pan left, pan right, what the heck???

[ernstinen]

"Panning" is my middle name! I've experimented with panning since I got my first good board, a Soundcraft, back in the 1930's. It's really an artform in itself. There really are no rules, but most engineers pan lead vox, bass, kick drum, and snare pretty much around the center. But guitars can be in stereo (hard left & right), and every other instrument can be a variation on hard L & R. It's VERY important to spread the audio spectrum around for a big, clear sound, i.e. don't have ALL the bassy instruments (except bass & kick) or the bright instruments panned in the same area.I like panning a drum kit as the drummer would hear it. Toms from left to right, ditto cymbals. A good tom tom fill should pan all around the stereo spectrum.Mono rhythm guitars and keys can be panned somewhat left and right. Same with horns and percussion.I personally like a wide stereo spectrum rather than a narrow one. Plus, if you have a good stereo keyboard sound, it makes sense to use that effect by panning them hard L & R.I've never had a mastering engineer complain that I pan things TOO much! HTH,Ern

[davekershaw]

Jul 18, 2008, 9:01am, ernstinen wrote:"Panning" is my middle name!

[feaker]

ErnI don't see myself requiring an engineer for this little hobby of mine, but I do want the mix to be as good as it can be. (sounds like an Army recruitment comercial)Funny to think I have been recording for a year now and not even considered pan or EQ.That is why I joined. To learn.I am working with two guitars right now in a harmony arrangement. Heading down right now to offset them right to left to see it they will be enhanced?I also just read that I can set my roland drums in any configuration. Interesting!Clean works for me. Thanks for you 12 cents (two cents a paragraph)Paul

[feaker]

Hi DaveOne could say I am "panning in Channing" (where I live)Drums....ker tunkPaul

[Mark Kaufman]

I've never tried what Casey said about duplicating a track and splitting it. Does that really help? Part of me keeps thinking that one track panned to the center would sound the same as two identical tracks panned evenly...? I'll have to try that one...Feaker, Ern speaks the Wisdom. Keep the drums, bass and lead vocal toward the center (although you will achieve more clarity and separation by panning them ever so slightly to their own little niche close to center). A lead vocal too much to the right or left might never get heard by someone with a poor stereo speaker set-up, so keeping it toward center is pretty much the norm.One cool thing: you can achieve a very full and blissful sound with acoustic guitar by playing the part twice (not duplicating the same track, but playing the same part twice) and panning one to the left and the other to the right...the slight difference in sound from having it played two different times gives it a great "wall of sound" effect.Panning definitely helps delineate each part. EQ can do the same thing in another way: if each instrument "owns" a little piece of the EQ spectrum, even more delineation will result. Example: bump the low frequency on the bass track but lower the other frequencies somewhat on that bass track. Do the same with the other tracks, only with a different section of the EQ spectrum...let on acoustic have plenty of high end, give another more middle....maybe a vocal "owns" more of the higher middle, etc..Play around with it. Hopefully your EQ plug in shows you virtual faders to help visualize this concept. But that concept, along with panning, should really widen your stereo field and enhance all the separate parts of your mix.Good luck fumbling about like I have been for the past several months!

[aubreyz]

Here’s some pan tricks that I use:Lead Vocal• Primary Track dead center• 2 to 4 doubled parts (they need to be really tight takes that match the primary) each panned hard left and right.• Roll off the top end on doubles a few db with a shelf EQ at 5 to 6k.• Might need to cut a little at 220-230hz to reduce any “boomy” effect.• Bring up the volume on the doubles to where you can just hear them, but don’t notice them over the primary track. I usually compress the doubles a few db more than the primary or use a side chain with the primary as the compression source for the doubles.• You can either apply fx to the whole group or to the primary only. I like to emulate an old harmonizer with a pitch plug tuned up a few cents on one side and down a few cents on the other and apply it very subtly to fatten the sound a bit before adding any reverb or ambience.Background Vocals• 4 to 8 tracks of each harmony part panned equally left and right• Roll off some bottom to give the lead some room if needed• Compress and effect each harmony part as a group• Sometimes bussing and slightly compressing all the harmonies will help them ride in the mix better.• Pan lowest harmony hard LR, next highest like 60-70%, next one 30-40%, etc. (the panning and order will change based on the number of parts and other instruments. Like if you have a guitar part with similar voicing as one of the harmonies you might put the guitar dead center and that harmony part hard LR.Guitar With only one recorded mono take:• To get a wider sound, duplicate the track and pan each hard L,R. Add 10 to 20 ms of delay to one track and it will widen the pan. For even more variety, add a tube, amp, or other coloration plug to one side. To make a fatter sound but give the appearance that the guitar is primarily coming from one side, roll off some top end on the other track. Same can be done with a good stereo reverb. Send it from just one side, lower the other track slightly to give the one side effect—or send it from both sides if you just want a big wide sound.Guitar With two recorded mono duplicate takes:• Same as above though sometimes the delay is not necessary• For a real wall of sound, treat one like the mono take above to get a wide LR sound, then treat the other as dead center. You can compress the center a little and the sound will get a little wider as dynamics increase, or compress the LR for the opposite effect.General Stuff• Pan with other instruments in mind. For instance, with high hat panned hard left, a bright acoustic rhythm track will usually stick out more panned hard the other way.• Use Pan and EQ as a unit. If two different sources are panned identically, cut some frequencies in one that compliment the other source to give each its “place” in the mix.• With all of the techniques you have to listen for phasing or resonances building up—always check everything by listening to the mix in mono.There are a million more and probably better tricks out there, but these are some I use a lot and took a part of my lunch break to share.Aub

[feaker]

MarkWhen something is wrong in the mix and I can't identify it, I look like your animated kitty Felix.For some reason when I panned my niece's voice right 30%, it sounded a lot more clear.I will put it back in the middle where it belongs.There are a couple EQ plugins I will have to start experimenting with. One is the sonitus equalizer and compressor.Fumbling is what it will be!Some of these mixes I hear on the forum blow me away. I can see this as the next challange. Thanks, the confidence is growingPaul

[Mark Kaufman]

Wow Aub, THANKS. I learned a ton there, can't wait to try some of that.Paul, for all we know that lead vocal might work best at 30%...your ears are the final judge, not the rulebook. But you might take a look at what else could come OUT of the center...maybe if you pan other elements like guitar out to the sides, the vocal will pop again like it does at 30%.

[Casey H]

Jul 18, 2008, 9:29am, lyle wrote:I've never tried what Casey said about duplicating a track and splitting it. Does that really help? Part of me keeps thinking that one track panned to the center would sound the same as two identical tracks panned evenly...? I'll have to try that one...Beats the crap out of me!! I'm the novice here... Warning: Listening to me about this stuff is dangerous!!

[feaker]

AubPlease tell me you had that on file and just pasted it.Man that is a lot of information.I have everything printed out now to put by my lazyboy for evening study sessions.Yours will be in the "advanced" section.Will have to look up things like "roll off" Tomorrow I am going to take the plunge and try implementing some of these tricks.Might have to use the ole "undo" command. Can't get into too much trouble. Brain is starting to go ito "overload" now.Thank you for all of your timePaul