Spatial audio

The PolyPulse has been designed from the ground up with spatial audio in mind.

On each track there are 8 synth voices which are fed into an 8 channel audio effects chain which is connected to the 8 balanced line outputs. This means that if no panning audio effects are placed in the effects chain each voice directly connects to a line output. Simply by connecting the outputs directly to speakers, or by treating the outputs as point sources in an external spatializer each synth voice can be separately positioned in a space.

There are two panners that can be placed in the signal chain: the first panner connects each voice to a new speaker at the start of a note based on chance or patterns, the second allows voices to smoothly move in a circle.

In addition to this the PolyPulse has a per voice/channel modulation system. For example, a polyphonic synth with a delay effect can have a randomly modulated delay time so each voice has a different echo:

The instruments various parameters can also be controlled over Open Sound Control (OSC) and using MIDI.

The PolyPulse has previously been used in a spatial audio concert in the Nicolaï Church in Utrecht NL. In this setting the 8 outputs of the instrument were directly patched to speakers positioned around the church and the PolyPulses internal panners were used.