Panning Techniques in Mixing

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Panning technique when mixing in stereo...

Panning technique is a crucial part of shaping a good stereo image, and it’s something that’s too often not given enough attention. It's important to give a lot of thought to where you want the various elements to sit in the stereo field.

A method I find quite useful is to start the mix process with every channel panned centre with the exception of any stereo instruments such as keys, which you leave stereo. If you are dealing with a live recording, you might also want to pan any microphone pairs, such as drum overheads or stereo room mics.

Once you’ve set your rough mix levels, only then proceed to pan the various instruments. This way you’ll have had time to take in the rough mix, and you will be more aware of any conflicts that might be happening between tracks. This kind of information might be vital for making good panning decisions.

Now, try to avoid two tracks having the same pan value, even if two instruments are only 2 or 3 degrees apart, you will get better separation than when they were at exactly the same value.

There are however two exceptions to this. The first is when you deal with stereo pairs such as keys or stereo microphone pairs which can all be hard panned. The other is when dealing with a single instrument recorded with multiple microphones such as an acoustic guitar with one mic on its body and one on the 12th fret.

In this scenario you do want the two mics to share the same pan position as they are both the same instrument. The guitar would lose it’s precise position and become loose and undefined if the two mics where panned differently.

So, panning technique, summed up...

1. Set a rough mix level before you make any panning descisions.
2. Never let two tracks share the same pan position (except for mono instruments with multiple tracks).
3. Pan precise and accurate.