Quad tracking guitar and panning

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Mr. Cachi

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Hello, I´ve tracked four guitar tracks for a heavy metal song, but I´m unsure as how to pan them. Should I make it just hard pan 2 guitar on each side, or would it be better to pan two guitars 100%, and the others 50%, or similar? let me know your experiences!
 
I've mixed three acoustics (same guitar, slightly different EQ on all three) : L 30-40% - C 0% - R 30-40% with nice results.

I started with L 100% - C 0% - R 100% - - Too distracting and left the middle thinned out

Then L 50% - C 0% - R 50% - - A little better but still not the full sound I was after

Settled on L 30-40% - C 0% - R 30-40% (Ranges I could live with) Spread out and fuller sounding, blending in better with other tracks panned up the middle

For yours, I would play around with them like this:

1. 2 @ 100% L, 2 @ 100% R

2. 1 @ 100 L, 1 @ 50% L - - 1 @ 100% R, 1 @ 50% R

3. 2 @ 50% L, 2 @ 50% R

4. 1 @ 50% L, 1 @ 30% L - - 1 @ 50% R, 1 @ 30% R

You're bound to feel good somewhere in there.
 
it all depends on the rest of the mix.

the guitars in solo, is useless to consider...

only how they blend in concert with everything else going on.

for example, you might need a hole in the middle for the vocal, or a lead instrument.

i like active pans, i move them from the beginning pan (typically LCR) to wherever i hear them needing to sit in the stereo field.

there is no rule that says they have to stay in one spot.
it's an arrangement thing.
 
I also wouldn't be sure what to do with non-prime even numbers of guitar tracks. With odd numbers, put one in the middle to anchor it and pan everything else out.

Of course, the key thing is going to be timing. With that many guitar tracks, your playing has to be incredibly synced or it will get muddy fast.
 
Mr. Cachi said:
I´ve tracked four guitar tracks for a heavy metal song, but I´m unsure as how to pan them. Should I.........?
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What you should do is experiment until it sounds right to you. The simple fact is that if you listen to a variety of heavy rock, you'll discover that there is a surprising variety of ways that the guitars are mixed and it really comes down to what you're going for and what else is going to be in the song.

Mr. Cachi said:
a heavy metal song
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I'm impressed that you use the phrase "heavy metal" and not just "metal."
 
I wonder how [MENTION=192934]Mr. Cachi[/MENTION] is getting along with his panning..
 
Mr. Cachi said:
Hello, I´ve tracked four guitar tracks for a heavy metal song, but I´m unsure as how to pan them. Should I make it just hard pan 2 guitar on each side, or would it be better to pan two guitars 100%, and the others 50%, or similar? let me know your experiences!
Click to expand...

Nothing better than experimenting. Trying it different ways and settling on what you like is vastly superior to asking others :)
 
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