Screamo

Name: Screamo
Price: 39 USD
Author: W.A. Production

by W.A. Production · Distortion · Tempo-synced talk-box distortion

Not rated yet

Screamo is a distortion from W.A. Production that mixes talk-box style resonant filters with a screamer drive.

Smear, Drive and Makeup can be modulated in sync with tempo, for $39.

Best for: Keys & Synths, Bass, Guitars, Sound Design. Genres: Electronic & EDM, Metal.

Keywords: bass, tempo-synced, gritty, synths, sound design, rhythmic, simple, vocals, beginner-friendly, metering, mixing, overdrive, single-band.

What it does

Screamo is a distortion that W.A. Production calls a "talk-box / screamer hybrid that can groove along with your track". Two resonant shelving filters give the talk-box smear, a drive stage adds the scream, and a tempo-synced modulator moves both in time.

Smear: resonant shelving filters for the talk-box effect, with three modes: upward, downward and two-way frequency modulation.
Drive: saturation up to overdrive, in Soft, Medium and Hard modes.
Makeup: gain control to level the output after the drive.
Modulation: Shape, Speed and Smooth dials, with five sync wave shapes that have adjustable start points; Smear, Drive and Makeup can move in time.
Sync rates: straight, triplet and dotted rhythms locked to the host tempo.
Presets and meters: 25 factory presets, user preset saving, a real-time output level display, a PDF manual and a tutorial video.

The current version is 2.2.0 (April 17, 2024). A demo is available.

Source: W.A. Production product page

When to use it

Screamo is the quicker pick for one sound: talking, growling distortion that pulses with the beat, set up with a handful of knobs. Compared with Thermal or Saturn 2, which can also modulate their distortion, it has far fewer distortion types and routing options, but its talk-box filtering comes ready-made. Unlike Devil-Loc Deluxe, which is a static crusher, Screamo is built around movement. Its modulation is basic next to dedicated tools like Cableguys' shapers, with no custom LFO curves, so detailed rhythmic shaping needs another plugin.

Best for: talking, growling synth leads and basses, and grit on rock vocals.
Genres: EDM, dubstep-style bass music, rock and heavier styles.
Look elsewhere if: you want broad, general distortion (Saturn 2 or Thermal) or custom LFO shapes (a Cableguys shaper).
Tip: start from the 25 presets, then adjust Smear mode and Speed to fit the groove of the track.

What producers say

Seen as an easy, affordable sound-design distortion, with simple modulation as the main limit.

Bedroom Producers Blog (2021) said it is "so easy to use" that anyone can try sound design, and liked the mix of distortion, filtering and tempo-synced modulation.
Plugin Boutique users rate it 4.4 out of 5 from 2,930 ratings, praising the easy interface, low price and grit on vocals and synth basses.
Criticisms: BPB found the modulation "not on par" with Cableguys' tools, with no custom LFO curves; some buyers call it good for the price rather than top-tier.

Where to buy

Tutorials and reviews

Similar plugins

DriveMod by Plugin Boutique · Modulated distortion · $19
Motion: Harmonic by Excite Audio · Modulated distortion · $39
Rift by Minimal Audio · Hybrid · $129
HATE by Dawesome · Wavetable distortion multi-effect · $59
Green Reaper GR9 by Audiority · Tube Screamer TS9 overdrive model · $20
Cyberdrive by United Plugins · Multi-stage multi-effect distortion · $65.81
FURY by Heavyocity · Modular creative distortion · $39
Tectonic by Aberrant DSP · Tone-shaping distortion · $24
Plastic Funeral by UnplugRed · Fold distortion · Free

All distortion