Trying to figure out to make make a mono rhythm guitar sound bigger?

Matt Grondin · 17th July 2008, 04:42 PM

What do y'all typically do since panning makes it feel one-sided (this is when the only rhythm track is a mono guitar, no keyboards or anything to balance it out with on the other side). Pan it to one side and then pan a delayed version to the other maybe? Looking for some suggestions. Thanks.

Rigg · 17th July 2008, 04:55 PM

I've done the trick you mentioned it works OK. It would be better to get a doubling track to pan hard to the other side but this might not be feasible if you are in the mixing stage. I often do this with a different guitar, amp, tone setting, effects and or player. Sometimes panning the bass hard to the other side can be cool but it doesn't always work. It really depends on the material.

zboy2854 · 17th July 2008, 05:00 PM

Depends on what else is going on in the arrangement. If there's some other major element I can put opposite the guitar to balance it out, I'll pan a mono guitar off to one side, with a short room verb and/or short delays panned the other way. If there isn't another primary element to balance out the guitar, I'll put it closer to the center, still using the short room verbs/delays to spread out the image. I might also pull up a Roland Dimension D on an aux return and send some of the guitar to that to spread it out as well. YMMV.

fooman · 17th July 2008, 05:00 PM

What type of music is it?

You can do the delay thing.
Or copy the track, and just EQ it differently on the opposite side but keep it out of the way so it's not prominant. Maybe EQ it darker, put some sort of distortion effect on it so it sounds different and isn't an exact match of the original.

Also can try just plain ol' reverb panned opposite.

Ethan Winer · 17th July 2008, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Grondin

What do y'all typically do since panning makes it feel one-sided

Add a bit of "small room" reverb using a Stage type preset. Not a wash of cathedral reverb! But a small touch of ambience. Just a little goes a long way toward making a mono track sound like the instrument is right there in the room with you.

--Ethan

mstrom · 17th July 2008, 05:14 PM

You could also use some distortion plugin (camel audio phat3 is nice) if you're working ITB and pan the distorded signal. If you want wide.

You can of course fatten the sound without pannin with phat3. Works also with bass very well.

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17th July 2008, 04:42 PM	#1
Matt Grondin Lives for gear Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Jacksonville Beach, FL Posts: 1,108	Trying to figure out to make make a mono rhythm guitar sound bigger? What do y'all typically do since panning makes it feel one-sided (this is when the only rhythm track is a mono guitar, no keyboards or anything to balance it out with on the other side). Pan it to one side and then pan a delayed version to the other maybe? Looking for some suggestions. Thanks. __________________ Matt Grondin http://www.myspace.com/incamaya http://www.inca-maya.com

17th July 2008, 05:00 PM	#3
zboy2854 Lives for gear Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Ft. Lauderdale, FL Posts: 4,941	Depends on what else is going on in the arrangement. If there's some other major element I can put opposite the guitar to balance it out, I'll pan a mono guitar off to one side, with a short room verb and/or short delays panned the other way. If there isn't another primary element to balance out the guitar, I'll put it closer to the center, still using the short room verbs/delays to spread out the image. I might also pull up a Roland Dimension D on an aux return and send some of the guitar to that to spread it out as well. YMMV. __________________ "Let me control the money, and I care not who makes the laws" -Mayer Rothschild "Any chairman of the Federal Reserve, is more powerful than even our president." -Ron Paul

17th July 2008, 05:00 PM	#4
fooman Lives for gear Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 853	What type of music is it? You can do the delay thing. Or copy the track, and just EQ it differently on the opposite side but keep it out of the way so it's not prominant. Maybe EQ it darker, put some sort of distortion effect on it so it sounds different and isn't an exact match of the original. Also can try just plain ol' reverb panned opposite. __________________ XXII-22 Productions

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17th July 2008, 04:55 PM	#2
Rigg Gear nut Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 91	I've done the trick you mentioned it works OK. It would be better to get a doubling track to pan hard to the other side but this might not be feasible if you are in the mixing stage. I often do this with a different guitar, amp, tone setting, effects and or player. Sometimes panning the bass hard to the other side can be cool but it doesn't always work. It really depends on the material.

17th July 2008, 05:14 PM	#6
mstrom Gear interested Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 15	You could also use some distortion plugin (camel audio phat3 is nice) if you're working ITB and pan the distorded signal. If you want wide. You can of course fatten the sound without pannin with phat3. Works also with bass very well.