Panning Question

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SwurVe

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Ok I have a question i have about panning....I want to see if im doing it right or mayben if im doing it wrong what to do to make it better.....This is panning for vocal layers on like verses and choruses and such


Lets say I have a guy recording a hiphop song....Normally i will have him do the main vocal verse recording....Then I will have him do about 2 more layers of vocals over that....Then the overdubs.....

Now usually heres what I do:

Main Vocal - Panned Center

2nd Layer - Panned 25 left and then the same layer copied and pasted n panned right 25

3rd Layer - Panned 50 left and copied and pasted and panned also 50 right

NOTE: I usually only was doing 2 layers but now im deciding to haev people do even more then one layer so thats where I would probably put it

THen I would have them lay some overdubs and pann them left and right 75 or 100


Now to me sometimes I just dont think that works because even when i turn the vocals down alot on the overdubs n stuff they just stand out too much sometimes....I dunno....I guess I need a good explanation on

Panning the vocal layers....like how much left and right using percentage numbers.....because i was also thinking that maybe....i should pan the 2nd to the left a cetain number and not right....and then the 3rd layer pann right and not left...I dunno....

But also....I need to know maybe some pointers on the right volumes to use on overdubs and stuff....Like lets say my main vocals were at -3 db when being played by themselves.....waht would I put the other ones at...Now I know its just whatever sounds good....But I need some basis to base that off with at least some numbers that I should be looking around....

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH to all who answer this
 
as for panning....you might not need 4 background layers... just one left and one right might do the job... key to the whole thing is keeping it simple...with the hip hop-emphasis on lyrics, you don't want to crowd it too much...
Also, indeed, panning like BACKGROUND-LEAD-BACKGROUND is propably the best idea.

Make sure you don't pan too wide (unless that's the effect you're going for)

As for volume.try dropping the background vocals 4-6 db lower than your lead vocal...but that's not a set rule either...quieter for less, louder for more emphasis...quite simple.

so the more important the lyrics are (it depends on the kind of hip hop you record)...the more subtle your background vocals should be.

Hope this is of any help..if not. sorry...keep asking and I'll try to come up with something right for your situation
 
When you copy a take to another track and pan the two tracks left and right, you haven't accomplished anything. You have the same exact thing coming out of both speakers...that is mono. You get the same thing done by just having the one track panned center. (same thing coming out of both speakers)

If you actually want to have a stereo spread to the vocals, keep recording 3 takes. Pan the main one center, pan the second one 25% left and the third one 25% right. Panning the backups farther out will make a very wide image and panning them closer to the center will make a smaller, tighter one. You will have to work that out by yourself. It just depends on your personal taste. I would have the backups 3db to 6db down from the main vocal. Again, that is a matter of taste. The louder they are, the more of a doubling effect you will get, the quieter they are, the subtler it is.
 
lol..what the...you just said what I said...hahaha
 
That's how you can tell that you give good advise. :D

My main point was supposed to be that copying the track and panning it is a silly waste of time. Then I got off the subject. It was way too early to be typing here.
 
Thank You....yea I knew i was doing something wrong when i would put

BG2 BACKGROUND 1 MAIN BACKGROUND 1 BG2

if im hearing u correct i need


BACKGROUND 1 MAIN BACKGROUND 2



now what about overdubs? like the part where i just emphasis on certain strong words......would i wanna pan that center or not
 
basically, in hip hop, the background vocals ARE usually for emphasis... even if you pan em left and right a little.

if you feel you need more emphasis, record a third background vocal and pan it to the center.

But basically, use the K.I.S.S. method ;)
 
I am just talking about overdubs now though.....Cause i know pan the one background layer left and the other one right.....but what about when it comes to overdubs....cause usually you only lay one layer of overdubs
 
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