I must admit that when I first heard about Memorandum, I imagined it being either another impractically-complicated distraction or a source of amusement while awaiting mix approvals from remote clients. When I looked into it further, I appreciated its conceptual focus enough to explore its potential usefulness in mixing. Memorandum is designed to emulate the frequency response, dynamics, and artifacts inherent in audio recording and playback on mobile phones. The controls allow for processing that ranges from subtle textures to full destruction. The included presets clearly illustrate the scope of Memorandum without relying on cheesy reverbs. Input Gain determines the signal level going in and affects the response of all other functions. When engaged, Auto Gain approximates an ideal starting point for input signals, with a sometimes-pumping, slow transient response. Input Gain still functions with Auto Gain engaged. Output Gain can be either trim or makeup. The real fun happens in between the gain stages. A switch for Speaker or Headphones determines the overall frequency response curve for each type of transducer, as you can imagine. Grit varies the level of distortion and compression. Blend is a wet/dry control for Grit only. Character varies a kind of presence boost to accentuate artifacts. Finally, Pocket Lint varies low-pass filtering and is not affected by Character.
Finally, Pocket Lint varies low-pass filtering and is not affected by Character.I enjoyed many of the milder settings within Memorandum because the results can be discreetly layered into mixes. Sometimes, I want to dirty up a perfectly good track, but when an artist sends me a vocal or guitar track they recorded at home, and it’s supposed to sound good, but it doesn’t, Memorandum can add a charming and familiar kind of lo-fi to make the vibe sound intentional in contrast with more hi-fi elements of a mix. As a result, Memorandum will get used a lot by me!
($30 direct; partialmeltdown.com)
-Stefan Konstantopoulos