TranceTools Gate is out: a free trance gate and pump plugin
A free gate and pump plugin for Mac, made for trance: 40 patterns in six styles, an 8-bar chain, stereo modes, and delay and reverb that ring through the gaps.
The trance gate is one of the oldest tricks in trance: hold a supersaw chord, chop it into a rhythm, and a pad becomes a part that drives the track. There are plenty of free gate plugins, but most are generic, so you end up stacking a gate, a pump plugin and an echo, then hunting for a pattern that sounds like trance.
So we made one for trance. TranceTools Gate is free, for Mac, as a VST3 and AU plugin.
What's in it
- 40 trance patterns in six styles: Uplifting, Progressive, Psy, Tech, Vocal and 90s Classic. Each one sets the gate, pump and tails to suit it, and comes with three ready-made variations.
- An 8-bar chain, so the gate changes as the track moves: hold a pattern for three bars, then fill into the next.
- A pump on every beat, like a sidechain to the kick, working together with the gate.
- Tails after the gate. Delay and reverb come after the gate, so the echoes ring through the gaps instead of being chopped off.
- Stereo patterns: linked, separate left and right, or the right side a few steps behind.
- 16 or 32 steps, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32 and triplets, a level and a tie on every step, swing, and no clicks.
Getting started
Download Gate from its page and drag the two plugin files into their folders. It needs macOS 11 or later, on Apple silicon or Intel, and we've tested it in Ableton Live and Bitwig Studio. Then put Gate on the same track as your synth, after it, and choose a pattern. The user guide covers the rest.
You can leave your email to hear when Gate updates, but you don't have to: the download works without it. Gate is free for personal and commercial use, so you can use it on tracks you release.
Write the parts, then gate them
Gate is made by the people behind TranceTools, the app that writes trance ideas you can drag into your DAW: chords, pads, leads, arps and more, made to fit together. Put Gate on its chords or pad, choose a pattern in the same style, and the part comes alive. TranceTools is in free beta until Tuesday 1 December, when version 1.0 launches at £29 one-off, or £19 until 31 December.