Panning Sound??

[kaossproject]

Having some issues with using PAN for my sounds programmed into my sequencer.

When I create my loops on the sequencer I adjust the PAN on certain sounds to give more "space" and effect. But, I was wondering how would this translate to the speakers on stage? I don't want to loose my sounds, so, how should I do it for best effect?

[hpstekno]

my personal preference is to not pan the sounds to extreme .
panning shit hard left and right will only really benefit ppl in the sweet spot on the dancefloor.. i try to keep them relatively close to center ..but the music i play allows itself a bit to this and also makes everything that little bit fuller....... the occasional stab hard L or R is coool though it's really a trial and error thing better to set pan on the mixer though so you can sort it out nice during soundcheck but not having multiple outs does hinder this

[digitalboy2020]

i think a lot of club PA's are mono anyway in which case it wont matter too much.

[phunkdust]

yeah, use pan sparingly... a little constant pan (5-10%) adds a bit of dimension to the sound... if in doubt, use less pan but dont reduce yourself to a totally mono-sounding mix...

on the right PA, panning as an effect can work well (like HPS said, the little stabs left and right

but on most club PA's you'll find that the natural reverb of the room will dull out stereo effects, so wild panning can sometimes get lost, and you dont hear it at all...

[kaossproject]

Thankx dudes!!

But, I have some further questions.......

In particular I find that when I am Tweaking my Kick Drum (on the Korg Electribe Rhythm Synth) I find that I get a better/stronger sound when I PAN it about 5-10% to the right......it makes it more prominant. But will this cause problems when I play on a Live rig? I haven't had the chance to try it yet and I have only just found out that this technique makes my Bass sound better (in the studio anyway)??

[hpstekno]

a rule of thumb is to keep most of the bass in the centre coz bass tends to be omni directional try moving bass lines a bit off center and other sounds off center but keep the kick centralised although it's debateable weather you'd hear the difference on a P.A. theonly way is to try it on a P.A. and see how it works ..having said that 1 P.A. will sound different to the next and heaaring your tunes on a big P.A, is a different kettle of fish to hearing them on your monitors at home...
just experiment man

[driload]

i will go to an extreme here and say NEVER pan your main bass and kick lines at ALL

these are essentially the fundamentals of your sound and a driving force. i wont go into music theory or the concepts of passive acceptance but keep things on the straight and narrow and you will be fine

as for the rest of your sound... well ive been doing some research lately because i use samplers a lot on stage and tend to use mono samples, and as an audio engineer have done equally as many mono mixes as stereo

when i say "research" im talking about the old salts and other 'pro's' in the industry and on our label etc etc


it seems that a lot of the older engineers will mix in stereo unless it isnt worth the effort (depends on pa quality and crowd etc) but im not sure how pertinent this is to your question

on the topic though of PA's you can do worse then to befriend the in-house engineer and find out how he mixes (mono/stereo) and what the pa is.

dont pan your fundamentals (kick, bass, lead synths etc) more then incrementally is a good rule of thumb, as crowd dispersion and stack positioning can really flavour that sound.

however wildly panning sweeping pads and samples/stabs can have an interestng effect on a PA. i dropped a Doppler Effect on a track on a larger PA and from the monitors to the slapback from the FOH it sounded pretty full on

obviously though, you wont be on the most perfectly tuned PA and incredibly patient and hard working classical music engineers and so on

one last tip, TEST ALL YOUR MIXES IN MONO

this is sound mix-down advice too, but the same principals apply too... especially if you are coming off those korg things you like so much... test your sound in mono too make sure phase issues arent leaving holes in your mix

i say this from experience too.... the "what the %^&* is going on" factor has been large in my relatively short career



:tripping:

[kaossproject]

Guys, once again words of wisdom worth more than Gold flow from your lips......Thankx a million :)

[meandarkdirty]

I'd generally use panning for percussive mids and highs just to add space or for kooky weird effects like a ping-pong delay.

[phunkdust]

yeah be vary careful of panning low frequency effects... on stuff like basslines and kicks, although it sounds cool in the headphones, you might find that in a live setup with a big PA, that the path difference (difference of distance between the speakers) will be just enough to set up weird phase problems - the bass can get cancelled out... this can still happen if the bass is dead center, but its much much less prominent...

[redmond_herring]

agreed about the minimal only pan of most elements - there are plenty of ways to expand or manipulte your lines without needing pan - keep pan (a big and 'obvious') effect for the little twinks and high end percussion, which will give color to a mix.

Im obviously talking about CLUB music here - if your a film composer different story! Panning is king.

:D

Driload - great advice re: mono mixes make sure you AT LEAST TEST! we've all been busted getting too adventureous once or twice..:meh:

When producing interview and documentary pieces for radio the same applies - Keep central. when making ad's in 2nd year Radio Production so so many were caught out by using only the swish studio monitors and not the crappy vintage mono speaker to check their mixdown on.

;)