Guitars Galore! Which way do I pan?

J

jonhall5446

New member
I was listening to the Black Crowes and I like the what they do with the guitars. Two guitars, one panned full left the other full right.

What do you do if you have three guitar tracks? Would you put the guitar solo in the middle or the rythm?

This question also applies to vocals. I like to have the lead vocal in the middle. Would you pan a one part harmony? What about a two part harmony, would you pan full over or just a little?

I don't want the parts stepping on each other. Thanks in advance!
 
I would try to envision how it would look if everyone was set up on a stage to play live. Maybe one guitar hard left, one hard right, and then set the bass and third guitar equally spaced, slightly off center. Run the vocals and the drums right down the middle.

I should also mention that I have little to no experience, so my advice might not be worth much.
 
Cracked has the right idea. This is from Blue Bear's article mixing 101:


As for Panning - it alone can also be used to separate mix elements into distinct positions in the mix. For example, panning a keyboard rhythm part off to one side while panning a complimentary rhythm guitar part to the other will result in a pleasant, wide and full rhythm section whose elements don't interfere with each other. When using panning, it is often helpful to envision a music stage in front of you, and place the tracks within that space as you would normally hear at a concert. You may not keep the tracks in this position as you build-up and further define your mix, but it does make a useful starting point.

It kind of depends. If you have two very similar rhythm parts, you could stack them on top of each other for thickness, or spread them for width. Different parts generally sound better with some seperation. Solos I usually put in the middle, but a lot of times there will be effects like deay or reverb on the guitar, and if the effect is stereo it gets panned L/R. One thing I've noticed is that things are rarely panned hard left or right.
Sorry bout my earlier post- I was in a hurry :o . But boy if you want to hear what three guitars played well can sound like, listen to "That Smell" by Lynyrd Skynyrd on a set of headphones. Different parts, different tones, solos panned and center. Wow. Or "Ten Years Gone" by Led Zeppelin. Different colors and tones really make a big difference, especially when you listen to your mix in mono. And for vocals CSN or the Beach Boys. Some great harmonies and production and engineering.
 
Thanks everyone,

Don't sweat the short post man. I took your advice and listened to some Skynard last night (been a while). Man the guitars are mixed well, you can hear every part equally. I toyed with a couple of mixes of mine and decided not to pan full over at all. I realized that what I thought was hearing was a full pan but it was actually just maybe 40>. Anyway, I learned a lot listening to it, thanks for the tip. I realized that I am looking for seperation of parts but not so much that it leaves one side dry and the other too full. Betty Crocker 101. How to bake a "Custard Pie"
 
Hey, Jonhall.

In the song in my signature line, I put the two guitars panned about 9 and 3 (or 10 and 2) (as in a clock). The solo's in the center, and the vox is in the center, but they aren't ever simultaneous.

Hope this helps.
 
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