Autopan - thoughts?

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Autopan - thoughts?

Postby Christian LeBlanc » Tue Jun 22, 2010 3:31 pm

Messing around with a song in Cubase, and there's a part with drums, distorted rhythm guitar, a guitar solo, and some strings soloing. To set the strings apart from everything else, I set it to a slow 'autopan' setting and made it walk around on its own.

Kind of distracting, but kind of fun, at the same time.

What are your guys' thoughts on this effect?
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Postby macrae11 » Tue Jun 22, 2010 3:43 pm

Definitely a case by case basis. I almost always forgo the "auto" part of auto pan, and program the movement to suit the song exactly, although sometimes it ends up being rhythmically linked with the tempo of a song, like half notes or whole notes. The shorter, glitchy-er type sounds, like a guitar picking, or drum loopy type stuff I'll usually have shorter more obvious panning, while subtle slower stuff like pads or strings, I'll move much slower, and generally subtler.

If it's a constant pad type string part, I find it can make things seem uneasy if there's too much movement. To get around this, you could leave one channel panned centre, and pan the other channel. If you leave the lower end of the patch in the centre, generally things will seem a little more "grounded", although the panning swings will be a little more noticeable, because of the higher frequencies moving. You can try the inverse, which might work better, particularly if there's a distinct line in the treble clef of the strings part.

Another method would be to have your pan setup, but not go fully to the outside, maybe only pan to a max of 45% left or right. For something else really funky, you could add a bit of chorus, or some other modulation, but only to the sides of the signal, so the farther out from centre it gets, the more effected the signal will be. That's a tad bit complicated, and you'd have to setup an MS encode/decode to pull it off, but can really do neat things.


Bottom line, experiment, and if it sounds right, it is right. Maybe post a link for us to hear. Might give a better chance of specific suggestions for this particular arrangement.
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Postby clinton » Wed Jun 23, 2010 12:34 pm

if you think it sounds good, then it is.
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Postby Mathieu Benoit » Wed Jun 23, 2010 1:01 pm

I only ever use them on EP patches. I've never used it on anything else. Like Clinton said though; If it floats yer boat... Give 'er.
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Postby Scott DeVarenne » Wed Jun 23, 2010 1:31 pm

clinton wrote:if you think it sounds good, then it is.

Not always the case.
http://forums.middleaudio.com/viewtopic ... assignment
I thought it sounded cool- turns out it wasn't a good thing.
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Postby Malcolm Boyce » Wed Jun 23, 2010 1:49 pm

Are you commenting on the panning of the gtr in "In A Nice Way"?
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Postby Scott DeVarenne » Wed Jun 23, 2010 2:07 pm

No, sorry, specifics.
I am citing the "effect" on the Curbside tune as an example of something that may have sounded good but wasn't (good).
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Postby Mathieu Benoit » Wed Jun 23, 2010 2:23 pm

Scott DeVarenne wrote:No, sorry, specifics.
I am citing the "effect" on the Curbside tune as an example of something that may have sounded good but wasn't (good).


Was this the Curbside EP we're talking about that Jon Goud recorded? Or the one before that?
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Postby Malcolm Boyce » Wed Jun 23, 2010 2:47 pm

No. Not Jon Goud recording.

I highly doubt that this was a decision that was made in that case. More likely a lack in monitoring setup or something else that cause the polarity issue not to be revealed...

...or at least I hope.
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Postby Mathieu Benoit » Wed Jun 23, 2010 2:54 pm

Jon knows how to press "mono".

Anyways... Where were we and how did we get here?
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Postby Malcolm Boyce » Wed Jun 23, 2010 2:58 pm

I always thought this was a cool use of autopan...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9p0Ac5bLlI
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Postby Malcolm Boyce » Wed Jun 23, 2010 3:03 pm

...and the synth part in "Flippin' To The A Side" was cool, even though there isn't a "stereo" version on YouTube...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJGripBLSbY

You'll just have to imagine that opening key part panning around. :-(
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Postby Mathieu Benoit » Thu Jun 24, 2010 12:13 am

I almost auto-panned something tonight, and then decided against it... Lead vocals in a serious song + auto-pan = Me getting sea sick. It was kinda fun for a second though...
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Postby macrae11 » Thu Jun 24, 2010 8:25 am

Yeah that's a quick trip to nauseaville right there. Even EP patches with a strong square wave autopan can make me a little queasy.
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Postby Mathieu Benoit » Thu Jun 24, 2010 8:40 am

macrae11 wrote:Yeah that's a quick trip to nauseaville right there. Even EP patches with a strong square wave autopan can make me a little queasy.

EP patches with a triangle wave auto-pan is where it's at.
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Postby macrae11 » Thu Jun 24, 2010 8:59 am

X-zachary.
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Postby Christian LeBlanc » Thu Jun 24, 2010 9:10 am

I'll have to check out these links later when I have access to sound, but after toying with some rapid back n' forth effects, I can attest to the whole trip to nauseaville :)

clinton wrote:if you think it sounds good, then it is.

I don't know, man. I have a soft spot for Mel C (Sporty Spice) and Fine Young Cannibals, so I don't know if that rule should apply to me ;D

Bottom line: I like how it sounds, so I'm keeping it. Once I'm done the track I'll be posting it here (along with a short highlight reel, pointing out a few things...new mic vs old mic, the two distortion sounds I blended, etc).
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Postby Mathieu Benoit » Thu Jun 24, 2010 9:19 am

I think as an effect it's a great tool, but use it gracefully would be your best bet. Of course this all depends on your mix/arrangement but I've never had a use for harsh square wave autopans, softer triangle wave auto pans (like on a Rhodes) is usually the best way to use the effect without it being distracting.

Can't wait to hear what you've got!
Last edited by Mathieu Benoit on Thu Jun 24, 2010 10:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby gamblor » Thu Jun 24, 2010 10:08 am

i'm a firm believer that everything should be autopanning all the time
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Postby Christian LeBlanc » Mon Jun 28, 2010 2:48 pm

zomg I want this!
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Postby Christian LeBlanc » Wed Jul 07, 2010 10:52 am

Drumwaiter wrote:Can't wait to hear what you've got!


http://soundcloud.com/kittysmack/kitty-smack-fulgarite

Some comments on this song, before (or while) you listen:

-all the autopanning is just on one of the solo lines, near the very end of the song. Skip if you get bored!

-My wife and I wrote the first part of the song and the final part of the song fairly quickly; however, it sounded like crap when the song went from one section to the other. As they were (accidentally) written in different scales, I found it very hard to write a proper link to bridge the gap, but I'm happy with what we came up with.

-I turned to science for the lyrics! I'd never even heard of 'petrified lightning' before doing this song, and I think my lyric-writing is getting stronger.

-This is the first tune I used my SM-57 mic on, and it sounds a lot cleaner to me than my old mic. I couldn't get the sound to travel to the computer via usb, but my interface had rca outs that I used instead.

-I kinda hurried this song along to get it done; a better mix later on would be in order. Rather than point out what I think is wrong with it, I'm curious to know if you guys can spot the same weaknesses I can, or if you come up with something different.

-Sure, it's way too long, but I have no delusions of radio play with this. Just enjoying the self-indulgence allowed to hobbyists! ;)

Thanks to anyone who'll listen, extra thanks for any comments you can give. You're not going to hurt my feelings if you have any criticism for me, either :)
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Postby Mathieu Benoit » Wed Jul 07, 2010 11:47 am

I'll have a listen tonight after work.
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