panning possibilities

[trogular]

Alright you pros, pan this:

(1) kick, (2) snare, (3) high hat, (4) cymbal, (5) congal L (tumba), (6) conga R (conga), (7) additional percussion or effect, (8) bass, (9) keys, (10) guitar (11) more guitar or more keys (12) flute (13) voice 1 (14) voice 2 (15) more voice or more guit or more keys (16) flute or effects or keys

Obviously i'll end up using my ears (I have 9 given that our percussionist is deaf in one), but i'd like to hear what people think/have experienced with this many instruments. how would the pro engineers typically handle this kind of situation?

Should i really try to reproduce wiht the pan picture the placing of the instruments as they sit on stage or are there equally important other considerations? In this case, looking at the band, the drums could be in the middle with the bass on the left and congas on the right. keys to the extreme left and guit to the exreme right. then flute and voice share the centre. Typical in other words but that doesn't cover everything in the recording situation since there will be other instruments like second and third voices, guitars, keys, and percussion. Should i use a single spot for everything or does it not matter if two instruments share the same position? How far left or right should the instruments at the extremes of the pan picture really sit? I'm guessing that using nearly 100 % is only for john coltrane or led zeppelin records, am I right? I'm looking for an intimate band-like sound not big and orchestral like prince or jamiroquai.

If by now you're wondering why i'm the one handling the machine (Korg D1600mkII), believe me i am too. it's not even mine. i think it has to do with not doing drugs. many thanks for any help.

 

[LemonTree]

There are no panning rules although I usualy try to stick to a basic blueprint of how things are on stage then build from there.

When mixing it's not all about the panning things apart to let them be heard. A great deal of it comes down to EQ. Shaving a bit of one frequency off one instrument to let another shine through in a mix. It all adds up.

Kick, bass & snare & lead vocals usualy go right down the centre with me, even guitar solos sometimes, everything else is to personal taste.

 

[andyhix]

my only other "guideline," if you will, kinda taking off of lemon's idea is to try to keep things in a similar EQ range in a different pan position, to seperate them a bit, if they seem to be fighting with each other. Other than that, use your ears - all 9 of them.

 

[LeeRosario]

Well simple, just put yourself in the perspective of the group.

Or if it's a single artist that does all his parts, then you have the chance to "design" the group. Sometimes I draw out a square stage on paper, and then I draw circles with the names inside them to help me visualize where on the stage the sound is comming from.


On top of that, I'm currently working on engineering a heavy latin jazz album that has exactly that and more. The most aggresive of the songs has: Bass (1), Drums (9), congas (3) with overheads (2), Timbales (2) with overheads (2), Bongos (4), Piano (stereo L/R), Cowbell (1), Maracas (1), 2 Stereo String sections, flute (1) and soprano sax (1).

That's scary at first glance, but really the trick is in the grouping.


In the experience, I found several ways to go about this.


1) I always start building up from percussion for a rhytm dominant mix. Or I start from the piano for a melody dominant mix.

-I can treat it "new school" and do trippy panning (wide in L and R) or "Old school" and pan in groups.

So that means that I could open up congas just a little and then move them off to one side, then bongos over to another.

However, the conflict is balance. Obviously the conga does one thing while other rhytm does another. So by doing the grouping, you risk swaying a mix way to one side.

So I suppose the trick really is judgement. If you can get your instruments sounding properly balanced, heard and you don't find yourself swaying too much to one side...then you're close to a good balance.

No secret really, things that are fortifying rhythms usually go center or close to it. Like your quinto, cowbell, kick, snare, etc.

Other than that, it's just elbow grease and feeling it out.