Binaural Textures is a series of Ableton Live instrument packs with the unique trait of built-in “binaural surround panning”.

This type of panning changes a source as it pans in ways similar to how human ears perceive sound in a real physical environment. Using subtle “audible clues”, the brain psychoacoustically reconstructs the result as localisation. It accomplishes this by seamlessly fading between carefully preprocessed layers custom-engineered for each instrument, requiring no external effects.

The “Subterrestrial” pack includes eight Binaural Texture instruments, each with a combination of two to three layers that complement each other beautifully. Each layer can be binaurally panned separately, with the range stretching from the position of the surround L and R speakers of a 5.1 setup (20 ~ 40 degrees wider than usual). The binaural effect is particularly striking when listened to with headphones or from the sweet spot of a well-calibrated stereo system, and extra-noticeable when automated with movement.

The instruments in this pack have a dank, brooding, subterranean vibe, so have been based on and named after mythical underground-dwelling creatures from the folklore of various cultures around the world. With Ableton Live’s Info Box open in the bottom-left corner of the screen, you can hover your mouse cursor over each instrument’s title bar to see interesting pseudohistorical lore about the beast it is based upon.

Binaural Textures are designed with ambient sound design in mind, so appear in the “Ambient & Evolving” folder under “Sounds” in the Live Browser. They have been tuned to work perfectly in key with other instrumentation. Due to the layering method, these intruments eat up a decent chunk of cpu, so it is recommended to freeze tracks after honing parameters.

Includes the following:

• Augerino Textures
• Carcolh Textures
• Cherufe Textures
• Dero Textures
• Gleeock Textures
• Grootslang Textures
• Olgoi-Khorkhoi Textures
• Teju Jagua Textures