GPU Audio is looking for The most creative and innovative use of impulse responses (IRs). Participants are to create an IR using hardware, software or acoustic spaces for a chance to win over $6,000 in prizes.

Have you ever tried making your own IR? It may sound complex, but it’s actually really easy! Impulse Responses can be taken from software and hardware processing chains in the comfort of your DAW using free software, as well as real world spaces. No need to risk your life taking expensive equipment down a nearby well or abandoned mine shaft to participate!

An ‘Impulse Response’ is an audio file which contains the sonic characteristics of an acoustic space (e.g. a church, a cave, or a library), music equipment (e.g. guitar pedals, audio effects) or playback system (e.g. vintage amplifiers). This file is created by playing a sine wave sweep through the frequency range from low to high, while recording how the space or equipment responds to the various frequencies.

Using dedicated software an IR can be created by computing the original sine wave sweep against the recording made while playing it back. The outputted wave file can then be saved and used as an impulse response in all kinds of Convolution programs including the GPU Audio FIR Convolver. It could be a single effect or an entire processing chain made up of pitch shifting, distortion, delay, modulation or any combination of effects.

The competition is supported by AMD, NVIDIA, Sonible, Scan.co.uk, BedroomProducerBlog, MusicByLukas and PresentDayRecording – with one Grand Prize winner, two Second Place winners and three runners up sharing the $6,000+ prize pool.

Prizes include a 3XS Scan Music Production Laptop, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080Ti or 3080 GPU, AMD Radeon™ PRO W6600, the Sonible smart:bundle, Flame Sound Inferno SFX, Music by Lukas Planner Bundle and a track Mastered by Present Day Production.

The closing date is February 23rd, 2023.

More information: GPU Audio