why does a mono source SOUND BETTER PANNED?

  • Thread starter Thread starter shackrock
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shackrock

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so you got...say...an acoustic guitar. one mic, sounds great.

when you pan that one MONO track of the guitar hard left or right - it sounds better! anyone notice that? with EVERYTHING! it automattically starts to sound better and better, the harder you pan it in either direction.

WHY IS THAT? now i know its just faking my ears out - well i dont KNOW, i suppose..... so my question is WHY?

it seems like the answer to this question can be used to better everyones stereo recordings, i'd hope so at least..
 
Possibly because you're moving out of the way of other tracks?!?!

Panning is an effective way to separate tracks that fight in a mix.

If you're talking about just the single track alone, I don't know what you mean.... whether I pan a single track center or off to one side it sounds the same to me....

Maybe you've got a room acoustics problem?!?! :confused:
 
I've never noticed a difference in the quality, although I wonder what would happen if your headphones (or anything else in the monitoring-chain) happened to be connected out-of-phase? - just a thought...

- Wil
 
It might change it's prespective in the room, and maybe a little more compact size wise?
With out-of-phase monitors- definitely>:eek:
Wayne
 
I think its all in your head. Did someone tell you it would sound better, or somehow you convinced yourself that it would?

Well actually, maybe you have one of those consoles with pan pots that raise the gain on the channel as you pan to the side, giving the illusion that it stays the same volume. But when you do that with both channels, it doubles the effect, and you get a louder sound that sounds better to you. Do you get what I'm saying.

This is the mono mix normally: (these are supposed to be meters; use your imagination)



i i
i i
i i
i i

Left side after panning:

i
i
i
i
i

Right side after panning:

i
i
i
i
i

End Result:

i i
i i
i i
i i
i i

Get it?
 
i seem to notice that too, but only on distorted guitar, it seems more boxy when its in the middle, even a small pan makes it sound better to me

maybe its just a psychological thing that im so used to guitars being panned, that it actually sounds better to me
 
try panning a snare drum, if you think it sounds worse than its gotta be a pyschological thing
 
Like some people said above, it sounds like you are mitigating the phasing when you move the track off center. Frankly every track is supposed to be panned different and at a unique clock setting than the other tracks. In the case of your mono, you moved it to a space where no other tracks were. Like Blue Bear said, you are moving out the way of other tracks.
 
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