New Modes for 'TOA Move'

Posted: 9 July 2014

The TOA Move plugin from the TOA Manipulators VST library warps the soundfield to move sounds around. Previously, it supported two modes, "Point" and "Plane". But in version 1.1.3, we've added three new modes, "Zoom", "Dominance" and "Half".

TOA Move

The original two modes (which are still there) move all sounds in the soundfield towards or away from a point, or a plane. The new modes are a little different:

  • In Zoom mode, sounds are moved towards or away from a point using a perspective transformation, as if the listener was moving away from or towards the point. Levels are also changed subtlely to help this effect. You can use this to take a few steps "towards the stage" or to take a whole scene and fly it into, through, and out of the room! We're particularly excited about this one and we hope you will be too.
  • Dominance is here by Popular Demand. It's an extension of the classic first order manipulation of the same name, and in fact, if only first order components are considered, it is the same. Like Point and Zoom, this mode moves sounds towards or away from a point; however it changes the level of sounds, and in a rather different way to Zoom.
  • Half mode is similar to Plane mode, in that it moves sounds towards a plane. However, it only moves sounds on one side of the plane. For instance, you can use this to move sounds from beneath the audience up towards the horizontal without touching sounds that are above, or to "make a space" somewhere else in a TOA mix.

If these modes are confusing, it's worth playing with them and having a good listen. You can also see the effects in the TOA Visualiser!