#1

I’m still very inexperienced with modular, so keep this in mind.

I have a complete isms system. I’m still a bit lost as to how properly work with the separate left/right/center channel jacks, and would love to hear how people with similar setups tend to use it.

Usually, it’s rare that I want some sound just in one channel; I’ll want to pan it somehow, and the panner itself will balance to the output jacks.

How do I do that balancing myself with three separate audio paths? Do I have to take my sound and split it into L/C/R channels with logic, ie through Cold Mac?

Any tips/insight appreciated!

#2

I don’t have ISMS, but I would imagine that:

  • use the L and R to plug in output of the stereo modules into (so if you have a planner, you’d connect it to l and r only, which will produce stereo image),
  • use the center input to plug outputs of mono modules.
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#3

Typically with my isms, my left and right channels are exclusively connected to the output of a Verbos Scan and Pan, which I think works well in this system.

My center channel sometimes goes unused, depending on the gig/context I may be only running 2 or 3 different voices, and thus would just use the Scan and Pan. When it does get used, sometimes it’s simply used for a bass or low percussive sound (may or may not be a kick drum type sound). But what I love doing is spectral mixing 2 or 3 sounds with Three Sisters, or crossfading 2 with Cold Mac. As much as I love rad spatialization, I find that it’s more effective to send these complex sounds down the center; it clears up the spacial mix and it’s easier for listeners to keep track of what’s happening with those sounds.

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#4

Thanks for the replies. It sounds like a scanner/panner is useful to make the most of those 3 outputs… which module(s) in the stock isms configuration can do that? Cold Mac, maybe Just Friends? Not immediately obvious to me, I’ll have to play with them later…

#5

Left - Center - Right is an old school mixing console thing… before we had continuous panning a lot of studio mixers just had a switch on each channel to choose left center or right panning… in production it’s often referred to as LCR and is still a common technique for creating stereo mixes.

If you listen to early stereo mixes of British pop (i.e. Beatles, Kinks, etc) you will hear this at play.