panning

This patch demonstrates the use of the cycle~ object to control quadraphonic panning in such a way as to simulate circular movement of a sound. It's an abstraction that can be used inside another patch to provide 4-channel distribution of a sound source. This abstraction uses another abstraction, which in turn uses another abstraction.

This example demonstrates how to automatically pan MIDI notes with a given speed. The MIDI Continuous Controller 10 is designated for panning; any synth capable of understanding that message will respond appropriately.

This abstraction encapsulates delay, gain control, and stereo panning in a single object that can be used in some other "parent" patch. It assumes that its first inlet will be connected to a tapin~ object in the parent patch. That tapin~ object will send a tapconnect message when MSP audio is turned on, thus linking the tapout~ object in this abstraction to the memory buffer of the tapin~ object in the parent patch.

For this example to work correctly, you must first download the abstraction quadpan~.maxpat which is explained in the example "Quadraphonic panning based on radial angle", and save it in the Max file search path with the name "quadpan~.maxpat".

This patch enables you to pan a sound to any azimuth angle in a quadraphonic sound system. The abstraction assumes a square configuration of four equidistant speakers: 1 = front left, 2 = front right, 3 = rear left, 4 = rear right. The sound signal comes in the left inlet, and the azimuth angle comes in the right inlet, either as a number or as a signal.

This pan~ subpatch takes one signal in the left inlet, and sends it out each of two outlets. The amplitude gain for each outlet is determined by a panning value supplied in the right inlet. This value can be supplied as a typed-in argument in the main patch, as a float value, or as a control signal.

There are several standard speaker configurations for 2-dimensional surround sound panning, such as quadraphonic (four speakers in a square or rectangular placement) and the 5.1 or 7.1 THX cinema surround specifications.

This patch is an abstraction for panning a sound source among four speakers arranged in a row—or more precisely, in an equidistant arc—in front of the listener. The sound’s virtual location in the stereo field, from extreme left to extreme right, is specified as a control signal value from 0 to 1. The four speakers define the boundaries of the three regions between them, each of which constitutes one third of the total stereo field.