DanTravis62
Moderator
Moderator
I would love to hear some of you guys mixes who don't hard pan left and right
DanTravis62
Moderator
Moderator
Let's say, diplomatically, that I am skeptical about the quality of these supposedly center tracked guitar recordings everyone is making
I would love to hear some full mixes of this in action - god knows none of those are ever forthcoming
Rackman
Well-known member
Can we please have a distinction between tracking and mixing here? Tracking guitars in general does not have panning except for unusual exceptions where you are tracking with a stereo array (e.g. XY, ORTF, Decca etc.). Since those techniques are almost never used for pop/rock/metal guitar recording I think we can assume that's not what we're doing. With the typical dynamic mic on a speaker, what you get is mono. It does not have panning until mixdown.
DanTravis62
Moderator
Moderator
Yeah, when people say "center tracked" they don't mean it was recorded in stereo, they mean it isn't panned hard left and hard right (to varying degrees, the industry standard since the 80s)
This isn't controversial, and you are literally the only person who is confusing the two, apparently
Rackman
Well-known member
Oh just me and the OP, who specifically asked about tracking not mixing.
Asking if guitars should be MIXED centered vs panned is a completely different question from what OP asked. Perhaps he and others don't know the difference between tracking and mixing, but if so that's likely to cause much bigger problems than how the guitars are panned.
Likewise I could note you ranted about center *center tracked* guitars suggesting the confusion is rather widespread...
DanTravis62
Moderator
Moderator
The op obviously meant mixing
if you want to have a pedantry fueled stroke about it that's fine, we're all good 
Rackman
Well-known member
OP doesn't make any sense if you replace "tracking" with "mixing".
The core confusion appears to be people thinking that the pan setting during tracking affects something other than potentially some monitoring function.
The core confusion appears to be people thinking that the pan setting during tracking affects something other than potentially some monitoring function.
DanTravis62
Moderator
Moderator
I believe the OP is asking (in a really poorly worded way) if people are recording in mono or stereo for their tracking and then sorting out the stereo pairs hard panned in the mixing process afterward, but it's either worded so poorly its obfuscated or from someone who doesn't know the normal terminology people use for this stuff
bigchungusstuckinmymouth
Member
why? should you not being listening to the other one to make sure they line up
bigchungusstuckinmymouth
Member
bigchungusstuckinmymouth
Member
@Rackman
K
karol86
New member
I mean.. whatever i record.. i track guitars panned already.. i just hate the way it sounds when I hear a track that i just recorded dead center and im about to lay another track for the double which is also in the center... it just clashes and smears together.. its like listening to iems with a 2 guitar band in mono.. Panning brings clarity and instant reference and I know exactly at that moment that my take was better or worse..
I mean .. if you mute the rest it does not matter i guess.. you'll pan them depending on what the song requires. 99% of modern music is hard panned L/R .. it's just a tool... do whats right for the song..
I mean .. if you mute the rest it does not matter i guess.. you'll pan them depending on what the song requires. 99% of modern music is hard panned L/R .. it's just a tool... do whats right for the song..
Devin
Well-known member
I always lay down tracks centered then pan after the fact
bigchungusstuckinmymouth
Member
is that what the pros usually do
Devin
Well-known member
I have no idea lol. I do it simply because it's easier to hear so I would assume it's pretty common
DrewJD82
Well-known member
Depends on the part for me.
Some stuff I can double better by just hearing the drums, some stuff I can double better by just hearing the click, but more often than not I’m not hearing the track I’m doubling because it’s distracting. If it’s an easy riff I might keep the first track unmuted, but if it’s precision I’m going for then I’m going to likely track it to just the drums or just the click then check after to ensure it’s a tight double.
I mix while I track, so my general flow goes like this-
Riff Idea- Mono or Stereo track, doesn’t matter it’s just to capture the idea. I use stereo tracks when playing with stereo effects, sometimes those effects become part of the riff itself so I’ll want them tracked properly in a stereo track.
Drums- After I get the initial idea recorded I’ll get a drum track started because I play differently to drum tracks than I do click tracks. I’m only writing enough of a drum part to fulfill the riff or piece I’ve got an idea for.
Usually this is when I open up a new guitar track to keep farming ideas from. I do this in a separate track from the 1st so I don’t accidentally delete the first idea track. Whatever I want to keep from this track I just move up to the first one and keep the 2nd track open for idea farming.
When it comes time to track those ideas ‘for real’ I’ll open up two tracks and hard pan them L and R, then track those parts.
That’s pretty much all I use to finish writing a song, I’ll double everything as it’ll most certainly end up doubled anyway and I can figure out what other guitar tones/amps I want to add to different sections of the song if I have some solid bones to work with. Sometimes I won’t need to add anything else at all.
Experiment as much as possible, the more you do the more you’ll realize a lot of this shit isn’t nearly as precious as people make it out to be.
Rackman
Well-known member
OK, so this IS a question about tracking/monitoring, not mixing.
When tracking, you usually track to a rough mix of what's been done so far. So I would probably take all guitars recorded up to that point, and give them a pan that approximates your current mix thinking and a very moderate level. Of course this may change, but do your best guess for now. If you can play the part cleanly without hearing the other guitars you can also mute them potentially. Whatever makes it easiest to play a good take.
For the track being recorded, if it's monitored via room sound that's my amp which is inherently mono (In the vast majority of circumstances) and fills the room. So no pan to worry about. If it's monitored via headphones, I would center pan it for tracking. The last think I want to be doing is to be trying to track with what I'm playing only in 1 ear. That's headache territory. Generally the thing you're tracking is also at least a few dB hotter in the cans than it will be in the final mix to facilitate tracking. But again it's the preference of the guy doing the tracking - players should conceptually own their own monitor mix even if they're not the ones turning the knobs.
bigchungusstuckinmymouth
Member
tbh it doesnt matter, the amp is too loud to hear the other guitar anyways
Techdeth
RESIDENT ROCK PROFESSOR
Put on diver down . Many songs on it are left and right and many he’s just left
It’s so annoying when Ed’s only in one ear . It dices me fucking crazy after track 1 it’s in both . Then track 2 which is the best annoys me once he’s back in the left only
I never understoood that at sll
It’s so annoying when Ed’s only in one ear . It dices me fucking crazy after track 1 it’s in both . Then track 2 which is the best annoys me once he’s back in the left only
I never understoood that at sll
Devin
Well-known member
VH 1 had some weirdness like that too where all the guitar is on one side but all the guitar reverb was on the other side
I remember listening to the shitty busted radio at my very first job and any time a song from VH 1 came on all you could hear was the reverb instead of the guitar lolol
Talk about a buzzkill
