What exactly are volume & panning and why do you need to know how to amplify or pan your sounds? Here’s the answer…
The volume and panning functions are essential parts of a (subtractive) synthesizer that you can usually find in the oscillators area.
What are oscillators?
An oscillator is a function of a synthesizer where you can generate an audio signal. The audio signal, aka “soundwave” or “waveform”, can be shaped and tweaked to produce a unique sound. So, an oscillator is the absolute starting point of your sound design process. Thus, it’s very important to understand all the settings that come with it, such as the volume and panning.
How to use volume and panning
Next in line will be the volume and panning settings. The volume and panning settings are kind of self-explanatory. They control the loudness and stereo balance of the sound.
So, by adjusting the volume, you change the amplitude of the signal. By adjusting the panning, you change how much of that signal should go to the left and right speaker.
Choose your preferred volume & panning
When you tweak the volume or panning parameters, you will hear your sound change in loudness and balance. However, it’s your job now to find the loudness and balance you wish to produce. From there, you can tweak the other settings, which we will explore next in the complete “Synthesizer for beginners” series.
Synthesizer for beginners
The “Synthesizer for Beginners” series is a huge collection of quick lessons about sound design and synthesis. Each lesson explains one part of how a subtractive synthesizer works, which is vital to know if you’re an electronic music producer.
Most people have the attention span of a butterfly and therefore miss all the important tips later in my videos and posts. Still, I don’t want you to miss a thing and that’s why you will see these short clips on Screech House. Each short clip explains a bite-sized topic from one of my longer videos. This gives everyone the chance to focus solely on what they need and thereby also saving a lot of time.
Today’s short clip is from the 4-part “Synthesizer Explained” video course. Watch the full episodes here:
Synthesizer explained!
The “Synthesizer Explained” video course is now finally available as an exclusive guide. This easy-to-read book is jam-packed with valuable info about the essential basics of sounds design, including practical tips and bonus cheat sheets.
Since the day of release, many people have already read it. But if you haven’t, click this link to get your copy: Synthesizer Explained.
Make sure to get it now, else you risk being too late, and I don’t want you to miss out.