Separating frequency areas and panning them

[MaellaJohn]

Has anyone ever tried this to see how it sounds?

It was a really abstract idea that came to me and I don't have anything set up to try it, maybe someone else does.

Take a complete mixed song, single track and duplicate it for every frequency area, then pan, let's say, the lows to far left, and low mids to 50% L, etc to the highest frequencies 100% R.

Anyone ever tried that or think it would make for a nifty sound? If you can, post results if you try, I'm really interested in how it would sound but like I've said, I don't have a way to try it at the moment.

 

[Jormyn]

The lows are typically panned to the middle for a very good reason - tons of bass coming out your left speaker and not your right generally sounds pretty bad.

Not saying it can't work, but I doubt you're going to see it.

 

[Wolfeman]

If you did it how you just described, it would simply sound muffled on the left side and bright as hell on the right. Kinda like having a woofer as your left speaker and a tweeter as your right speaker, if that makes any sense.

 

[MaellaJohn]

Well I wouldn't want to use it for a full mix or anything. o.o

I was just interested in whether or not it would create a weird audio mental image--if that makes any sense.

 

[Wolfeman]

Lol no doesn't make sense

 

[MaellaJohn]

Lol no doesn't make sense

It WAS a pretty abstract thought.
Haha. I just couldn't imagine how that'd sound. I'll try it for myself some other time and most likely be disappointed that it doesn't sound that great.

 

[Vinny]

I heard a song the other day from an indie band, where the kick was in the right speaker and the snare/hats were in the left (or vice versa, can't remember)
Sounded REALLY cool!

 

[Wolfeman]

I just tried it, didn't spend much time with selecting frequencies, but it ended up pretty much how I thought. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2033066/broken.mp3

Hey, if you turn your head 90 degrees it sounds normal! Lol

 

[Vinny]

It's painful to listen to...
Like I can't explain it really,
It's just... I dunno... Lol

But like I said, that R kick and L snare/hats trick sounds pretty sweet!

 

[Jormyn]

Actually... it doesn't sound as bad as I would've expected. Granted, my monitors don't have the best bass response, so on a real stereo it might be pretty fucked up, but:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7231524/frequency panning.mp3

Bands are 0-200, 200-2000, 2000-5000, 5000-8000, 8000+, panning as described above.

Adjusting volume of the low, high-mid, or high bands doesn't affect the sound all that much, but the low-mid and mid send everything out the window since most of the real "content" of the mix lives there.

(Apologies if the clip I used is a problem at all, I just figured it was something everyone here could be expected to know)

 

[MaellaJohn]

Hey, if you turn your head 90 degrees it sounds normal! Lol

Got a good laugh from that sentence ^ Haha

Well, I thought perhaps if I automated it so that the frequencies shifted smoothly from their respective panning to the opposite panning, it'd make for a neat intro when the actual music drops in, all full and luscious.

 

[MaellaJohn]

Actually... it doesn't sound as bad as I would've expected. Granted, my monitors don't have the best bass response, so on a real stereo it might be pretty fucked up, but:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7231524/frequency panning.mp3

Bands are 0-200, 200-2000, 2000-5000, 5000-8000, 8000+, panning as described above.

Adjusting volume of the low, high-mid, or high bands doesn't affect the sound all that much, but the low-mid and mid send everything out the window since most of the real "content" of the mix lives there.

(Apologies if the clip I used is a problem at all, I just figured it was something everyone here could be expected to know)

That doesn't sound bad at all. Though, I use stereo speakers with built in subwoofers as monitors and I just run my computer through my stereo. I'm quite poor. I also tested the sound through my headphones, sounded pretty good.

I think it's something to experiment with, perhaps.

 

[MaellaJohn]

I've got a good explanation of my thought process on this..

I usually think of sound frequencies as a vertical scale, hearing the higher frequencies at the highest and the lowest at the bottom.

I was mentally pondering what it would be like to turn that horizontal. I think, with some automation, it could make for an interesting intro for a nice full, warm mix to drop on top of.

 

[Wolfeman]

Got a good laugh from that sentence ^ Haha

Well, I thought perhaps if I automated it so that the frequencies shifted smoothly from their respective panning to the opposite panning, it'd make for a neat intro when the actual music drops in, all full and luscious.

Yeah I can see that. I think there is any easier way to implement this too, by having a graphic eq on both sides. Have the left like this '\' and the right like this '/' across the whole frequency range. If you wanted the effect to pan, you would just automate each side to go from \ to - to /. Should work the same.

 

[MaellaJohn]

Good point. I shall note that for when I find a good opportunity to implement this.

 

[smy1]

I like the general idea behind this. Mainly as an effect as said earlier. And then have everything back to solid and normal when the song kicks in again. These are the kinds of concepts/ideas that need to be discussed more, simply because they can push the envelope and create new things - even if they often might now work.

Will surely try something like that as an effect on a breakdown or something in the future!

 

[DanLights]

What about trying this for a specific instrument instead of a full mix? Like when vocals kick in, or an accoustic guitar, or maybe even a bandpass sliding quickly and with the tempo from Low to high to give it a "warped" effect. Just thinking out loud, don't have any mix on which this could actually fit right now

 

[iekobrid]

How about copying a guitar track and using a graphic EQ to make the original look like this l.l.l and the copy look like .l.l. , then, I dunno, automate a cross-pan or something...

 

[Plankis]

I'll put this here too:

 

[The Front Studio]

I've got a good explanation of my thought process on this..

I usually think of sound frequencies as a vertical scale, hearing the higher frequencies at the highest and the lowest at the bottom.

I was mentally pondering what it would be like to turn that horizontal. I think, with some automation, it could make for an interesting intro for a nice full, warm mix to drop on top of.

I think that might make a nifty intro.
Would like to hear something like it