ferraus pan

Place a source in the stereo field (static or keyframed)

Synopsis

ferraus pan <input> [options] [-o <output>]

--mode pan places a mono (or mono-summed) source with the chosen pan law: -3dB is constant power, -6dB constant voltage, -4.5dB in between, linear keeps the centre at full level. --mode balance instead scales the left and right channels of a stereo source, keeping its image. Movement over time uses --points (same keyframe syntax as envelope: 0s=-100,4s=0,8s=100, with --curve linear or spline) or --from/--to/--over; keyframe values are hit exactly at their sample. Output is stereo.

This command is also an fx stage and a pipeline op: ferraus fx in.wav -o out.wav --fx "pan:key=value".

Examples

Place a guitar 30% left

ferraus pan gtr.wav --position L30 -o gtr_l30.wav

Sweep left to right over 8 seconds

ferraus pan fx.wav --points 0s=-100,4s=0,8s=100 --curve spline -o sweep.wav

Shift a stereo mix's balance to the right

ferraus pan mix.wav --mode balance --position 20 -o mix_bal.wav

Options

Flag	Type	Default	Meaning
`--position`	text	`0`	-100 (hard left) .. 100 (hard right), or left, center, right, L30, R60
`--law`	-3dB \| -4.5dB \| -6dB \| linear	`-3dB`	Pan law: level of a centred source in each channel
`--mode`	pan \| balance	`pan`	pan: place a mono/mono-summed source; balance: scale the channels of a stereo source
`--points`	text	—	Keyframes time=position, e.g. 0s=-100,4s=0,8s=100 (time may be end or -2s)
`--curve`	linear \| spline	`linear`	Interpolation between keyframes
`--from`	text	—	Start position of a sweep (with --to)
`--to`	text	—	End position of a sweep
`--over`	range	`0s..end`	Time range of the --from/--to sweep
`--mix`	percent	`100%`	Dry/wet balance: 0% returns the input unchanged, 100% is fully processed

Global options

Every command also accepts the global options (-o, --json, --dry-run, --overwrite, --progress, ...). See Global options.

Exit codes

Code	Meaning
0	Success
1	Processing failed
2	Usage or parameter error
3	Input missing or unreadable
4	Unsupported format or codec
8	Cancelled
70	Internal error (bug)

Common mistakes

Forgetting that outputs are never overwritten: pass --overwrite or a new -o path when re-running.
Beat-based times (4b, 1/4) need a tempo: pass --bpm or write 4b@120.

For models

MCP tool: ferraus_pan
Schema: ferraus schema pan
Pipeline: { op: pan, args: { ... } } (flag names with _ instead of -)
fx stage: yes

{"command": "pan", "defaults": {"position": "0", "law": "-3dB", "mode": "pan", "curve": "linear", "over": "0s..end", "mix": "100%"}}