Nomad Factory Free Sweeper

Nomad Factory's Free Sweeper is a plug-in that can be downloaded for free within the Nomad Factory Free Bundle that can be found under the discontinued products version of their website. These plug-ins have been around for a pretty long time, and I actually think that these were the first plug-ins made by Nomad Factory if I'm not mistaken. The process of downloading and installing the plug-in from their website only took a few minutes and I was able to figure out the interface very quickly as well. It's a very simple one, consisting of parameters for LFO speed, depth, frequency, and mix, and that's all that there is to it. Each is simply a knob that you can turn, without containing and trick doors or anything of that nature. I've never seen a manual for this plug-in and I don't believe that one is necessary anyway.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

I'm running Nomad Factory's Free Sweeper plug-in in Pro Tools LE 8 that I run on a Mac Book Pro with a 2.2 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 4 GB of RAM. I run Pro Tools with a Digi 002R audio interface or a Digidesign Micro Box if I'm on the go. I also used to run the plug-in in Cubase SX with a Hewlett Packard lap top consisting of a 3.0 Ghz processor and 2 GB of RAM. No matter the configuration, I can't remember a single instance where it has looked like the Free Sweeper was causing my system to lag in any way. It has also run consistently smooth and without any hiccups within both configuration. Most free plug-ins don't take up much processing power, as is the case with Nomad Factory's Free Sweeper.

OVERALL OPINION

While I don't find this to be as generally useful as the Free Phaser and the Free Tremolo, which are the other plug-ins that come in the Nomad Factory Free Bundle, the Free Sweeper definitely has a good sound and can be useful in a number of different situations. It makes it as easy as possible to use it effectively, and with some automation can produce some really cool outside of the box effects as well. Of course since the plug-in is free and comes in a variety of formats, I'd definitely encourage all DAW users out there to download and install it to see if it's something that they might find potentially useful...