panning question

T

tbonejc1

New member
stupid question.
when you have a track that is not panned, but is dead center, it plays equally to both l and r speakers right?
then a couple of questions, is their any difference in sound if you copied that track, and panned both of them hard left and right? maybe just louder in general?

and what exactly happens to the track as you pan it to one side?
Say I pan a guitar track 50% to the right. Does that simply mean that the track gets 50% louder in the right speaker, while getting %50 softer in the left?

I do know that unless you pan something %100 percent, you will still hear traces of that track in the other speaker, correct?

thanks,
J
 
tbonejc1 said:
stupid question.
when you have a track that is not panned, but is dead center, it plays equally to both l and r speakers right?
then a couple of questions, is their any difference in sound if you copied that track, and panned both of them hard left and right? maybe just louder in general?

and what exactly happens to the track as you pan it to one side?
Say I pan a guitar track 50% to the right. Does that simply mean that the track gets 50% louder in the right speaker, while getting %50 softer in the left?

I do know that unless you pan something %100 percent, you will still hear traces of that track in the other speaker, correct?

thanks,
J
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I assume you're talking about a mono track. If you copy the track and pan them yeah it will just get louder.
There are usually customizable panning laws for DAW software. It can go either way. I think typically there is a 3db cut for something panned to center so that it doesn't get louder overall. Or sometimes it gets a 3 db boost when hard panned instead. This is what is usually customizable in your software. This also tricks people into thinking that a track that is copied and panned somehow sounds better. It's just louder.
 
yeah a mono track.
so to my other question, is the volume adjusted equally(in opposite directions), when you pan a mono track %50 to the right or left?
 
Not necessarily. It would depend on what panning laws your software was using. If you're panning laws do not drop the center by 3 db, if you pan to one side that side won't get louder, the other side will just get quieter.
 
You can, however copy the track and apply different fx to each track and then pan them slightly opposite each other for a different sound. I'm not a fan of hard panning anything as a rule. jm$.02
 
i tend to agree with fiddler...i'm not a huge fan of hard panning. for me it seems like the the sound feild is to far off to my left and right and not a very true stereo image....but that is just my preference. try playing with the pan while listening through a good set of headphones....might help you nail down the sound you're looking for and the pan that is right...
 
I almost always pan guitar parts hard left and right, as it fills out the stereo scope a lot better. I used to not, and it resulted in a lot of mud.
 
i agree with kron.

folks get scared of hard panning because it seems in the studio that it is an extreme. Get in your car or listen on your boombox and you'll see that the effect is more subtle, yet spreads your mix out and althoughs you to boost things like vocals ***GASP
 
Hard panning with 2 separate guitar takes is the only way to go when recording rock./metal guitar. I don't like it when they are panned even at 80%, they sound muddy and less than what I want to hear. If you have 2 perfect guitar tracks pan those puppies and turn it up.

I'm currently recording a rap project in my studio and have had success hard panning this guys vocals. Granted he is very talented and can produce consistant trax at will, so it works well for him and thickens things up. For verses I'll record 3 takes, 1 center, 1 hard left and 1 hard right. Then I'll bring the volume down on all 3 and add a touch of verb to the panned trax to push them back into the mix. It helps that he sounds great to start with.

Cymbol hits and other things sound good somewhere off center but not hard panned. My experiences.
 
I'm actually a big fan of panning. Usually when I put two mics on an amp, I copy the two (making four) the first two are panned hard L and R with different effects applied, and the two copies panned, but not so hard, with varying effects. I don't generally do it with lead parts, but I have before. Just my preference and it gets the results that I like.
 
SuicideNote said:
Hard panning with 2 separate guitar takes is the only way to go when recording rock./metal guitar. I don't like it when they are panned even at 80%, they sound muddy and less than what I want to hear. If you have 2 perfect guitar tracks pan those puppies and turn it up.

I'm currently recording a rap project in my studio and have had success hard panning this guys vocals. Granted he is very talented and can produce consistant trax at will, so it works well for him and thickens things up. For verses I'll record 3 takes, 1 center, 1 hard left and 1 hard right. Then I'll bring the volume down on all 3 and add a touch of verb to the panned trax to push them back into the mix. It helps that he sounds great to start with.

Cymbol hits and other things sound good somewhere off center but not hard panned. My experiences.
Click to expand...

Well I figured that the point was hard panning one track ONLY. Using hard panning IN combination with with other panned tracks and effects is different in my opinion.

Although, I would have to say for loud rock, it probably does work. I was surprised to find all the early Zeppelin albums were mostly hard panned, vocals and drums on one side, and bass and guitar on the other. But damned if it sounded killer on big audio systems and when you are not sitting n front of the speakers listening for the "stereo" image that is not there. Like having it cranking in the other room, it sounded huge. :cool:
 
It only sounds bad if you can't mix the rest of your song well. If you have three tracks, a vocal track, a guitar track and bass track, yeah, hard panning might not be that good. But in a very lush, complex mix, hard panning is a very effective way to deal with instruments that are difficult to hear, or sound buried.
 
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