FOKI26
11-11-2004, 01:40 PM
Ok, learnt quite a few things about panning this week that i've never really thought to do.... so i thought i'dshare them with you all:smiley2:;
I was always been told (and from what i'd read in mags, on the net etc) was to position your sounds around the stereo field so each sound basically has it's own position around youhttp://www.itstooloud.com/smileys/smiley32.gif.
Now whilst this is correct in most cases...i was given an example of how 'unnatural' panning can make the sound of your tracks appear much bigger, and also sound like more is happening when it's really not.http://www.itstooloud.com/smileys/smiley5.gif
Try this;
1) When bouncing down audio tracks, don't always do them as Stereo interleaved, use the other option of ....Split mono (i think it's called)....
2) When the audio file has beenimported into the arrange window don't necessarily pan each track hard left/right in the envirnoment, but blur the stereo image slightly by bringing the panning slightly more central (how much is upto you:smiley3:!).
3) Then, in your arrange window, using the 'Cut function' chop your pieces of audio (say 1 or 2 bars in length:smiley2:) into 16th's or 32nds (depending on how busy it is...drums do more, other less frantic soundsdo obviously that bit less) and then mute random sections (don't go too crazy thohttp://www.itstooloud.com/smileys/smiley11.gif).
*As this is a split mono channel you should see both tracks in the arrange window, instead of just one like you would with a stereo interleaved file
Now as your panning image is slightly blurred anyway, you're not going tohave the sound totally cutting out of the mix (as what should be left is also slightly in the right, etc), so you shouldn't notice that much of a change in volume:smiley2:.
If used with a compressor/limiter this should also help to address any volume dips you may get anyway.
The end result being a sound that seems to bounce around you rather than stay placed in a stereo environment.http://www.itstooloud.com/webwiz/smileys/smiley32.gifhttp://www.itstooloud.com/webwiz/smileys/smiley32.gifhttp://www.itstooloud.com/webwiz/smileys/smiley32.gifhttp://www.itstooloud.com/webwiz/smileys/smiley32.gif, even if you have carefully placed each hit in your drum kit in it's own place in the stereo image.
The example i was shown this on was a break of mine i had made for a track, and when the 2 (mine vs the engineerspanned version) were compared i couldn't believe how much difference it made to the sound....It just instantly had more life to it as the sounds seemed to 'move' around me, rather than just sit there.
* This weekend, i'm going to do the same thing with bass :smiley3:(before you all jump in and say...don't pan bass...just wait on a minutehttp://www.itstooloud.com/smileys/smiley36.gif!!!!).
Having not done this yet, the way this was explained to me was to do the same process and then bounce the audio back down as a mono file, and pan it centrally (as normal)....But what you'll notice is that your bass will seem to pump where slight bits of the sound were being muted in the left and right in the first instance...again creating the impression of movementhttp://www.itstooloud.com/smileys/smiley32.gif.
This isn't straight forward, and having not done it many times myself i've still yet to get the technique down properly... Obviously less is more, so don't go overboard and i guess only apply it where it's really needed.
But please experiment and let me know how you get on, and how this tip could be improved upon i'd love to know...
But defo one of the things i've never read about on the net, and makes a hell of a big difference.
Foax....
I was always been told (and from what i'd read in mags, on the net etc) was to position your sounds around the stereo field so each sound basically has it's own position around youhttp://www.itstooloud.com/smileys/smiley32.gif.
Now whilst this is correct in most cases...i was given an example of how 'unnatural' panning can make the sound of your tracks appear much bigger, and also sound like more is happening when it's really not.http://www.itstooloud.com/smileys/smiley5.gif
Try this;
1) When bouncing down audio tracks, don't always do them as Stereo interleaved, use the other option of ....Split mono (i think it's called)....
2) When the audio file has beenimported into the arrange window don't necessarily pan each track hard left/right in the envirnoment, but blur the stereo image slightly by bringing the panning slightly more central (how much is upto you:smiley3:!).
3) Then, in your arrange window, using the 'Cut function' chop your pieces of audio (say 1 or 2 bars in length:smiley2:) into 16th's or 32nds (depending on how busy it is...drums do more, other less frantic soundsdo obviously that bit less) and then mute random sections (don't go too crazy thohttp://www.itstooloud.com/smileys/smiley11.gif).
*As this is a split mono channel you should see both tracks in the arrange window, instead of just one like you would with a stereo interleaved file
Now as your panning image is slightly blurred anyway, you're not going tohave the sound totally cutting out of the mix (as what should be left is also slightly in the right, etc), so you shouldn't notice that much of a change in volume:smiley2:.
If used with a compressor/limiter this should also help to address any volume dips you may get anyway.
The end result being a sound that seems to bounce around you rather than stay placed in a stereo environment.http://www.itstooloud.com/webwiz/smileys/smiley32.gifhttp://www.itstooloud.com/webwiz/smileys/smiley32.gifhttp://www.itstooloud.com/webwiz/smileys/smiley32.gifhttp://www.itstooloud.com/webwiz/smileys/smiley32.gif, even if you have carefully placed each hit in your drum kit in it's own place in the stereo image.
The example i was shown this on was a break of mine i had made for a track, and when the 2 (mine vs the engineerspanned version) were compared i couldn't believe how much difference it made to the sound....It just instantly had more life to it as the sounds seemed to 'move' around me, rather than just sit there.
* This weekend, i'm going to do the same thing with bass :smiley3:(before you all jump in and say...don't pan bass...just wait on a minutehttp://www.itstooloud.com/smileys/smiley36.gif!!!!).
Having not done this yet, the way this was explained to me was to do the same process and then bounce the audio back down as a mono file, and pan it centrally (as normal)....But what you'll notice is that your bass will seem to pump where slight bits of the sound were being muted in the left and right in the first instance...again creating the impression of movementhttp://www.itstooloud.com/smileys/smiley32.gif.
This isn't straight forward, and having not done it many times myself i've still yet to get the technique down properly... Obviously less is more, so don't go overboard and i guess only apply it where it's really needed.
But please experiment and let me know how you get on, and how this tip could be improved upon i'd love to know...
But defo one of the things i've never read about on the net, and makes a hell of a big difference.
Foax....