Primavera

Name: Primavera
Price: 59 USD
Author: Pulsar Audio

by Pulsar Audio · Reverb · Spring reverb

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Primavera is a spring reverb from Pulsar Audio that physically models six vintage spring tanks from the 1950s to 1970s.

It adds tension and excitation controls, saturation and ducking, for $99.

Best for: Guitars, Vocals, Drums, Keys & Synths, Sound Design. Genres: Rock & Indie, Lo-Fi, R&B & Soul, Electronic & EDM.

Keywords: spring, electric guitar, vintage, vocals, dub, 70s, clean, drums, ducking, hardware emulation, lo-fi, physical modelling, gritty, tape echo, tube, 50s, 60s, bass, dark, external sidechain, flutter, germanium, hi-fi, mixing, sidechain input, sound design, transistor, wide.

What it does

Primavera is a spring reverb built on real-time physical modelling rather than impulse responses, so the springs themselves can be tuned and shaken. Pulsar's aim is to "get that signature 'twang' tone within seconds."

Six tanks: Great British Spring (dense and open, suited to vocals), HR12 (a lo-fi late-60s Japanese unit with an obvious boing), RE201 (from the Roland Space Echo, diffuse and versatile), SR202 (dark hi-fi consumer unit with a flutter colour), and the custom Tubby (round and watery, for dub) and Twang (after vintage guitar-amp reverbs).
Tension: sets spring stiffness; high values bring out the highs, low values the bass.
Excitation: makes the springs shake in response to transients in the input.
Vibrating springs: knock the tank with the mouse, or by automation, for crashes and textures.
Decay and Pre-Delay: set the tail length and how late the reverb starts.
Drive and saturation: a preamp stage with Tube (pentode) or Germanium (transistor) character.
Mix tools: ducking that lowers the reverb when the input peaks (with external sidechain), Width from mono to full stereo, a Presence boost in the upper mids, and 12 dB/octave high- and low-pass filters after the preamp.

It has a full 14-day trial.

Source: Pulsar Audio product page

When to use it

Primavera is the pick when you specifically want spring reverb and want to play with it. Compared with VintageVerb or Pro-R 2, it does only one kind of reverb, but goes much further with it: six modelled tanks, tension and excitation controls, and the ability to crash the springs. Unlike Valhalla Room, it is not trying to sound like a real space; it adds the boing, drip and grit of a tank. It is also pricier than VintageVerb, so it makes most sense if spring sounds are a regular part of your work.

Best for: spring reverb on clean electric guitar, vocals, drums and dub-style send effects.
Genres: rock, surf, dub, reggae, lo-fi, soul and electronic.
Look elsewhere if: you need halls, rooms or plates; VintageVerb or Pro-R 2 cover far more spaces.
Tip: Sound On Sound suggests using it while writing for instant character, then fine-tuning it at the mix.

What producers say

Reviewers rate its spring sounds among the best in software and like how easy it is to use.

Sound On Sound (Neil Rogers, who owns most of the original units) found the emulations "better than most I've heard" and praised the Excitation control and the preamp; he felt the hardware still has "a little 'something'" extra.
Sweetwater users rate it 4.5 out of 5 from 2 reviews, praising results on clean electric guitar, the range of presets and the gritty preamp.

Where to buy

Plugin Boutique: $59 (regular $99)
Best Service: $89
PluginFox: $89
AudioDeluxe: $89
Pulsar Audio: $99

Tutorials and reviews

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