When do you pan if you want a good stereo recording? All opinions appreciated.

[bbbkeys]

I want a good stereo mix on my analog 4 track. I know I need 2 channels during recording.

Should I move the Pan knobs dead center when recording and hard left and right when mixing down?

Or do I use hard left and right, or whatever degrees, when laying down the tracks?

 

[darknailblue]

rule numero uno.... use ur ears.... when i record I do two guitars on one part to the left and two to the right on another part... bass center... and for drums i put the snare, hi hat, & bass in the center. then i have all the toms set differently so if the drummer would to a tom fill from the highest tom to the floor, you would hear it move from left to right... but like said before use ur ears... theres no rules

 

[darknailblue]

BTW!

when u record it doesn't matter how u adjust the pan knobs.... i put them in the center when i record just so i can easily monitor what im playing.... when u mix down thats when u screw around with the panning

 

[jokinjoe]

agree with darknailblue (dnb), general rule of thumb is voice, bass, snare and kick in the center. Spread yer toms out like dnb said. I like to put the bass and git off center on some songs like 1:00 and 11:00. On some with two guitars I split them at 9:00 and 3:00
some times I put the snare and hi-hat barely off to the left.

always during mix down and like dnb said, use yer ears. Listen to a variety of CDs to see how the big leaguers do it

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

When you want a stereo recording, you are using 2 mics placed in a typical stereo mic'ing pattern.... each mic goes to a separate track "on tape", and you can then pan those tracks anyway you like....

You don't get "stereo" from simple panning -- you have to capture a stereo track right from the start.

(Remember, stereo is a 2-channel signal comprised of a L+R signal component, and L-R signal component...)

 

[bbbkeys]

You don't get "stereo" from simple panning -- you have to capture a stereo track right from the start.

(Remember, stereo is a 2-channel signal comprised of a L+R signal component, and L-R signal component...)

Thanks everyone.

Blue bear I knew about using two tracks for stereo. I always do that, but I was just asking about when panning. Thanks, dude.

 

[mixsit]

Part of the decision on panning is to setting up your intended sound stage. Width, depth, size, ect. A good example to play with is a full drum kit. On one extreme, it can cover fully from left to right with all the ear candy that goes with it. On the other hand, the kit can be panned into mono. Maybe not as spacious, but the trade off can be a wonderfully foucsed intense image that is smaller but more powerfull, and alowing other instruments and effects room to shine around it.
So many options. So little time....

 

[milkweed]

panning is great i love to pan

The best thing to do is listen to a cd that has the same similar sound your goin for.Then go at it.From my expierience i notice many artist do this.

kick drum=center
snare=center
tom 1 (small)=9 oclock or sometimes hard left
tom 2(medium)=center or sometimes 9 oclock
Floor tom= 3 oclock
over heads pan one hard left and one hard right (or 9 to 3 oclock)
bass guitar=center(but some copy the bass line to another track slidin the time a millisecond behind and panning one 3 oclock and one 9 oclock for phatness)
Guitars consisting of at least two tracks overdubbed=1 hard left and another hard right
Vocals are mostly center but most overdubbz are panned to your hearts content
It seems like a little rule of thumb for me .it helps(i know it will)

 

[kartikbala]

Actually I feel that panning is combination of personal taste as well as the genre of music you are producing. Of course you cld pan vocals hard right and drums hard left, but most listeners today wld find that really irritating and distracting. That said, if the sole purpose of your music is for yourself and u dont care what listeners think, then you cld pan anywhere you feel it sounds great!

As milkweed put it, listen to some CDs of your kinda music and try and emulate the panning settings. His panning suggestions are pretty good and standard....try them out and see how it sounds!

Cheers!
KB