Brightness Panner

Name: Brightness Panner
Price: 99 USD
Author: Sound Particles

by Sound Particles · Imaging · Frequency-driven 3D auto-panner

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Brightness Panner is a 3D auto-panner from Sound Particles that moves a sound according to its spectral brightness, its pitch or incoming MIDI notes.

It works from stereo up to 7.1.2 Atmos, 3rd-order Ambisonics and binaural, for $99.

Best for: Keys & Synths, Drums, Sound Design. Genres: Electronic & EDM, Ambient & Cinematic.

Keywords: auto-pan, bright, spacious, MIDI-controllable, synths, cinematic, creative, drums, extreme, live performance, mid/side, built-in mix knob, mixing, moderate, percussion, randomize, sidechain input, smooth, sound design, spectral, pads, tight.

What it does

Brightness Panner is an auto-panner from Sound Particles that lets "the characteristics of a sound or MIDI performance control its movement". It analyses the audio and moves it in stereo or 3D space according to a frequency or pitch range you set.

Three trigger modes: tonal brightness (measured through a variable filter), the pitch of individual notes within an adjustable range, or incoming MIDI notes.
Pan mode: moves the sound continuously between set points as the analysed value changes.
Sliding mode: moves the sound along a path and freezes it at its last position when the signal leaves the target range.
Direction settings: send the movement towards the speakers or an end point, clockwise or anti-clockwise.
Display and randomisation: a circular 3D dome shows the panning path and speaker positions; a random function creates new movement patterns.
Routing: wet/dry balance and a side-chain input for triggering from another source.
stereo (including X-Y and M-S), 5.1 and 7.1 surround, Dolby Atmos 7.1.2, Ambisonics up to 3rd order, and binaural.

The current version is 1.0.8.

Source: Sound Particles product page

When to use it

Brightness Panner is the pick when movement should follow the content of the sound rather than a clock. Unlike tempo-synced auto-panners such as Cableguys PanCake, it sends bright hits, high notes or chosen MIDI notes to different places, and it works in surround, Atmos and binaural as well as stereo. Unlike stereo imagers such as Ozone Imager or Wider, it relocates the source instead of widening it. Next to Sound Particles' Energy Panner, which reacts to loudness, it reacts to timbre and pitch; Sound On Sound wondered why the two weren't combined.

Best for: synth lines, pads, percussion and FX that should move with their own timbre or pitch, in stereo, binaural or Atmos.
Genres: ambient, electronic and cinematic music, and post-production.
Look elsewhere if: you want simple tempo-synced stereo panning (PanCake or Sound Particles' Beat Panner), or just a wider stereo image (Ozone Imager).
Tip: keep low notes in a narrow range and let higher pitches travel further, so the low end stays centred (Sound On Sound).

What producers say

Sound On Sound found it a creative, easy tool at a modest price, with a few rough edges at extreme settings.

Sound On Sound (Paul White, October 2021) praised the smooth panning at moderate speeds, the binaural mode for "scattering ear candy around the soundstage", and MIDI mode for tight rhythmic pan patterns.
Criticisms: very fast pan speeds "can sometimes give slightly lumpy results", and some movements behaved unpredictably whatever the start and end points.

Sound On Sound review

Where to buy

Sound Particles: $99 (Price as listed on KVR Audio; soundparticles.com could not be read.)
AudioDeluxe: $99

Tutorials and reviews

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