Panning Ideas and Techniques

[heylow]

Man...

I really hate the old "ALWAYS KICK AND BASS IN THE CENTER" thing. Whatever happened to creativity...as in "whatever the song calls for?"

It may not be something one should do all the time but I have strayed from that rule because sometimes its just cool. Turn off the radio and step outside the box. (comment not specificly targeting anyone....just a thought)


heylow

 

[crawdad]

On the Doors first album, they recorded the guitar and keyboard on one track and the bass and drums on another. The vocals and any overdeubs (like Fender Bass) were recorded on separate tracks. If you wanted a stereo mix, you really didn't have a whole ton of options. This is according to Bruce Botnik in the book "Inside Tracks"--which is great reading, by the way.

 

[Chibi Nappa]

Man...

I really hate the old "ALWAYS KICK AND BASS IN THE CENTER" thing. Whatever happened to creativity...as in "whatever the song calls for?"

It may not be something one should do all the time but I have strayed from that rule because sometimes its just cool. Turn off the radio and step outside the box. (comment not specificly targeting anyone....just a thought)


heylow

Heh, I just wrote something like this in that "mixing cliches" thread. Yeah, I never restrict myself to always keeping the bass and kick in the center. It just doesn't make sense to me. If the song sounds the best like that, fine. They go in the center. If the song sounds flat out boring like that... off to the side they go. Especially with some of the smaller bands. Live trios n' stuff. One guitar, one bass, and drums. Put the vocals, snare, bass, and bass drum in the center like you're "supposed to" and you get a damn mono mix! Just don't throw the off center bass or kick drum in your listener's face and they might not even notice it. It can be done tastefully when the situation calls for it. The key is the "tastefully" and "calls for it" parts.