Hey guys ! I know this will sound totally amateurish but here it goes. I'm wondering if there's such an "app" (be it a VSTi or a standalone version) like a Photoshop for sound, in which you could work with several layers AND MOVE THEM FREELY. To be exact, I want something like a "canvas" on which I can place 5 audio samples and make one sound farther in the back, another one sounding panned closer to the right, the other one central 0, another one behind the one in the back and so on. What I need is the possibility to move them around freely, until I'm satisfied with their position in the overall "mix", at the same time being able to SEE their placement. That's why I said something like a canvas in Photoshop.
If there already exists such an "app" and I've been living under a rock, please forgive my ignorance. :D TIA !

 

Any DAW does that. But maybe what you want is a sampler like NI Battery or the Drum Rack from Ableton?

 

...From what I understand of your question, people generally just use the mixer/channel strip(whatever your DAW calls it) to literally achieve exactly that. You wont be able to "see" where everything is placed, but that's not a fair comparison cause this is audio, not visual like photoshop. You will be able to HEAR where all the tracks are positioned in your stereo field though, which is analogous to seeing it in Photoshop.

If that's not what you are asking, then there's a plugin called Peel by Zplane. Maybe that's what you want?(peel from my understanding won't let you move around stuff, but it basically represents your audio as a "Frequency by Panning" graph and you can mute and isolate certain sections)

 

Thanks, guys !!! I will check zPlane and try Battery, even though I usually run from Kontakt. I've been using the basic panning in Cubase since forever and the Stereo Expander in Audition. However, those are not exactly what I'm looking for, hmmm....

 

This? https://www.parallax-audio.com/

 

[Edit: I see No Avenger posted the same thing just as i was replying, but i have additional yapping on about it , so i will post anyway ]
As was mentioned, the DAW or program usually provides the overall canvas.
"Layering" seems kind of like grouping sounds on a transparent sheet.

A VST effect that does that seems to be what you are looking for.
if you could route individual sounds (samples or channels) to it and it has controls for delay and panning and even tone, etc...
These various things can work to shift where a sound is placed in the soundfield 'canvas'.

I have never used this Virtual Sound Stage, but have it installed:
https://www.parallax-audio.com/

I wondered if it could be set "clean" with just delay for positioning, and etc ...
I found this ...Among the rooms they provide (with reflections colorations,etc) :
"Free Field
If you want to use Virtual Sound Stage only as a replacement for the pan controls in your DAW mixer, without adding any extra room information simply choose the Free Field from the Room Menu. This will put your sound sources in an empty space and will free up the CPU resources normally needed to generate reflections."

This seems very cool, and i wonder how it works, so I will start to play with it

 

Last edited: Feb 28, 2021

THIS is perfect and exactly what I was looking for !!! THAAAANK YOU lots, Ad Heesive !!! <3 God bless you and your creations ! <3

 

iZotope Neutron has something like this. I believe they call it their "visual mixer" It doesn't do front to back, like the parallax audio plugin (very cool btw) but it does paning, volume and stereo widening. It's not as sophisticated as the parallax audio plugin, but it is "cleaner", as it doesn't introduce reverb. But one of the best ways to move things "backward and forward" in a mix, is reverb (low passing, compression, transient control also work) But the stereo widening from the izotope plug can cause phase issues when played back in mono.

 

What you neglect to mention is that most of these tools are targeting headphones. Notice the binaural label in DearVR. There are a lot of these around but DearVR seems to have the upper hand in marketing these days, my list: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...SUL5SlWSDGZBhnDXg4RqD_0B8_QXINTYr_U6p/pubhtml


If you want speaker compatible stuff, you might want a positioning reverb like VSS (above, or

https://www.eareckon.com/images/eaReckon/eareverb2/EAR2-POS-ORCH.jpg

https://overloud.com/sites/almateq/files/2017-10/breverb5.png


Personally, I prefer surround for speakers , but obviously needs more speakers.

 

Last edited: Mar 1, 2021

Another item worth a mention.
It's not quite 'visually placing' items in an audio space, which has been the focus in this thread, but it's still related.

A very old technique (since 1930's) for manipulating audio is Mid/Side
For quick overviews (there are thousands available) see in spoiler

Spoiler: About Mid/Side

Mid/Side for Mastering https://www.izotope.com/en/learn/what-is-midside-processing.html

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tFLnO6BU-o

Manipulating placement in audio spaces is just one thing that Mid/Side can help with.
I think this plugin... Mathew Lane DrMS (Dr MidSide) Spatial Processor
deserves a special mention as a beautiful tool, both for learning about and exploiting mid/side for manipulating audio spaces.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5Ndlyh-5RQ