newb question. EQing with regards to panning

[medic999]

This might sound kinda lame, but how big of a role does the stereo field play when it comes to making room for other information in the same frequency. I guess what Im asking is i can understand that the bass and kick are both in the center field and need to be treated with care as to not have too much information coming from the same frequency range. but what about guitars or harmonies/solos/echo and delay/reverb? Is any of this information affected? I mean if i have guitar harmonies panned L30 and R30 , should I make room for other information say panned hard L and hard R. are the center panned drums affected by hard panned guitars? any advice would kick ass!

 

[RedDog]

Solo your left and right mono channel and listen. should tell you a lot when you return to stereo.

 

[Nimvi]

Yes, it will still be influenced by it. Imagine centerpan vs hardpan like this: centerpan means it will be played through both speakers equally loud, and hard pan means it will be played through only one of the speakers. So even if panning makes more room for center elements, it will still cloud them on the speaker they are both active on.

For this reason, mono-checking is your friend

 

[medic999]

cool thanks for clarifying that!

 

[Fox Mulder]

Certain phase-inaccuracies (meant to soujnd natural) in terms of the left and right channels tend to "colour/attenuate" certain low and high frequencies.
Basically, you "perceive" less mids in the center.

 

[Loki Laufeyiarson]

I usually do all my eq-ing in mono. This way I know everything cuts through clearly in any circumstance. Look when listening to a small radio on the other side of the room for instance...

 

[medic999]

I have heard of that but never tried till today. it helped be get a better understanding of balance as well. it seemed like when I switched back to stereo instruments were at the correct levels

 

[MIAnn]

@medic999 : that 'crab' gif gives me a fuckin headache m8!

 

[Nimvi]

I have heard of that but never tried till today. it helped be get a better understanding of balance as well. it seemed like when I switched back to stereo instruments were at the correct levels

Exactly! I find it a great tool to tuck in the vocal and solos at juuust the right level, which I otherwise find tricky to do.

@medic999 : that 'crab' gif gives me a fuckin headache m8!

Shhhh, just give in to the crab. it will all be over soon...