A modulation rack built around a draggable curve editor: draw the exact shape of your modulation, lock it to the beat, and route it where it needs to go. Four independent curve-LFOs, tempo-synced or free, shaping volume, pan and a built-in filter — the sidechain pump, trance gate, auto-pan and rhythmic filter moves, all from one panel.
Contour is SHLabs' first VST and our first paid plugin — in active development. Follow SHLabs for the release.
A multi-point curve with bendable segments — drag points, shape the tension, snap to the grid. A library of starter shapes (sidechain pump, trance gates, stairs, pluck, sample & hold) gets you moving fast.
Four independent curve-LFOs, each routable to volume, pan, filter cutoff or resonance — stack them on one target or spread them across several. Per-LFO depth, smoothing, phase, swing, invert and stereo offset.
Tempo-sync to bar fractions (dotted and triplet included), run free in Hz, retrigger from MIDI notes, or follow the audio with an envelope trigger for hands-free, transient-locked ducking.
Split into two or three bands and route each LFO to a band — duck only the lows under the kick while the highs breathe, or auto-pan a single band. Phase-correct crossovers, adjustable split points.
Each LFO can stream as a MIDI CC, turning your drawn curves into control data for hardware and other instruments — the curve editor as a modulation source beyond the plugin itself.
A clean, resizable interface with the input waveform behind the curve so you line modulation up to transients, undo/redo on every move, and a preset browser for your own shapes and patches.
Contour is the first plugin in the SHLabs DAW branch — the same design ethos as the VCV catalog (expressive, playable, math you can hear) brought into VST3, AU and a standalone app. It runs as an insert on any track and shapes whatever passes through it.
As our first commercial release, Contour stays a paid, closed-source plugin. This page is an early look; pricing and availability will be announced when it ships. Follow SHLabs to hear when it lands.