setting the panning on guitars

B

BriGreentea

New member
I've been reading about how recording in mono into a computer and before was doing it all wrong with stereo and on my last demo was mixing it 100% on my guitars left for one guitar and 100% for right guitar. Other instruments used are a keyboard, acoustic guitar, organ and drum programming in the middle. Using Adobe Audition now, previously Cool Edit Pro.

I'm currently recording my demo right now and found if I took the guitars to 60% panned on each channel I have a much better sound and still sounds like it is panned but not too much. Sounds thicker too. But then was thinking is 60% not enough and should be more in the 70%-80% range? I can tell on cd's that don't use 100% on each side how much better it sounds.
 
Sounds like you answered your own question. Follow your ears. There are no hard and fast rules.
 
Boy...this a very subjective thing!
It depends on the song, the arrangement, the style of music....and your personal tastes.

That said, in general (not a rule)...I find that with Pop/Rock music, I prefer not to spread the rhythm guitars too far L/R, if I have two rhythm guitar tracks. If I have maybe, a pair of electric guitar tracks, and also a pair of acoustic guitar tracks...I might spread the acoustic ones hard L/R and still keep the electric ones in at around 9-10 o'clock and 2-3 o'clock.

I just think that the "meat" of the song shouldn't be spread appart...so your drums, bass and chunkier guitars more tighter, but your less defined stuff (like organs, synth pads, acoustics) work well on the outer ends of the image.

But really...that's what mixing is about. You bring up the faders on your various tracks, and then move/pan them around until you start getting something you like. There's no real formula...and sometimes doing something that totally departs from the usual approaches might be just the ticket.
Don't get hung up on "60%" or "80%"...etc....'cuz you will always end up using those numbers. Close your eyes and turn the knob until it sounds right to you.
 
miroslav said:
Close your eyes and turn the knob
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Said the bishop to the actress...

But seriously, what miro says is roughly what I do... double acoustics out wide, cruchier electrics in closer, occasional effecty stuff out wide... but it all totally depends upon the tune and how many of what you have in it..
 
Left, Center, Right. Pick one.

That's pretty much my approach. If it's heavy stuff hard left, hard right doubles do the trick. Sometimes I put another rhythm track in the center to help the mono collapse nicely albeit about 3dB down.

Cheers :)
 
miroslav had some really good point. If you put the 'meat' of everything out on the edge your song might sound empty around the vocals. I find that alot of times this will mess with how your various verbs sit in the mix as well. Listen and try different things, take some notes while playing it on loop, and maybe reference with a song that sounds similar and that you enjoy.
 
I use the bass guitar to fill in a lot of the "meat" in the guitars so that when you solo them, they actually seem quite thin. That's also why I like to add some subtle distortion to the bass so that the lower midrange is nice and saturated in those warm frequencies. That way when you pan the guitars hard L and hard R you don't get an unbalanced low end swing between speakers.

And I'm talking strictly with doubled heavy guitars in rock. For other styles where you only have a quacky funk guitar or a single guitar amongst a complete band where the guitarist is supporting instead of the focus, the guitar could conceivably be anywhere, depending on the mix of the more important instruments.

Cheers :)
 
Mo Facta said:
Left, Center, Right. Pick one.
Click to expand...

Amen! LCR man, LCR.

You will lose your mind worrying about this panning stuff and percentages. Pretend like there is only LCR. Of course, odd things that will stick out like a sore thumb if panned hard L/R like a tambourine, or shaker, then find a spot where it sits and plays more naturally as opposed to hard l/r.

Good luck and have fun!
 
miroslav said:
Close your eyes and turn the knob until it sounds right to you.
Click to expand...

mjbphotos said:
Close your eyes and listen like the band was playing it live in front of you with multiple guitarists.
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This ^^^^^ for me!

Although I have to swivel in my chair as I pan as I'm stone deaf in my right ear. I don't know what stereo really sounds like, I just guess. I wonder what other 'half deaf' producers do?
 
mjbphotos said:
Close your eyes and listen like the band was playing it live in front of you with multiple guitarists.
Click to expand...

That's the one.
When I had a digi 003 control I used to turn the monitor off once in a while and place things by ear; They way they should be placed.

No matter how hard you try, visual representations are going to be off putting.
 
I'll occasionally quad track, 100 percent left right, and maybe add a 60 percent left right. But I play metal, so usually 100 left right sounds pretty good and punchy
 
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