Panning 2 identical tracks...better sound?

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mcmd

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I copied and pasted a guitar track, and panned the original and the copy L- R. I would swear that it sounds much better, fuller and spacious, but maybe I am just kidding myself?.....those dam new monitors!


Any thoughts,

/DMM
 
I think this is a common way to get a fatter guitar sound. I dont think you are imagining it. You may also want to delay one track by a few milli seconds.
 
probably your imagination...an EXACT copy panned wont make a big difference.....
 
I guess the key was identical. But what about when slightly delayed?
 
If the guitar is center and sitting on top of the vocal, is there a way to move the guitar off center, - but keep the guitar panning balanced?...so vocal at 12 and guitar at 11 and 1 o' clock.

Gidge says no?

Anyone?

/DMM
 
There needs to be some difference between the two or it will still be mono. Delay one, two different mics or positions. Maybe put some short room reverb or stereo delay to spread it out?
 
I usually delay the copied track by 20ms and also EQ slightly differently to set the two tracks apart a bit in the mix. I've had good results, but even my best results doing this were inferior to simply recording the same part twice and panning each hard left/right. Something about the nuances in playing each track separately makes the overall effect much "bigger"...

-J
 
Either way, you're much better off just recording another identical take. Quit being so damn lazy! :D
 
mcmd - maybe the panned tracks sounded better because it was louder? Louder usually sounds better.

If you pan two identical tracks, the effect will be mono - it'll sound like a mono track coming from halfway between the two panned tracks. You have to change the sound of one of the two panned tracks somehow - delay, reverb, EQ - if you want the panned tracks to have a stereo, and different, sound. An easy way to do this is to record with two mics at the same time, to two different tracks. Later, pan one track left, one track right. Nice.

"If the guitar is center and sitting on top of the vocal, is there a way to move the guitar off center, - but keep the guitar panning balanced?...so vocal at 12 and guitar at 11 and 1 o' clock."

If you do this, the guitar will sound like it's at 12 o'clock. If you want the guitar to sound like it's at 1 o'clock, either pan a mono track to 1 o'clock, or pan two tracks so that the midpoint is at 1 o'clock. Left 10 o'clock, right 4 o'clock, for example. But make sure the two tracks aren't identical.
 
OK. So, there are a number of good suggestions that I can try this weekend.....thanks everyone.

/DMM
 
when i do the guitar pan and delay one side method the guitar tends to sound very thin in the mix.
 
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