Degraded atmosphere processor
Memory is the second original plugin released by Audiopluginsforfree.
Tamabot Memory is an atmosphere processor built for people who think perfectly clean audio is slightly suspicious.
It takes a signal and gradually turns it into something remembered rather than reproduced: unstable pitch, softened attacks, blurred time, ageing electronics, reduced bandwidth, worn dynamics and slow degradation.
At low settings it adds movement and character. Push it harder and things start to bend, smear and disappear.
This is not a “vintage” button.
It is a memory-destruction machine.
Why you’ll care
Memory was designed around one simple idea:
clean sounds don’t last.
Instead of recreating one particular tape machine, sampler or broken cassette deck, Tamabot Memory combines three different degradation engines:
DRIFT introduces instability and pitch movement.
BLUR softens transients and spreads sound through time.
AGE removes fidelity, dynamics and spectral stability.
Then the large central MEMORY control pushes the whole process deeper.
The result can move from barely-there imperfection to washed-out ambient fog, degraded dub chords, unstable drones, broken piano textures and almost unrecognisable sonic remains.
And yes: the controls deliberately go too far.
Because boring maximum settings are a waste of knob travel.
THE CONTROLS
MEMORY
The big one.
MEMORY is the global degradation macro.
Turn it up and it progressively pushes the active DRIFT, BLUR and AGE engines further into deterioration.
At lower settings it adds gentle instability and distance.
Around the middle, the sound becomes noticeably older, softer and less reliable.
At high settings, Memory can turn the source into something heavily blurred, worn and unstable.
Important: if one of the main module Amount controls is set to zero, MEMORY will not suddenly switch that module back on.
Think of it as:
0% = present
50% = remembered
100% = unreliable evidence
DRIFT
DRIFT makes pitch and timing feel less mechanically perfect.
It combines slow wow-like movement, random wandering and faster flutter-style instability.
AMOUNT
Controls how much pitch instability is applied.
Low values add subtle movement.
High values can become obviously warped and seasick.
SPEED
Controls the speed of the main slow pitch movement.
Lower values create long, drifting changes.
Higher values create faster modulation.
CHAOS
Controls how predictable the movement is.
At low settings DRIFT feels smoother and more periodic.
Turn CHAOS up and the pitch movement becomes increasingly irregular, random and fluttery.
Easy starting point:
Amount around 15–25%, Speed around 0.2–0.4 Hz, Chaos around 25–40%.
BLUR
BLUR attacks definition.
Instead of simply adding reverb, it softens transients and distributes parts of the signal through a short irregular temporal cloud.
The more you push it, the less clearly you hear where each sound begins.
AMOUNT
Controls the overall strength of the blur process.
Low values gently soften attacks.
Higher values can almost dissolve transients and turn the source into a smeared mass.
FOCUS
Controls how bright or dark the blurred material feels.
Turn it down for a darker, foggier sound.
Turn it up for a brighter and more defined blur.
SMEAR
Controls how far the sound spreads through time.
Low values stay relatively tight.
High values stretch the blur much further and can create a strongly washed, almost ghost-like texture.
Easy starting point:
Amount 20–40%, Focus around 50%, Smear 30–50%.
AGE
AGE is where the signal starts behaving like old electronics that have seen things.
It combines bandwidth reduction, saturation, transient ageing, dynamic compression and slowly changing wear.
TONE
Changes the spectral personality of the ageing.
Turn left for a darker, muffled, low-bandwidth character.
Around the centre gives a more balanced aged sound.
Turn right for a thinner, brittle, old-electronic character with more upper-mid presence.
AMOUNT
Controls how much ageing is applied.
At moderate settings it adds obvious colour and reduced fidelity.
At maximum it becomes intentionally destructive.
WEAR
Adds changing instability to the AGE process.
It makes the degradation evolve instead of remaining static.
Higher settings create more variation in level, bandwidth, saturation, transient behaviour and spectral character.
In other words:
AGE makes it old.
WEAR makes it unreliably old.
GLOBAL CONTROLS
INPUT
Adjusts the level going into the effect from −12 dB to +12 dB.
This is not just a volume control.
Because INPUT comes before the degradation engines, turning it up can drive AGE and the rest of the processing harder.
Use it when you want the plugin to react more aggressively.
The vertical meter beside INPUT shows the real incoming processed level.
MIX
Dry/wet control.
0% = clean signal
100% = fully processed signal
The dry signal is internally latency-aligned with the processed path, so intermediate Mix values remain solid instead of producing accidental timing problems.
This control is particularly useful with extreme MEMORY settings.
Try MEMORY at 80–100% and then pull MIX back to 50–75%.
You keep the destruction but recover some definition.
OUTPUT
Final output gain from −12 dB to +12 dB.
OUTPUT does not change the behaviour of the effects.
Use it simply to set the final level leaving the plugin.
The vertical meter beside the output section displays the real final output level.
BYPASS
Completely bypasses Tamabot Memory.
The bypass path is latency-aligned, so switching the effect in and out does not change timing.
No fake bypass. No hidden processing.
THE CRT DISPLAY
The central amber CRT is not a decorative animation.
It displays a real waveform derived from the final processed output.
So when Memory destroys the sound, the display follows it.
The Input and Output meters are also driven by real audio telemetry rather than fake graphics.
Because if you are going to build an imaginary decaying laboratory machine, the meters should at least tell the truth.
INTERNAL AUTO GAIN
Extreme BLUR, AGE and MEMORY settings can remove a lot of energy.
Tamabot Memory therefore includes an internal automatic level-compensation stage.
It recovers part of the lost loudness while protecting peak headroom.
It does not normalize everything back to the original level.
Extreme settings are still allowed to become quieter and dynamically damaged.
That is intentional.
QUICK START
Dusty ambient piano
DRIFT Amount: 20%
Chaos: 35%
BLUR Amount: 30%
Smear: 45%
AGE Amount: 20%
MEMORY: 35–50%
Soft, unstable and slightly distant.
Dub chord disappearing into the walls
DRIFT Amount: 25%
BLUR Amount: 55%
Smear: 65%
AGE Amount: 35%
Wear: 40%
MEMORY: 60–75%
Good for chords, stabs and long delays.
Broken memory
DRIFT Amount: 60%
Chaos: 80%
BLUR Amount: 75%
Smear: 80%
AGE Amount: 70%
Wear: 70%
MEMORY: 90–100%
Then reduce MIX until the original signal starts fighting its way back through.
Happy accident territory.
DOWNLOAD TAMABOT MEMORY v1.0
macOS
macOS 12+ · Universal Apple Silicon + Intel
AU + VST3
[DOWNLOAD TAMABOT MEMORY — macOS UNIVERSAL]
File:TamabotMemory-v1.0-macOS-Universal.zip
Windows
Windows 10+ · x64
VST3
[DOWNLOAD TAMABOT MEMORY — WINDOWS x64]
File:TamabotMemory-v1.0-Windows-x64.zip
Linux
Linux · x86_64
VST3
[DOWNLOAD TAMABOT MEMORY — LINUX x86_64]
File:TamabotMemory-v1.0-Linux-x86_64.tar.gz
INSTALLATION
macOS
Copy the AU to:
~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/
Copy the VST3 to:
~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/
Tamabot Memory is distributed free without paid Apple notarization.
If macOS quarantines the downloaded plugin, use only the relevant command:
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/TamabotMemory.component
or:
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/TamabotMemory.vst3
There is no need to disable Gatekeeper globally.
Windows
Copy:
TamabotMemory.vst3
to:
C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\
Then rescan plugins inside your DAW.
The Windows build is unsigned. If Windows offers an Unblock option for the downloaded ZIP, use it before extracting.
There is no need to disable SmartScreen globally.
Linux
Copy:
TamabotMemory.vst3
to:
~/.vst3/
Then rescan your plugins.
Potential Limitations
Tamabot Memory is intentionally a creative degradation processor rather than a precision restoration or vintage-hardware emulation tool.
If you need an exact model of a specific cassette deck or tape machine, this is not what Memory is designed to provide.
Its controls can also become deliberately destructive. High MEMORY, BLUR, AGE and DRIFT settings may radically alter pitch, transients, dynamics and frequency content.
That is intentional.
The internal automatic gain compensation reduces some of the loudness loss caused by extreme processing, but it does not normalize the processed signal completely. Destructive settings may therefore remain quieter than the original.
The macOS version is not Apple-notarized and the Windows build is unsigned, so some users may need to manually authorize the downloaded files using the installation procedures described above.
There is currently no standalone version.
But none of those points fundamentally contradict the purpose of Memory.
It is supposed to damage audio.
The interesting question is how much damage you decide to keep.
Final Verdict
Tamabot Memory takes the philosophy established by Tamabot Tremolo and pushes it into much more experimental territory.
The interface remains immediate, but underneath it are three different approaches to sonic deterioration.
DRIFT makes pitch unreliable.
BLUR makes time unreliable.
AGE makes fidelity unreliable.
And the central MEMORY macro lets all three processes gradually collapse together.
The result occupies an interesting space between lo-fi processor, modulation effect and experimental atmosphere generator.
Used gently, Memory can make pristine digital sources feel slightly unstable and lived-in.
Push it further and piano, synths, chords, drones and loops begin losing their original definition.
At the extreme end, the plugin stops behaving like a conventional “vintage” effect and becomes a source of new material for resampling and sound design.
That range is exactly what makes it interesting.
Tamabot Memory is free, available for macOS, Windows and Linux, and deliberately designed to let clean audio deteriorate into something less certain.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
macOS: macOS 12 or later, Intel or Apple Silicon
Windows: Windows 10 or later, 64-bit
Linux: x86_64 Linux system with VST3-compatible host
Formats:
AU · VST3
No standalone application is included.
ABOUT
Tamabot Memory v1.0
Created by Tamabot
Published by Audiopluginsforfree
Tamabot:https://tamabot.bandcamp.com/
Audiopluginsforfree:https://www.audiopluginsforfree.com/
Free download.
Use it gently.
Or don’t.
Source : Tamabot
Many thanks!
You’re welcome !