Aqeel Aadam Sightlines: this new harmonic filter plugin (mac, win, and iOS) shapes your sounds and is playable like an instrument.
In mid-May, Aqeel Aadam Sounds released Outgrowth 1.10, a free update with many creative additions. To me, it’s one of the best plugins/apps of 2025. A highlight of this free update is the harmonic filter, aka filterbank, a colorful alternative to the regular filter.
A small feature that opens up a lot of sonic possibilities. This feature has now become a standalone release. Aqeel Aadam has released Sightlines, a new harmonic filter plugin that is both an instrument and an FX.
Aqeel Aadam Sightlines
Sightlines is a new harmonic filter/filterbank plugin for macOS, Windows, and iOS. One thing I really appreciate is the lovely interfaces in the Aqeel Aadam plugins, and Sightlines has one too.
For example, instead of a simple volume control, the filter’s movement is animated with rocks. The more rocks, the higher the value. That’s simply nice and inviting to work with. Enough about the interface now; what’s behind the plugin:
Sightlines is described as a playable harmonic filter. At its core is a bank of tuned resonant bandpass filters, what we know as a filterbank. It has up to eight bandpass filters, each with an adjustable volume control, tuned like the overtones of a string.
Customize, randomize, or modulate each band’s volume independently. In the dedicated tuning section, you can dive into the tuning.
You can set the filter bands, resonance, and feedback. Plus, you can stretch and warp the harmonic series if you want exotic sounds. A very useful feature is the ability to quantize the filters to a scale, making them very musical.
Synthesizer & FX
Aqeel Aadam Sightlines is both a Synthesizer and an effects unit. To use it as an instrument, you need to go to the voice section. Here, you have three voice modes: a flexible noise generator, a sample player with a repitch option, or a waveshaper synth with an onboard filter.
All three engines share one thing in common: they all feed into the harmonic filter, allowing you to play it as an instrument. With samples, you can create truly unique instruments. Alternatively, you can use it as an effects plugin to add a distinct tonality to your sounds.
Make your sound more dynamic and moving with the built-in modulation engine, including multiple LFOs, sequencers, and smooth random sources, all controllable via a modulation matrix. You can refine the sounds with performance effects.
Sighlights works great with your field recordings, turning them into all-new instruments. It’s also a lovely way to mangle your existing sounds with extra tonality.
First Impression
Outgrowth is one of my favorite sampler apps, and I was very excited about the new harmonic filter addition. It’s great that it’s also now available as a separate instrument/FX. For those who only wanted the harmonic filter, we now have the option:
Aqeel Aadam Sightlines is available now at an introductory price of $20 instead of $30 for the next 14 days. It runs as a VST3, AU, and AAX plugin on macOS (native Apple Silicon + Intel) and Windows. There is a free 7-day trial available on the official website.
The iOS version is $7,99 and runs as a standalone and AUv3 plugin on iPads and iPhones.
More information here: Aqeel Aadam Sounds
Be the first to comment