Kush Ar1

Vladimir Kush is a Russian-born surrealist painter and sculptor, although he prefers to refer to his art as metaphorical realism.

After 3 years of using the original Clariphonic DSP, I'd compiled quite a list of improvements I wanted to make. So I made them all, and the result is the Clariphonic DSP mkII, modeled from the ground up by me using all new algorithms and filters.

Creative distortions feeding a chunky vintage limiter. I didn't design Pusher to handle any specific task or fix any specific problem. I just wanted a plugin that let me texturize sounds by adding unexpected energies and overtones, in a GUI that pretty much forces me to improvise and explore. I've gotten Pusher to make drums sound like crushing gravel, a direct guitar to sound like a vintage fuzzbox, and a human voice to sound like an alien spectre. From classic to bizarre, I keep finding new ways to distort sounds with Pusher.

I did a master class with Michael Brauer, easily one of the most creative mixers ever to lay hands on a console. He told me he wanted me to stop thinking of compression as dynamics control and start thinking of it as a form of movement. UBK-1 is most definitely the result of taking that advice. I have way too much fun with its squishy mojo, the way it aggressively smacks sounds back into place, making them pump and move like living things.