Mathieu Benoit wrote:Why do you think that most of your panning decisions start in LCR then only a small percentage of those decisions ever deviate from that? What is it about LCR that you find is very effective 95% of the time?
I like wide mixes. I like stereo. I grew up listening to an awful lot of stuff in headphones for hours and hours. Hard panning stuff out allows them to breathe without dominating things level wise. Some times when things start to clutter up with a lot of things going on, you need to tuck some things in to the middle ground. I just don't start trying to find that special spot on the pan. Once I decide where it's going, (LCR) which is usually pretty quick, then I can work on tight balances instead of wasting time trying to find some special pan percentage.
On the other hand, if I'm building a rockin' track with a stereo drum mix or stereo tracked rthm gtr or keyboard, and the overall vibe isn't as "wide" sounding, I may not end up panning stuff out 100% because it
can come out sounding outside the scope of the mix. Sometimes the tracks dictate that direction.
macrae11 wrote:Mathieu Benoit wrote:OK... Since you guys are hell-bent on making this conversation boring, I'll ask the questions.
Why is it boring... because we mostly agree? I don't think that's terribly surprising.
macrae11 wrote:It's very rare that a mix needs to be narrower...
Rare, but it does happen for me as mentioned above. Some things sound pretty "wide" even when only 50% out depending on the other stuff that is going on.
macrae11 wrote:...Which is why when I do deviate from LCR it's usually little things that are just sonic candy, or more background. Never something like a rhythm guitar. I guess my only exception to the exception is sometimes when mixing drums for a not so rocky tune I'll pan the individual elements to match their position in the overhead image. So in that case the toms might end up at 50-70%, hi hat 80% etc. With anything that rocks out I find having toms, hats etc panned hard gives much more impact. Of course in those lighter moments I'll end up with mono drums often as not anyways so...
I always find it funny how similar techniques can come from different ways of looking at stuff. I think I am
more likely to hard pan something that is just frosting for the cake as opposed to keeping it center or in the no mans land between. Panning close miced elements to match the stereo OH or front drum mics is a given for me as far as what will go "in between" in the panning world. Like you said, more "extreme" sounds may sound better panned out hard.
All that being said, context is everything when it comes to making mix decisions of every kind. I'm usually panning stuff in response to something else in the mix, and looking for a balance, which is what we're doing while mixing right? I just don't have a set philosophy for panning, which I guess is a philosophy of sorts, so I'm screwed either way...