Panning question...

[Obstacle1]

Hey, my band is a 3 piece and I've recently been recording our tracks. There are four tracks in my mix; Vocals, Guitar, Bass and Drums. Is there any 'standard' when it comes to panning? In the past I have always had two guitars in the mix. Panning usually the drums down the middle (with natural stereo from the micing), the Bass down the middle and the two guitars panned just off left and just off right. The vocals were usually also straight down the middle. However, now with only one guitar i am finding problems. Any suggestions..?

Lee

[RAMI]

At that point, it's probably just a matter of taste. You'll hear 3 piece bands with everything you panned the same way, and the guitar a little to the left or right. Or you can double the guitar part and make that stereo, too. Or, you can do the Van Halen thing with the guitar panned to one side, and the guitar's reverb on the other. I don't think there are any rules set in stone.

Don't forget that it can change during a song, too. You can have the guitar coming more out of the right for most of the song, but coming out of the left for the solo, for example.


I think you have to take it case by case and use your imagination.

[Polska_77]

I think you have to take it case by case and use your imagination.

I agree, but its a preatty good idea to keep the bass around the middle, and not pan it too far of to the side, same with the drums.

[gcapel]

Originally Posted by RAMI

you can do the Van Halen thing with the guitar panned to one side, and the guitar's reverb on the other. .

Could you give further detail on this practice?

[RAMI]

Originally Posted by gcapel

Could you give further detail on this practice?

Sure.

You pan your guitar to one side, add reverb to it, and pan that reverb to the other side.


Listen to Van Halen. I don't know if he did it all through his career, but you can hear it on their earlier stuff for sure.

[RAMI]

Originally Posted by Polska_77

I agree, but its a preatty good idea to keep the bass around the middle, and not pan it too far of to the side, same with the drums.

You want ALL your drums up the middle??? I think you might want to spread them out, keeping the snare and kik in the middle.

[Polska_77]

Yes ofcourse that's what i meant. Kick and snare down th middle, and the rest to make you feel like you were sitting in front of the drums.

[iqi616]

Originally Posted by Obstacle1

Hey, my band is a 3 piece and I've recently been recording our tracks. There are four tracks in my mix; Vocals, Guitar, Bass and Drums. Is there any 'standard' when it comes to panning? In the past I have always had two guitars in the mix. Panning usually the drums down the middle (with natural stereo from the micing), the Bass down the middle and the two guitars panned just off left and just off right. The vocals were usually also straight down the middle. However, now with only one guitar i am finding problems. Any suggestions..?

Lee

You could pan the guitar a bit one side and the vocal a bit to the other side. Unless you want to give the impression that the vocalist is playing the guitar. In that case you would have to pan them to the same side and try the VH reverb trick.

It's a bit like composing a picture. Too much symmetry is boring and not enough is annoying.

[RAMI]

Originally Posted by iqi616

Unless you want to give the impression that the vocalist is playing the guitar

That's a really interesting statement. I've never looked at it that way. Cool way to see it. Thanx.

[iqi616]

You're welcome. Some people expect singer-songwriter stuff to be panned that way and comment if it's not because it breaks the illusion of a live performance when it's supposed to be one man and his guitar.

[Obstacle1]

Thanks for your comments... I think the double-tracking stereo guitar thing is probably a good idea. I am myself the vocalist and guitarist so as RAMI said, your idea (iqi616) on panning vox and guitar the same to give a live feel is interesting and something I've never considered. Thankyou all.