GYGO-CARVE

Overview

GYGO-CARVE is a role-aware channel strip. Instead of starting from a blank EQ and a generic compressor, you tell it what the track is — kick, lead vocal, rhythm guitar, backing vocal, pad, and 41 other roles — and it loads an EQ carve, compressor baseline, and pan/width starting point that's already been shaped to sit next to the other instruments in a full mix. Every setting is fully editable afterward — GYGO-CARVE is a starting point, not a locked preset.

Choosing a Role

Pick a category from the tabs across the top — Drums, Bass, Guitars, Vocals, Keys/Synths, or Other — then choose the specific role from the Source Profile menu. Be as specific as the menu allows: "Kick — Front / Sub" rather than a generic kick, "Lead Vocal — Low / Male" rather than a generic vocal. The more specific the role, the better the starting carve reflects how that instrument actually behaves in a mix.

The moment you pick a role, GYGO-CARVE loads its EQ bands, compressor, and Placement (pan/width) — all four modules update together, not one at a time.

Role Response & Owned Space

The graph on the left shows the role's EQ curve in real time. The highlighted "Owned Space" band marks the frequency range that role has priority over in a mix — where it's designed to sit without competing with other instruments. Drag any numbered band directly on the graph to move its frequency and gain, or scroll on a band to adjust its Q.

Mix Decision Panel

To the right of the graph, the Mix Decision panel explains the reasoning behind the loaded carve in plain language — what the role owns, what it gives up, and why — along with its category focus, priority frequency range, and how many instances of that role are currently active. Live input, output, and gain-reduction meters sit below it.

Modules

Editable EQ

Up to 4 bands per role. Select a band (1–4) using the numbered buttons, then adjust:

• Frequency — where the band sits
• Gain — how much it boosts or cuts
• Q / Shape — how narrow or wide the band is (also sets filter shape for high-pass/shelf bands)

Not every role uses all 4 bands — some carves are intentionally sparser than others.

Compression

• Threshold — level where compression begins
• Ratio — how hard the compressor clamps once past threshold
• Attack — how quickly it responds to peaks
• Release — how quickly it lets go
• Makeup — gain added back after compression
• Mix — parallel blend between compressed and dry signal

Role defaults are tuned to that instrument's natural dynamics — a kick and a pad will load very different attack/release starting points on purpose.

Placement

• Pan — stereo position
• Width — stereo spread

Mono-focus roles (kick, bass) load centered and stay centered regardless of how many instances are active — low end doesn't get spread out for the sake of it.

Master

• Carve — blends the role's entire EQ move in and out in one motion, without leaving the role. Useful for dialing back an aggressive starting carve while keeping everything else
• Output — final level trim

Duplicate Roles

Load GYGO-CARVE on more than one track with the same role — a second rhythm guitar, a stack of backing vocals — and it automatically detects the duplicate. Pan alternates to opposite sides (narrowing as more instances are added), and any overlapping EQ bell moves get nudged apart in frequency with a slight gain trim, so doubled tracks separate instead of stacking an identical peak. Mono-focus roles are exempt from the pan spreading — low end always stays centered no matter how many instances are active.

GROOVE Slots

Four onboard preset slots, numbered 1–4, next to the GROOVE button. To save the current settings to a slot, click SAVE, then click the slot number you want to save to. To recall a slot, click its number directly — no SAVE needed. Each slot stores the complete state: role, all EQ bands, compressor, and placement.

Sharing a Carve

Click GROOVE to open the share panel. Your current settings are automatically encoded into a compact preset code, shown at the top. Click Copy Code to copy it — paste it into a message, email, or session notes for a collaborator. Anyone with GYGO-CARVE can paste that code and load your exact settings, role included.

To load a code someone shared with you, paste it into the field and click Load. If the code doesn't load, double-check the full string was copied, including the GYGO-CARVE-1: prefix at the start — that prefix identifies it as a GYGO-CARVE code, since codes from other GetYourGrooveOn plugins use different prefixes and won't load here.

You can also name and save carves to a personal library from the same panel — type a name and click Save to Library. Saved carves stay on your machine and are browsable and searchable from the Library view, where you can load or delete any entry.

Suggested Workflow

• Assign roles to every track first, before touching any individual knob. Let the whole session load its starting balance before you start adjusting.
• Check the Owned Space overlay for any two instruments you're worried might clash — if their bands overlap heavily, that's the pair to listen to first.
• Use Carve as your first move on a track that feels too aggressive, before diving into individual bands.
• When double-tracking, load the same role on both tracks and let the automatic duplicate handling do the initial separation — then fine-tune from there.
• Save a GROOVE slot before major edits on a track you're still deciding on, so you always have a way back to the role's baseline.

Tips

• The Mix Decision rationale is worth reading even if you already know the instrument — it tells you specifically what GYGO-CARVE is deferring to other tracks, which is useful context when something still feels crowded.
• Be specific with role choice. "Lead Vocal — Low / Male" and "Lead Vocal — High / Female" load meaningfully different carves — picking the closer match gets you further before any manual editing.
• Carve isn't all-or-nothing. Backing off Carve to 60–70% often keeps the separation benefit while sounding less processed.
• Instance count matters. If the Mix Decision panel shows more instances active than you expect, another track may still be registered under that role — worth checking before assuming a setting is wrong.
• Share carves you're proud of. A GYGO-CARVE code is one line of text — drop it in session notes or send it to a co-producer instead of trying to describe settings over chat.