If you want to create an engaging mix then you really need to get panning
Jon is a London-based platinum award winning mixer, producer, composer and club remixer with a diverse CV that spans dance, pop, rock and music for media. He’s also a long term contributor to Computer Music. Jon usually handles final mixdowns, which is why we’ve got him to share some of his pearls of mixing wisdom here
Panning is a key component of stereo and multichannel mixes, and allows us to control width and placement to deliver a more sonically engaging mix. In this masterclass we’ll cover some of the important principles to bear in mind.
The widespread adoption of stereo in the 1960s created both opportunity and uncertainty among music producers and engineers. Initially this resulted in some very creative stereo mixes that wouldn’t be acceptable now. Still, this creativity paved the way for the more established practices that we have today. There are now a bunch of tried and tested panning techniques that we use. What’s more, although we’re typically trying to glue together the elements of our mix, panning can be a great way to retain separation of selected sounds.
In this tutorial we look at how to approach panning in a mix, including panning types, panning of mono/stereo sources, how frequency content affects panning decisions and also creative uses of panning, including autopan and automated dynamic panning moves. Finally, although panning is a key component of multichannel mixes, in the mixing masterclasses we focus on mixing to stereo, so that’s what we’re looking at here. That said, some of the concepts will certainly transfer to multichannel mixes.
> Step by step
1 First up, some basics. On a mono track, the pan controls how much goes to each side (left/right). On a stereo track your pan may be a left/right balance control and at extremes this will throughput solely the left or right of the input. Or it may offer full panning of left/right inputs to each side (stereo pan). Be aware which you are using.
2 There are some common conventions with panning. You don’t have to stick to them rigidly, but if you don’t, ensure you have a good reason not to. Most importantly, centre any main elements with lots of low frequencies such as kick or bass sounds. This helps establish a solid low end, and flags left/right frequency cancellations.
3 We also typically centre lead instruments, snares and in particular vocals. This is less to do with their low frequency content and more to do with the fact that if a dominant aspect of your mix is consistently off-centre, it draws your attention away from the centre, and the mix sounds consistently one-sided.
4 At the opposite end of the panning spectrum we have double tracks. These can work layered and centred, but can also create amazing width when hard
