Panning issues in Reaper....

showstone

New member
Ok, I am not sure what exactly I am doing wrong....

I've recorded an acoustic guitar, two mics, each mono, one on the 12th fret the other on the bridge.

Now I want to pan these left and right, simple practice so far....correct? You would think. My problem is that the playback is all right down the middle, the VU meters indicate that the track should be panned to the left but the left track is still in coming through on the right track.

As stupid as this all sounds, I am a brick wall here....I know how an analogue mixer would react, an am not sure why it is not transferring to the digital realm. Am I missing something?

I am using a Focusrite interface, and Reaper on a PC(which is designed for recording).

Any trouble shooting ideas would be greatly appreciated.
 
off top of my head make sure your tracks are mono not dual mono (aka stereo) hard panning a dual mono track will not get it all the way to one side (necessarily, is that can depend on how the so called pan law is implemented)
 
Yikes, OK, as ignorant as that post may have made me sound....I figured it out on my own. It was a routing issue, I went into the routing matrix and found out the problem was in the routing to the hardware, haven't figured out how I missed/messed that up. At least now I am no longer pounding my head in frustration....lol.

Thanks Oretez for your answer.
 
Hey, showstone, could you please tell me how exactly you managed to get rid of this panning problem?
It seems that I am experiencing the same kind of issue but can't figure out what is wrong with my hardware settings, nor do I think the routing matrix has anything to do with it... I'm quite confused.

[some hour later ;) ]

OK, I've played around with Routing and fixed the panning problem partially, but here's the deal - I can completely adjust the L/R balance of a (mono) track when it is routed to my hardware device and NOT to Master track at the same time! But I guess all tracks should be directed to Master in order to get the final mixdown of the song, or not? I just don't get it. Please help a newstarter ;)
 
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So you're asking a question of someone who solved their issue over 3 years ago...

I'm not understanding your question... what's "your hardware device" and how and why are your routing stuff to it?

I just finished an album on Reaper and not once have I ever had to go to the routing matrix... so I'm not sure how you're tying yourself up in knots here... more information required to assist.

Mic(s) to AI to Reaper should give you one or more mono tracks. If you're recording more than one mic at a time you'll have to specify one of them to another input, but that's about it. You should then be able to pan whatever you like wherever you like without worrying about the master track, which should take care of itself.
 
By "hardware device" i meant "Analog" output, as it is called in Reaper's routing matrix, being my M-Audio Fast Track USB interface.

And here's the deal:

1.
When I have a track routed (sent) to Master only (default), the pan control does only a little change in volume (louder in center position) but does not "move" the sound from one side to another. Although the track's VU meter reacts accordinly to panning settings, on the master track I can hear the recording in both channels no matter the track's pan knob position.

2.
The track is routed both to Master and to hardware device (Analog out)
Now I can set the panning L/R to some extent, but panning 100% to either side does not fully silence the other one. Besides, now I have separate volume and panning faders for Master and hardware output, so it makes mixing quite confusing...

3.
The track is routed to Analog output only, without going to the Master at all.
Now I can finally fully control the track's panning, but there's no signal going to the Master track... and it shouldn't be so, right? Or can I just settle on routing all of my mutiple tracks to hardware while completely omitting the Master bus in the mix of the song?
 
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P.S. And the problem occurs no matter Audio device settings - it's all the same even with Direct Sound drivers chosen, without using the M-Audio interface.

So it's somewhere within the application...
 
Can you take a screenshot showing your MCP and especially the Master fader? Better yet, click the I/O button on the Master and gives us a picture of that screen.
 
Can you take a screenshot showing your MCP and especially the Master fader? Better yet, click the I/O button on the Master and gives us a picture of that screen.

Make sure you're not using any "stereo" VST or something that is changing the signal to defeat your panning.
 
I noticed you've also posted on the Cockos forum, which is probably a good idea. You put more info over there, like the fact that the pan pot on the Master actually works, which would tend to suggest that your hardware is set up and selected properly.

Have you accidentally put something in the Monitor FX which is messing you up? Hold Shift and click the FX button on the Master fader and see if there's anything in the window that comes up. These FX are global, and apply to every project you bring up.
 
Got it!

As simple as it can be, the panning "Width" fader in the Master outputs section was set to 50%, instead of 100%.
right settings.jpg
Now everything's just back to normal. So thank you very much for your help and ideas which - all in all - made me dig a little more and find the answer by accident ;) Cheers!
 
This post would have initially solved my problem if A. I was a member and could see your screenshot (I just registered so now I can see your screenshot and contribute to this post) or B. If you would have described your Master Output Pan as ZERO%. When you said it was at 50%, I dismissed that as my problem as I know I don't have any Master Output pan setting at 50% and my mix was sounding very wide with other instruments. What I wanted to let you know is that that line at the 50% mark is actually ZERO% Width. Anything to the left of that is negative value width so all the way left would be -100% width.

I don't remember what made me go back to that Master Pan Width setting to look but I will give you the credit. I have been wrestling with this problem for quite some time now. It is a huge relief to have it figured out. What I don't understand is why the pan would default to 0%. I think what also threw me off was that my mix was sounding very wide so it never occurred to me that the master pan width was set to zero. Now the question is, why was my mix sounding wide if the Master Pan width was set to zero? UGH!!!!
 
HI Helos, welcome to the HR forums. This thread is over 3 years old, guessing you found it through a google search. You're right regarding the Master Track pan, center is 0%. Lord knows what negative pan width is, maybe it reverses L + R? I didn't try it to find out. Your pan should not default to 0%, guessing it got changed (somehow) and saved - if you open a new project is the master pan at 0% again, if so, look in your options to get it changed back to 100%.
"why was my mix sounding wide if the Master Pan width was set to zero" - that I can't tell you!
 
Lord knows what negative pan width is, maybe it reverses L + R?
Yep. It's really just that simple.

"why was my mix sounding wide if the Master Pan width was set to zero" - that I can't tell you!
There are a number of ways to get to your hardware outputs that bypass the Master track altogether. You'd pretty much have to see the project itself to say for sure what happened there.

It's worth mentioning that the Width parameter is available on every track in every Pan mode except for dual pan (where it would be redundant and just doesn't make sense). In default (Stereo Balance) mode, Width is "hidden" in and the I/O window like above. In Stereo Pan mode, you can see it right on the mixer, but then the Pan knob itself works a little differently.
 
Well, 6 years later and this thread just solved my issue. Same problem with panning. My master width was set at zero. No idea how it got there but I might have never found it if it wasn't for this thread.
 
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