# Ircam SPAT - Decent tutorials?



## EmmCeeSq (May 11, 2020)

Hi all,

I've had, and used Ircam SPAT for ages now, but I have never really felt I'm getting the most out of it. 
I've had a look around but can't seem to find any decent tutorials in English. Would anyone be able to recommend any? Free or paid, whatever. 

Thanks so much!

Mike


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## Saxer (May 11, 2020)

If you are in the Soundboard Forum there are a few interesting threads:


The Sound Board - Login




The Sound Board - Login


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## EmmCeeSq (May 11, 2020)

Oh, first time I've ever heard of the Sound Board. I'll check it out, thanks.


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## EmmCeeSq (May 11, 2020)

Oh, wow, I hadn't even noticed they'd discontinued V3! 
$1,790.00 for SPAT revolution???!!!

Jog on lads, jog on...


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## doctoremmet (May 11, 2020)

I may be totally misinformed, but SPAT and IRCAM are your main tools for instrument placement and spacing, yeah?

Have you had a look at the 2CAudio stuff? Precedence + Breeze, and the so called PBJ bundle (peanutbutter/jelly bundle)? I recently read the entire KVR thread as well as the stuff that’s on this forum. May be an interesting alternative? I believe the developer is a USA resident who moved to Romania, and develops/markets the products from there. There’s a number of additional reverbs as wel I believe, but the main selling point seems to be the ability to uniquely position an instrument in a XYZ plane / space (with Precedence on EACH track as an insert) and have that linked to an also unique Breeze (algo reverb) instance on the same channel. There appear to be some cool grouping features across channels allowing copy / paste of verb settings and so on. Not to sidetrack this discussion here or anything. And I also may be totally misunderstanding of the whole concept. Just figured to point you towards it, if you find it of interest...

Cheers & good luck


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## EmmCeeSq (May 11, 2020)

I'll check it out, looks really interesting - thanks!


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## doctoremmet (May 11, 2020)

Not a real clue as to whether this is being further developed and how satisfied pro-users really are... but the whole concept seems nice enough?


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## doctoremmet (May 11, 2020)

On sale:
https://www.designersound.com/bundles/233-pbj-pack.html
It does appear to very much still be a product “in development” with some wrinkles here and there. At least that’s the feeling I get from my research  Which, to be fair, can be a good thing for as long as some product is in development, it has fewer chances of getting abandoned any time soon....


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## Tanuj Tiku (May 11, 2020)

SPAT V3 is a really special tool to position instruments and even just push things back.

It is a shame that they discontinued it. SPAT Revolution is expensive for our use but the price makes sense for post production environments.

For those of us who have SPAT v3, it is an indispensable tool but it also means that some time in the future, we may all have to get Revolution. Hopefully, there will be cut down versions for 2-channel music mixing.

Piet's tutorials are great - posted on The Sound Board.


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## doctoremmet (May 11, 2020)

It is always a good sign when a plugin gets love from herr Simon Stockhausen. Maybe @Sampleconstruct can chime in on whether or not Precedence/Breeze would fit a “SPAT v3” type of use case?


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## EmmCeeSq (May 11, 2020)

Yeah, it's great, although I'm not a big fan of getting 'bounced' by software companies like this. 

I'm now looking at alternatives (I really, really don't like the approach Flux have taken here) and will upgrade only if I decide it's absolutely necessary.


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## EmmCeeSq (May 11, 2020)

I'm still looking for ways to get the best out of Spat though, so any useful links to tutorials etc are greatly appreciated


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## EmmCeeSq (May 11, 2020)

"Piet's tutorials are great - posted on The Sound Board."

Sorry, just seen this. I should read to the end...


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## maestro2be (May 11, 2020)

I own Spatv3, MIR Pro & the Precedence full solution. Spatv3 is hands down the winner in sonic quality of what it can do with an instrument in the world of spatialization without destroying the sonic quality of the instrument. It has the ability to move it up, down, left, right, back, front etc. and never alter the instruments unique profile. It's unreal how great it is at this. MIR Pro is great when you want your instrument "colored". It absolutely colors the sound better than Spat if that's what you're in need of (which is why I own both). I would compare Spatv3 to my Bricasti Hardware. I can put something into that reverb and somehow, it keeps the exact sonic quality of the instrument intact. Spatv3 does the same thing.

The Precedence solution is pretty neat. For me it stands in between MIR Pro and Spatv3. The spacialization tool itself doesn't color the sound as much as MIR Pro, but isn't as clear and spot on as Spatv3 is. I also find it can't move the instrument as far back or spread the same as Spat (or MIR Pro). It also doesn't allow for tilting instruments up and down as well as raising them up in the air for increased height, or turning it around backwards to fire off the back wall. It is none the less, a really cool tool for such a nice price. It also looks nice. It just doesn't come anywhere near MIR Pro and Spatv3 for number of features at this point.

Spat still reigns supreme for spacial tools in my opinion. Combine it with your favorite reverb to color how you want it and it's a very difficult tool to beat.

Another great feature of Spatv3 is it allows you to automate movement in real time without pops and clicks. Neither of the others mentioned here can do this.

M


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## Phryq (Mar 28, 2021)

maestro2be said:


> Another great feature of Spatv3 is it allows you to automate movement in real time without pops and clicks. Neither of the others mentioned here can do this.
> 
> M


I used SPAT on this, to make it sound like the singer is walking around on stage. I'm hoping it's like there's a main singer walking around, and a backup (who's also playing that acoustic) on the left, and sometimes the main singer walks over to the guitarist and they share a mic.

Then the singer walks over to his Jambe on the right and plays it while singing. I also wanted it to sound like the singer lights a cig and plays that weird guitar.

Not sure how well that was all pulled off, but ya, done with SPAT.


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## labornvain (Mar 29, 2021)

Does anyone have a direct link to piet's tutorials. I'm afraid they are alluding me.


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## Hans-Peter (Mar 29, 2021)

Just wondering ... you guys are aware that SPAT is available for free (and still being developed) on Max/MSP, which is where the source code of Flux’s’ implementation stems from?

Just head over to the IRCAM forumnet and download it - for free. With Max and a little rerouting from your DAW you are all set.

SPAT Revolution has another target audience in mind (immersive mixing for anything above 7.1). Basically, it’s an enhanced version of IRCAMs Panoramix and contains the reverb and positioning algorithms of SPAT. Panoramix requires the Premium subscription (approx. 200 EUR/year, but you can keep it after that period), which also gives you access to all other tools at Forumnet.

SPAT Revolution should only be of interest to people working in immersive formats (VR, Ambisonics, WFS) or perhaps really high-channel count traditional formats. If you are doing stereo, then it’s extreme overkill, imo.


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## Malo (Mar 29, 2021)

@Hans-Peter 
Mindblowing news!

I have no experience with Max. Is the GUI comparable to Spat v3, or at least managable for non-programmers?


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## Hans-Peter (Mar 29, 2021)

Malo said:


> @Hans-Peter
> Mindblowing news!
> 
> I have no experience with Max. Is the GUI comparable to Spat v3, or at least managable for non-programmers?


It’s not too difficult but of course won’t look as fancy as the Flux one. As for Max, if you just want to route the audio into SPAT then that’s quite straightforward. Of course you can go (A LOT) deeper than that. Generally, I don’t find it too challenging. It’s visual object oriented programming but typically doesn’t require to write code.
Hope this helps.


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## pmcrockett (Mar 29, 2021)

The downside, of course, is that Max itself costs $400.


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## X-Bassist (Mar 29, 2021)

labornvain said:


> Does anyone have a direct link to piet's tutorials. I'm afraid they are alluding me.


Does take some searching, but I found this thread with his video for you:



The Sound Board - Login






And another on the Spat parameters:



https://thesoundboard.net/~pdr/SPAT_Parameters.mp4



This thread has his 4 tutorials on Spat, you just have to read and click on his word links (usually “this video”) to see the videos.



The Sound Board - Login



Cheers.


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## Malo (Mar 29, 2021)

Hans-Peter said:


> Hope this helps.


It does! Thank you very much!




pmcrockett said:


> The downside, of course, is that Max itself costs $400.


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## labornvain (Mar 29, 2021)

X-Bassist said:


> Does take some searching, but I found this thread with his video for you:
> 
> Thanks, mate. I really appreciate it.
> 
> ...


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## heisenberg (Mar 29, 2021)

Those tutorials are excellent guides, however, if you take a "dry" musical recording and start playing with it in SPAT v3, you will quickly get the hang of it assuming you have some experience with setting up reverb and you have a good set of "telling" near-field monitors. Trust your ears.


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## Miklós Vigh (Sep 9, 2021)

pmcrockett said:


> The downside, of course, is that Max itself costs $400.


True, on the other hand you can test drive it for $10/month - https://cycling74.com/shop


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## Miklós Vigh (Sep 9, 2021)

Hans-Peter said:


> Just head over to the IRCAM forumnet and download it - for free. With Max and a little rerouting from your DAW you are all set.








Spat | Ircam Forum







forum.ircam.fr


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## Technostica (Sep 10, 2021)

There is a cut down Essential version which can be had from resellers for around $350:
Flux SPAT Revolution Essential​








FLUX:: Immersive introducing SPAT Revolution Essential - FLUX:: Immersive







www.flux.audio





The integration with Reaper via this open source project might be very handy:








ReaVolution for Spat Revolution - FLUX:: Immersive







www.flux.audio


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