When do you start panning?

[Yoni]

I was just thinking about my process of mixing and how maybe I need to change things up. Specifically, one of the first things I do as I bring up the faders is mess with the panning. I feel this is such an important part of the musical impact and I love figuring out where things sit best. But at the same time, I'm starting to think I'm cheating a bit in terms of getting my EQ and balances. What I mean is, instruments that are clashing are automatically going to sound better when separated. But if I started with everything in mono and got it happening there (minus effects), the panning would just be the icing on the cake. Does anyone take this approach? When do you start panning everything?

[Jay Kahrs]

It varies.

Some stuff like overheads and guitar L/R or B3 L/R gets hard panned right away.

Sometimes I'll keep messing with it as I go and add other elements to the mix and it'll continue until the mix is "done".

I'll also start to EQ right away if something needs it.

One thing I do a lot is pan around in mono and keep it there until the mix is grooving in mono. 'Cause if it doesn't work in mono, it just doesn't work.

Imagine your tune hitting MTV or somebodys clock radio with this tiny little 4" speaker and the guitars are just gone...

Sure, sometimes it's fun to push stuff WAY out to the sides and have some elements come from beyond the speakers, but the core of the mix should hold together in mono if you want any hope of translation.

[u b k]

Originally Posted by Yoni

... I'm starting to think I'm cheating a bit in terms of getting my EQ and balances.

i'd say eq is more of a cheat than panning. but i also say there are no rules, which means that to me there's no such thing as cheating.

whatever it takes, do it.

i love a lot of the stuff they were doing in the 70's, and i've been accused of unorthodox panning. to which i say... screw 'em.


gregoire
del ubik

[TornadoTed]

I generally try to get an frequency balance in mono first, make sure nothing is clashing. I also pan a lot in mono like Jay it just seems easier to find the right spot. Once I've got it working in mono it's flipped to stereo and that's when I start playing with effects, checking back to mono every now and again of course.

[Yoni]

Originally Posted by u b i k

i'd say eq is more of a cheat than panning.

I didn't think of it like that but it makes sense.

[djbrough]

I look at eq-ing as a necessary evil. I try to do as little of it as possible. With that being said, If I can simply pan something to make space for it, then great. I tend to mix as I record (I don't know if that's good or bad), and panning and volume leveling are the first two things I do.

[magellan]

Faders up, then minimal (obvious) panning for better clarity. Then it's an ongoing back and forth of panning and eq adjustments to help each element find its 'home'. btw, if there's no 'home' for the element, it's toast.