=== vcp challenge #67: panning ===

you are challenged to make a patch in vcv rack to showcase creative use of modules, so other users may get inspired. you can also win eternal fame!

for this edition, the challenge is to make a patch that shows a creative use of panning.

good luck!

== rules ==

  • make a patch in vcv rack and upload your patch to patchstorage.com and/or in your reply to this thread
  • tag your upload with vcp-67
  • make a video showcasing your patch and upload it to youtube (if possible)
  • add a link to your video as a comment to this post
  • give feedback on other participants’ patches

deadline: monday end of the day, wherever you are, june 28th

3 Likes

…which reminds of something I was wondering about the other day. Is there a way/module to change/randomize the order within a polyphonic signal? I can only think of manual ways through Matrix switches…

we discussed sorting the signals on this thread…,

That’s good to know but I was thinking about when you have a chord spread in the stereo field at full width, it would be nice to be able to shift the positions of the individual voices just by re-ordering the v/oct that makes the chord, at the input of a trigger.

Am I the only one who has trouble even remembering to pan things at all? All the guides on mixing tell you that your mix should sound good in mono so I sort of wonder what he point is other than adding spaceyness to a mix.

edit: sp

You are not the only one. I tend to forget it too, so this will be a challenge :wink:

1 Like

Hard pan ftw!

Is there a way Dag 2099 to great a quick change from left to right extreme pan in the style of a Dub delay or reverb. I always try the extreme ways 1st!!

Yes, probably. I sort of want to try the Spiritualised “completely different mix for left and right” technique but I don’t really know how to do it.

VCV doesn’t store samples internally so it wouldn’t be very useful to share the patch in this case.

5 Likes

Nice. I wasn’t aware of the Stutter module, so also: thanks :slight_smile: Lovely glitch right there. I feel like listening to old Four Tet now.

That sounds interesting, I’m sure there will be some obsessive out there who does know how to do it on YouTube -Google land.

CLASSIC TRACKS: Spiritualized ‘Come Together’ (soundonsound.com)

1 Like

The idea was to switch between 4 notes of an arpeggio. The first note from Palette sounds in the center. The second sounds with a little delay between the channels, and with more reverb. And so on… Of course a pair of headphones are needed to notice it well.

8 Likes

Maybe something like this?

That’s one approach but I’m opting for the Glue the Giant modules instead. I do want to learn them but I’m not sure they’re a huge advantage so far.

Don’t know if there’s a VCV equivalent in module(s) form so no doubt outside the purview of the competition, but in relation to the wider topic of panning, one technique I found for having interesting yet subtle differences between left and right is to use a plugin like Waves S1 Stereo Imager and mess with the Asymmetry and Rotation parameters so you end up with a slightly skewed spatial distribution.

I’d warn against modulating/automating those parameters at anything other glacial pace though as you can get some aliasing and phasing artefacts.

One VCO is sent to a random left or right channel. That signal is then randomly sent to 1 of 4 modules (either a VCF, Formant filter, reverb or delay). Most of the modules also have random VC or LFO signals that further modulate the sound.

5 Likes

Who will win? The Satanonaut on the left or right? Panning modulation via various signals multiplied by LFOs with Little Utils mult/div. And of course a Chronoblob with one attenuverter shifted. This patch uses a sample file from freewavesamples.com. Had so much fun with the Satanonaut on this one that I stripped the patch down and made Part 2, posted over on the Satanonaut announcement thread.

3 Likes

Good stereo equipment or headphones recommended for the panning part.

The entire rhythm section, 4 voices and 1 bass is panned on a note by note basis somewhere in the stereo landscape using the pan control on the mixer. Pan positions determined by a sample & hold.

Two voices use a Doppler style effect panning from left to right (or right to left for the other one) but also with increased pitch and gaining strength as it ‘moves’ to the observer and decreasing pitch and losing strength as it fades away into the audio distance. Pan position, pitch shift and strength determined by a triggered LFO and all sort of multiplications and additions on the LFO output signals.

The final voice also pans on a note by note basis but this is less easy to discern as this panning is done before the ‘pedal’ array of effects which includes a delay with substantial feedback. This is the shoegaze effect by which this composition gets it’s second name. Original pan position determined by S&H but the chronoblob delay is sine wave modulated differently in the left and right output channels.

Rhythm section of four is sequenced, the rest is mostly generative.

Video is a slightly audio reactive patch in Touch Designer.

5 Likes