Stereo & Panning

Rubs90

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Easy! Trying to get educated on stereo, panning, etc.. Which elements sound good with a stereo spreader? Ive heard you cant use a stereo spreader on some things, and pretty much like any other thing in dynamics id like to know how to use it before throwing it around. Also, I remember seeing some producers create two copies of one sound, and pan each one to left and right. When should that be used, and on what? Sorry for being a bit simple, just trying to get some information to hopefully get my tracks sounding a bit more 'professional'
 
As a vague general rule the higher up the freq spectrum the wider the spread; Sub bass mono, high hats v-wide.

I'm currently experimenting with flangers on my baselines to get them warping about the stereo field as the filters are doing there work.

Other then my first sentence there's no real hard and fast rule's ... it's just where it sounds like it fits best. It's all about being creative. ;)



Hard panning left and right's more for "live drums" cymbal section (over head mic's) although can still be used in dance music. It depends on what sound you're going for and what you are trying to achieve. I think the example you gave they would be wanting to put different effects on each side, or at least delay some effects but not others to really get the sound morphing about.

---------- Post added at 00:16 ---------- Previous post was at 00:12 ----------

Oh yeah, anything you want to be REALLY punchy and have a phat attack, you want to lay off the stereo spreader (at least when the note/drum first hits). Some of the phatest hard hitting basslines are spread quite wide for bass (even if they are mid bass), but they have shaped the attack I would imagine (or at least automated the effects used to give it the wideness so it doesn't start really wide as the note hits).
 
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Easy! Trying to get educated on stereo, panning, etc.. Which elements sound good with a stereo spreader? Ive heard you cant use a stereo spreader on some things, and pretty much like any other thing in dynamics id like to know how to use it before throwing it around. Also, I remember seeing some producers create two copies of one sound, and pan each one to left and right. When should that be used, and on what? Sorry for being a bit simple, just trying to get some information to hopefully get my tracks sounding a bit more 'professional'

Hi,

Everything can sound good with a stereo spreader! Although I wouldn't suggest spreading anything under 200hz...
Copying a sound and pushing it hard left/right is cool, although I suggest bussing the track out instead, saving you CPU.
 
Yeah if you start spreading the really low freq's you'll hit major phase issue's making your bass lack power unless you are very very highly skilled (I know a nu-skool breaks artist what sometimes doesn't use mono bass for tunes to be played on her own system, but she really knows what she's doing and has hearing what extends past normal hearing. Some of the bass is fucking twistedly brutal!).

But yeah mono everything under around 200Hz, 99.999999% of people will do this (for a reason).
 
There is a technical reason to keep you subish frequencies mono in regards to being pressed to vinyl. It can cause the needle to skip and all sorts. Plus you'll loose power as your speakers will be firing out of sync in stereo do you'll loose power. Watch the Icicle Masterclass. He goes into stereo spreading briefly in that.
 
I like to split my sound into two different speakers(sometimes). One left one right. But to add a little dynamic other than separating the two I use a delay set to about 5 miliseconds this can give a mid bass great presents. Try it it may work it may not but it is a good tip.
 
Hi,

Everything can sound good with a stereo spreader! Although I wouldn't suggest spreading anything under 200hz...
Copying a sound and pushing it hard left/right is cool, although I suggest bussing the track out instead, saving you CPU.

This is so not true! If you go crazy and slap a stereo enhancer on everything, you'll be left with a track that has absolutely no power, drive or punch to it at all! Stereo enhancers are ok for the high frequency elements, but even then, if you push too much you'll lose so much! Less is more when it comes to stereo spreading sounds...
 
I use stereo enhancers on high frequency sounds normally :) White noise, I like making that sound pretty wide!

Tunes I am working on at the moment generally make use of a hat loop then another individual hat or something so I like doing panning with those. Sometimes I also do panning on more interesting things, maybe automate left to right on a pad or something. Sometimes I do subtle automated panning on vocal chops and stuff!

But yeah, don't do nothing with your low freq sounds! All my bass sounds used to be in stereo but I didn't even realise until I was told by someone here :) Now I force all my subs and bass sounds into mono by using group channels (also known as busses)

Hope that helped a bit!
 
Just a thought: try automating Pan to create movement in your mix, even if the pan is slight i.e. between 60 & 45 R (or some shit) make a hella difference especially in intros wehere you got a hat coming in and it sounds oo strong or some shti.
 
I tend to use spreading most on things like hats and one of the layers of a synth lead. Using an expander can sometimes open up extra space in a mix and allow you to make bigger leads.

As far as panning goes something that I like to do is make two copies of the same pattern and pan slightly left and one slightly right, then on one of the synths very slightly change some of the parameters. I find that this sometimes can add a subtle richness to a sound.
 
This is so not true! If you go crazy and slap a stereo enhancer on everything, you'll be left with a track that has absolutely no power, drive or punch to it at all! Stereo enhancers are ok for the high frequency elements, but even then, if you push too much you'll lose so much! Less is more when it comes to stereo spreading sounds...

Where did I mention slapping a stereo enhancer on everything?
I thought it goes without saying a stereo enhancer can sound good on ANYTHING not EVERYTHING. :)
 
Stereo spreaders, while good in small doses, can cause more harm than good. Sometimes a better approach is to create a "faux" stereo effect through slight additions of reverb and/or chorus. Even a bit of sample delay on high hats can result in some amazing "wide" output.
 
I find panning everything hard left works really well, you can also save money this way and only have to buy one studio monitor.

:jackson:
 
Basslines sounds good when spread apart
Hi-hats and other percussion sound good when spread apart left and right
Sub bass sounds good with no spreading and put into mono
 
This is so not true! If you go crazy and slap a stereo enhancer on everything, you'll be left with a track that has absolutely no power, drive or punch to it at all! Stereo enhancers are ok for the high frequency elements, but even then, if you push too much you'll lose so much! Less is more when it comes to stereo spreading sounds...

I agree.

I also find that the presets on most stereo enhancers are over the top.
Start from the default setting and go from there

---------- Post added at 01:30 ---------- Previous post was at 01:28 ----------

Stereo spreaders, while good in small doses, can cause more harm than good. Sometimes a better approach is to create a "faux" stereo effect through slight additions of reverb and/or chorus. Even a bit of sample delay on high hats can result in some amazing "wide" output.

This.
I use sample delay all the time, especially on sounds that are panned. I like to try and recreate the interneural arrival time property of human hearing.
 
I agree.

I also find that the presets on most stereo enhancers are over the top.
Start from the default setting and go from there

---------- Post added at 01:30 ---------- Previous post was at 01:28 ----------



This.
I use sample delay all the time, especially on sounds that are panned. I like to try and recreate the interneural arrival time property of human hearing.
yeah a lot of stereoizers don't auto fit the tune you have carefully crafted. I'll only ever use the presets if they only lightly effect the sound, and only ever use them on things that aren't in the forefront of the mix. like high end of drums or something.

For stuff like stereo widening on your bass, much better to tailor that your self using delay/chorus/reverb/ or a mix; Flange etc.
 
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