Advanced Panning with PanMan by SoundToys

Panning is an essential audio processing task that producers often neglect. It was always present and used from the early days of mixing audio, especially in studio recording sessions. Nowadays, we have a broad spectrum of audio plugins that can be adjusted automatically to follow a specific panning pattern, dramatically cutting down the effort of mixing audio. One of those plugins that emerged on the market in the past few years is PanMan by SoundToys.  

PanMan by SoundToys

PanMan recreates the sounds of classic hardware panning boxes. You can trigger panning with the dynamics of a track. What's more, you can create complex rhythmic patterns and dizzying sweeps. With the full range of Soundtoys modulation tricks at your disposal, PanMan turns into something incredibly creative and powerful. In the following tutorial, I will guide you through the PanMan user interface and show you some audio examples. Let's start by loading a fresh instance of PanMan on the newly created audio channel within SoundBridge: DAW. This track contains a relatively straightforward ride loop, and it will be suitable as an example.    

The Interface

After opening, the initial interface looks simple. Firstly, on the left side, we can see the dial knobs for Offset, width, and Smoothing, followed by a graphical representation of the panning position. Secondly, on the right side, we have a core section set to LFO mode by default. This section contains the Rate, the direction of the actual planning, and the mode switch. Lastly, on the far right of the interface, there are Input and Output control parameters followed by a Tweak switch, which we will cover in detail later. If we pay attention to the middle section, by default, set to LFO, we can click on the LFO button and choose the desired mode. Besides LFO, five more methods are available: the Rhythmical Step, Rhythmical Shape, PingPong, Random, and Step. Let's set our way to Rhythmical Step, which is the most interesting. After selecting the mode, the interface changes, as shown in the picture below.  

On the left side, we see that the dial knob for "Feel" appeared. This parameter controls how the panning movement will behave should it feel more rushed or dragged. Furthermore, on the opposite side, we have a rhythm selection of the panning (¼. ⅛. Note, etc.), or you can choose from some of the presets. You can also set the rhythmical steps from 3 to 5. Below, we can use or tap the MIDI switch, which will automatically match the sequencer's tempo. If we click the Tweak button, we are introduced to a whole new part of the interface, as shown in the picture below.  

Tweek

This part of the interface gives us a visual representation of the planning sequence curve, which takes the middle part of the interface. Consequently, this is followed below by beat and bar counter, smoothing mode (sine, saw, etc.), and shape presets. With PanMan, you can even set the threshold control and trigger PanMan using the dynamics of your track. So, move the width, speed, and offset controls based on the rhythm of the audio. The controls above the Rhythmic step editor are reserved for that. It is also possible to switch the Analog Style, and by playing with input and output controls, you can achieve exciting sound coloration. Now let's hear our ride sequence unprocessed and then processed with PanMan in 3 different variations.

~Ride Loop - Unprocessed

~Ride Loop -Processed with PanMan 1

~Ride Loop -Processed with PanMan 2

~Ride Loop -Processed with PanMan 3