Panning
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Panning
Apologies if this has been previously covered, but I've had a 'daddy-look' and couldnt see it..
when panning vocals , what are the golden rules? ie main vox -down the middle? BV's at 10 o'clock and /or 2 o'clock or would you hard pan at 9 and 3 oclock?
guitars- bass down the middle, other guitars at 10 and 2 or harder at 9 and 3 ?
sorry for the generalisation of a topic thats really got no rules per se, just looking for guidelines..
thanks in advance
Clogiron Brian
when panning vocals , what are the golden rules? ie main vox -down the middle? BV's at 10 o'clock and /or 2 o'clock or would you hard pan at 9 and 3 oclock?
guitars- bass down the middle, other guitars at 10 and 2 or harder at 9 and 3 ?
sorry for the generalisation of a topic thats really got no rules per se, just looking for guidelines..
thanks in advance
Clogiron Brian
Re: Panning
I tend to put bass center and lead vox center ..... BG vocals are often at 10 and 2 but sometimes harder panned. Depends on how they sound.
Sometimes I'll pan BG vox all across the field but sometimes I'll put them all together as a single item and pan that somewhere.
But I am basically a no-rules guy and really don't do like mostly everyone else here does.
I still like using panning as an effect and very often go rogue on stuff like this so don't go too much by me!
Sometimes I'll pan BG vox all across the field but sometimes I'll put them all together as a single item and pan that somewhere.
But I am basically a no-rules guy and really don't do like mostly everyone else here does.
I still like using panning as an effect and very often go rogue on stuff like this so don't go too much by me!
Re: Panning
Depends how many BVs you have. I've gone hard L & R with massed voices and lots of reverb, and pretty much centre for a tight harmony single voice.
Re: Panning
I'm with Armi here. Panning backing vocals really wide really puts them out there on their own and (in my case at least) they tend to stick out like a sore thumb unless they're really smooth and in time...and heavily layered...and compressed to death. Even then, I've taken to panning backing harmonies more towards center, but not up the middle. A voice or two on one side, another voice or two on the other side.
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Re: Panning
thanks guys, good advice as ever!
Re: Panning
Ok, as a starting point I'd go with this.
Lead vocal in the centre,
If you have a single backing vocal, which just adds odd bits of doubling or harmony here and there, also pan it centre, but with a little more reverb and a little less volume.
If you've got 2 harmony vocals, start by panning them 50/50 L/R also a bit lower in volume and with a touch more reverb.
For guitars when I'm double tracking I tend to hard pan them. Particularly for identical parts.
Leave your bass guitar in the middle.
That's just a starting point though, do what you think soubds good. No rules. Its nice to have a start though.
Lead vocal in the centre,
If you have a single backing vocal, which just adds odd bits of doubling or harmony here and there, also pan it centre, but with a little more reverb and a little less volume.
If you've got 2 harmony vocals, start by panning them 50/50 L/R also a bit lower in volume and with a touch more reverb.
For guitars when I'm double tracking I tend to hard pan them. Particularly for identical parts.
Leave your bass guitar in the middle.
That's just a starting point though, do what you think soubds good. No rules. Its nice to have a start though.
- vomitHatSteve
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Re: Panning
I usually do all my bgvox doubled and hard-panned
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Re: Panning
thanks, do you mean to duplicate the same part and pan one hard left and one hard right?
- musicturtle
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Re: Panning
I always have done panning as I were picturing the band playing the room.
Now bass, drum and lead vox almost always dead center for me.
But then I imagine were the guitarists are standing, where are the BG vocalists standing, keys, etc.
For me that helps get a natural spread. But in the it really just depends what kind of sound you are going after.
Now bass, drum and lead vox almost always dead center for me.
But then I imagine were the guitarists are standing, where are the BG vocalists standing, keys, etc.
For me that helps get a natural spread. But in the it really just depends what kind of sound you are going after.
- WhiskeyJack
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Re: Panning
For me by default i start every project like this.
Guitars 100% to 95% left and right
bass right up the middle 0%
snare i always nudge 1% right or left. I don't know why but i hear it come alive when i do that.
main vocals right up the middle 0%
any one part harmonies i nudge about 5% right or left of the main vocals and nestle it to the back and under the main.
thats by default how i have everything set up in my template. obviously once i start adding more stuff and start mixing at various volumes and various references i will start seasoning everything to taste. But typically i never stray too far from that.
Good luck.
Guitars 100% to 95% left and right
bass right up the middle 0%
snare i always nudge 1% right or left. I don't know why but i hear it come alive when i do that.
main vocals right up the middle 0%
any one part harmonies i nudge about 5% right or left of the main vocals and nestle it to the back and under the main.
thats by default how i have everything set up in my template. obviously once i start adding more stuff and start mixing at various volumes and various references i will start seasoning everything to taste. But typically i never stray too far from that.
Good luck.
Re: Panning
I do the snare slightly left too. Maybe 2%.WhiskeyJack wrote: βMon Jul 06, 2020 6:10 pm For me by default i start every project like this.
Guitars 100% to 95% left and right
bass right up the middle 0%
snare i always nudge 1% right or left. I don't know why but i hear it come alive when i do that.
main vocals right up the middle 0%
any one part harmonies i nudge about 5% right or left of the main vocals and nestle it to the back and under the main.
thats by default how i have everything set up in my template. obviously once i start adding more stuff and start mixing at various volumes and various references i will start seasoning everything to taste. But typically i never stray too far from that.
Good luck.
- WhiskeyJack
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Re: Panning
Who hurt us to act in such a beastly way.Armistice wrote: βMon Jul 06, 2020 6:49 pmI do the snare slightly left too. Maybe 2%.WhiskeyJack wrote: βMon Jul 06, 2020 6:10 pm For me by default i start every project like this.
Guitars 100% to 95% left and right
bass right up the middle 0%
snare i always nudge 1% right or left. I don't know why but i hear it come alive when i do that.
main vocals right up the middle 0%
any one part harmonies i nudge about 5% right or left of the main vocals and nestle it to the back and under the main.
thats by default how i have everything set up in my template. obviously once i start adding more stuff and start mixing at various volumes and various references i will start seasoning everything to taste. But typically i never stray too far from that.
Good luck.
Re: Panning
I usually do some version of the LCR panning. I used to pan things 22% here, 13% there, 52% over there, but then I just said fuck it and now I pretty much cram everything full wide or dead center. The only things that fall at odd places somewhere between 100% left and 100% right are things in the drum overheads.
Rebel Yell
- vomitHatSteve
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Re: Panning
"duplicate" in the sense of do a second take, correct. I don't copy-paste it.Clogiron Brian wrote: βMon Jul 06, 2020 2:30 pmthanks, do you mean to duplicate the same part and pan one hard left and one hard right?
Re: Panning
yeah .... copy/paste would serve no purpose since two identical parts panned still results in mono unless you delay one or the othervomitHatSteve wrote: βTue Jul 07, 2020 11:36 am"duplicate" in the sense of do a second take, correct. I don't copy-paste it.Clogiron Brian wrote: βMon Jul 06, 2020 2:30 pm
thanks, do you mean to duplicate the same part and pan one hard left and one hard right?
- vomitHatSteve
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Re: Panning
Exactly.Lt. Bob wrote: βTue Jul 07, 2020 3:23 pmyeah .... copy/paste would serve no purpose since two identical parts panned still results in mono unless you delay one or the othervomitHatSteve wrote: βTue Jul 07, 2020 11:36 am
"duplicate" in the sense of do a second take, correct. I don't copy-paste it.
Re: Panning
You sure don't. One day I hope to get back to that track for which you sent me a zillion separate backing vocal tracks in various harmonies. I may de-crypt it and see if I can fix what was bugging me - which was nothing to do with the backing vocals.vomitHatSteve wrote: βTue Jul 07, 2020 11:36 am"duplicate" in the sense of do a second take, correct. I don't copy-paste it.Clogiron Brian wrote: βMon Jul 06, 2020 2:30 pm
thanks, do you mean to duplicate the same part and pan one hard left and one hard right?
Wasting a good idea is anathema to me.
- vomitHatSteve
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Re: Panning
Lol!
I always find it hard to stop. Once I'm layering some harmonies, I tend to find myself saying "it'll take 30 seconds to do another take of this chorus"
I always find it hard to stop. Once I'm layering some harmonies, I tend to find myself saying "it'll take 30 seconds to do another take of this chorus"