I use Cubase VST 5.0 (Crappy, I know!)...

Anyway, I want to create this effect on my song... you know where a track plays more through one speaker than the other? I know you can do this with the "Pan" button but I want the piece of music to "Pan" alternating from one speaker to the other really fast... I don't know how well I'm explaining myself but I can't think of a better way.

I've tried breaking up the recording manually and doing it that way but it sounds really butchered and sloppy.

Anyone know if there's a proper way to do it on VST 5.0?

MattyJam said:

I think you'll need some sort of auto-pan plugin and put it in a channel insert. For example mda has a 'Round Pan' plug-in (http://www.mda-vst.com/).

I tried downloading this... (bare in mind I'm a beginner)... and once it was downloaded it asked me what program I wanted to open it with. I chose Cubase and it didn't work - all I had on my computer was a bunch of files that wouldn't open. Why was this? What program was I supposed to open it with?

I don't know jack about plug-ins... How do you use them on Cubase once you have downloaded them successfully? Where do you go and what do you do?

I don't even have my manual anymore since I lost it when I moved house.

*confused*

MattyJam said:

VST plug-ins are .dll files which you have to put in a certain folder manually with the windows explorer (if you downloaded a .zip file, unzip it first using winzip or something).
On Cubase SX installed in the default directory, it's "C:\Program Files\Steinberg\Cubase SX\Vstplugins\Cubase 5 Plug-ins", but on Cubase 5 VST it's probably something slightly different (I don't have cubase 5 installed anymore).
If you can't find it, search your PC to the file "wunderverb3.dll" (which is a standard VST reverb effect). Whichever folder you will find it in is the folder you put your new plug-ins in.
Once you've done this, start cubase and it will show up amongst the rest of the effects.
[Edited 9/27/04 7:09am]

Yep, .dll files need to go in the VST plugins folder. Cut and paste the files you downloaded to there, and then when you restart Cubase they should work when you select them as effects.
Nicely put erikd

You should get the fx you want using an auto pan. You maybe able to download some free ones from www.kvr-vst.com, and some other bits to keep you busy

If you want your panning to run in time, then use this formula

60 / bpm = a

1 / a = frequency

Different divisions of the frequency you come to will make the panning faster or slower, but still keep it in time with the rest of your track.
Hope this can help you out
[Edited 9/27/04 9:16am]

Okay thanks for your help.

I have successfully downloaded the Autopan plug in, and it is listed on my effects on Cubase, but it's not working for some reason...

When the Autopan plug-in comes up it has a "File" option. When I click on it there is a list saying "Load bank, Save bank, Load effect, Save Effect". When I click on either "Load bank" or "Save bank" I can select my piece of music but I don't know what to do from there as nothing seems to happen. When I play back the file it's exactly the same. I assume I'm not using it right... how do I apply the Autopan effect to the file I've recorded?

MattyJam said:

The load/save bank options are just for saving and loading your settings. Don't worry about those, your settings will be saved with your project.
If your channel with recorded audio is a stereo channel, go to the mixer and select the 'Autopan' effect at a free 'insert' on that channel. Make sure you put it in an 'insert' and not as an 'effect send', since effect sends are used for *adding* an effect to the original signal (used for reverb and such) instead of *changing the whole signal*, which is what we're after here (we don't want to hear the original signal at all, only the panned signal).
Click the 'edit' button for the autopan effect and apply your settings. 'Lfo Freq' is the speed of the panning effect, width is how much it will pan, waveform is how it shifts the pan (sine is good for having the panning gradually going from left to right to left etc), 'Out level' is the erm, the output level (you guessed that right I suppose).
If you have a mono channel, you have to route it through a group channel and apply the effect to an insert of the group channel. I can't remember exactly how that's done with VST 5.0, but try right clicking somewhere in the mixer in an empty space (hopefully there will be an 'add group channel' option or something). On the mono channel, you can click on the bottom end of the channel, which probably says something like 'Mix' (which tells you the channel is routed directly to the main mix. When you click on it, you should have the option to choose the group channel (maybe it was called 'Bus' instead of group channel, cant remember).
IIRC, there should also be a 'Documentation' option in the 'Help' menu. The documentation is pretty good.
[Edited 9/27/04 14:09pm]

Thanks for your help Eric.

I tried your tips on the Stereo channel and I have a few more Q's. Here's what I did:

1. Firstly, I clicked on 'Panel' and selected 'VST Channel Mixer 2'. I selected 'Insert' like you said (there were loads you could select... does it matter which?)

2. Then another box appeared with "Inserts" and "Sends" headed at the top. I selected Autopan on one of the four boxes listed under "Inserts". In the same box but to the left there was what looked like two volume bars. I found that you could drag them like you can the Pan option on the main page (if you drag it left it says "L 64", if you drag it right it says "R 64"). Do I need to use these or not?

3. I clicked on 'Edit' under "Inserts" to apply the settings. Sure enough a box came up with "Lfo Freq", "Width", "Waveform" and Out Level" etc. I kept the "Waveform" bar selected on "SINE" to get the left-to-right panning effect on the speakers and I moved a few of the other bars around to see what would happen. At the top of this box is a drop-down-bar with "Init 1, Init 2, Init 3...etc" in. It was selected on "Init 1". Is this relevant?

4. Lastly, I highlighted the square red button on the left hand side of the box (which I presume applies the setting) and I clicked off all the boxes to playback. For some reason, it was completely identical to before. It wasn't panning from left-to-right at all... Did I apply it wrong somehow?

I'd really, really appreciate you telling me what I'm doing wrong if you can.

Thanks.

For effects like these, it's best to use an onboard or outboard sampler. Then simply assign a controller to the function pan and draw the panning in the control window. Or control it from the mod wheel on your keyboard. Much more control than you get from an autopan effect.

MattyJam said:

1. If you have just one insert, it shouldn't matter which insert you choose.

2. Sounds like you're describing the pan control. Just leave it in the middle for now.

3. The drop-down menu are settings you can choose (What you see there is the bank you loaded/saved using "load bank"/"save bank"). Not relevant.

4. Audio track a mono or a stereo track? I found that if you apply autopan to a mono track, nothing happens. In that case you have to route the mono track to a group track (a 'bus'), and insert the autopan there like I described earlier.
To check if this is your problem, try to apply the autopan to the "Master" (everything should now move from left to right, which is probably not what you want but then at least you know it works).
I'm also not 100% sure if the highlighted square red button you describe is the 'bypass' button or the "On" switch, can't remember...

Automation.
Pan is done with automation, no need for effects at all.
I don't remember how it is in Cubase 5.0 sorry, but you can automate the pan to move however you want throughout the song. Just like the volume automaion or any other automation there might be.

Oh, and update to Cubase SX. you'll greatly appreciate the differences between those versions.

Heavenly said:

Depends on what you want. If you want one or two pan movements somewhere in a song, I agree.
If you want to auto pan a track, using an effect is far easier and the result will probably be better. You don't want to automate the pan control going steadily from left to right 5 times a second for 4 minutes.