Panflow

AudioModern is turning out to be one of my favourite plugin manufacturers this year, and that's partially because they have three superb plugins they give away for free - Panflow, Gatelab and Filterstep. I've also dabbled a bit with their Riffer but my main drum tool, Playbeat, is what gets the most workout on my computer. That said, I was eager to give Panflow a spin as soon as they offered it.

You'd think that Panflow, being free, would be a grossly limited product. Nope. It's as full-featured and CPU-friendly as if it cost a lot. And it works well, too. Random controllable panning really gives life to static elements like pads, high hats and percussion. I've also used it for plucks to either give them width or timed-panning in the stereo field, and it comes in handy across synths with arpeggiators that lack panning modulation like GR-8 and Proclethya. To randomize these synths volume, Gatelab does the trick. I wouldn't be surprised if AudioModern combines all three free effects into one package. It'll be worth it.