Nola
Well-known member
Hey guys.
Something I noticed is that sometimes everything sounds better panned dead center, like a mono mix. I feel guilty when it does b/c we're always told in modern music there needs separation.
Here's an example: I'm mixing a new song that has a chamber reverb drum that has a lot of space, bass guitar, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, vocal (plate with a lot of space), some feedback droning.
The electric guitar is playing the main melody line and the main chords (the acoustic is just enhancing pulse and sounds best C). As soon as I pan it off center the mix sounds weird. So I put the feedback drone on the right to balance it. It still sounds weird. Like for whatever reason they sound better blended right down center with the others. I can pan the guitar left a little with it sounding good, but definitely nothing close to hard pan. It's a sparse mix, so I'm thinking that is why. Would you say in a sparse mix mono makes some sense?
I almost feel "wrong" or "guilty", even though it sounds best this way. I once read a quote from a popular engineer, I forget who, who wrote that we all tend to tinker with things thinking we have to do them b/c it's norm or convention, and I feel like I'm having one of those moments. I'm thinking of just trusting my ear and going mostly mono but feel "wrong"....need a pep talk!
Something I noticed is that sometimes everything sounds better panned dead center, like a mono mix. I feel guilty when it does b/c we're always told in modern music there needs separation.
Here's an example: I'm mixing a new song that has a chamber reverb drum that has a lot of space, bass guitar, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, vocal (plate with a lot of space), some feedback droning.
The electric guitar is playing the main melody line and the main chords (the acoustic is just enhancing pulse and sounds best C). As soon as I pan it off center the mix sounds weird. So I put the feedback drone on the right to balance it. It still sounds weird. Like for whatever reason they sound better blended right down center with the others. I can pan the guitar left a little with it sounding good, but definitely nothing close to hard pan. It's a sparse mix, so I'm thinking that is why. Would you say in a sparse mix mono makes some sense?
I almost feel "wrong" or "guilty", even though it sounds best this way. I once read a quote from a popular engineer, I forget who, who wrote that we all tend to tinker with things thinking we have to do them b/c it's norm or convention, and I feel like I'm having one of those moments. I'm thinking of just trusting my ear and going mostly mono but feel "wrong"....need a pep talk!