Thinking in Stereo

Last week, a reader requested I write something about panning and stereo placement of instruments. I'm going to expand on that a bit and talk about stereo in general, as there are several important elements that can effect how your mix sounds.

• Does is really need to be in stereo?
One mistake many beginners make when they start recording on a DAW, is that they record everything in stereo. In reality, only a relatively small percentage of your tracks probably really needs to be in stereo. If the sound you are recording has stereo effects applied to it, has auto panning, or stereo spread (as on some unison modes), then yes, maybe it should be recorded in stereo. But most instruments don't fall into this category. Remember, you can record a track dry (with no effects) and in mono, and apply stereo effects as part of mixdown. A stereo file takes up twice the disc space as a mono file, so that's reason enough to be sure you really need both channels to record a particular sound.

• If Everything is in Stereo, Nothing is in Stereo
Okay, not really, but the effect is the same.  Big, wide stereo sounds are best used sparingly. Contrast with the other elements in your mix will help make the sounds larger than life, but if everything on your track sounds like that, you lose some of the impact (and probably have a really messy-sounding mix). So choose 1 or 2 elements, such as strings or pads that will be your massive stereo sounds and let it contrast with the mono elements. The effect will be much more striking. Remember that most synth presets are designed to sound impressive when you are playing them by themselves, but the huge reverbs or pan spreads might not be practical in the mix. So prioritize what your big, widescreen sounds are going to be and keep it restricted to those.

• If a Track is in Stereo, You're Not Really Panning
With a mono track, adjusting the pan knob will place the track wherever in the stereo spectrum you choose. If you do the same thing to a stereo track, however, you're not actually panning, you're essentially adjusting the volume balance of the right versus the left channel. There are plug-ins, such as Logic's Directional Mixer, that will allow you to do proper panning of a stereo track, but honestly, if you are planning on putting a sound off-center, you are probably better off recording it as a mono track and panning as normal.

• Keep Your Bass in Mono
As a general rule, it is always best to keep your bass track in mono. The main reason for this is that it can cause phasing problems, but you'd also be surprised at how many dance clubs and music venues have mono PA systems. So important elements (at least in dance music) like your kick and your bass are best left in mono and kept panned to the center. I realize that in this era of super fat unison sounds, a lot of synths have bass sounds that have some degree of stereo spread on them. If you like the way this sounds, I suggest EQing out the bass frequencies and then layering the sound with a simple sine wave sub bass in mono to flesh out the low end. This way, you have stereo effect, but it's only happening in the higher frequencies where it is less problematic.

• Middle of the Road
As a general rule of thumb, when it comes to panning, your most important elements should always be dead center. Examples would be your bass, your kick and your snare, and vocals. Our ears give priority to things that are in the center and it also gives your track a more solid-sounding foundation.

• Think First
Some elements of panning are rather easy to figure out. For instance, with your drum tracks, you've probably got your kick and snare in the center, you hi-hats slightly to one side (which side depends whether you want to mix from the drummer's perspective, or from the 'audience'), your toms left to right or vice versa, and your other cymbals placed throughout the stereo spectrum based on where they are on the drum kit. However, with most other elements, it's less obvious. So give some thought to what you want to pan to a specific position in the stereo spectrum, and more importantly why. A good example would be if you had two different instrument parts that fall into similar frequency ranges. If they are panned to the same position, some frequency cancellation will probably occur, and it's harder to hear each part distinctly. However, if you pan one element slightly left, and the other slightly right, there is less interference and you will be able to hear each part much more easily. Listen to a track by a band with more than one guitarist, and you will probably hear this in action.

• Avoid the Extremes
Panning, like most things in life, is best done moderately. Having a track panned hard left or hard right sounds extremely unnatural and unbalanced. Instead, keep your pan knob values somewhere between about 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock. Of course there are exceptions, such as when you want to create a special effect, but most of the time that range will be about right.

• Keep it Moving
Autopanning is an effect where the signal is automatically panned from left to right within a specified range and at a specific speed. This can really add interest to a mix, but don't overdo it. Restrict it to no more than one track. Any more than that and it can get very distracting. If you don't have an autopanning plug-in (most tremelo effects can be used as autopanners too), you can use the automation facilities in your DAW to do it manually. This is obviously a lot more work-intensive, but it does give you more flexibility.