Contents
What instruments should be panned?
Suggested Panning Positions
| Instrument | Comment |
|---|---|
| Overheads | Overheads are best panned fairly wide but should never be too loud as to distract the listener |
| Bass Guitar | Bass heavy instruments, such as the bass guitar, should be kept near the centre as to not disrupt the balance of the track |
What is panning automation?
To automate panning, select “Pan” and plot the points in the track just like you would above. When you automate panning, it can be a great tool to give space in a mix, or create dramatic effects of sounds moving from left to right.
How should you pan instruments in a mix?
The best way to give your mix a solid core is to keep lower frequency sounds in the center. That means kicks, basses and anything else below the 120hz range. If your track has lead vocals pan them center as well. Experiment with panning duplicates of effected vocals to the left or right.
How do you pan overhead?
Simply pan your overhead mics hard left and right (as far left and right as they go), shut your eyes and listen to where you can picture these drums in front of you. Then pan the individual drum to match where they are on the overheads.
Can I pan bass?
Always pan the bass center If the bass comes from both stereo speakers, it can be louder than if it only comes from one. Also, in the days of vinyl records, there could be problems with mistracking on playback if the bass was panned all the way to one side.
What’s the first rule of panning for bass?
The first-priority rule of panning for bass is to leave things in the centre, as mentioned above. If you aren’t sure, just solo your instruments in question and look at a frequency analyzer. Are they very close? Then pan them differently from each other.
Do you need to use panning in a mix?
Panning instruments in a mix is a skill you can learn through trial and error, but you’d probably prefer to learn it with more trial and less error! If you’re into acoustic instrument and orchestral mixing, panning is a far more prescribed process.
Which is the correct way to Pan lead vocals?
If your track has lead vocals pan them center as well. Experiment with panning duplicates of effected vocals to the left or right. But as a general rule lead vocals should always be panned center. Don’t be afraid to hard pan your sounds when you’re first starting out. One mistake I used to always make was soft panning.
What do you need to know about panning audio?
Panning. Here’s the basics you need to know about panning. Use them to give your mix the huge space and clarity that it didn’t have before. Every good mix has a core. The center of your stereo image needs to be your core. But what do you keep in the center? The elements you pan center are the backbone of your mix.