Pandemic Multiband Autopan User manual

!
[ OPERATION MANUAL 1.5 ]!
Updated: 06/06/14

Welcome!
Thank you for purchasing Pandemic.!
Pandemic is a wholly unorthodox pan designer. It combines a simple 3 band isolator with
per band panners, stereo spreaders, and an advanced modulation section which can
generate anything from subtle, organic variations to all-out pandemonium. Pun. Intended.!
We hope you have as much fun using it as we did creating it. Enjoy!!
Version 1.5 adds:!
- A redesigned, larger interface for improved readability.!
- A one-knob per-band frequency spreader.!
- A fully featured per-band tape chorus effect.!
- Serial and parallel routing options.!
- Global Vol and Mix controls.!
- A ton of new presets.!
- Various fixes and refinements.#
PAGE !OF !1 11

!
Contents
Welcome! 1
Loading and saving patches 3
Controls and displays 3
1. Crossover (X-Over) 3
2. Band on / Mute / Solo / Bypass 4
3. Band Stereo Width Controls 5
4. Band Mix 6
5. Band LFO 7
6. Global 9
7. Options 10
PAGE !OF !2 11

Loading and saving patches
Loading and saving patches in Pandemic is done in the same way as with any other
Reason device. See “Loading patches” and “Saving patches” in the Reason Operation
Manual for further information.!
Controls and displays
1. CROSSOVER (X-OVER)!
1.1. Lo/Mid Crossover Frequency — Sets the crossover frequency between the Low
and Mid audio bands. The frequency value is displayed on the readout above the
knob.!
1.2. Mid/High Crossover Frequency — Sets the crossover frequency between the
Mid and Hi audio bands. The frequency value is displayed on the readout above
the knob.!
Note: X-Over is deactivated in Serial and Parallel modes.!
PAGE !OF !3 11
1.1
1.2

2. BAND ON / MUTE / SOLO / BYPASS!
2.1. Band On/Off— Toggles the band on or off. This only applies to the Lo and Hi
bands, as the Mid band is always active. If either the Hi or Lo bands are turned
off, then Pandemic functions as a dual-band effect. If they are both switched off,
it acts as a single-band effect.!
2.2. Mute — Renders the band in question entirely silent.!
Note: Mute is deactivated in Serial mode.
2.3. Solo — Renders both other bands silent, unless they also have their Solo button
turned on. This allows you to quickly audition the output of the soloed band.!
Note: This control overrides the Mute control. If both buttons are switched on, the
Mute button ceases to have any effect.
Note: Solo is deactivated in Serial mode.
2.4. Bypass — Completely bypasses the band's effects mix controls, thus resulting in
a dry audio signal. !
PAGE !OF !4 11
2.1
2.3
2.2
2.4

3. BAND STEREO WIDTH CONTROLS!
Pandemic’s Stereo Width controls constitute a comprehensive toolkit for designing and
fine-tuning your sound’s stereo image. Included are 3 unique widening effects and an
exceptionally powerful stereo LFO, which we have hardwired to the Pan control, as
indicated by the blue dot on the GUI (see Section 5). Each of the 3 effects offers a very
different way to increase, or in the case of Mid/Side also decrease, the stereo width of
your sound. These controls can either be used individually, or combined as desired for
creative effects.!
The resulting effect can vary from subtle organic movement to outright atonal chaos.!
3.1. Mid/Side (previously Stereo)— The first of our widening effects, Mid/Side controls
the mix between the mono and stereo components of the incoming audio signal.
When turned fully counterclockwise, to the left, only the mono signal is heard.
When turned fully clockwise, to the right, only the stereo signal is heard. When
turned to the center position, the signal remains unaffected.!
3.2. Spread — The second of our widening effects, Spread is a bi-polar frequency
spreader. If turned counterclockwise, or left, it will subtly shift the frequency of the
left audio channel upwards, while shifting the frequency of the right audio channel
downwards. If turned clockwise, or right, it will do the inverse. While primarily
conceived as a stereo widener, Spread has been carefully tuned so that extreme
settings will begin to flirt with atonal or “metallic” effects.!
PAGE !OF !5 11
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.6
3.5
3.4

3.3. Chorus — The third and last of our widening effects, Chorus subtly modulates
the delay of both the left and right channels via two sine waves that are 180° out
of sync with each other, creating a classic stereo tape-chorus effect. The rate of
the modulation is determined by the Speed control (3.4), while Feed (3.5)
determines the amount of feedback within the effect. As with Mid/Side and
Spread, Chorus creates a wider stereo image, this time with the added benefit of
movement.!
3.4. Speed — Controls the speed of the chorus modulation. !
3.5. Feed — Controls the amount of feedback within the chorus effect. Higher
settings will help create wider, denser sounds, whereas as lower settings will
sound crisper.!
3.6. Pan — Pans the band’s output left or right. This control is hardwired to the band’s
LFO, which can be used to create multiple autopan or gate effects (see section 5).!
!
4. BAND MIX!
4.1. Mix — Crossfades between the wet output from the band’s stereo effects and a
completely dry audio signal.!
4.2. Vol — Controls the volume level of the band’s output, allowing you to either
attenuate it completely or boost it by up to 6 decibels.!
PAGE !OF !6 11
4.1
4.2

5. BAND LFO!
At the heart of Pandemic are three fully-featured per band stereo LFOs which are
hardwired to each band’s Pan control, as indicated by the blue dots. Sync, Phase, Spin
and Offset controls are built directly into the LFOs, which gives you far more power
straight out of the box than conventional CV routing would typically allow. In addition,
each LFO’s Amp and Freq are themselves modulatable via a pair of dedicated sine wave
based LFOs, for up to three LFOs per band, offering you a wide range of modulation
effects, from subtle and organic to glitchy and extreme.!
5.1. LFO Type — Selects the waveform type for the modulation LFO. The available
waveforms are sine, triangle, square, saw, inverse saw, and double saw.!
5.2. Amp — Controls the level of modulation that the main LFO performs on both the
band’s Pan control.!
5.2.1. Amp Mod Amp — Controls the level of modulation that is fed to the amp
mod control from another, separate LFO. This LFO takes the form of a sine
wave, and runs independently of the main LFO.!
5.2.2. Amp Mod Freq Controls the main LFO’s frequency. If the band’s ‘Sync’
control is activated, it sets the LFO to a value that is synchronized with the
song’s tempo. If not, it sets it to a value between 0.05 Hz and 15 Hz.!
5.3. Freq — Controls the frequency of the LFO. Values range from 0.05Hz to 90Hz
(unsynced), and 1/32 to 8/1 (synced).!
PAGE !OF !7 11
5.7
5.4
5.3.2
5.2.2
5.3.1
5.5
5.6
5.3
5.2.1
5.2
5.1

5.3.1. Freq Mod Amp — Controls the level of modulation fed into the main LFO’s
frequency control from a third, separate LFO. This LFO takes the form of a
sine wave, and runs independently of the main LFO.!
5.3.2. Freq Mod Freq — Controls the frequency of the frequency modulation LFO. If
the band’s ‘Sync’ control is activated, it sets the LFO to a value that is
synchronized with the song’s tempo. If not, it sets it to a value between 0.05
Hz and 15 Hz.!
5.4. Sync — Syncs the band’s three LFOs to the song’s tempo.!
5.5. Mode — Toggles between Phase and Spin modes (see 5.6).!
5.6. Phase/Spin — If the Mode button (6.5) is turned off, this knob is set to Phase
mode, and controls the offset of the right audio channel’s LFO relative to that of
the left audio channel. If it is set to either 0 or 360 degrees, it acts as a
conventional mono LFO. Otherwise, it functions in stereo, with separate LFOs per
channel running in sync, each with their own phase.!
If the Mode button (5.5) is turned on, the knob is set to Spin mode. This works by
offsetting the frequency of the right LFO relative to the left one, causing the
modulation effect to “spin” around in the stereo field.!
5.7. Offset — Offsets the phase of both the left and right LFO in unison. For example,
with Offset and Phase set to 0, a square LFO synced to 1/4 will be up on the kick
and down on the snare. With Offset set to 180 and Phase set to 0, it will be down
on the kick and up on the snare. And with Offset set to 0 and Phase set to 180,
the LFO on the left channel will be up on the kick and down on the snare, while
the LFO on the right channel will be down on the kick and up on the snare. By
playing with Phase and Offset it is possible to create a comprehensive range of
detailed rhythmic effects.!
PAGE !OF !8 11

6. GLOBAL!
6.1. Vol — Controls the volume level of the device’s output, allowing you to either
attenuate it or boost it by up to 6 decibels.!
6.2. Mix — Controls the dry/wet mix of the device.#
PAGE !OF !9 11
6.2
6.1

7. OPTIONS!
7.1. Routing — Controls the overall signal flow of the effect, opening it up to endless
possibilities.!
BAND SPLIT —The audio input is split up and filtered according to the values of
the crossover frequency controls. Each filtered signal is then fed into its
corresponding band.!
PAGE !OF !10 11
7.1

SERIAL — The crossover is deactivated and the individual bands are fed into
each other serially in the following order: Low -> Mid -> Hi.!
PARALLEL — The audio input is copied across three identical bands running in
parallel. This allows creative possibilities such as M/S frequency spread and
ensemble chorus effects.
PAGE !OF !11 11