Best way to do this...

Nola

Well-known member
Hey guys.
Say I have 1 guitar track. I want to pan it about 40 to the right (Cubase). It makes the mix unbalanced on the left at that point.
Is there any way to use that same track to kick some signal back to the left channel to even it out? If so, what is the best method. I don't want to double the guitar.
Thanks!
 
In rare occasions that does come up for me as well.

Soundtoys Microshift has worked for me in such situations. It kind of like a chorus but not so 'washy'.

Oh shizz.$49.

I got mine free, but I have a bunch of plugs from them. Was a promotional thing when it came out.

Still, I use that plug all the time for other stuff. 'Little Plate' by Soundtoys is another plug I use all the time lately. Not for your issue tho. Mainly for vocals and snare. Sometimes guitar solo tracks.


Gong back to a way to do it without buying an effect, you can still do the 'duplicate and delay thing'. It isn't as taboo as some will tell you. It is in no way the trick you want for the full on main guitar track, but the Hass Effect is useful at times.
 
Cool, thanks.
I've owned the Soundtoys bundle for a few months now, but it's immense and I'm still finding my way around it. Never used that one, but I will give it a shot.

I've thought about the Hass effect or just doubling the guitar, but I feel like these things create too much frequency build up, so to keep the mix thinner it would be cool to just send some signal from the right over to the left in equal amounts (even cooler if you could EQ it to thin it out before sending it). Maybe I'm missing something obvious but I couldn't think of the best way to do it.
 
Is it too complicated at this point to just bang out a second, different sounding guitar track...and there you go? :)
 
Is it too complicated at this point to just bang out a second, different sounding guitar track...and there you go? :)

Kinda due to my living situation. I share walls. This track was through an amp, but I'd have to use a sim to double.
Also, I always get frequency build up when I double guitars, even if I use different guitars with different pickup settings.
I might just stick a keyboard on the left side instead.
 
This track was through an amp, but I'd have to use a sim to double.

Well, you can give that a try...otherwise, using just your existing track, in order to get an obvious L/R split, you'll need to apply some kind of delay/shift to it to break up the "sameness" and to actually hear them as L/R. Plus then you can EQ them differently for more contrast.
I would think a very short delay...just enough to break them apart.
First double the track and pan them hard L/F...then start adding a few millisecond of delay to one of them until you hear them come apart from their phantom center....and then stop there, so you're not hearing too much obvious delay.
After that, do what you want to each of them for more contrast.
 
Can you duplicate the track and bring the copy up an octave? Add a little delay and you got nashville tuning. ;)

Or not. :)
Keyboard on the left side is a good idea. Throw just the reverb of the guitar on that side too.

Maybe duplicate the right guitar track on the left with an acoustic. It'll give you sparkle.


Lots of options to balance it out.
:D
 
You could add a chorus or room verb or (whatever) and pan the return to the other side some... A million ways to skin this cat.
 
You didn't save any of the offtakes did you? Your DAW might do this automatically whether you knew it or not.
 
Right click the red button that arms a track to record. It is one of the options on the menu that will pop up. If you expand a track vertically in the tracks window, you can see and choose between all the takes that you recorded. To expand a track, select it then control + mouse wheel up.
 
Can you duplicate the track and bring the copy up an octave? Add a little delay and you got nashville tuning. ;)
:D

I really like this trick. But I prefer doing it with a bus that has a sound shifter plugin set to +12.
 
You could add a chorus or room verb or (whatever) and pan the return to the other side some... A million ways to skin this cat.

I was going to suggest this too. This can work with timed delays as well. If guitar is panned left, set a delay return to say dotted eighth or quarter delays hard right. Then adjust using leveling, lo-fi, eq, saturation etc...

Try as a general rule: darker longer, shorter brighter on most FX in general.
 
This may be an ignorant statement but wouldn't bleeding in the track back into the left, essentially be the same as reducing the pan amount.
 
I am going to jump in and suggest that whichever way you choose to use to differentiate from side to side(definitely eq differently), to not be afraid to leave the mix "unbalanced" for at least part of the time. This sort of arrangement trick can add interest and movement and is used in many commercial tracks that you have probably heard. It also opens things up and lets an arrangement "breathe".
 
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