Panning when mixing

[Dalinkwent48@aim.com]

Ive read in some places that you should do all your eq's,comps,effects etc and then pan everything to where it should be...IE say im doing rythm guitars...i keep them along with everything else right up the middle...then do all my work to them and then once its done pan them out hard right and left...am i reading this wrong or is this one of the million ways of mixing? what gives you guys the best results? Cheers

 

[DanLights]

personally I always pan first, but some might take the other approach. I just don't feel I'm mixing right If everything (specially rhythm guitars which are pretty much mandatory) isn't already where it's supposed to be, but that's just me and I'm no pro at all

 

[Pedro Teixeira]

It's just one of the ways. There is no wrong way IMO, if it sounds good then it's good. I usually get my drums almost 100% finished (some stuff may vary when other elements come in, like verbs etc), but I mostly do it that way, then work with bass, then guitars, all in the middle, until everything is in their right place in the frequency spectrum, then pan and all other stuff and shit : p

 

[AllanD]

It's useful for making sure that everything is mixed well, with no clashing frequencies or one instrument being much louder than other.

 

[Dalinkwent48@aim.com]

ok so i wasnt reading it wrong...i always try to keep in mind "if it sounds good it works" but i was wondering which way would get more pleasant results....so keep everything in the middle and mess with it then pan it out and go back to it?

 

[Chris_P_Critter]

When you say "mix in the middle" are you talking about mixing in mono? I start the mix with everything panned where I think it should be, then address any adjustments that need to be made via EQ - but - every step I take I always validate the mix in Mono, to make sure the image will translate on mono sources as well.

 

[Dalinkwent48@aim.com]

Chris yeah i mean mixing in mono "in the middle" meaning just keep everything in the center with nothing panned yet

 

[Charles J]

BUT BUT BUT, mono isn't br00tal, mannnn!

yeah, i find it more convenient to just throw a mono-plug on the 2-buss and occasionally check it.

i can't imagine mixing a song for HOURS in fucking MONO. lol. fuck that, i want it to be at least sort of fun.

not too mention, now-a-days, with the advent of the iPod and everything else, people are very rarely hearing music in mono anymore. Unless of course, they're in the grocery store or something, but I highly doubt most of your mixes will end up there.

Get it rockin' in stereo and then make sure it still rocks in mono (well, as much as mono is allowed to rock. lol)

 

[Dalinkwent48@aim.com]

haha hey man i wouldnt be opposed to hearing a little AILD in the produce section whilst deciding which apples look better in a pack of a thousand....i wasnt sure if it was easier to "seperate" the frequencies in mono and then pan them out and readjust till it rocks in stereo

 

[Chris_P_Critter]

Ah, ok. Yeah, mono is important, but I think I agree with Sig above - I get panning / levels, etc, done first, then adjust effects if necessary. I really don't know about changes to panning until I've gotten an idea for the vibe of the song itself. Then I might automate panning here or there, but as a rule, I am a guitars 100% L/R and Bass up the middle guy. Leads can be anywhere from 10% to 30% and any supporting instruments anywhere in between.

really though... it's whatever suits the song - there are no rules but my own, which I make up as I go along.

 

[Dalinkwent48@aim.com]

Dont we all buddy lol....im just having a lot of trouble learning all this shit and the "no rules" idea is the best and worst at the same time...so ill just keep followin a few tips here and there until i finally achieve something im happy with

 

[Dalinkwent48@aim.com]

I am a guitars 100% L/R and Bass up the middle guy. Leads can be anywhere from 10% to 30% and any supporting instruments anywhere in between.

ive read about bass up the middle...and also kick up the middle...so im assuming you eq both of these so there not competing and maybe some sidechain compression?

 

[DanLights]

ive read about bass up the middle...and also kick up the middle...so im assuming you eq both of these so there not competing and maybe some sidechain compression?

yeah that's pretty much it, eqing properly, some people put the bass above the kick, some do the other way, some kinda mix their frequencies (low frq for kick, low mid for bass and mid for kick, stuff like that), and I've heard about sidechain compression but never used it personally

 

[Charles J]

ive read about bass up the middle...and also kick up the middle...so im assuming you eq both of these so there not competing and maybe some sidechain compression?

Kick and Bass GTR are always, always, ALWAYS center for me. No exceptions (unless I'm going for a Beatles' vibe? Dunno...)

HPF and some clever EQ'ing should set you straight. And as was said, some people like the bass lower than the kick, and some the kick lower than the bass. I kind of wing it and just mess around until the song/band/vibe matches what I have in my head.

Sidechain compression on Kick/Bass, ehhhh, it's cool for other styles of music, but not for most metal IMO. Only thing I like sidechaining for is sending the trigger track to the sidechain of a gate on the SNR track so get a nice, clean, natural snare sound (oh god do I wish I EVER got a useable SNR track to mix, haha).

Parallel compression, however, is very useful on Drums/Bass. I really don't use it too much but I do dig it whenever I actually set it up.

Guess I'm more of a series compression type guy, utilizing several 'stages' of compression. MAINTAIN PROPER GAIN STAGING.

 

[Dalinkwent48@aim.com]

my thing is im good friends with an AE whos fairly reputable...but he normally does more punk style stuff...(bigwig,the attack,nofx) all that type of stuff...and from what ive read, thats a complete different beast then doing metal stuff so i just dont know if i should take his advice and then try and apply it to my stuff or if i should just stick more to searching more on the topic of metal instead of music as a whole

 

[Matthias King]

The main reason for doing these things before you pan is to help you EQ and do other FX more effectively. Then once all the elements have their own sonic space carved out, then you pan wherever you want and it should be right on.

 

[ahjteam]

well, considering that pretty much everything except multiple guitar takes and drums are pretty much mono in metal music, so I would say go ahead:

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1338211/gojira_msmatrix.mp3 (gojira thru ms-matrix: original, mono (same stuff thats coming from from both channels), stereo (difference in the channels))

 

[AudioPhile777]

anyone ever have a problem with a mix sounding good in mono and sounding thin in stereo?

what would you do at that point, say fuck mono and mix it for stereo?

I would.

 

[AllanD]

anyone ever have a problem with a mix sounding good in mono and sounding thin in stereo?

what would you do at that point, say fuck mono and mix it for stereo?

I would.

I'm not going to lie, I've never heard that happen before.



People don't do this so people who listen in mono can enjoy it(I'd take a stretch and say no one does). It's mostly used to get a track in it's own space and making sure everything fits together, because if it fits in mono, then i'll be damned if it doesn't fit with tracks panned away from each other.

 

[colonel kurtz]

basic panning and fader levels are the 1st thing i hit when mixing

shit i won't even monitor drums in mono while tracking them!