Transpanner 2 updates the original version with an intuitive polar pad interface and a redesigned processing engine. This free plugin uses “psychoacoustic wizardry” to pan any sound in 360 degrees and recreate immersive audio using a stereo monitor set-up.
Immersive audio is growing increasingly popular, and those of us without access to an immersive soundsystem need not miss out on its three-dimensional charms, thanks to technologies that mimic the experience of 3D sound using conventional stereo speakers and headphones.
A new free plugin from Artists in DSP promises to do just that. Transpanner 2 uses “psychoacoustic wizardry” based on transaural and ambiophonic processing to reproduce the effect of a three-dimensional speaker array using stereo monitors, allowing you to pan any signal in 360 degrees.
Open up Transpanner and you’ll be invited to calibrate the plugin to work with your monitors through a process described in the video above. Transpanner’s second iteration has a redesigned XY-pad interface based around a set of concentric circles they’ve dubbed the Polar Pad.
Moving the cursor around the pad’s centre allows you to determine the angle of the sound, while moving the cursor inward and outward from the centre adjusts the distance of the sound. Automate these parameters and you’ll be able to quickly and easily create a 3D effect that sounds as if your synth patch is swooping around your head.
Transpanner 2 is available now in VST3/AU formats. The plugin is donationware, so while its free, Artists in DSP is accepting donations in return for its download, if you’re feeling generous.
Visit Artists in DSP website to find out more and download Transpanner 2.
Analoguesque Sound Designs sound designer Ian Wilson let us know that he has released 3 free sound banks of 128 patches for the ASM Hydrasynth.
What he shared about the three sound banks:
Bank 1 is “Analoguesque Bread & Butter I”, which contains 128 presets covering analog blips and bleeps, FM sounds, large basses, and a host of presets that will be familiar to lovers of 80s synth hits. How about Daft Punk’s “Da Funk” lead or Duran Duran’s “Save a Prayer” sequence. Depeche Mode’s “Just Can’t Get Enough” or “Nodisco” leads anyone? The jewel is a synthesized version of the famed Fairlight ARR1 preset, which is uncannily close to the original. This sound is used prevalently in 80s hits from bands like The Cars, Tears for Fears, Yazoo, Duran Duran, and The Art of Noise, to name a few. There are also drum and percussion sounds that can be tweaked with the macro knobs to provide fun alternatives. On that note, many of the presets can be tweaked subtly or even drastically using the macro knobs, expanding the sonic palette beyond 384 presets.
“Analoguesque Bread & Butter II” continues in a similar vein to I, with another 128 presets covering large basses, leads and pads. Plenty of timbral ground is covered by these presets, showcasing the sonic tip-of-the-iceberg potential of the ASM Hydrasynth.
“Analoguesque Esoteric I” is the 3rd bank that is a little more “out there”. Lots of atmospheric pads and very large sounding presets in general, that should fill gaps in any genre of music.
The three soundbanks for the ASM Hydrasynth are available now as free downloads.
Vindor Music founder Fernando Trias let us know that the company has open sourced its ES electronic wind instrument software and hardware.
The Vindor ES was a low-cost entry-level electronic wind instrument that launched in 2018 and sold until 2020. But they say that the instrument as a commercial product was casualty of the COVID pandemic.
Now they are making the design open source. The release includes all the source for the firmware, Android, iOS, Mac and Windows apps, as well as the CAD files, BOM, schematics and PCB layout of the circuit boards. It includes everything you need to make your own ES and program it to do whatever you like.
“We hope this will inspire hobbyists to port the ES to a new CPU,” notes Trias, “and continue the mission of providing an affordable and functional electronic wind instrument.”
Video that captures the ES-1 in a live performance by the Somerville Symphony Orkerstar:
