Stereo Placement

[capitolio]

I am starting a new project and would like some suggestions. I am recording tracks that I plan on playing live at coffee houses, and want them to sound very similar (but not exactly) on CD as they will live. I also want the mixes to sound good in their own right, and have been unable to find any commercial examples of the setup I intend to use. I want to make my arrangements with an acoustic guitar, a very subdued bass, lead vocals, and a second backing vocal of the same voice but harmonizing (also very subdued). The lead vocals and the acoustic guitar will be much more prominent than the other elements, as they will be the only things you here when I play live. My question is: where do I place everything in the stereo mix. I always used to record with two guitars, one on the left, one on the right, with the bass smack in the middle. I don't know how to make a balanced mix with just vocal, backup, bass, and guitar. Any suggestions?

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Here is one of a hundred possibilities:

Keep the bass in the middle. Since the lead vocals and the ac git are the main elements, pan them opposite each other, maybe 35% or so L and R. The backing vocal could sit almost anywhere in between the two; throw it inside the vocal if you want them closely paired to get a nice vocal chord, throw it inside the git if you want the backup vocal to have more of a call/response or an opposing harmony feel to it as compare to the main. Leave the room outside of the main vocal and git for any room ambiencs you may wish to add in the form of a stereo reverb, if you wish.

G.

 

[lurgan liar]

I thought that the vocals were supposed to sit in the middle of a mix otherwise it became unbalanced ..???

I'm no expert, i'm fairly new to recording myself ..but i'd use 2 mics on the acoustic guitar (one at the 12th fret and the other at the bridge) and pan the mics about 70 L and R .... put the Bass and Vox centre ...and then pan the backing Vox just off centre .... about 35 either L or R ...

but like i said ..i'm no expert ...

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

I thought that the vocals were supposed to sit in the middle of a mix otherwise it became unbalanced ..???

Yes, it is more common than not to have main vocals on center. But that is not the definition of "balanced". There is much more to a balanced mix than just where any given single instrument is located. And balanced doesn't always necessarily mean "symmetrical". The key is to try to keep the overall mix balanced. If there's just as much happening on the left as on the right and the center - both in level and spectral response - then it's balanced.

In the example pan map I described, the lead vocals and the lead guitar are the two main elements of the mix by the author's definition. It depends greatly upon the arrangement of the song, but often in those cases it's nice to have the vocals and the guitar balance each other. It's still balanced if the guitar is at similar levels to the vocals. If they're not, then it's possible perhaps to balance the vocals with a combo of guitar and backup vocals.

Also note that I'm recommending only about a one-third pan to each of them. It's not like the vocals are way off to one side. Put the vocals and guitar together and you have a wide path down the middle. Surround those with some reverb on the edges and you can have a fine, full balance.

And again, there's a hundred ways that the mix could be laid out that would be balanced. Yours is one of them also.

G.

 

[lurgan liar]

Cool.... thanks for explaining ...i must try that myslef some time

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

As always, it all depends on the musical content. In this case the author had basically an acoustic performance of vocal with guitar. The bass and the back vocals were added "studio enhancements", but basically he was talking more or less about a guy sitting on a stool playing guitar and singing. In a live/acoustic performance like that, what's more important, the vocals or the guitar? While I suppose it could be argued that the vocals are, in another sense the vocals and guitar are a combined performance in such a situation. In a case like that, it often makes sense to give them equal prominance in the mix.

It also makes more sense in that - not counting any 'verb he might layer on - he is going to have four tracks in total (5 if he stereo mics the guitar), and that's not a whole lot to fill the soundstage with. You put everything in the center and you'll wind up with a mono signal . So spreading the stuff around a bit will help fill in the holes, yet still keep it balanced.

There are some ideas that just don't make sense in 99% of the situations; e.g. it doesn't make much sense to throw low freq tracks like bass too far off-center because bass freqs don't localize well anyway and that would be a waste of panning, and also it usually does not sound right to hard pan a vocal to the edge, etc. But outside those rare exceptions, look at "balance" as a good, full mix of levels, frequency and action that makes use of the whole soundstage without favoring one side or another too heavily. Within those general rules, almost anything else goes .

G.