamic impulse responses and everything in between – with a total of over 76 effect slots distributed across 5 buses plus a Master bus. That’s quite some real estate if you’d try to build that out in your hardware setup!

The Finisher knob in the center of the interface gets wired to every parameter of every active effect, in varying degrees. No worries – this has already been done for you.

The Finisher knob always blends between dry signal and effect, also often ramping up a phaser while introducing a little distortion or mixing in a dash of reverb. What we mean to say is: it’s more than just a dry/wet control - be sure you check out various positions for unique results!

Every Mode and its knob assignments are a complex sound design piece to create one particular “effect-transition” for your track. That you can’t see all the hundreds and hundreds of parameters under the hood is deliberate. It enables you to focus on complex sound changes as simple knobs, encourages you to use your ears and your openness to be inspired.

The four Vari Knobs allow you to adjust the effect to your needs. Vari 2 and 3 are different with each Mode, but Vari 1 and 4 are always the same in this Finisher, controlling Loop and Beat, respectively.

Switch Modes, turn the knobs, and make your transitions more beautiful, interesting, bigger, tougher, or even change them entirely. Achieving the same motion in conventional effect plugins would require dozens of automation lanes and diminish serendipity altogether.

Finisher BOOST Reference

Finisher BOOST Preset Menu

Loading Presets

 

The Preset Menu at the top of the plugin window lets you easily select from and step through the more than 200 included Presets.

You can either:

• Click the arrow buttons right next to the Preset name to step through the list
• Click the current Preset name or the downward facing arrow to open the dropdown menu

If you’re new to Finisher BOOST, we recommend you set up a loop and just go through the Presets to get an impression of what it can do.

Presets

Finisher BOOST comes with more than 200 Presets organized into various folders:

 

 

Saving Presets

Once you have made changes to a Preset, you can save it in various ways:

• You can overwrite Presets using the Save command. This way you can make modifications or improvements to your preset and save the changes for future use
• You can save new User Presets under a different name using the Save as… command

 

Note:

• You cannot overwrite Factory Presets. Please use the Save as… command to create a new version of that Preset and save it to the User Library
• Either way, when saving a Preset, you can select a preset category for organization purposes. Once saved, you’ll find your new Preset in the ‘User’ folder, organized into whichever category you’ve selected.

Resizable Interface

 

 

Managing the Plug-In 

Trial Period

 

Like any other UJAM plugin, you can download Finisher BOOST and try it without limitations. 

During that time, the menu bar of Finisher BOOST will show “Trial Period, X days left” and an Authorize button:

After the trial period expires, you will need to purchase Finisher BOOST if you wish to keep using it. Once you’ve done so, click the Authorize Button or open the About Page directly to enter your credentials (email address and password) and authorize BOOST. Of course you can also use the UJAM App for plugin authorization.

Update

The little Bell icon in the menu bar of Finisher BOOST informs you of available updates. When an update is waiting, the icon will show a dot and a dialog will open where you will be given the option to download it.

 

Note: Although we do our best to ensure that updates do not break any existing projects, we usually recommend keeping your previous installer in case you update in the middle of a project and something goes wrong.

 

About Page

The circled “i” symbol to the right of the menu bar gives you access to various types of important information:

• Acknowledgments – The people behind Finisher BOOST
• Visit Product Site – Product Page with demos, information and more
• Contact Support – Our support team will help you when in need
• Read User Manual – RTFM
• License Agreement – Nobody actually knows what's in there

User Interface Concept

Here’s the user experience concept of Finisher BOOST in a nutshell:

• At the heart of Finisher BOOST is the Mode. It sets up the entire machinery under the hood – the effect algorithms and their routing as well as the macro assignments for the main Finisher Knob and the Variation Knobs
• The Finisher Knob lets you control the intensity of the effect itself and therefore makes an important difference in sound. Generally, the rule applies: turn up the Finisher Knob for more of the effect.
• Use Variation Knob 1 (labeled ‘Loop’) to select the Loop Mode: ‘Manual’ or 2, 4, 8 ‘Bars’ (more details below).
• Vari Knobs 2 and 3 allow you to adjust aspects of the effect to your production or taste. Automate them for even more dynamic interest!
• Vari 4 is assigned to the Beat parameter, which can be useful in some cases where you might want the climax of the effect to land on a beat other than the first downbeat of the measure. By default, we set this on beat 1.1 for you, which should cover most of your needs - but give it a nudge if you want to experiment!
• When you select a Mode, you will find descriptions or tips right next to the name, and the Vari 2 and 3 Knob labels will change to display that knob’s functionality in that particular Mode

The MODE Section

When going through Modes, we recommend you set the Finisher Knob to at least the center position (Higher is even better!) so you can properly hear the effect while stepping through. 

Modes are carefully designed effect configurations in Finisher BOOST, each with its individual parameter settings, and a custom macro-assignment of parameters to the Finisher Knob as well as the Vari 2 and 3 controls.

Selecting Modes

Browser View

Finisher BOOST lets you select Modes in two different ways:

1. Click on the Mode title or the Browser Button to open Browser View.

• Choose a category and click any Mode name to select that Mode.

2. Click on the arrows next to the selected Mode title to step back and forth through the list of Modes.

 

Notes

The number of the currently selected Mode is always shown above the Mode Title.

Please note that when switching Modes, the settings of the Finisher and Variation knobs remain unchanged. To change Modes including knob settings, step through the Presets.

Mode Notes

Mode Notes (right)

The Modes within Finisher BOOST aren’t conventional effects with learned names. Each one is a totally unique and independently designed effect chain. To help you out, right next to the Mode title you will find Mode Notes  - brief descriptions of the effect world with usage tips.

The Finisher Knob

Finisher Knob

The Finisher Knob is the central control in Finisher BOOST. It is a super powerful macro control, multi-wired into all effect algorithms under the hood, and carefully set up for each individual Mode. In general, the Finisher Knob allows you to define the intensity level (0 to 100) of the selected effect mode.

Manual Mode

When Loop (Vari 1) is set to ‘Manual’, the automatic loop engine will be bypassed, and the effect intensity becomes bound to the Finisher Knob position. In this mode, you are encouraged to play with the Finisher Knob and automate it to create your own custom curves, transitions and modulations over the length of your choice. The effect intensity is displayed visually by the orange circle around the big Finisher Knob, which looks a bit like a phonograph record from old times.

Effect intensity set to ~75

We strongly encourage you to assign it to a MIDI controller like a modulation wheel or MIDI control knob so you can play along with your song and record what you like to create more dynamic tracks that will feel much more lively and interesting!

 

Loop Mode

When Loop (Vari 1) is set to 2, 4, or 8 ‘Bars’, the selected effect will evolve throughout playback, either starting at or ending with the point of highest energy, depending on what type of effect Mode is selected. For example, ‘Impact’ Modes will start at peak intensity and gradually ring out, while ‘Riser’ Modes will do the opposite. In this mode, you can try to automate the Finisher knob and use it as a dry/wet control, which allows you to bypass the effect when needed.

The orange circle around the big Finisher Knob visually displays the progress of the effect in real time.  Use the Finisher Knob to set the peak intensity of the effect you’re using. For example, if you are using a Riser as a transition from song part A to B, the Riser will be most dramatic when the Finisher Knob is set to 100. Setting the control to a lower value, such as 50, will limit the maximum potential of the effect, which is quite useful if you’re after something a bit more subtle.

Note that the animated progress bar will only fill to a maximum value of what the Finisher Knob is set to.

Finisher effect in progress

 

Variation Knobs (VARI 01-04) 

The smaller Variation Knobs to the left and right of the Finisher Knob were designed to control the effect loop behavior and offer some variation to the effect’s sound.

 

Variation Knob Types

Also like the Finisher Knob, Vari knobs are pre-assigned to multiple parameters, each with their own scaling and range. This allows you to create complex changes with such simple controls. Their function assignments are named directly below each knob so you get an idea of what they might do.

In Finisher BOOST, regardless of what Mode is selected, the first and fourth Vari Knobs always control the Loop and Beat of the engine, respectively. The Loop control is a 4-way selector switch, while the Beat control is a continuous (infinite) knob. 

Vari Knobs 2 and 3 are effect controls that are unique to each selected Mode.

 

Loop

Variation Knob 1

The Vari 1 knob is also known as the Loop control. This control allows you to select the desired length of the transition effect you’re looking for. The plug-in is synced to the tempo of your DAW, so you can always trust that it will be accurate in relation to your session’s grid. 

If you’re ever wondering where the effect will land in relation to your session’s grid, just remember that the loop engine will constantly repeat as the transport is running. For example, if you have a ‘4 bar’ loop selected, you can expect it to repeat every 4 measures starting on the first beat of measure 1. This means you will hear the effect repeat on the first beats of measures 5, 9, 13, 17, and so on. We recommend using your DAW’s automation functionality for switching the plugin on when you need the effect and then bypassing it, when you need an effect.

 

   

Beat

The Beat (Vari 4) knob allows you to shift the entire effect and reposition its climax to any beat within the running loop.

In most cases, you’ll probably want the peak of the effect to point to the first beat at the start of the loop. For example, with a 4 bar loop length, you would want an Impact to start right away on beat one to give the new song section more ‘umph’ when it hits. In the case of a Riser, you’d want to use the 4 measures before the new song section to build tension. Both of these scenarios point to the first beat of the first measure (labeled 1.1) as the maximum energy point. Think of it as the beat you wish to emphasize to the listener.

By default, we’ve made sure that the Beat control always loads at ‘1.1’ for you, since this would be the desired outcome in most cases. However, in some situations you might want to skew the effect to have it land on a different beat or even measure. That’s exactly what this control is for! Play around with it and notice how the marker on the Loop Counter around the Finisher Knob will update to match the new position in real-time.

To further refine the timing of the effect loop in your song, you’ll want to either automate the plug-in on and off, or automate the Finisher Knob value down to zero for the moments where you don’t want the effects to be heard.

 

Checking and Setting Levels

Input and Output Level and Meter

The Input Level Meter and Slider in the bottom left corner of the plug-in allows you to attenuate or boost the level of the signal you send into Finisher BOOST, and the Output Level and Slider on the right side does the same for the signal coming out of BOOST. A few tips:

• Signals are at an optimal level if they are around the little calibration marks on the meters. Adjust them if they’re not.
• Optimal input levels are important particularly for Modes that use distortion, compression or any kind of dynamic treatment.
• Optimal output levels are particularly important to avoid clipping and if you use subsequent processing in the same track.

Note that while you drag a slider, the resulting change will be displayed in dB.

Finisher BOOST is optimized to alter the signal’s level as little as possible from input to output, but depending on the frequency content of the input signal and the processing applied (e.g. sub-bass on kick drums, high resonant filters on mid-rich signals) this is sometimes unavoidable.

Using Input Level to Optimize Effects

Many effects, particularly dynamic filters, use the input signal level to control movements in the effect. If the input signal level is too high, you will hardly hear any effect. 

If you had to lower the Input Level a lot, compensate with Output Level. Of course, YOU knew this!

Automating Controls

Finisher BOOST can be fully automated and MIDI-controlled and you will quickly realize how useful this is and how significantly it can add to your productions. 

With Vari 01 set to ‘Manual’, you can create stunning introduction or riser effects by slowly increasing the Finisher Knob. The other Vari knobs can also be automated. Build cool sequences by switching the Mode every few beats or add emphasis on specific beats by fading in the effect only on certain words or chords.

Automatable Parameters

The following parameters can be automated via DAW Automation and – with the exception of Mode – using MIDI Control Change events:

 

 

When automating the Mode, you will notice that between certain effects there are noticeable morph fades. These are due to temporary level jumps between the complex effect configurations and protect your speakers and ears. No reason to worry.

DAW Automation

To automate a parameter using the automation of your DAW, just find where you activate automation (usually a menu in the track inspector or hotkey “a”) and choose the parameter. The Finisher BOOST automation menu in Logic looks like this:

Automation in Logic

Assigning BOOST Knobs to MIDI Controllers 

It’s great fun to modulate BOOST’s controls with your favorite MIDI controller. However, this requires a little bit of work on your end, because all DAWs handle MIDI controllers differently for effects. There is no ‘MIDI Learn’ functionality in most of them.

The good news is that BOOST fully supports MIDI control. All you need to do is look up how your DAW handles MIDI controller assignments. 

Here’s an example screenshot from Logic Pro – here you press B for the Smart Control view, then you can assign every BOOST control to a Smart Control internally using the Learn function, and do the same for assignment of your MIDI Controller to Logic.

Logic Smart Control view

 

Effect Algorithms

The 60 Modes in Finisher BOOST are built using 76 different effect algorithms as building blocks. There are five parallel buses fed into a Master Bus, plus a Dry Bus that feeds the unprocessed, but level-adjusted input signal to the Finisher plug-in’s output.

 

 

All of these complex modules aren’t only combined in BOOST, their parameters are also individually assigned and scaled to BOOST’s knobs, and are often automated by Envelope Followers, Curves, and LFOs.